The Holidays are Over...Finally!

Ahhh, the holidays are over...well, kind of. Charles' dad leaves tomorrow and then we'll take down the Christmas trees, lights and other decorations. I can't wait for it all to be over--the holidays this year were a bit too stressful for my liking.

Mom and Doug arrived on the 24th, Riley's birthday, and we had a blast opening presents and eating one of the coolest birthday cakes EVER...

The birthday table is all set.

The presents are waiting...



Seriously, how cool is this cake?



Eight yummy layers inside!



Cool! A Darth Vader Lego alarm clock!

Play-Doh and Lego games!

The birthday celebration was fun, but we made sure to get in bed at a decent time for Santa. Riley left him a special red and green donut with sprinkles from Dunkin' Donuts with a glass of milk. She also sprinkled special "food" she made at school out on the lawn for the reindeer.

Santa left lots of presents...and an AT-AT!!

Opening presents Christmas morning with Daddy.

Riley and Papa testing out the new toys.

Late Christmas night, it began to snow. And it kept snowing. And snowing. Mom and Doug (mostly Doug) insisted on leaving in the middle of the storm to head back to Charlotte and, then, on to Morristown. We tried to get them to stay, but no dice. They said it was the worst trip ever and that, at one point, it took them over an hour to drive 5 miles. I doubt they'll ever make the drive to our house for Christmas again. Bummer.

The snow was beautiful here though--the weatherman said it's the most snow the area's gotten since 1989. We got just a bit over 4 inches--it doesn't hold a candle to a New England storm by any means, but we'll take it. It was really cool to see palm trees covered in snow!

Preparing the snowman.

Riley and Charles discussing strategy...

The finished product.

The neighborhood covered in snow. We got about 4 inches.

I'll finish with a picture of one of Charles' gifts which, ironically, I'll most likely be the one to use.

New toys for Mommy and Daddy for the New Year.

Okay, now for some random items:

• Riley can kick some serious a$$--here she is breaking a board at her Taekwondo Christmas party.
• From my uncle Butch, two amazing holiday videos: Santa Went Down to Georgia and The North Point iBand, too cool!
• Here's a great instructional video for all you zombie fans, A Very Zombie Holiday.
• Allie does it again--makes me laugh until tears are dropping on to my keyboard: The Year Kenny Loggins Ruined Christmas.
• You gotta love A Christmas Message from Bill Maher.