Christmas Eve 2012

On the years we celebrate Christmas in Kansas City, we always spend Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family. In fact, we've done that since I was born I think. We always enjoy our big family get togethers! Maybe I even enjoy them more than everyone else because I'm the only one who lives out of town, and I definitely don't get to see them as often as I'd like to!! 

My sister was the hostess-with-the-mostess this year, as usual!! She's got a big beautiful house with lots of space for the kiddos to play and the grown ups to eat visit. Our family visits ALWAYS include a huge spread of yummy and delicious snacks, which is probably another reason I always look forward to our Christmas Eve get togethers!

We have done a dirty Santa ornament exchange over the years, instead of exchanging gifts, and each year it seems to get more and more exciting! Just ask my cousin Chris about his creepy-baby ornament :)  

This was our first year without my Grandma there. Christmas Eve was my Grandma's favorite night of the year, I'm sure! She was always showered with presents, which she accepted greatly, with laughs and cackles galore! We knew Christmas would be different without her, but we know she was with us and our Christmas spirit was just as strong, just as she would've wanted it! After all, she taught us all to love Christmas with our whole hearts!! So my Grandpa got to partake in the ornament exchange and the receiving of gifts, something he will learn to enjoy! My sister and I made photo books of all the pictures of my Grandma we could find. Everyone loved them so, and I'm sure we will pull it out at each Christmas and let her see that, even though she's not with us in person, she is always with us in spirit!

And then, like we say we will do each year (and we hardly ever actually do!) we took a family picture!!! Eric set up his tripod, I got my camera ready to go, and in just three takes we got these two amazing pictures!! 

I just love our family!! 

Our Family Christmas

Santa emailed me and said we were very lucky people and he was going to come to our house BEFORE Christmas Eve! The boys were thrilled!! So, on Friday December 19th, we set out cookies and carrots and chocolate milk, and hoped Santa would do as he said! AND HE DID!

The boys leisurely woke up about 7:30 and I was all ready with the camera to see their faces as they came around the corner to see their presents!! Grant immediately went to the Imaginext Pirate Ship and when we told him that was Wyatt's present, he said, "Oh. Cool. I got Legos!" Then they opened their stockings to find all sorts of goodies!! Then I said, "Let's open the rest of our presents!" Grant responded, "These are all for us? WOW, I didn't know!"  

So they took turns opening presents. Grant got a Razor scooter, more Legos, a new Imaginext plane, a bathtub set from Wyatt (which he ran right over to Wyatt for thank you hugs!), Connect 4, and an Imaginext Batman with submarine. Wyatt got a bulldozer, grater, set of balls, a farm set from Grant (which also made him give Grantbig thank you hugs!), and an Imaginext Batman with a four-wheeler. They loved seeing what each other got and were so excited as each present was opened! They did a great job taking turns!!

After the presents were opened, Levi asked if the boys had seen Shed yet. Shed hadn't returned to the North Pole yet since it wasn't Christmas Eve. So we searched and searched the house looking for Shed. They found him sitting on Levi's nightstand, right next to a new iPad. Grant shouted, "Dad, you got a new iPad for Christmas!!!!!"  We told him that was for them to play with and both their faces lit up!! They were totally surprised!! Grant was even more surprised to see that I downloaded a new Lego App just for him!

It was a fabulous day filled with lots of joy and Christmas spirit!! 

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE Grant's preschool?? Well, I do. And today, I might just love it even more than I already did! This time of year makes me appreciate 110% that Grant goes to a Christian preschool! The thought of sending him to a school where you can't celebrate Christmas, let alone, celebrate Jesus' birthday, really makes me uncomfortable (that's a whole other topic, eek!)! And that's exactly what Grant's school did today- they had a birthday party for Jesus! It was ADORABLE!! I walked in to hear his teacher, Ms. Terry, retelling  and acting out the story of the night of Jesus' birth. The kids were pretending to be shepherds and angels, and it was really just the cutest thing you've ever seen! Then they sang numerous songs, like Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Go Tell it on the Mountain. And then came the birthday festivities- complete with cake, ice cream, party hats, and noise makers! The guest of honor even made an appearance at the party (notice baby Jesus in the top right picture?!)  After snacks, some people from a local food bank called Horn of Plenty came to pick up all the food the kids had been bringing in the entire month. The kids were all so proud of themselves to see the boxes upon boxes of food they had collected!

 After that, the kids went back into the big room and watched a few minutes of a nativity cartoon. Then, they went through the halls of the church and activity center caroling to all the guests and staff. They are just so darn cute! Wyatt even wanted to partake in the caroling! And then it was time to say goodbye! The teachers gave each child their very own present, a brand new Christmas book (which we had to read as soon as we got home!). 

I thoroughly enjoy every minute of every activity I see of Grant's school. We are so blessed to have found a wonderful school that let's us celebrate Christmas as it should be!

500 and a Mommy Moment

This is my 500th post on my blog! I can't believe I've already hit that mark! I remember after my first blog post thinking, I doubt I will actually keep up with this thing! Well, turns out, I did! And I am so so so so so thankful I have! One of my favorite pastimes is to pick a random post from a random year and read it! All those memories come flooding back to me like they just happened! That was my goal when I started that continues to be my goal! I hope you've all enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed writing!

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Now, onto a Mommy Moment. This entire month of Christmas, I felt like we really did our Christmas spirit justice! We started off with donating shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, we made "bell ringer bags" and filled them with coins from the boys' piggy banks so they could drop money every time we see a bell ringer, we donated Toys for Tots, we thoughtfully bought gifts for our families, made surprises for our neighbors, and really let the Christmas spirit come alive!!  Well, last night as I was running through the upcoming weekend events with Grant, I told him that we are going to open our presents on Saturday, before we leave for Kansas. And so innocently, he looked at me and said, "You mean we are getting presents too?"  I realized at that moment that he has lived this whole month only thinking of others! Sure, he asked Santa for a present but he didn't ever ask us for anything, or even expect us to buy him anything! Never once had I heard him wonder about what he would be getting for Christmas or talked about his wishlist!  It was a very proud moment!! I am so happy to see my little boy display such a wonderful, giving, and thoughtful heart. 

December Artwork

I have been waiting not-so-patiently to see all of Grant's artwork he made at school this month! He hasn't brought home a single piece so I knew he would be bringing a whole load home today at his party! I'm pretty sure Christmas crafts are my favorite pieces of kid artwork of ALL TIME!

 I love that he goes to a Christian preschool and Jesus' birth is celebrated each and every day! The songs, the stories, the artwork just make my heart melt! It's also pretty awesome that he does at least one art project every day he goes to school!! Makes for lots of pretties to hang on our walls!! (And lots of decisions for me about which ones to keep forever...still working on that system!)

We also were busy at home making a few craft projects! Here is a small sampling of some work we did at home, by both Grant and Wyatt!

I'm pretty sure if I could laminate them all and put them in a binder, I would!! I just eat this stuff up!

Christmas Lights Galore

This past weekend, we ventured into Kansas City to fufill another Christmas tradition- seeing Christmas in the Park at Longview Lake. They were celebrating their 25th anniversary, so I guess we started going to this about 25 years ago!! I couldn't wait to show my boys all the lights!! A lot of the displays I remember from when I was a kid!! I tried to get a picture of everything I could, but with the speed my dad was driving as well as the movement of the displays, not many turned out!

We got to take my nephews as well, so all the boys were constantly saying, "Look at this one!" or "Wow, look at that one over there!" or "AWESOME!" They loved it, and so did I! Just like my childhood!!

And speaking of Christmas lights....

Here is our house!! This has been a huge creation with Levi and Grant! They are constantly bringing home more lights, and I love it!! Grant is in a secret competition with the house by Walmart who has a lot of yard decorations and lights. I love his enthusiasm to have the house with "the best Christmas lights EVER!"  

 Levi made the Nativity scene on the left and he has all the rest of the pieces cut out, just hasn't painted them yet. So that will be in next years display! As I'm sure will all the lights Grant and Levi can find on sale after Christmas!!

We just can't get enough Christmas lights!!!!!!

Christmas Cottages

I saw this idea on Pinterest MONTHS ago and I knew this was something we had to do! I figured since we've moved ALOT over the years, we would have some good boxes to use. But, they were all full of stuff (either we are hoarders or just lazy people who don't unpack??) so a trip to Lowe's for more moving boxes and $12 at the Dollar Tree and we were all set!  

The boys had a blast deciding where to put their decorations and soon, our houses were complete! They decided that their houses were their secret Lego factories and no one could come in to see what they were working on! They absolutely love playing in them!! 

Maybe next year I can get a big huge box so we can all go inside- I want to play in there too!!

Instagram Dump

Here is my mid-December (because I'm sure I'll have a late-December one) Instagram Dump! Enjoy a glimpse into our everyday lives!

Grant watched my screensaver, Wyatt did Christmas school, the boys did "puppet shows," they boys destroyed played with a roll of wrapping paper, I wrapped some presents, Wyatt helped himself to some school work, Wyatt sucked his thumb while driving at night to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Grant drew him and Wyatt, Grant anxiously sat in the car in the dark on the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

St. Nicholas

A tradition I always celebrated as a kid was St. Nicholas! His feast day is Dec 6 and we celebrate his generous life of giving, especially to children! We read a story of St. Nicholas' life before bedtime. Traditionally, children set out their shoes for St. Nicholas to fill, but Grant decided stockings were a better idea because the first gift St. Nicholas ever gave were gold coins in a sock hung by the fireplace to dry. 

So the boys woke up to find that St. Nicholas came, bearing gifts, of course!

(sorry for the bad quality- dark mornings and iPhone's dont mix!)

St. Nicholas brought The Wonder Pets Save the Nutcracker DVD and a Candy Land book for Grant and a Max and Ruby Christmas DVD and a Candy Land book for Wyatt! Grant said, "St. Nicholas knew just what we liked!" 

Shed's Antics

Our elf, Shed, has returned again this year!! The boys kept asking and asking when (or if) he was going to come and finally on December 1st, he came!!!! The boys were so so so excited!! Shed is a very quiet, yet observant elf, but he does like to hide in some sneaky places! Here are Shed's antics so far....

- Dec 1: Shed shows up on our Christmas tree!

- Dec 2: Rudolph played some reindeer games on Shed while we were sleeping!

- Dec 3: Shed spent some time with baby Jesus!

- Dec 4:  Shed got creative and stamped some artwork for the boys!

- Dec 5: Shed must have hitched a ride back from the North Pole with the Wonder Pets!

- Dec 6: Shed hid out in the stockings waiting to get a glimpse of St. Nicholas!

- Dec 7: Shed thought our Christmas wreath was a good accessory for him!

- Dec 10: We were out of town for Piper's birthday party, so Shed watched the clock til our return!

- Dec 11: Shed got a little tangled up after wrapping some Christmas presents! Silly elf!

Stay tuned for more antics from Shed...

Santa, Through the Years

If you look back at my Santa pictures from my childhood, it would take up a whole book! I sat on Santa's lap until my early twenties...and no, I'm not joking!! My sister and I sat on Santa's lap so my mom could have a picture of us! She loved it!  But I admit- looking back at those pictures through the years make me smile- well, more laugh at my ugly hair, my choice of Mickey Mouse sweater, the size of my bangs! It really is comical!! But thinking about it made me want to look back at the past 4 years of Santa in our house!! 

I think Grant's crying face in 2008 is totally priceless! That was pretty much my face until I turned 4 years old!! Wyatt, in 2010, had no clue what was going on- a far difference than Grant in 2008!! But you can see in 2011, they both were nothing but smiles!!  

And this year of course- all smiles and giggles!! I wonder how long this tradition will carry on in our house! I'm guessing probably not through my boys' early twenties!! ;)

Vance Christmas Party

Yesterday we attended the Vance AFB Children's Christmas Party! All the squadrons worked together to pull off a fantastic party for all the kids!! Our squadron, the 33rd, had a paper plate Christmas tree decorating table! It was a hugely successful glittery mess good time!! Lots of fun games, snacks, and pictures with Santa of course! Our squadron is lucky to have an awesome photographer, so she was around to take some candid shots! I pulled out a few of my favorites to share on here!! The kids all cracked me up!!

My friend Eileen said it best when she commented, "The kids picture should be labeled Naughty and Nice!"  Funny how some kids love group photos and some HATE them!!

My Favorite Ornaments

It's funny, but I was already planning on doing a post on my favorite ornaments! After all, I've already done ONE about Grant's favorite ornaments! But my dear blogging friend over at Our Journey sent me a link up to this Show and Tell! 

So here you go...and let me tell you, deciding on my favorite ornament is like asking which child is my favorite!! It just isn't possible! However, I picked a few out that I get super excited to pull out of the box even thinking about Christmas ornaments! 

Let me preface these pictures by stating that I have had a Christmas tree in my room as early as I can remember- probably 5 years old at least! And it wasn't a tiny tree, a stand alone 4ft tree! So I started my ornament collection at a VERY early age! I should also preface that my mom was probably Mrs. Claus in a former life, as her love for Christmas goes beyond most people's! So with that combination, my ornament collection is well over 300+ and has been since I was in college! And since my boys have been born, I'm sure its about 400+ now!

-     The top left ornament is one of my Crayola collection ornaments  I probably have 7 or 8 Crayola ornaments. The boys really like this one because of his wiggly legs! I just think he's super adorable!!

-    The bottom left was an ornament I picked out when I was about 12 years old at Crown Center. My family used to go there every year to see Santa and we'd get to pick out an ornament from their amazing Christmas store! I just love the colors and simplicity of this ornament! It makes me smile!

-  The middle ornament is one from my childhood. I remember picking it out at the Family Tree Nursery. I loved those little fuzzy bears when I was a kid! I'm really surprised this ornament is still in tact, after all it is probably 25 years old!!

-   The top right is Mickey Mouse making an snow angel. I have a pretty decent collection of Disney ornaments! Its just too adorable and you cant help but smile at it!

-  The middle right is an icicle Santa. I really remember when and where I got most of my ornaments, but I don't remember where this one came from. I know he's been around for a good 15 years, and I love the bright colors! It's hard to tell from the picture but there are little start shooting out of Santa's hat!!

-  The bottom right is possibly the oldest ornament I have! I remember getting this one from the Family Tree Nursery too. I had a thing for teddy bears back in the day! And balloons too! I thought this one bit the dust this year when I pulled this out and all the boxes were not nested anymore. But with a little tweaking, I saved it!! Phew!!

Honestly, I took about 30 pictures of my ornaments because I couldn't really pick my favorites! But this handful contains the ornaments that I would describe to people if they asked about my ornaments, say sometime in July! These would be the ones I'd think of! I think these are the type of ornaments my boys gravitate towards as well, which could also be why they are my favorites!

I hope you've enjoyed my Show and Tell!!