Annual Christmas decor highlights

Here it is again!  It is time to highlight the special decor of the year!  First we have a plate that Cade made in his CFBC Preschool class last year.  I LOVE the way it has his hand and foot prints included as a keepsake.  My favorite part is how I know it is my own child's prints as he has a larger big toe and crocked pinky fingers!  The same goes for Caelin's sweet little feet made into mistleTOE she made at school this year.  I also feel the need to add the "Jesus" sign Caelin painted and decorated at our ADVENTure night at CFBC.  The fact that she could choose so many things to decorate it with, yet chose jewels makes me laugh.  She worked so hard at lining up those jewels and I think would have put every one she could find on her sign if we didn't stop her!  Next up is some awful looking macaroni ornament I apparently made in the 3rd grade.  Besides the amazing self portrait, I am stunned at the macaroni art and the fact that someone spray painted it gold.  Mrs. Dufelmeyer was my 3rd grade teacher, and I must have her to think for this work of art...kinda.  Next highlight is Charles' hanging mobile Santa.  Charles made this in early elementary school and I love it.  You can tell early on that Charles was an artist!  Finally, this years final highlight is a card to Charles from his Great Grandma, Mam-ee.  The card must have been given to him in 1990, and references how she appreciates his heart of giving and thinking of her.  That describes Charles for sure!  He has always had a heart of giving.  The picture of Charles with Santa, I found near the card and am thinking Charles was around 11yrs old in the picture, but there is no date on the card.  You can tell by his smile that he is having a LOT of fun sitting on Santa's lap.  I also have to laugh that he looks bigger than Santa...Charles was always a big boy!  Thank you Lord for another year of treasures to remember!

Deck the Hall's

The day we decorate for Christmas has become one of my favorite days each year with kids.  We blast Christmas music, stay in our pajamas, make cookies, dance around, and play with the Christmas decor.  We are reminded by the decorations what Christmas is really about, and I see the magic come alive in the kids.  I always become sentimental this day, thinking of when I was little.  The Christmas' with my parents, celebrating at our Grandmas/Grandpas houses in Lubbock, calling our Cousins to share what we got, and just the feeling of pure JOY in our hearts...like we were on top of the world.  What a true magic that is.  The magic of BELIEVING in things.  Believing in the Christmas story and the birth of such a special baby.  Believing in family and love.  This truly is just a MAGICAL time, and to see my children light up with this same kind of joy is something I will never forget!
So, we decked the Hall's with 2 trees and lots of fun items.  Caelin enjoyed all the stuffed animals we have collected over the years, and Cade enjoyed seeing the nutcrackers and our train set again, although somewhat broken and missing a track now.  :)  I release my OCD tendencies, and allow the kids to decorate with some things however they want.  SO, we might have the train in the middle of the living room for the month, and Caelin has dedicated an entire couch to the animals now.  It is beautiful and perfect to me!  Caelin and I also talked about the nativity set and she sweetly picked up the baby Jesus and took him to her room to rock him and lay him down for a nap.  When it came time to do the tree, Cade helped Daddy put the tree together and get the lights working.  Then, us girls jumped in and we all decorated the tree with ornaments.  The baby ornaments for everyone are hung high up on the tree, our favorite ornaments and hung high as well.  Breakable ornaments are hung by Charles/I up high (we learned our lesson a long time ago), and all the nonbreakable ornaments are left for the kids to do wherever they can reach.  Caelin put the angel on the small tree this year and Cade did the big tree Angel.  Once all the decorating was complete, we made dinner and settled in to have a movie night with cocoa/popcorn and all the classic shows.  We watched The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Hoops/Yoyo, and Elf on the Shelf.  More to come later on our Elf, Jingle!  It was a fantastic day filled with so many memories and family fun!

Thanksgiving Day!

This Thanksgiving was so relaxing!  We started off with a workout at the stadium that Grampee/Charles/I did.  The kids stayed warm with Gamee in their PJ's eating pumpkin muffins and watching the Macy's Parade.  After we finished, we picked up the kids, grabbed a Starbucks, and headed home to relax the day away before heading back to Gamee/Grampee's after nap time.  After naps, we went back to enjoy a delicious meal and family fun.  My favorite was doing smores by the fire outside.  Cade even got a flashlight and prompted everyone to start telling ghost stories.  Grampee had the best one, which made Caelin snuggle even closer to Gamee with a tinge of fear.  It was such a fun and relaxing day for all!  Although Cliche, I must again say, we are SO BLESSED in everything God gives us and thankful for his love most of all.  It would be the longest blog in history if I tried to list everything we have.  It is just overwhelming.  Happy Thanksgiving to all and May God continue to bless our family in years to come.

Family Picture Tragedy

Well, everyone has it, so here is ours.  We have always started every family picture photo shoot with a prayer.  This time was no different, only God was feeling a bit humorous that day.  Poor Gamee came along to be the photographer, and I can see it was even paining her to watch the 2 hour saga unfold.  I cannot recall how many times we offered bribes, tried to "be happy", harshly turned the little heads in the right direction, etc.  I do recall things such as the following being said at least 100 times each, "LOOK at Gamee", "If you want (Insert here...skittle, candy, capri sun, surprise, etc), then look at Gamee", "LOOK AT GAMEE RIGHT NOW", "What is on Gamee's head?", etc.  It just wasn't gonna happen folks, and all you can do is make the best of the situation.  So, this year, our Christmas Cards will proudly say, "Hope your Holidays are better than our pictures!"  To get you in the spirit, here are a few highlights below.

Random Fun