Christmas came and went so fast this year... it was a whirlwind. We started with our annual Stone Mountain Village trip to kick off the local festivities, then made the trip to Eau Claire for Christmas. The Trip there and back went smoothly, as only one kid barfed on the plane. Above, Catie loved her awesome Rudolph face painting. 
If you ever want a guarantee for a white Christmas, Eau Claire is your destination of choice. It is always so snowy that we have the kids convinced that Santa lives only a short drive north of Grandma and Grandpa Moe.
Abby found the snow to be quite interesting and seemed to enjoy playing outside.
This picture of Catie was extremely difficult to capture because she only went outside for about 2o seconds the entire trip! She is not a fan of the cold and snow, nor jackets, hats, gloves, or boots!
Jackson actually loved playing in the snow and helping Grandpa shovel the driveway. Here Abster got into the act and was a natural.
Of course the trip would not be complete without sledding down Uncle John's big hill. Unfortunately, Jackson had a big wipe-out, complete with a giant face wash and that was the end of sledding for the day.
As usual, Christmas morning was an exciting time with the spirited Schwartz kids and all the presents taking over the room. Grandma and Grandpa always surpass expectations and make Christmas a special time for the kids...us too! Between Santa, 3 sets of grandparents, Uncle John and Aunt Ann, these kids have no idea how good they've got it.
The Pillow Pets were a big hit with all the kids... Abby demonstrating how comfy they are to sleep on...
The Chaos Water Park was one of the few places open on Christmas Day. The place was awesome, with 3 giant waterslides, an obstacle course, and a lazy river. The kids (and adults) had a blast! Only in Wisconsin would a water park serve beer. "Hey out of shape fat guy... have a dozen brews and while you're at it, go for a swim..."
Abby had her adenoid surgery a couple weeks ago, and it went off without a hitch. Above is a picture of her just after the procedure, still asleep from anesthesia. She slept on and off for about two hours, and as you can see from the pictures below, by the time we left the hospital she was back to her old fun self!
Stiv was "stuck" in this position for 90 minutes holding the sleeping Abster.
This is one utterly cool makeshift balloon!!! Medical school really came in handy here.
Who is ready to leave the hospital?
We began Thanksgiving Day with the Atlanta Half Marathon. Later in the day, the Shores had us over for Thanksgiving dinner where we made up for all the calories burned in the run earlier. The kids had a blast running around and making a mess of the place. Abby and Ariel had fun taking a tub together at the end of the night.
Jackson and Dad spent the Sunday after Thanksgiving setting up our Christmas tree. Jackson was a big help this year, but enjoyed climbing the ladder the most. The directions claim that the process should only take 15 mins... we are not sure why Stiv and Jackson were at it for 1.5 hrs.
The kids enjoyed the Christmas Festival in downtown Tucker... Highlights were roasting (and eating) marshmallows and getting their picture taken with Santa.
Jax and Catie with a present...
Oak Grove CDC hosted a "Night in Bethlehem." There were several "village shops" open for business as well as craftsmen and food merchants. There were even tax collectors strolling through the nativity scene asking for taxes or tokens. Joseph and Mary cared for baby Jesus in a stable, surrounded by shepherds, angels and live animals. The live animals were a big hit with all.
"The Bag Lady"... another one of Catie's great outfits that she selected all on her own.
Jackson and "The Gobbler"... check out the video below.
"I should have been Jewish!" Jackson enjoyed playing the dreidel game and cleaned house!
Catie is taking her spice making very seriously...
The girls love their new shark swim caps. They wore them around the house pretending to be sharks, only they were both roaring like lions????
Abby and Catie had their Christmas Program at Oak Grove. Abby and her class "sang" Ring Those Bells. Abby seemed a bit confused, but did figure out how to shake the bells by the end of the song.
Jackson was in the middle of a big game of skeet ball. If there is another way to loose money faster, we would like to know what it is... Gotta love Chuck E. Cheese!
The kids spent most of the weekend misbehaving and doing a poor job of listening, so we sent them to bed early with no "midnight" snack. They obviously were sending us a message that they did not like the turn of events because the next morning we found a "dead" horse in our bed!
Welcome to the wonderful world of peanut butter... obviously Abster thinks it was worth the wait!
We decided to celebrate Abster's birthday with the immediate family at the old homestead. Of course, an Elmo theme was the only choice for the cake decorations. 
It seems that every child in America has to have their picture taken in a laundry basket! So here you go Abby.
Jackson is learning about Dr. Suess at school. He has to create a poster with a time line of the author's life and present to his class. Of course, he is going to wear The Cat in the Hat outfit for his presentation.
Snow was forecasted for Atlanta the night before it arrived. We quickly ran over to Publix and bought out all the bread and milk to prepare for the winter storm. All you can eat french toast at the Schwartzes!!! All the schools and roads were closed the night before the storm just in case... Of course daycare closed in anticipation of the snow.... I wonder if they will give us our money back for the day???
Notice how unprepared we are for this type of weather. Catie does not have a true winter coat to protect her from the elements, nor does she know any better.
Jackson looks like he is up to no good with his huge snowball....
