Going Out With A Bang

The Christmas tree is still up (When is the proper time to take down the tree anyway?), you can't walk through my house without stepping on a toy and the laundry pile isn't getting any smaller. We spent our last days of 2009 ignoring our chores and packing in fun at No Limits (indoor activity center) and the Children's Museum. Happy New Year!

Papa

After a very brief visit, my dad left this morning to head back to Massachusetts. Tomorrow he will go to-what we hope will be-his final chemo treatment. His blood count is back to normal and aside from a few chemo side effects (itchy hands and feet and exhaustion) he's feeling pretty good. We're grateful he was able to make the trip and be with us for the holidays and we're thankful that his body is healing.

Holiday Festival of Lights

Last night we took the kids and my dad to the James Island County Park Holiday Festival of Lights. I packed a thermos of hot cocoa and some holiday cookies and we drove through the 3 mile light show listening to Christmas music, sipping cocoa, eating cookies and oohing and aahing over all the cool light displays. It's an impressive show and as long as we live in Charleston it will always be a holiday tradition for us.

Christmas 2009

My father flew down from Massachusetts to be with us for Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve baking cookies for Santa, taking a ride to Sullivan's Island for lunch, napping, eating Chinese food and watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Before heading to bed, Currier sprinkled reindeer food on the front lawn and left cookies out for Santa. He was ridiculously excited and so cute.

We had a lovely and relaxing Christmas morning- coffee, Christmas bread, present-opening-frenzies, smiles, hugs, kisses and laughs. We're happy, lucky and blessed. Merry Christmas.

Check Out My Big Deck

Before: After:

This is my Christmas present from Trent. He misunderstood me and thought I asked for a big deck. Oh well, this is still pretty nice. I trimmed the bushes around my deck to make it look bigger. I'm looking forward to lots of random deck parties. I will never grow tired of deck jokes. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Mount Pleasant

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, The Balents

A Night Away From The Kiddos

Trent's company had their annual Christmas party at the fancy schmancy Charleston Place Hotel- dinner, drinks and a night in an executive suite! The food was exquisite, the open bar was phenomenal and a night away from the kids was ridiculously fun!

Daniel Island Flag Football

Currier started flag football over the weekend. It was 41 degrees (burr!) so Rya and I stayed home in the warmth while Trent took Currier to his first practice and game. Trent said it was a riot. Apparently there was a lot of crying and hurt feelings when flags were pulled. Jeez, these three-year-olds better man up!

Friday Favorites- Elf on the Shelf

This year we started the Elf on the Shelf tradition. It's a little elf that comes down from the North Pole to keep an eye on Currier and Rya. The elf reports back to Santa every evening and comes back to our house the next morning. Each morning the kids have to find the elf and then they have to be on their best behavior all day or else the elf will give a naughty report to Santa. It's bribery at its best!

Be good. The elf is watching you!

Meeting Santa

We took the kids to see Santa last night. Rya hated it. Currier loved it. Currier asked Santa for a batman cave, a dragon castle, an easel and pickles and maraschino cherries. Rya refused to look at Santa (even with a lollipop bribe) and screamed her head off until I got her off the creepy guy's lap.

Happy Holidays!

Deck the Halls

The annual "get over there and pretend you're hanging an ornament on the Christmas tree" picture.

Best Buds

This is Currier's best friend from school, Connor. They get along famously and look forward to school so they can play together.

Friday Favorites- DD Christmas Ornament

Every year Dunkin Donuts comes out with a holiday ornament and this year is one of my favorites. Happy Friday!

Working Off Thanksgiving

On Monday Rya and I walked across the Cooper River Bridge with my friend Allison. It was a perfect day to do such a thing and Rya slept through the whole thing while I did all the work. We hope to do it every Monday morning motivation and weather permitting.

Thanksgiving Week With Mimi and Papi

Mimi and Papi came and spent Thanksgiving week with us. We kicked off their visit with a little birthday celebration for Mimi. Currier planned the party hence the Spongebob Squarepants Cupcakes.

It was so nice to see Currier and Rya spending time and sharing laughs with their grandparents. Such sweet moments!

We had a quiet and relaxing Thanksgiving. We all played a role in the making of Thanksgiving. Trent cooked the turkey, Mimi made the stuffing and jello mold, I made the green bean casserole and bought baked the pies, Currier set the table and made the sweet potato casserole, Papi watched Rya and football and Rya looked cute and stuffed her face. So much to be thankful for.

Mimi and I woke up at 3AM on Black Friday and stood in line with the rest of the lunatics at Kohls. We also hit Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond all before 7AM! We found some good deals that got our adrenaline pumping. It was my first Black Friday shopping experience and will probably be the last. It was fun and now I can say been there done that but typically I like to leave the masses for the asses and I like my sleep.

On Saturday we decorated the house for Christmas and put up the tree. We never have the opportunity to spend Christmas with Mimi and Papi so we had our own little celebration with a few gifts. Now that the tree is up, click here to see how I feel about it... I could seriously drive Trent crazy!

In keeping with the holiday spirit, Mimi bought gingerbread men for Currier to decorate. He loved this yummy little project.

On Sunday we went into Charleston to walk through the market and eat lunch. We went to the Noisy Oyster for steamed oysters, fried green tomatoes, seafood platters and beer. After lunch we went to the Pavilion Rooftop Bar for a cocktail and enjoyed the view of Charleston.

Before heading back to Florida, Mimi shared a recipe for Kalachi (Croatian Christmas Bread) that has been in the Balent Family for generations. I'm not allowed to share the recipe with you but I am allowed to tell you that it is so good! Ha ha!

It was a wonderful week filled with happy memories, lots of laughs, great food (Thanks to Mimi!), long happy hours and a whole lot of love. Great visit!