Rockin' Around the Christmas, um, Fireplace

Santa paid a visit to Marc and me on December 17th. Because of our travels over the Christmas Holiday, we were not together alone for almost ten days, so we had our holiday a little early. After a very festive dinner out, we all sat around and opened gifts.

Lullabelle, anxiously awaiting the unwrapping of a stocking gift. What could it be?

It's a gelpack!

Sharing the gelpack love with Sandy.

One of Marc's favorite gifts - a Jim Tressell-style sweater vest!

Jewelry is always a winner

All the exitement wore Lullabelle out.

Lessons Learned

Lesson Number 1:

The videos must be taken horizontially. I can't rotate the video like I can a photo. (At least I haven't figured it out yet.)

Lesson Number 2:
I shouldn't shoot a video and hold a dog leash while the dog is chasing a go-cart. It creates a "Cloverfield" type movie.


Oh, and Michael, wait I mean Hudson and Bowen got a go-cart from Santa. :-)
It was lots of fun! Except for the part where Michael and Hudson drove through an ant bed.

Ring the Alarm

My faithful camera died on December 22. After a string of obscenities and an appropriate mourning period, I bought a new, updated version of the camera I lost. It is thinner, lighter and was almost $100 cheaper. And it has a neat video feature!
So enjoy Tom driving away. And get excited about the future of a blogger with videos!

The Fireman

Our good friend Tom is a firefighter and paramedic in Fort Walton Beach. Last week he participated in the funeral of a former firefighter and drove this early model fire engine in the procession.

He and his dog Epi dropped by the LaMotte's home to show off the engine and we really enjoyed checking out the truck.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Early in the Morning

This is what happens when I get up earlier than everyone else.

They Say it's Your Birthday

Last weekend we attended My nephew's birthday party. It was held at Jumpin' Joeys, also known as my own personal version of hell.

The kids LOVE this place and had SO much fun. But all I could think - in between the high pitched kiddie screams - is that my nephews were going to break their necks. I guess this is what it's like to be a mom. Yikes! How do you deal with this stress? So different than work stress.

Regardless, I was glad we could join the family and celebrate with Huddy. I love that little man!

And the other little man LOVES a cupcake! Or, at least, the icing on top :-)

Happy Birthday Huddy!

Aunt Mary and Uncle Marc love you VERY much!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Hard Habit to Break

We are trying to break a bad habit - letting Lullabelle on the couch. It has just been easier to let her get up and sleep on it rather than tell her no and have her try and get us off the the computer. (And believe me, she knows how to stop the hand from typing! She is too smart for her own good.) But the dog hair on our clothes got to be a bit much - Lullabelle sheds A LOT - and she took up more than her fair share of the sofa.

So what does a crafty dog do? Try and find ways around the word no, of course!


See, she's not really on the couch if two of her paws are still on the floor!

And laying on the pillows from the couch that Marc needs to stretch his neck aren't technically the couch, so that's okay, right?

A Whole Lotta Marc!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

We've Been Elfed!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Fellow blogger Melissa and her family were elfed, and I laughed so hard that I decided to elf the McMottes. We added in Marc in the Brutus head so we could have five of us gettin' down!

And They Call it Puppy Love

Are you in the Holiday Spirit?

We are!