Fu and his Bappies

Bappy-Bu & Bappy-Pur-pur

(translation: Blue Pacie and Red Pacie ...he thinks it's purple)
I wonder if we'll have a hard time getting those away from him???? Pacifiers are like crack for babies!!!

Christmas Events

In case you missed our cute What's Bakin'? header and Christmas music, I apologize for once again being the blog-slacker!!! This was our cute and festive little page header. And below you will find all the posts related to the holidays. We were so busy but had a blast!

Enjoy the reading!

Oh...and I'm trying to figure out how to use the new blog amp...so new tunes are to come!

Playgroup Moms

Brooks, Allison, Me, Jen, Jackie, & April

Playgroup Dads

Chris, David, Stephen, Shannon, and Michael

******

For about five years we have been getting together with all 8 of our first-born boys. We all now have second-born boys and Jen has a third boy for a grand total of 19. I blog on the activities of this little group often. However, this night was different! Shannon and I decided to host the first EVER playgroup couples night WITH NO BOYS!!! We couldn't believe that with as close as all of us have gotten we have never gotten together as a group just with the couples!! We each prepared a dish and had a nice quiet evening together with great laughs and conversation.

Believe it or not...all the girls sat at the dining room table and all the guys sat in the living room at the banquet table. It was as if we were in 5th grade all over again.

We truly missed Summer and Will, Donna and Joel, and Allison's husband, Wes. But we intend to do it again soon and hopefully everyone will make it!

Can you believe that Chic-fil-A Chicken Nuggets were not on the menu? This is a first!!!

The tables were actually set for adults ( No boosters, sippie cups, etc.!)

Of course you'd find Chris in the middle of all the girls!!! Is it our conversations that he loves????

(Surprise! It's another "Claudia's Kitchen" shot...the permanent backdrop for all my photos. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...When I win the lottery I will build a house with a 2ooo sq. ft. kitchen!!! )

David takes a break from dinner to pose for the pic

Christmas Day 2007

WOW!!!! How truly fortunate we are to be able to celebrate this amazing Holiday! It is such a delight to see the look of awe on the faces of my sweet boys on Christmas morning. I have been trying to explain the true meaning of Christmas to my boys. Sam thinks it is so cool that they not only get their own birthdays but they get to celebrate Jesus' too. He's a little older now and I can more easily explain the symbolism behind certain customs and traditions. I really think he's actually "getting it" a little.

Christmas a.m. was a riot. Sam and Fulton slept in as usual and finally made it downstairs about 9:30 (and for that we were very thankful!) The boys marveled at their loot from Santa and thoroughly enjoyed opening gifts. I think Santa and his helper had just as good of a time setting it all out! One nameless helper even had to run frantically from his house of assignment to our house to deliver MORE BATTERIES!!!! Crisis!!

NaNa and Papa came by that a.m. to check out all the goodies that Santa brought. After opening gifts, we feasted on a yummy coffee cake and fresh fruit salad for breakfast. We didn't dare stuff ourselves though...because the best was yet to come at Muzzy and Boppa's!

We went to mom & dad's for lunch with my mom's side of the family. We devoured our traditional feast and enjoyed spending time with those we don't see very often. We exchanged gifts with mom and dad, Nicolas, Clayton and April and shared several great laughs.

All in all it was another wonderful Christmas. We are so blessed in so many ways! We have some really great relatives and happy, healthy and handsome boys for whom we are able to provide some good ol' fashioned Holiday Cheer!

Who came to see you last night???

SANTA!!!!!

Sam's stash

Fu's loot

A little something for them to share

Santa loves dogs too!

Fu tearing into his presents

Sam lets 'em rip!

Fu cookin' up some fun on his grill

Sam as Optimus Prime

Fulton as Optimus prime

Sam already confiscating Fu's guitar

Santa's treats

Clayton & Nic opening presents
Sam gets more Planet Heroes

Mom with her fancy Letter Bugz note cards designed by MOI!!
Sam & Fulton in their NEW bean-bags
We have an inside joke about yard gnomes...so that was the gag gift from my mom to my dad...A Gamecock Gnome

A sleepy Boppa as Optimus Prime (Please...he had to know we put that on him)
And after a long day, Fu and Shan catch a little siesta

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

XO

WHAT'S BAKIN'?

Christmas Eve 2007

Today is Christmas Eve and we've takin' it easy for the first time in MANY years. We went to the children's service at St. John's and came home to finish wrapping some presents. We went over to mom and dad's house for a plethora of yummy things to eat for dinner. Clayton and April joined us after dropping the girls off with their dad. It was very quiet which was very much out of the ordinary for Christmas Eve until...

As always, someone breaks out into song! Nicolas treated himself to an early Christmas gift of ROCK BAND! It is an amazing video game where the object is to hit every note correctly on vocals, every beat on drums, and every chord on guitar. In case you're not familiar...here's a link http://www.rockband.com/ ! I highly recommend it! Your hubbies would LOVE it and so would your kids!

What a riot!!! I'd like to introduce the band to you!

Shannon and Sam on Drums

Nic and Clayton sharing vocals and Nic on the Guitar

Me and April on back-up
Mom and Dad were about to wet their pants. It was so hilarious and so much fun. We sang/played some of the greatest head-bangin' crazy songs EVER! The cool thing is... the more points you get, the more new songs you earn.

Anywho...We were having so much fun that Marshall and Christie, Mom & Dad's cute newlywed neighbors had to pop in for the fun.

I thank God every day for my amazingly colorful family. The dynamics are far different from any other family I know. I am so glad to be a part of this group of people and I thank them for my character!

It is so great having my baby brothers around. They help us all stay with the times.

Michael and his family and April's girls were missed terribly but we still had a fabulous time together! We sang and laughed for so long I almost died when I found out the time! We had to hurry home to get the boys in bed. We headed home with the boys in great anticipation of Santa's visit!

Christmas at the Lake

This year we changed Christmas with the Baker side of the family too! We usually get together early on Christmas Eve but this year we decided to do it on the 23rd so all of us could spend the night together at the lake and have breakfast together on Christmas Eve.

Look at all those cookies! They don't call us "Bakers" for nothin'!

Fulton enjoying a cupcake

Talitha & I made cookies with the kids after our yummy dinner. Then we all opened presents! Everyone was thoroughly pleased with their gifts.
We are so blessed to have two wonderful sets of Grand-parents who love our children dearly!

Sam opening a present from Nana and Papa

Kirstin opens one too

Sam watching Madeline open a present

The two greatest gifts of ALL!!!

Fu and his new cool Batman

We were soon off to bed. And Fu made sure it was NOT a good night's sleep for anyone. Sometimes he is WAY too much like his mother. He wanted to stay up and chat ALL night with Sam.

I must have heard "Tham, you wake up" and "You thweep, Tham?" until 1:00 a.m. He was thrilled to get to sleep in the room with his big brother. Poor Sam kept saying "Fully! Put your head down." Fully, it's time to go to sleep."

Some of the conversations in the room were so funny! I love listening to them talk.

The next morning we enjoyed a great waffle breakfast and some chit-chat over coffee.

Shortly after, we all headed our separate ways for our Christmas Eve festivities!

Fu and his grub!

Chefs Nana and Papa

Sam and Kirstin

We really enjoyed our small change in tradition. I think we've decided to do it again in 2008!

Christmas Dinner with the out-of towners

Our Christmas plans changed just a bit this year. We got together with my side of the family a little early to celebrate with my out-of-town brothers Clayton and Michael and their families. Mom cooked the traditional Italian dinner and we enjoyed it as much as always. The Rat Pack Christmas CD set the tone and we truly enjoyed each other's company.

Clayton, April, Madison and Emma came from Augusta. Michael, Kristin, Jameson, and Isabella came from Summerville. Shannon and I packed up and came all the way from around the corner! The children all exchanged gifts and had a blast running around showing off their cool new stuff!

We are truly blessed to be able to share so much fun together at the Holidays. There are now 15 of us and space feels tight at times and things can get kind of crazy (leaving me or April to casually ask..."Does anyone have any Xanax??) BUT it is all something we will be able to look back on and remember and be thankful for!!!

A note to the Tronco Fam:
Thanks so much for everything y'all did to make our Christmas "Bright". Sam and Fulton truly LOVE each of you, as do we! Y'all are all so special to us and I have NO clue what I'd do without y'all!
Nic, Clayton, & Michael,
Thanks for the absolutely NECESSARY chaos. It wouldn't be Christmas without it! ..."Ahh.. Holiday Cheer!"
Mom & Dad,
Thanks for breaking your necks to make everything wonderful, as usual! Y'all never cease to amaze me with your ability to make all of us smile. Merry Christmas!!!!
XXXOOO
CTB

Nic, Michael, & Mom
Clayton April Madison and Emma

Jameson and Sam Check out their potential loot

Emma enjoying dinner on her throne

Ahhh nothing like good table manners. Fulton wipes his mouth on the tablecloth!

The kiddie table---Madison, Sam, Jameson, and Isabella


Sam LOVED his Planet Heroes Shuttle from Michale and Kristin
Fulton loves his Marble Racer from Michael and Kristin

Sam and Jameson compare their Star Wars men from Uncle Clayton and April

Emma LOVES the box!