Christmas Day

After each boy opened his Santa gift, we headed over to Mimi and G-Daddy's house for breakfast, presents and fun with cousins. 

 The kids came up with a cute skit for all of the adults.

Then we headed to Nana and Papaw's house for more cousins, more presents and more food.   We know we are abundantly blessed and are thankful to have celebrated another Christmas with family!

Christmas Eve 2014

After a wonderful evening celebrating Christmas Eve with Paul's side of the family, we want to wish you a Merry, Merry Christmas!

School Holiday Parties

It is hard to believe the fall semester has passed so quickly, but this week was time to celebrate the upcoming holiday season.  

The whole kindergarten got together in the cafeteria to decorate cookies and play games.  Jacob didn't do half bad at "Pin the nose on the snowman."  

The fifth graders made snowmen out of socks and fabric and then enjoyed lots of snacks and hot chocolate for their winter celebration.  

We even convinced Matthew's class to get together for a photo op.  Now it's time for a two week break from the everyday routine.

Gingerbread House Party

My junior high and high school friend, Michelle hosts a festive party for the kids every year. She is gracious to include us in the fun!

 Each child gets his or her own gingerbread house to decorate to their liking.  Jacob was thrilled with the plethora of candy laid out for him to eat decorate with.  We think he is powered by candy.

Matthew took the design process pretty seriously, but he had to test the materials to make sure they were suitable for use on his house.  

His finished product turned out really well.

Sophie's Sleep Over and Over and Over...

Starting today, Cousin Sophie gets to stay with us for six days while her parents celebrate her mom's 40th birthday in Fiji.  

We got a gingerbread house to start off the fun.  It was fun to watch everyone cooperate to decorate the house and eat a little candy too.  

The final product turned out great!

Happy 10th Birthday, Maisy!

Today was Maisy's 10th birthday.  We celebrated with a couple of extra treats for her and a nice long walk.  She wasn't sure why she was receiving the extra attention, but she loved it!

Time to See St. Nick

Now that we have our Christmas Tree, it is time to get serious about getting in the spirit.  We decided to beat the crowds and go see Santa Claus early this year.  

We walked right up and the boys had a nice long visit with Santa about what they might like for Christmas.  

I love it that my older two guys are willing to go with the flow and choose not to ruin the fun for Jacob without me having to coerce them.  Being the third child, I know he gets exposed to more of the world than his brothers did at that age.  I am thankful they are allowing him to be young as long as possible.