Determined

Ok, I am so determined to finish blogging about 2012! I know we are in February but I am going to finish.

December 15th we had our 11th annual Murphy Christmas party. 

I love thinking of all the creative ways I can make this party fun and unique. I like to design and write my own invitations.

 This year we had a country theme.

 I like to find new ways to decorate in honor of our theme.

We sat 24 for dinner this year.

 There was Christmas plaid everywhere.

Matt's helping me with final preparations in the kitchen.

Last year Michelle and Aaron took the lead with dinner since Aiden was only two weeks old. They planned a pitch in. I liked that idea more than I thought. So this year I posted a menu and everyone chose the item they were to bring.

I like to decorate the whole house. It takes me about three weeks to get everything just where I like.

After dinner we go downstairs to play snoop, hang out and have desserts.

Every year we say the basement will be remodeled before the Christmas party. (our big party for the year). This year we were able to tackle the ceiling and get all the lighting up. This was a huge deal for me, since basements can seem like a cave without lighting.

 While our tradition is to have a real tree for the family Christmas tree, I also like to have a tree on every floor of the house. The basement tree is the largest. It is the tree Matt and his family used growing up.

 Cute marshmallow snowmen Crystal!

I think everyone had a great time! I know I did!

 Gretchen got photos of all the couples together.

During our games Crystal was a little chilly, so she put our snuggie to good use. :)

I was too busy enjoying the night to take many pics during the party. There is a favorite quote of the night I'll share. One of the gifts in our snoop game was a firefighter calendar, which wouldn't you guess it JR got. So the guys had fun cutting and taping all of the "fiery " hunks all over our house. Upon finding a few I said, "There are shirtless fire fighters all over my house!" Apparently this is ubber shocking coming from me and several laughed out loud.

There were a few photos of Matt and Paul that were quite obnoxious and since Matt may run for a political office one day I didn't post those. ha ha

We had such a great time and love all our friends dearly


The next day........

Sunday was Adaline's first debut on the stage.

The Christmas Shop Around the Corner
Starring Adaline in the choir

Actually Adaline was not the star but that is who we came to see. :)



This funny girl did steal some of the show, that's for sure.

 My little sweetie...

The younger kids sang in the choir. Addie was to stand by Eli Guernsey. They behave like such brothers and sisters.

 Addie likes to swish her skirt and move around to her little dance. Lots of people said they liked watching her dance and sing tonight. Addie loves skirts and dresses and didn't want to wear the jeans that they suggested be our costume. So Addie got to wear her black skirt.

While we got there super early for a seat.....so did everyone else.

Matt and the boys stayed home. Corbin had thrown up that morning so they were not able to attend.

Addie watched those around her, danced when the urge hit (whether on que or not) and had a great time on the stage.

They had these tape squares on the stage for the kids to know where to stand. She is really worried about that in this picture.

My little three year old was enthusiastic one minute and bored the next. I am sure the play seemed so long to her, but she hung in there and finished it all.

I felt bad for Eli, Addie whacked him in the head with the celebration ribbon they were using.

Addie with her Aunt Bekah.... the choir director of the play.

Addie was so much fun to watch. She made my family and I laugh at her stage presence. What a precious girl. She did a great job. I loved this part of parenting this season, enjoying Christmas with my daughter singing and practicing all month about Jesus birth.

I have a tool for that!

One of Matt's many running jokes is: I have a tool for that.

Well, today I had to remind him that we needed him to find a tool for that.

It was one of the nights we were preparing for our annual Christmas Party and everything was chaos. All the adults were working on projects of cooking, decorating, and cleaning. That means the kids had to fend for themselves for a little while, which usually includes a movie and refilling of the snacks.

It's pretty late (kids time) and I hear Corbin fussing about his finger. Aunt Bekah was downstairs and not to worry. But I hear moans and screams that call for a mother's attention.
Corbin had gotten his finger stuck in the lid of his water bottle. Just pull it out. Right? Despite the protests. Every tug of any kind was met with this scream of pain. Corbin is a very tough kid. He falls or does things to himself with no complaints so this must be pretty serious.

So, we tried it all. Vaseline, oil, running cold water, more twists and tugs. Nothing was working and nothing was budging. We soaked his hand in ice water hoping to let the finger relax from the trauma. While Matt and I discussed our options. Do we take him to the emergency room? We don't want his finger to loose circulation. Can we use a tool to cut it? Too close to the skin.

Well, its worth a shot.

 Just relax Corbin. Dad is a trained professional.

and it worked. The plastic was brittle so off it popped.

The whimpers of relief were escaping from Corbin. You can tell a little bit in the picture that his skin was cut in a ring where we were tugging on the lid. There was no pulling that sucker off without skinning his little finger.

Well, Matt got to use a tool on his kid after all and I bet Corbin will never put his finger in another hole for a long time.

Playing Under the Tree

This little sweet pea is most of my day. I dress him, bath him, feed him, cuddle him, feed him, kiss him, change his diapers, kiss his feet, and on and on the day goes.

He has been fascinated with the Christmas tree.

He would crawl under and play all the time.

Aiden is such a joy. I love being his mama

Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him. Psalm 127:3

Bunco Chicks

I don't think I have ever posted about my bunco chicks before.  I met Melissa Norwood back when I took one of my first master's class and she invited me to fill a spot that was open. 

You have to have a four person table for bunco to work well. So we have grown since the time I joined from an 8 lady group to a 12 lady group.

We are from top left Jeri Carlyle, Ellen Huber, Melisssa Norwood, Amy Niemeier, Michelle Guernsey, Heather Hall,
Bottom Row: Rhonda Morrison, Melanie Murphy, Heather Finn, Kristi Charbonneau and Cheryl Cotner
We are missing Karen McLean and Mary Arnold

This was our Christmas dinner. We choose not to bunco but eat and talk. Mary teaches the paint spot class for ladies and was to come tonight but a foot ouchie kept her at home. So sorry

So, I think that I have been in this group since 2006? It was before Corbin. Maybe earlier. None of us had kids back then. Most of these ladies are teachers.

I have a great time with these chicks. :) So glad I know them.

Scooge - our tradition

We have attended Scrooge so many times I think we can call it a tradition. I believe we have attended five years out of the seven years of production. Mark and Kara Hubbard put on a christian Scrooge play at their church and it is fabulous. 

Corbin was at a great age this year to go. He was laughing and engaged in the entire performance. 

This year we took our life group with us. You can't beat a free show.

Mark is the star of the show. Scrooge

Aiden was not wanting a pic with scrooge.

Here is a miniature scrooge in the making.

Some crazy person. (I don't know which one) Suggested that we go to Culvers after the show. Yes, six kids after bedtime Saturday night at Culvers.
I don't know if your husband is like this, but of course the men sat at their own table and the whole building could have been set on fire by our kids and they wouldn't have known. They were in their own world. Of course the women will take care of everything.

My cutie in his new birthday clothes

Holiday Christmas Tea

My little Adaline is so precious. She is my sweetheart.

My cousin Sara invited us to participate in the Fairy Princess Tea their group was putting on for Christmas. I signed up Addie and I and invited our friends Rachelle and Jillian to go with us.

Princess Tea Party (Sponsored by Christmas at the Galt House): For Saturday, December 1. There will be a variety of entertainment for children, including games and a guest appearance by the Snow Fairy Princess from Christmas at the Galt House.

 We dressed for the occasion and Addie was so excited.

 We made princess crowns, decorated sugar cookies and enjoyed treats.

*I will add more photos when my friend emails them.  While I got photos before we left, I forgot to bring my camera with us.

This is the dress Addie picked out for Christmas