Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The trail of candy and gifts..

'Twas a very Merry Brandi Christmas! We enjoyed Christmas morning with the kids watching them tear through gifts from Santa and us. The biggest hit from Santa was the Lion Guard Tree, which really is a pretty amazing play set. Both kids love it and I have no buyer's remorse on the price. Nick alone has spent hours over the last week happily playing with it. Another Santa favorite was the Walkie-Talkie set that came with a a surprise opportunity for a lesson on privacy protection. We were getting quite a bit of cross-over from unknown users. Not so merry to hear a strange man's voice coming from our living room while we enjoyed our Christmas breakfast. Yikes! 

Speaking of "breakfast," Santa once again stopped by the North Pole bake shop and delivered Christmas cakes and cupcakes. Always a hit!

The start of a sugar-filled week

I'm also happy to announce we added two new members to the family! Introducing Foxy and Molly, our two beta fish. These babies came from Mom and Dad--no way was I letting Santa get credit for these. Mark bought the fish and set up the tank a week before Christmas, and we hid it under a box with the back cut out, so the fish could get light from the window. The kids NEVER suspected a thing! 

Not a puppy, but they still love them

My family rolled in later that day. Chris and Sean cuddled up with the kids for a movie, allowing Mark and me to sneak a quick Christmas nap before Dad and Sharon arrived. We had a lovely dinner together, before round two of presents began. At this point the kids were completely wild with sugar and high on new toy smell, so things were a little spastic. But, their uncles and grandparents have to share some of them blame for spoiling them rotten. A few of the favorites from the ridiculous bounty included an Easy Bake Oven for Lainey, dinosaur eggs that you "excavate" to hatch little dinosaurs, and of course a triceratops that "poops" jelly beans (thank you, Uncle Chris).

Grandpa really got into the spirit this year

Everyone stuck around for a few more days to get their fill of the kiddos. Dad and Sharon let Chris, Sean, Mark, and me escape to see Rogue One on Monday, and Chris and Sean gave me the best gift of all when they took the kids to see Sing! on Wednesday, granting me a few hours of alone time to recover from the holiday and prepare for two days alone with the kiddos (also know as Christmas detox. It was rough, but we all survived and are stronger for it).

New Year's Eve was a very simple affair. We let the kids watch a movie, so Mark could watch football in peace. Then the kids and I donned our Buckeye shirts and watched them lose miserably (well, watched the beginning of the miserable loss--we shuttled them to bed before the official disappointment). After the kids were tucked in and dreaming, Mark and I made a nice dinner of Steak Oscar and then watch the new Ghostbusters, which was super funny! The movie wrapped up right at midnight and we kissed 2016 good-bye and welcomed 2017 in. May it be a good one for all!

Maybe next year!