A holiday update

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas! I can't believe it's over already - that's a little disappointing for me because I love Christmas! Even though I'm sad it's over until next year, I have to say to it was a very beautiful Christmas. It is so much more amazing with children, you know? So many wonderful memories made... so many magical moments!

"Mommy, Christmas was so beautiful!" my 4 year old said to me, on the drive home from my inlaws last night, and he's so right. It really is a beautiful time.

It was fun, but boy, was it hectic!

We hosted a party for about 25 of our friends on the 23rd, and that morning, my 4 year old woke up with a very bad ear infection. Of course, we went to the doctors, and sure enough, Christos was prescribed antibiotics, just like his brother. 2 sick little boys on Christmas - not ideal, but they were still troopers. Ear infections turned into conjectivitis turned into sore throats and runny noses - yet again. It seems it's non-stop sicknesses so far this winter, which is why I hate winter so much! My boys seem to be constantly sick. However, they had a really nice evening out with my parents, and even enjoyed dinner at the National Arts Centre, at Le Cafe - I have fond memories of going there with my parents when I was younger, too.

Here are some pictures of my friends and I...

Look what I got - a new calendar for my wall at work!







The next day, Christmas Eve, was celebrated with my entire family at my parents house - it was a lovely evening with lots of great food, music, and lots of presents and craziness. Yes, I was spoiled, but not as much as my boys! In a few years, we'll start attending midnight mass again - that is one thing I miss since having children - it's just way too late to take them to church, though.

One of my favourite things to eat on Christmas Eve is my grandmother's special Greek Chicken Soup - here she is feeding my baby boy... yum!



My mom and my son getting ready to open presents...



... and Dimitry, having a little too much fun!





Christos woke up really early with his sore throat on Christmas Day (we're talking 4 a.m early, and we had just fallen asleep at 2, so yeah, zombies...) and despite everything, he was happy to discover all the goodies left him in his stocking - especially all the gems, crysals and rocks! He was also happy that Santa enjoyed his cookies and milk.



He couldn't wait for his brother to wake up to show him what Santa left. They were so happy - opening present after present - it took me two days to finally tidy up my house and put everything away! We went overboard, and next year, I'm totally toning it down. (I say this now - please remind me of this next year, as I'm likely to forget, okay?)





I received a pretty blue box from Tiffany & Co. from my boys, with this amazing necklace, symbolizing the three boys in my house who love me... awww!



Honestly, this is the necklace I desperately wanted, but never told anyone - amazing how my hubby just guessed correctly, right? I also found out that he bought me my own domain name - yes, for real! Now I'm just loulousviews.com! Yahoo! Talk about an excellent stocking stuffer for this blogging loving mama!

We then enjoyed the rest of the day at my inlaws house, where the children had even more fun, and opened even more presents!



Also? I'm leaving on a jet plane soon - a ladies only trip - well, a trip with my grandmother, my mother, my pregnant sister, myself, and my two boys, of course! We're heading down south, where the sun will warm us all up, and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach will make me very happy indeed... I can't wait to build sand castles with my boys, and leave the winter boots behind, at least for a while! Flip flops, here I come! I need the sun and the sand, and I crave the warm weather!

Anyway, from my family to yours... I hope you had a very Merry Christmas, a lovely holiday season, and I hope your 2010 is filled with love, health, and happiness!