Christmas Morning

SANTA CAME!!
And boy was he good to us this year!



The boys gift are each put in piles with their stockings. This year they got several things together. Those things were placed unwrapped in a separate pile. They got a Wii Nerf game, some indoor balls for their basketball goal, some books, bible trivia, and a couple other things to share.



Chance got some fun things including a Larry Bird jersey, light saber, laser tag, remote control truck, star wars legos, another Webkinz and more! He was one happy little boy!





Cade got laser tag, a new Webkinz, Didj hand held learning games system with games, Lebron James jersey, star wars legos, and more! He was very happy with what Santa brought!





Cooper was a lot of fun this year. He really understood what was going on for the first time and really had fun! He got his very own scooter, a Grant Hill jersey, some hot wheels cars, and more!






Chad and Cade both got matching school shirts! They loved those!


Here are the newest additions to our rapidly growing Webkinz family. We have Bonnie, Jack, Bull, Pooch, Creamy, Beau, and Oreo!!



HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
We will be heading to Savannah after the new year to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family.

Christmas Eve!

After traveling home from Montgomery most of the day we got home and rested for a little while before heading over to Rah Rah's house to open gifts. The boys were so excited about opening gifts. They had been checking out the packages for past couple of weeks and having a hard time waiting...especially Chance. He spotted a big present with his name on it and could hardly stand having to wait until Christmas Eve! He did wait though!!

Rah Rah and her boys!



Cooper got his very own basketball goal! Now he can shoot on hid and the big boys can shoot on their high goal!



Cade and Chance both got Star Wars comforters! They look so cool on their beds with the new curtains and pillow cases. They are loving them. They got some other fun things including games, Webkinz, trucks, etc. They were very happy with their gifts. I got some neat things too but didn't take any pictures. I guess I was too busy taking pictures of the boys! A few of the things I got included a huge skillet...can't wait to use it. I'll be able to cook up tons of pancakes in no time. A new Freed hoody, a cute purse, and a 3 tier buffet server...looking forward to using that too. It was a great night! We headed home to get the boys ready for bed. They had a LONG day and we still had a some things to do before Santa's arrival!




After baths we headed outside to put out our reindeer food. It was raining but we didn't let that stop us....the reindeer HAD to have their food that sparkled in the night!! Chad took each of the boys out under the umbrella so they wouldn't get wet.







We sat out cookies and our magic key for Santa. We don't have a chimney in our house so we hang a "magic" key on the door knob for Santa to use. He leaves it on the end table by the cookies when he leaves! Don't have a picture of that..sorry, but you can go here to see last year's post and picture! We read a couple Christmas stories and then headed to bed!

More Fun in Montgomery

On Tuesday we took the kids to Bass Pro Shop to look around and to see Santa. There was a big section for the kids to play with different toys and games that are sold in the store. It was really neat. We also got to see Santa. They took the boys picture and printed us off a free copy immediately. Very Nice! For some reason Cade wanted nothing to do with the Bass Pro Santa so I have a picture of just the other two with him. Oh well! Cooper wasn't too sure about him either but he at least sat in his lap!



Cooper sat there like such a big boy but he really just wanted down!



Chad and Chance shooting turkeys!



That night we went over to one of Mrs. Joyce's (Grammy) daughters house and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. The kids played ball..of course..and had a good time. We enjoyed sitting around the warm fire.



We have very few pictures of just the two of us so I had Rah Rah snap one of us by the fire!



The boys dressed and ready to go to bible study Wednesday night. We got up and left as early as we could on Thursday morning. We really had a great time.

Christmas in Montgomery

Monday morning we got up early to head to Montgomery to visit Gramps and Grammy. We were planning to take Rah Rah's van on the trip but when she went to start it to come pick us up it wouldn't start. The key wouldn't turn. She ended up having to call a tow truck and we transferred everything to our van and headed out only 1 hour after our planned time...not bad considering the van trouble! Her van is fixed and back home with her now and it was covered under warranty so that was GREAT news!



The boys did great on the trip. We arrived at about supper time so we ate a HUGE meal that Grammy fixed and relaxed after the long trip. Tuesday morning before heading out for the days activities the boys had to first go outside and feed the chickens. Cade checked the hen house and found an egg..his lucky day!



Here's Cooper with an egg



Chance enjoyed being outside feeding and chasing the chickens. He never did catch one!!



Cooper loved feeding the chickens and got closer than both the other boys. I think he would have picked one up if they would have let him get close enough. Gramps did end up catching one for the boys to pet.



The boys were happy to be there and looking forward to the next few days. Check back for some more pictures from our trip.

Christmas with Cody and Lauren

This year we began the first of several Christmas gatherings the weekend before Christmas. Cody and Lauren drove in for the weekend. It was a short visit but filled with fun and laughter...there is always much laughter when Chad and Cody get together. We ate a big Christmas meal and opened gifts. We had a great time and look forward to seeing them again soon!!

Cooper slept through part of the gift opening but was ready to open as soon as he woke up.
The very cute hammer Rah Rah got from Lauren. It opens up and has screw drivers on the inside.

Cade drawing in his new art book.

Uncle Cody reading a book to Chance

The boys helped Rah Rah with the yeast rolls. They made a huge mess but had lots of fun.

sweet messy face

Chance had the most fun I think!!

Merry Christmas!!

We are without my computer for a few days(it's been acting up)so I will have much to share as soon as it returns....hopefully by the weekend! have a Very Merry Christmas!

"Live Fish Inside"

Yesterday we got an interesting package in the mail. When we brought the box inside we weren't sure who it was from. It had Brookstone on the box which I recognized. I was a little unsure what to do when I read the side of the box and it had "Handle With Care...LIVE FISH INSIDE". I was a little nervous about opening it. I did open it and found the packing slip that read "Merry Christmas". It was from Chad's Aunt and Uncle who live in Texas. I started to look through the box and found several things including a small aquarium, some rocks, a piece of bamboo, and some food pellets. Still no fish though! In the bottom of the box was a package that had been wrapped several times in foam wrapping. When I picked it up I could tell there was something in water. Crazy!! I unwrapped the foam stuff carefully and found not a fish....but 2 FROGS!! They sent the boys a FROG O SPHERE for Christmas. I'm still amazed that they shipped frogs through the mail. I guess that happens all the time. I've just never had a creature shipped to me before. After reading the instructions I finally got the thing set up and the frogs out of the plastic bag they traveled in. The package was overnighted so they hadn't been in there too long...but still...I'm sure they were happy to get out! The boys (actually all of my extra kids too) were thrilled with the new pets. Now if we can just keep our new pets alive we will be doing good. So far they seem to be adjusting well to their new home!

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.....

COOKIES!
The kids and I made reindeer cookies yesterday. They were super easy and the kids had fun helping with them. Our first batch actually came out looking pretty rough but they were very yummy. We used the sugar cookie dough that was already prepared and I cut off pieces and shaped them into triangles but as you can see they didn't stay in that shape when we baked them. For the second batch I actually took the time to roll the dough out and used a cookie cutter. They turned out much cuter! Pretzels were used for antlers and M&M,s were used for eyes and nose. We used peanut M&M,s for the nose (until we ran out of red or brown) because they were bigger. It was a super easy but cute snack idea.

Cooper adding the pieces before we baked them. They are in a somewhat triangular shape.

but did not stay that way!!

Here's Cade showing off his reindeer from the second batch that turned out better.

and here's Chance's

Much better shape!!

Elf Training

This morning the boys spent time at their first Elf Training workshop. It was really neat. They got to make elf hats, decorate cookies, wrap presents, make reindeer food and reindeer ornaments, eat snacks, have books read to them by Mrs. Claus, and visit Santa Claus himself!! They really enjoyed the morning. Before they left the workshop they were each given a certificate stating that they had completed their training. Cute!

click to enlarge

Ornament Swap

Last night was our yearly ornament swap. This was only my second year to attend. Last year I did the Dirty Santa swap where you buy an nice ornament and then play the game and hope you don't get the ornament you really want taken away from you. I actually did get the ornament I really wanted taken away but still came home with a nice set of ornaments that were much more kid friendly than the one I really wanted and they were much louder...jumbo sized jingle bells! Worked out fine! This year I did not get an ornament bought for that swap but did the "make it" swap! In this swap we each make a certain number of ornaments and swap with the others who made ornaments. There were 9 of us in this swap this year which means I came home with 9 handmade ornaments. It was a lot of fun. Next year I'm going to try to make and buy so I can be a part of both swaps!
Here is our group of ornaments swappers for this year! Thanks to Adana for opening up her (new) home to us all!
This is the ornament I made this year for the swap!

Big Fun in a Small Town!

Last night was Henderson's Christmas Parade. The boys and I (Chad wasn't able to be there) made it just in time to see the start of the parade. Cade had a end of fall baseball party so I wasn't sure we would be able to make the parade but we did make it. The parade itself wasn't anything spectacular...it had the usual floats, tractors, a few bands, fire engines, etc.. but watching the boys and hearing them you would have thought we were at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!! The parade was fun and I love that our small town comes out and supports things the way they do. We saw lots of people go by that we knew which made it really fun! The boys yelled "Merry Christmas" the whole 45 minutes we were out there. They loved it and it was so much fun seeing them love the parade that much and hearing the people in the parade yell Merry Christmas back at them! It was GREAT!!
Ready to watch..we hear the parade coming!!
Just a few of the things we saw. Chance's favorite was the Piggly Wiggly float! :-)

Now those are some big Hands

Chad's mom came across this book of Chad's about Michael Jordan. The boys love to pretend they are Michael Jordan or that they are on the Bulls team. In this book as you can see there are pictures of Jordan's hands...actual size!! They are HUGE! When I looked in the den Cade had the book open to this page and was holding his hands up to Jordan's. What a difference. Even Chad hand's were quite a bit smaller...although Cade said."Dad your hands are almost the same size as his!" Not quite but it's cool that Cade thinks that. He loves hid dad and thinks he's as great a basketball player as Jordan. He even asked Chad one time if "he just forgot to sign up for the NBA"! Funny! Cade plans to sign up when he gets big:-) If it was only that easy!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Today we put our Christmas things up. We ate lunch that included Christmas biscuits (to get us in the Christmas mood)and then got to work! The boys were all big helps this year. They helped put the limbs on and helped with the ornaments. When we finished with our big tree we put up little trees in their rooms. It's such a fun time! Chad always strings lights around the boys room which they love. Here are a few pictures of the boys helping with the tree.
The biscuits..Cade and Chance cut some out and then decided they wanted to put the branches on the tree. So they left me to cook and started on the tree!

Cooper really got into it this year!



The boys did a great job.

The tree is finished!