Christmas with Grammy and Pops

Grammy and Pops came up to visit and have Christmas with us last weekend. We'd been looking forward to them coming and the kids were especially excited! They arrived Saturday morning just in time to have brunch with us. Since they were bringing presents the kids were so excited they could hardly eat! :)

After brunch, it was time to open presents! As usual, Grammy and Pops spoiled all of us! The kids loved everything they opened -- and me and matt too!

Here's Harrison with his new Thomas Lego set. We've already built it all the ways possible.

Charlotte opened one gift and was happy to play with that the entire time. :) She didn't care a thing about opening anything else! She insisted we put on her squeaker shoes RIGHT THEN and wore them the rest of the day!
Madeleine with her jewelry set. She also got some clothes for her American Girl doll which she's had a blast with -- changing her clothes each day and night.

The kids have had such fun this week playing with their new toys! They are also looking forward to this spring when we can break out the new fishing poles and do some fishing!

After naps and some snacks, it was time to load up and head over to the Christmas train. This was our first year to do the train and it did not disappoint! We were excited that Grammy and Pops could be there to share it with us -- and our good friends, the other "W" family too!

I think this is something that will get better and better as the kids get older. Madeleine LOVED it and Harrison enjoyed it too. Charlotte surprised us all by doing great on the entire ride!

Santa and Mrs. Clause were on the train too! They took quite a while stopping to visit with each family and getting the kids Christmas wishes.

Then it was time to sing some Christmas carols! There was an "elf" that lead the singing and took requests and let the kids lead the songs. Well, Madeleine lead 2 songs on the train! I still can't believe that my shy girl took the mic and belted out 2 Christmas carols! :) She had the best time of anyone, I think!

Harrison was happy to snuggle with me and look out the window.

Charlotte got some extra loving from Pops and Grammy on the train!

Of course, you can't have a train ride in Arkansas without calling the HOGS!

After the train, the kids were beat from all the excitement of the day! We headed home to bed, so we'd be fresh and ready to go on Sunday morning. Grammy and Pops went to church with us and then we came home for Sunday lunch. It was nice to have time to sit around our dining room table and just visit with them for awhile. We don't get to do that enough (hint, hint). :)

I snapped some pics while we were getting dinner ready and this was one of my favorites.

We had a great weekend spending time with Grammy and Pops. I count myself truly blessed to have such a good relationship with my in-laws and that's because they are such wonderful people. I married well. :)

Lights and Letters

This week we did our annual Christmas Lights and Ice Cream night. Matt and I started doing this before we ever had any kids and it's a tradition we've kept through the years. We started out listening to our favorite Christmas songs with all of us singing along while we headed to pick up our ice cream.

Then we stopped at Braums to fuel up for the drive. :) With everyone happy, we headed to east Fayetteville (where the big houses are!) to check out the Christmas lights. There are a few neighborhoods we've discovered there that go all out for Christmas!
We all like looking at the lights and picking out our favorite houses -- even Charlotte was enthralled with the lights and especially the big blow up Santas we saw!

When we got home that night, the kids wrote their letters to Santa. They both knew exactly what they wanted, but the sweetest part was that each of them included the other in their letter by asking Santa to bring their brother/sister something they knew the other wanted. Things like that just melt my heart. I'm pretty sure Santa will be keeping those letters forever. :)

They ran them out to the mailbox to be sure the mailcarrier would get them this morning!

A great way to spend a fun family evening!

Hermie's Antics

When we first got our elf, 3 Christmas seasons ago, I thought it would be such fun for the kids. Well, I was right -- they anticipate Hermie's arrival each year with much excitement. But, it's also become one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

It seems that this year, Hermie has been up to his old tricks -- and some new ones!

He left a "merry, merry" message after his shower one night.

He got into the chocolate chips that we'd used for baking...

and apparently sampled some. :)

This landed him in "elf jail" the next night. Hehehe!

He made silly faces on the kids pictures.

And decorated the Christmas tree with candy canes,

before hiding himself inside the tree.

Apparently all his antics have gotten him in trouble with the toys. This morning, Sherrif Woody had him surrounded!

I love this tradition! The kids pop up out of bed each morning and run around the house trying to find Hermie. They've both told him places they want him to land after his trek to the North Pole each night and he's been listening to them! Can't wait to see what he's up to next!

Great-Grands

I wanted to post this picture earlier, but it didn't want to let me. Here's my Granny with all 8 of her great-grandchildren.

Thanksgiving -- Part 2

We arrived in Temple, TX late Tuesday afternoon to spend the rest of our Thanksgiving vacation with my dad's family. The kids were so excited to see their cousins and start playing with them!
I forgot and left my camera in the car until the next morning. Boo. It was a great relaxing evening on Tuesday. Soon after we got there, I went with my dad to see my granny and I'm so thankful that I had that extra chance to see her. Even though she won't remember it, and she was pretty tired that evening, I will remember that time and I'm thankful for it. We got back to my Aunt Kathy's house and had a yummy dinner, more kids playing, and then got everyone bedded down for the night (no small task). Our family of 5 stayed out in my cousin Dana's amazing camper. If we had something like that, I might actually consider going camping sometime. :) The kids thought that it was the coolest thing! They loved their bunks and slept great, all night long. Matt and I had our own room out there -- TV included! It was perfect for us and I'm so thankful that Dana let us use it!


We woke up Wednesday morning early and the kids piled in bed with us. We turned on the TV and happened upon the Curious George movie and we all had some good morning snuggles while we watched it together. By the time we finished the movie and were dressed, Uncle Ron was off to get some donuts for breakfast! He knew exactly what these kiddo liked -- sprinkle and rainbow donuts for all!

Madeleine was in cousin heaven that week! Emma is just a year older and Rhea is just a couple of months younger. They "talked" her into having her loose tooth pulled by Dana later that morning. That's the first tooth she's actually been awake while she lost it. It's amazing what peer pressure can do! I think she was pretty proud of herself too....just hope Dana doesn't mind coming to AR each time we need a tooth pulled. (Just kidding....kind of!)

Tooth #5 is gone. The rest of the morning was spent playing outside with the kids. The weather was absolutely gorgeous those days!

Harrison found the sand and spent a good part of the time there right at this spot!

Just before lunch we all headed over to see my Granny. It's been awhile since I've been down there and it was hard seeing how much she's changed. But, I'm thankful that I got to have Charlotte see her this time. We made quite a crew that day -- all 19 of us! Granny knew she was the center of attention this time and was handing out kisses to all of us. I'll always remember that. We took advantage of the gorgeous weather and our own professional photographers, get some family pictures with Granny.

The rest of our Wednesday was spent with more outside playing and talking. It was good to relax and have some fun! We ended the day by looking at some old pictures -- my Aunt Kathy had even found my Dad's old cowboy/indian/horses play figures which she's kept for Harrison. 50 years later and they're still great toys -- he's loved playing with them at home! Some things never change, I guess. That night was also a big first for Madeleine. She went and spent the night at Rhea's house -- her first sleepover! Dana texted me a picture of the girls all snuggled up in bed watching a movie that night. I'm so thankful that her first sleepover was at her cousin's house; it made it extra special!

Thursday was the big day! I love Thanksgiving more than any other holiday. We hung out more, watched Aunt Kathy cook (hehehee!) and got our appetites ready for the big meal!

I took this picture during the pray before we ate. I'm sad it didn't turn out great, but I still love looking at it -- they pray the same way.

Dana spent the week trying to win over Charlotte. By Thursday afternoon, Charlotte had taken to her and Dana rocked her to sleep....then they both napped together. Usually, Charlotte only will sleep about 30 minutes when she's being held, but on Dana she slept much much longer. I also have to add that earlier this week, when I was putting her to sleep and we were singing "Oh How I Love Jesus....Mommy, Daddy, etc. (she fills in the name each time), well, she said "Dana." I thought she was saying "dada" but she kept shaking her head "no" and saying it over and over, until finally I said, "Dana??" and she said "Yes!" :)

Harrison and Ben became fast friends while we were there. They spent most of the time sitting right here at the sandbox.

Cousins -- Emma, Madeleine and Rhea.

And, I seriously could have taken this little guy home with me! He's too adorable for words!

It was such a perfect week for us! I still can't believe that I didn't take a single picture of my mom and Charlotte, since Charlotte spent most of the week either being held by Mimi or asking to be held by Mimi. :) The kids are already asking to go back and see their cousins.

Matt and I decided to try driving at night and we packed up and left that night around 5. We actually had a wonderful trip home for the first 7 1/2 hours. The kids ate dinner and went to sleep and Matt and I had time to talk. Bliss! After we got north of Dallas we didn't even have any traffic. The last 30 minutes were rough because Charlotte started throwing up. Poor gal! When we pulled over to clean her up, the other kids woke up. I was afraid they'd be up all night after having that nice long nap in the car, but as soon as we got home, the all went right back to sleep and we all slept until after 9 the next morning! A great end to our week! Can't wait till next year!

North Pole News

Hermie, our elf made his first appearance of the Christmas season this week. He arrived in style this year, bringing with him, the First Annual North Pole Breakfast. The night before we watched The Elf On the Shelf movie and re-read our book, so the kids knew he was coming.

The morning of his arrive, Matt and I stayed in bed until the kids were up and listened to them as the saw his surprises. We could hear Madeleine reading their letter from him and then they quickly ran into our room to "wake" us.
Hermie had left each of them a note, telling them that he'd been checking on them this past year and they'd been good, and reminding them to be sweet to each other and listen to mom and dad. :) He left them each some socks to keep their toesies warm on cold nights and they each also got a Christmas book to add to our collection. Madeleine got the Junie B. Jones book "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (P.S. So Does May)" and Harrison got the Disney collection of Christmas Stories. They both loved their surprises from Hermie!

They also found "snow" donuts made into snowmen and hot chocolate -- a favorite winter breakfast. Hermie also reminded them in their letter not to forget to tell him what they want for Christmas so he can tell Santa. Later that morning, after breakfast, I rounded the corner into the empty kitchen to see Harrison, with his back to me, talking up to Hermie and telling him his Christmas lists. I stopped just out of his view and listened -- the last thing on his list was that Hermie would do this same thing next year. Oh how I loved that. You could just feel the magic of Christmas in that moment.

And our little elf had hidden himself in the light fixture above all the festivities.

Charlotte had her first "snow" donut that morning and they quite the hit with her! She kept gobbling them up, until we finally had to make her stop!

Harrison with his candy cane mouth. Hermie left curly-Q candy canes that they'd never seen before and could only have come from the North Pole!

It was such a fun morning and the perfect way to start our Christmas season. :) Oh the magic of Christmas when seen through the eyes of a child.