Merry Christmas 2010!

Our favorite part about Christmas...
Owen: My lego set
Davis: ALL the presents
Kate: My sticker book
Gracie: Kate's new cash register...or her new barn...not sure which she would pick
Jed: Watching the kids open their gifts
Me/Erica: the food, the family (Nana and Papa were here too!), the day without rules...sure eat another treat...sure stay in your pajamas all day and Owen telling me at 2:00 a.m. when I went to check on the kids that he had been up to go to the bathroom a little while before and had heard Santa's boots in our house! He was so excited...pure joy!

Christmas Eve with Friends/Family

We were so excited to have my parents here for Christmas this year. It is always a treat to have BOTH Nana and Papa come! The first night they were here we drove around and looked at Christmas lights and walked around a tiny bit of the down town area. The next night was Christmas Eve and there was excitement in the air. Our dear friends, the Courtrights, joined us for dinner. You can bet that when Miss Loretta, Miss Carol and Mr Pete are around, these kids are going to be very spoiled...and spoiled they were.Kate and Pete

All the kids love Davis' fishing game. :)

Gracie loves her baby!
Yummy! Miss Carol's log cake.We ended the night with our traditional "I Believe in Santa Claus" book, review of the Christmas Story, family prayer and all of the final preparations for Santa's arrival...the only question was would any of us be able to sleep? We were all excited!

A Christmas Music Class Field Trip

For our final music class of 2010 we decided to have the kids help with a food/gift drive at a local high school where our friend "Mr Ben" is a music teacher/Band Director. He hooked us up with all sorts of fun instruments. The kids loved making lots of noise and running around....thanks for the fun Ben!

Oh Holy Mouth!

Owen finally lost that wiggly bottom tooth that lines up perfectly with the space from the upper tooth he lost when he was just one year old. What a space! A visit from the tooth fairy and Santa in the same week! You better believe we are excited!

Watch out Lance Armstrong!

Last night my washing machine broke (grrrr!). It was determined that it was officially dead and that we would need a new one (Merry Christmas to us!--kind of irritating since the thing is only 5 years old--they just don't make 'em like they used to), so while I was busy with the man delivering the new machine Owen and Davis were busy with a project of their own...taking the training wheels off of Davis' bike! I was amazed, Davis just hopped on. I helped to steady him and off he rode. You can tell this kid has an older brother because he knew exactly what to do. He told me that his dad told him to just ride over to the grass when he was done and then get off there, so that is what he did over and over again...no tears, no fuss, no hesitation...wow, who is this kid?

The Power of Santa

Oh, to have the power of Santa...We can threaten...We can put them in time-out...We can take away their "screen time"...We can ban them from treats...We can send them to bed early, but none of these techniques are as powerful as the words, "Santa is watching. Are you going to be on the naughty list?" Oh, to be Santa!



These photos were from the Christmas Party at our church.

This one's for my children....

With all of the posts about fun holiday this and that, I feel the need to post a picture of one of my dark secrets. Truth be told, I don't ever want my kids to grow up thinking, "How did Mom do all that she did?" I am hoping that they will remember that I was at their class parties, I hosted play-dates, we went to music class, we loved the library, we tried to be at lots of community events, etc. Along with all of that I want them to know that I had to cut corners from time to time in order to make all of that happen. :) I have mentioned before that laundry is my nemesis. Well, just before the babysitters got here to make the previous post possible, I had three loads of clean, unfolded laundry on my couch. Of course I couldn't have them seeing my family room this way, so I shoved it ALL back into my dryer. If you have never thought to do this, you can thank me later for the idea. The clothes may be a little wrinkled, but it got me where I needed to be on time and everyone who was in our home had a place to sit! Now you know...I cannot do it all. Whew.