Merry Christmas!

Well, Christmas has come and gone in a total blur!
We began with our traditional Holiday dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. Because nothing gets you in the holiday spirit like a big ol' margarita!
Uncle Gary, Dave, Brandy and Dylan joined us. But Dee and I took on all the responsibility of drinking since Brandy's knocked up again (YEAH!) and well, Craig, Gary and Dave are just big ol' fuddy duddys!

After a very yummy dinner, we went to look at all the Christmas lights.

Yeah . . .and these were the non drinkers of the bunch!

We came home and put out some cookies and carrots for Santa and the reindeer, then headed off to bed.

Christmas morning came early, with the kids eager to see what bounty Santa had left.
And, man was it a good one!

Uncle Gary continued the Coyle tradition of giving extremely thought out, personal gifts.
Chloe's comment, "This is what you get when you have rich relatives!"

Santa also brought some new family members.
We are now the proud owners of 4 hermit crabs.
(Keep your fingers crossed that I don't kill them!)

Logan got his much anticipated Nerf gun,

And Chloe got a flat screen TV.
Thank God Logan is still too young to expect equal value gifts!

Everyone was happy as a clam with their gifts and we spent much of the day playing with our new toys.

Then we all sat around the piano singing Hark the Herald Angel Sings and drank hot spiced cider.

KIDDING!
Actually I think we napped!

Other than not having Trent here with us, it was a perfect Christmas morning.

We realize how lucky we are.
With so many people struggling, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who makes our life so full.

Happy New Year!

On Friday I went to Logan's class for their Christmas party and book exchange.

It was all fun, but the real hit were the chocolate reindeer cupcakes!

Saturday we hosted our neighborhood Christmas party. Our friends were here from Denmark and introduced us to the 'Danish' shot glass. I think they might have made that up, but frankly, I didn't care!

Needless to say, it was a really fun night!

Logan's Santa Story

Never a prouder parent was I when Logan came home with this heartwarming story.

In case you cannot make out his writing, let me help . . .

This is Santa.
He has a snake for a scarf.
He farts a lot.
He wears underwear.

I know. Like I said, a truly heartwarming story.

We'rrrre Baaaaack!

Okay, so here's what you missed.

Logan and AJ played their last soccer game of the season.
Our boy scored two goals and had multiple break aways.
Yeah, the coach didn't really come out and say it, but we knew who was the star of the team!

Mom and Dad came down for a quick visit

Dad made some crab legs and shrimp and everyone dug right in . . .

well, everyone except those of us would rather die than eat that stuff.
Namely, my mother and I.

Then it was time to enjoy an early Christmas. The gifts are pretty good this year!
I might have to borrow this present from Chloe.

Dad found this adorable contractor set. It came with just about everything a handy man needs.

Logan got right to work, making sure our Christmas tree was the right size.
Funny story about the tree size actually. Our lights went out on our big tree. So we returned it to Costco, only to find out all their trees were recalled. So, we're rocking Christmas this year with a four footer!

And Chloe got a whole bunch of grown up make up to play with.

I think Mom may want to borrow this one!
And Logan finally got his pillow pet. I thought it was a dinosaur. Turns out it's an alligator. Logan didn't seem to mind.

Last weekend was Chloe's last All Star game. It was freezing and our team was loosing so badly they ended up stopping the game.

But we all had fun anyway!

While I've never been a big fan of cheer leading, I'm so glad Chloe did this. It was a great experience. The director was so wonderful and Chloe had lots of fun. We'll definitely be doing it again next year.

still waiting . . .

Okay, so I haven't seen a 'Save the Steindorf Blog' page on Facebook yet?

What's the deal?

Actually, I have decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and pay the freakin' $5.00.

Unfortunately, there still won't be any updates until I get a new camera.

Mine bit the dust yesterday.

And no, for all you smart asses, I don't think it's because it was put in the refrigerator!

Which sucks, because Grandma and Grandpa are visiting. I'll have to find the old Sony to capture some of our wonderfully tender family bonding moments.

(man, it was hard to type that with a straight face!)

The End?

Well, it looks like we've reached the end of our blog.

After 5 years, Blogspot has cut us off.

I'm trying to decide whether I want to delete some old posts or just suck it up and pay the $5.00 for more space.

Stay tuned...

A cake for Julia

Our friend's daughter turned two this month and they asked me to make her cake. I love the colors and had lots of fun doing this one (although I already know what I'll do differently if I do this design again.) It's been a while since I've made a cake. Partly because I've turned down a few jobs and a few where I think my quote was too high. But, I'm okay with that. The more I do, the more I realize just how much work they are.

Chloe the All Star

You may remember how I proudly boasted about Chloe making the All Star Cheer team.

Well, she's been having a blast.

She's the flyer (okay, spell check is telling me that flyer is spelled wrong, but I'm sticking with my spelling. Mom, you can correct me later!)
As I was saying, Chloe is the flyer for the squad, which she loves.
Luckily, Coach Brandi stands behind them to make sure she doesn't get dropped.

I've tried to post her dance routines, but they are too long. So today I tried to just capture a small part of them. So keep you fingers crossed!

YAY! It worked!

It's that time once again!

#1 on of my List of To Do's before Christmas

Done!

Thank God.Only 428 more to go!
Ah, yes, it's the most wonderful time of the year
(-singing in a crazed, half-hysterical kind of way)

Editors Note:
Okay, looking back at past Christmas posts, I see Chloe is in the same dress she wore 2 years ago. Who would have thought having a girl so tiny would be so cost effective! I guess it's time to retire it, though. I doubt if I'll be able to get a third year out of it.