Christmas Eve

We did  our usual Christmas Eve tradition of heading to Nana and Papa's for pizza and presents.  We have already had 2 traditional Christmas meals at this point so we are more than ready for some pizza.  The kids always have the best time playing with their cousins.  Then we open gifts and we all got some great gifts.  The big hit of the night for the kids is they all got their Dream Lights and Stompies/Silly Slippies.  These were at the top of every one's Christmas list.  Later we headed home to get ready for Santa to come.  We had lots of work to do.  First we had to put out food for his reindeer.  Then we had to put out some milk and cookies for Santa.  Finally it was off to bed.  Of course, Nathan and Abby were asleep within minutes.  I went in to check on Noah and he wasn't asleep but he squeezed his eyes shut really tight and pretended.  He was very worried about Santa not coming so he didn't dare move.  He was asleep a few minutes after that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decorated for Christmas...

I love to decorate for Christmas.  Of course I am already trying to think of things to add to our decorations next year.  I love the way the house looks decorated for Christmas.  It's just so cozy.  It will stay up until New Year's so that I can sit and enjoy it now that everything is over. 

 

Breakfast room tree full of handmade ornaments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kids' School Christmas Parties

The boys had their annual Sing Around the Tree and party at school last week.  Unfortunately Nathan came down with the flu and strep throat on Tuesday night so he missed the entire last week of school before the holidays.  Poor guy!  He just cried and cried when he realized he was missing his party.  Bobby took him to pick out a movie and lots of candy while we were at the party.  He watched Santa Paws, ate a bag of popcorn and an entire chocolate bar.  Needless to say he forgot about the party.  Noah had a good time.  When he came in he kept looking until he found me.  Even after they started singing he was still waving at me.  After the sing a long we went back to the room for the party.  I have never seen so much food in my entire life.  I am pretty sure that Noah went into a sugar coma after a few minutes! :)  They decorated gingerbread men, ate lots of food and exchanged gifts.  We had a good time but sure missed Nathan.  We took him an entire plate of food so he even got to decorate the gingerbread men.

Abby celebrated at school for a couple of days.  I was supposed to go both days but I had to miss the first day to stay with Nathan.  On the first day they had their party.  They had a pizza party with a few desserts.  The next day was Polar Express Day and everyone went to school in their pj's.  Of course Abby loved that.  They had hot cocoa and cookies while they watched the movie.  That afternoon I went in and did some crafts with the class.  We made snowman kabobs and little foam snowmen.  In all the excitement I didn't manage to get a single picture of Abby's class.  By the time I went in on Friday afternoon they were beyond excited! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, he has a mouth full of food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noah

I like to use this blog to record some of the funny little things the kids do.  These are the kind of things you want to remember when they are all grown up.  Noah has come up with some interesting things lately.  First of all, he wants a belt for Christmas.  He only wants a belt.  He told Santa and he wrote it on a Christmas list at school.  We finally pulled out one of Clayton's old belts for him.  He wears it constantly.  He even wears it over his pajamas.  We do insist he take it off before bed.  A few weeks ago when I took the boys shopping they begged for Santa hats so I bought one for all three of them.  Noah wore it everywhere for at least a week.  He wore it to Abby's school, shopping, to bed, etc.  I drew the line at church.  I also told him that he couldn't wear it every day to school because they probably weren't allowed to wear hats at school.  Well, he checked it out with his teacher the next day and came home to let me know that she said that would be fine.  So, we wore it to school for several days.  His other newest obsession is wearing only pajama bottoms because this is what the "big boys" do according to him.  Poor guy is so cold natured so I know he freezes but we can't talk him out of it.  Noah cracks me up.  He wants to do everything on his own and wants to be a "big boy." 

The Nativity

Abby danced in her ballet school's performance of  The Nativity this year.  She had to try out for this and spent every Saturday morning for about 6 weeks practicing.  It is an absolutely beautiful show that they put on every year.  The music, the costumes, the dancing, the message...it's amazing.  It was even more amazing getting to watch Abby dance in it for the first time.  She danced to Away in a Manger with several other little "angel" dancers.  She looked beautiful in her costume and did a great job with her dance.  We were so proud of our little angel.  We are both so thrilled that she has found something at such an early age that she enjoys so much.