A Great Surprise in our Mailbox!

When I came home from work on Thursday, I was sorting through the mail and came across a postard from our local YMCA advertising for the winter programs. To our surprise, the marketing department picked Caroline's picture to be on the front of the postcard!

We are proud parents of a local celebrity! (In our eyes, at least!)

Christmas Morning Pictures

Pop and Pat-Pat came to our house late on Christmas Eve so they could be here for the morning festivities. They were very helpful in preparing for the arrival of the illusive Santa Claus. By 12:30 am, we were all pooped and crawled into bed.

Waiting on the steps before the Big Unveiling

More Thomas stuff! We had to pry him away so he could open up other presents

For some reason, Caroline wanted a housekeeping cart? I wish she would do some magic to our house!

Santa brought Cooper a tricycle!

Christmas Eve Pictures

Our tradition for Christmas Eve is to get together with Scott's family, have a nice dinner,play a few games and then rip open our presents. It is neat watching all of the kids each year as they grow up. Thank you again to Brooke and Michael for their hospitality! Thank you Judy for the wonderful dinner!

Sorting the presents before we start to open

Brady and Cooper (8 months apart)

Caroline opening a game from Gram and Grandbob


All 5 cousins sitting down together and looking in the same direction. MIRACLE!

Cooper opening up Cranky!

Happy 60ish Birthday Mom!

Christmas Day is my Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I will post more of the Christmas pictures tonight, but wanted to go ahead and wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

After we opened presents and ate breakfast, a snapped a quick picture of the men of the house doing what they do best.


Watching TV with their eyes closed...


Quick! Before he wakes up!

Caroline's Christmas Party

Caroline had her school Christmas party today. The kids had a blast eating sugary snacks and exchanging and opening their presents. Below are a few pictures of her classmates and her awesome teacher, Ms. Kim.

Smudge VS. Tigger

I came upstairs and found Smudge nose to nose to Tigger.

Christmas Pictures

We took the kids to take thier Christmas pictures the other day. I was really dreading the whole ordeal, but the kids did very well! Thank goodness Scott met me to help! These are two of the best. I will keep the other photo a surprise since it is on our Christmas cards. (I just mailed them today! Be on the lookout!)

Cooper calls Santa "Ho Ho".

SUPERMAN!

We went over to our friends, Gina and Brian's house last night. They have two sons, Jake (4) and Jackson (1). Our kids have a blast playing together. It is a nice break for parents, too!

We gave the Superman inflatable shirt for Jake for Christmas. He had a good time showing off his muscles. So cute.

Getting Dressed up for Christmas Play!

Caroline's class was invited to the big kids (K-8) Christmas Play at school. She decided that she wanted to wear a dress (GASP!) for the occasion! I had to take a picture since she seldom will wear a dress.


Caroline and Abby (Doesn't she look like Jennifer Aber?)

Visiting the Christmas Lights

We are very fortunate to live a few miles from one of the best Christmas light displays in North Carolina - TANGLEWOOD!

In line at the Tanglewood entrance

This smile is what being a parent is all about!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!

Wednesday is my brother-in-law, Michael's, birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MICHAEL, AND HIS TWIN SISTER, ANN!

Our Weekend

We had a pretty uneventful yet relaxing weekend. Our usual Saturday morning started with the whole family going to Wal-Mart with a small list of things to buy and leave $150 lighter in the pockets. How does that happen???

The picture below is from our trip to Wal-Mart. Santa Claus was shopping in the toy aisle and agreed to take their picture and get Caroline's list from her. (Cooper wouldn't get near Santa without trusty Mommy by his side.)

I had on my to-do list to take the kids to the mall all dressed in their nicest Christmas clothes, but I may settle for this instead. Not the best, but at least they are BOTH smiling AND looking at the camera at the same time. Miracle!

I forgot to mention the best part of the day! (Note: Sarcasm.) We attempted to take Cooper for a haircut, which turned into a crying match between Cooper and myself. We brought all the tools for an easy haircut - suckers, pacifiers, candy, etc. He let her cut his hair on one side and then became screaming when she started the other. He is so darn stubborn! So, we managed to hold him down long enough to trim his sideburns, but the back was not touched. Looks like he will have a Mullet soon. :)

After coming home and putting Cooper down, Scott and I put up the rest of our Christmas lights. I finally feel satisfied with our Christmas decorations and can now relax and enjoy the next few weeks. It doesn't feel like Christmas until you have put up the tree and lights.

Caroline had a birthday party in Greensboro later on Saturday, so I spent the rest of the day taxiing her around while Scott stayed home with Cooper. Sorry, no pics of that.

On Sunday morning, I fixed some (sweet potato) pancakes from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook, which were a BIG hit with Cooper. He ate all two pancakes without getting up from the table. It was definitely a winner!

After that, we lounged around the house and Caroline did a few craft projects for Christmas. Below, Caroline and Daddy "made" Christmas Sugar Cookies.

Best Buddies... until someone gets hurt.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY!

Boy, December is the month for birthdays for my friends and family! Saturday is my great friend, Mary's, 34th Birthday! Mary just had her first child last month and will probably be celebrating the big day by taking a much-needed nap.

Happy Birthday, Mary! Love ya!

Mary holding Baby Cooper

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOOBER!

Tuesday is my Dad's 62nd Birthday! He's an old geezer, but I still love him!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOOBER!

My dad has always joked with me since I can remember, that I was "hatched" when I was born. Well, here is proof!

Love,

"Munch"

Deceptively Delicious Part II

Ok, I have tried three more recipes from the Deceptively Delicious Cookbook. Some were better than others.

The Chicken Nuggets recipe called for sweet potatoes mixed in with the egg coating with flax seed and bread crumbs as the breading. They didn't taste that bad, but they weren't the kids usual chicken nuggets. Needless to say, they only ate a few bites.

Not sure what that face is telling me!

The Grilled Cheese Recipe is made by mixing the pureed sweet potatoes with shredded cheddar cheese with some butter, salt and pepper. It was actually really good considering I am not a sweet potato fan! The sandwich had the texture of a grilled pimento cheese sandwich. Caroline caught on quick and didn't eat hers, but Cooper ended up eating about 1/2 of his sandwich.

Last night, I tried the Banana Bread with pureed bananas and cauliflower. So far, this is the best recipe yet! I make banana bread all of the time, but this recipe is better than any recipe I have ever used! Very good and very, very moist!

If anyone wants these recipes, send me an email and I will pass them along to you.

This weekend, I am going to try the pancake Recipe. Cooper loves pancakes!

Happy 8th Birthday Drew!

Today is our Drew's (our nephew) 8th Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW! Drew is the oldest grandchild in the Bliss Family.

The Boys Trip to the Panthers/Packers Game

A few weeks ago, Scott went with Michael, Bob and two of Michael's friends up to Lambeau Stadium to watch the Panthers play the Packers. From what Scott was able to recall, they had a ball. They packed for the worst kind of weather, but ended up having a nice sunny day. Scott took the old 35 MM camera, so we were just able to get these pictures developed today.

He just had to bring his camo.

Wow, Scott looks kind of beefy? :) Grrrr!

Fans starting to pour into the stadium

Tis the Season!

Scott brought home our Christmas tree from Morganton today. After the kids took their nap, we started decorating for Christmas. It was like Christmas for me when I opened up my boxes of decorations and other Christmas items. I went shopping the day after Christmas last year and racked up on sale items and totally forgot about them until I opened up the boxes. That made waking up at 4:00 on the day after Christmas totally worth it!

Then, the wrapping paper roll wars started. Daddy was double-teamed.