christmas new year's eve!

we just can't seem to stop celebrating! we made a very quick trip to simonton to have christmas with my side of the family. we tried to take a pic of the kids... thanks to grammie and poppy for all the new clothes!

it began with lots of food prep which allie loves to be a part of

caleb stayed well entertained with the christmas villiage that my mom always sets out.

they attacked my sweet grandmother when she arrived... it was such a blessing to see them excited to see her - if you are a parent of little ones, you know you have no control over their outward show of affection toward people!

look at this handsome guy!!! his eyes get more blue everyday!

all the girls... four generations!

riley got fireman boots to be a little like his older bro

aunt robin brought silly string... a family tradition.. this is mady and katy on the attack!

allie and the silly string

ready for fireworks... my mom is holding "baby jackie"... she's not so baby anymore!

my dad put on an amazing display of fireworks!!! caleb ran in circles and screamed the entire firework show! he loved it. i don't know if you recall our last time of seeing fireworks, but he ran up to me in the middle and said, "mommy, i'm not even throwing up!!!

a final merry christmas to all our friends and family! we'll be posting our new year's letter tomorrow night!

on the road....

we finally got to head out of town and get our christmas vacation underway. i couldn't help but take this picture. after watching two movies the kids finally crashed... but only for 30 min.

soon after we arrived so did the snow!!! the kids were thrilled. i would have a fun pic of caleb in the snow, but just after this shot he got snow in his mittens and flipped out!!! it was cold!

we shared christmas eve with family at gg's house. lots of fun with food, cousins, and presents!

on christmas morning the kids were excited to see all the snow that they would get to play in!

we continued our christmas morning tradition of christmas tree cinnamon rolls.... Yummy!!

we opened gifts from grammie and poppy.... here is one of allie's most prized gifts... oooh, la, la!

then it was out to play in the snow.... it was too dry to build a snowman, but still perfect for snow angels. caleb still tried to throw snowballs much to his frustration!

i LOVE this picture!!! they are getting so big!

on christmas evening we had the opportunity to visit with our friends, shawn and rachel tate. here are all six of our kids... FIVE BOYS... poor allie!

we headed home the next day, braving the icy road conditions. it took us a little longer than normal, but at least the kids were in good humor. at one point, allie said, "mom, watch!" and did this:

she learned to cross her eyes this summer and thought we could all use a laugh after such a stressful drive....she just loves to keep us laughing!
(**scroll down to see christmas at our house**)

Christmas at home!

the night before our trip to Bartlesville, we celebrated as an immediate family. we've combined traditions by wrapping most gifts, but leaving one gift unwrapped. lance got the tree all set up while i gave the kids their baths. we'll tell you each of their favorite gifts:

allie was thrilled with her baby bed and LOVED that it was pink... of course! i found this bed at an antique shop up the street. lance sanded it, gave it a new bottom, and painted it for her.

caleb couldn't wait to get the plastic off his fireman outfit. HE has not stopped being a fireman ever since!

riley had no clue what was happening this year, but he did get his first "lovey." it is a crocodile that we affectionately named "hatch." it had been his travel and sleeping buddy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS!!!

i have to say that this holiday has not started out as well as we'd like... we were so looking forward to some time off, but.... lance lost his voice over the weekend, caleb had fever on sunday, i was throwing up on monday, and riley has fever today. so far allie has the stongest immune system of all of us! Despite our health we still want to wish everyone a very merry christmas! May you be richly blessed by the Lord's love which he lavished on us through the birth of his son!

oh, and here is a little laugh

christmas tour

i love decorating for Christmas. a day or two after thanksgiving it all comes out! although i wish a i could have all my friends and family over for a hot cup of cider, i know that is not possible so i will give a virtual tour for those that won't be in our home this season!

i have a thing for colored themed trees.... this year is blues and silver!

remember this little nook that i loved at thanksgiving? i made it into a spot for the kids to play with a nativity. OH, and my apologies to my dad for not mentioning it the first time.... he made this bench and I LOVE IT! i had it on my porch when i moved into my very first apartment post graduation. on the bottom it reads "who loves ya?" a famous daddy phrase! :)

our mantel: the small red scrapbook is a gift from my mom that captures the special moments of Christmas 2006 (aka: Christmas in the hospital) the ornament wreath looks purple for some reason... it is really silver!
this was my first attempt at making a scrapbook paper tree.. i learned alot from the first one and i think i'll make a whole little forest!
would you believe that it only took me four years to finally get my kids' stockings done. these are crazy quilted.... so easy, and so fun!
this is my FAVORITE nativity!!!
this is our Christmas countdown/advent. each envelope has a scripture to read and every once in awhile an envelope will have a Christmas carol to sing or a fun activity to do. activities include drinking hot chocolate, driving through Christmas lights, watching a Christmas video, wrapping gifts for others, or decorating cookies.

KIDS AND CHRISTMAS:
this is elf on the shelf (can be found at hallmark)... he hides from the kids most days... today he was hiding in the tree!
this is one of three nativities that our kids are allowed to play with. i think it is so important that they can use these to act out the story of Jesus... we want our children to know that THIS is Christmas!
this book has been such a blessing during the holidays. it is full of ideas, stories, activities, and great explanations for the traditions of the season. (examples: baking reminds us of the bread of life, and the lights on our houses remind us of the light of the world).
and, of course, my kids have their own little trees because i have theme issues. they love using these as nightlights. they decorate them all by themselves... check out the bottom left corner of this tree (which is allie's .... mostly PINK an purple)!