Engleberts in Missouri [miz-er-ree]

Santa and his helpers were very good to everyone at our house this year. There were no tears, a delicious dinner was consumed and we spent several happy hours playing various games we received for Christmas.

One of the best games we got this year was Buzztime Trivia - a game Steve & I have played many times while out for dinner and a drink. We all played several rounds - surprising ourselves with both how much knowledge is crammed in our collective brains as well as how none of us is very fast on the buzzer. We also played a rousing game of Electronic Family Feud. One of the best things about both of these games is that Steve (and others who shall remain nameless but whose initials are J-O-N) haven’t figured out how to cheat at them yet.

We also played several rounds of PIT - a game we used to have several years ago but which is MIA after several moves. This game is loud, frenzied and a cheater’s paradise. You can see a little of the action here… (this will take a moment or two to load which gives you time to turn down your volume!)

Stealing the 12 Days of Christmas idea from my online friend Deborah over at Outabody Mommy here is a summary of how my Christmas went…

Twelve hours of cooking

Eleven hours of wrapping

Ten pounds of turkey

Nine pounds of ham

Eight different side dishes

Seven overly excited children (including Alex)

Six bags of garbage

Five pounds of mashed potatoes

Four hours of family games on

Three hours of sleep

Two legs a trembling

and a set of Garnet jewelry!

Sadly, Christmas is over and done now but I am happy to say that I pretty much stuck to our Christmas budget. I only went over a little on the kids’ gifts. I can’t say the same for Steve - he went over by several hundred dollars. It’s hard to be mad at him though since I was the recipient of his generosity. All I can say is that I must have been very very good this year.

So we went from this

to this

at light speed and now all that’s left is to take down the decorations, take the kids shopping to spend gift cards, plan New Year’s activities and enjoy the rest of Stephanie and Alex’s visit.