Christmas Day!

Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory!

We had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas Day. Most of us stayed in our pjs all day, which was super nice. No where to be, nothing to do, except enjoy one another. 

Look at these faces of Finn's! He is a mess! His facial expressions keep us on our toes around here! Along with his brutal honesty. I could tell he wasn't feeling some of his presents, so I asked him and he told us we could take them back. And we also got him a little laptop toy to practice his letters {I thought it would be a hit} and he told us it was for babies! Haha!! So I have about 5-6 gifts of his I'll be exchanging for "cooler and older" stuff. Lol. 

We read books, put together puzzles and Lego sets. It was a great day. 

This picture makes me happy. The kids playing with their toys and Shawn helping out in the kitchen. He is always willing to pitch in and help clean up, even if he isn't the one who makes the mess. Thank you, Shawn!

Maebry got her own electronics! Ha. She is no fool, she knows these are not the real deal! And the two pictures on the bottom below are two gifts from Shawn and the kids. Super fun dresser. I have already transferred my jewelry in it! And a gift certificate to lady who does handwriting classes locally. Not that I'm wanting to change my handwriting, but I just think it would be neat to attend and learn a few things. Super excited about this! 

We finished up our evening singing Happy birthday to Jesus. May the light of Christ shine in and through us the rest of the year. Merry Christmas. 

Here is a link to my YouTube account. I uploaded some Christmas day videos, for those of you interested.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Today was a great day with the family. Allyson and I stayed at home and got our bake on! We made a birthday cake for Jesus and homemade icing too! Then we mixed up batter for cake cookies. They are super easy to make {only 5 ingredients}, but oh so yummy! We may have got a little over our head with the cake cookies; I tripled the recipe!!! The intentions were to deliver to everyone on our street. By this time, Daddy and the other kiddos were back from running errands. It's funny because while they were gone, I told Ally "I keep feeling like Mae Mae is going to wake up!" Ally agreed. I'm so used to being home with all the kids by myself! 

Once the cookies were wrapped up, I started the next step on the cinnamon rolls I had going. It's a tradition for us to have cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. I always buy Grands or Pillsbury, but this year I decided to go all out and make them from scratch, because I have spare time to do this! And better do it now before 2016 weight watching begins! I used Pioneer Woman's recipe from a cookbook I got from Shawn and the kids in Branson, MO. {One day soon I'll blog about our trip we took there in October. It was a great time and I can see us visiting again.} I'm sure you can search for the recipe and find it online. Let me just tell you the process is lengthy: do this and wait until lukewarm, cover and let sit for an hour, put in the pan sit for 20 minutes before baking. A lot of hurry up and wait in the recipe for me. I wanted to just knock them out, but that wasn't the process. Patience. Anyhow, we ended up with 6 pans of cinnamon rolls, probably 60 of them, I'm not even kidding. A ton. We gave a pan to our neighbor and we'll probably freeze the rest. Super yummy. And I would bake again. I know it sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm just being real.

We cleaned up and got ready for our Christmas Eve Service at Church. So on Monday our church received a bomb threat if we had our service. Our pastor released a statement that we would continue to have our service and we would beef up security. He also said that we would not back down from evil. He quoted Romans 14:8 “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” So true. We belong to Him and are here to glorify Him in all that we do. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. I'm happy to report that all went well with the service and we are safe in our beds at home. God is good.

We came home, ate dinner and then dropped off some goodies at our neighbors' houses. We got caught up on our Advent reading, as we had got behind a couple of days. It has been really good reading it this Christmas season.

The kids opened their first present from us. Pajamas!! Another tradition! The boys got Star Wars and the girls got matching Anna and Elsa pj's! Sisters! Super fun.

http://youtu.be/RbvzyYupTQ4

 

Love these kids to bit. We are excited about tomorrow. 

Christmas Outings

2 days until Christmas?!? Whoa! Just like everyone else, we've been busy this Christmas season; making memories as we go. Here is what we were up to last week!

The picture of Maebry in her car seat above was her first time to sit forward facing! She was all smilies and so happy that she could finally see the movie! Lol! 

Gingerbread house and bath time

Yesterday afternoon we decorated a gingerbread house. This was our first one to decorate and it was fun! I started off and constructed the house, which was a bit of a fail. The roof fell off and broke in half. The kids did not seem to mind at all and Ally did quite the job of decorating around it. Shawn jumped in and was the icing master. The kids followed right behind him with candy to decorate. Maebry ate lunch while they decorated and Finn, well he just ate candy! Ha!

Here is a little bit of footage of our gingerbread house construction.

Speaking of houses...this is what our front yard looks like right now. Think we are a bit excited about the new movie coming out?!?! Ha! I scored these inflatables right after Halloween for half off at Walmart. I had a plan to make a sign that read "May the Lord be with you", but that never happened. So now, we just look like big Star Wars nerds! #truth I think some of our neighbors are enjoying it though. We had one car stop and tell us that they loved it and asked if we were the ones with the life size Darth Vader upstairs. Umm, that would be us. They said they loved seeing it when they drive by. Jase leaves his blinds open quite a bit, so when we pull up to the house at night after running errands or practice, the boys' light is on with the blinds open and Darth Vader is beyond visible from the street. We have been working on closing blind and shutting off lights!

And look at our two youngest! They took a bath together last night and I had to snap a shot. I do not have too many pictures of the kiddos in the tub.

She just loves him!

About 5-6 months ago I thought they could have been twins, but as she gets older she is definitely getting her own look. I am starting to see more similarities to Ally in Maebry. Cuties!

 

Family Saturday

This past Saturday was a good day. Shawn and Jase woke up early and did a little duck hunting. They did not shoot anything, but had fun together and that's what's it's all about: making memories. 

Then we headed into town for Jase's first basketball game of the season. It was a good game. We scored 6 points in the 1st quarter and then only managed to hit two more baskets the rest of the game. I'm glad 10 points was enough to win! Looking forward to a fun season!

That evening we went to The Nutcracker Ballet. One of the moms from Ally's dance class told us about the local event, so we jumped on it. Everyone enjoyed it and I think we will do it again next year as well. 

We bought a nutcracker ornament from the play and he now has a home on our tree. 

Christmas Party Frenzy

Tis the season to party, right? The kids and I have enjoyed getting together with friends over the last couple of days. 

It started on Thursday when we went to a party right around the corner and did not know a soul. It ended up a great afternoon. The kids had fun meeting new friends and I enjoyed getting to know one of my neighbors. 

Later that evening I snuck off to a mom's only Christmas party. Our Classical Conversations group had dinner and a scarf exchange. It was a very nice and relaxing evening. Special thanks to Misty, who is due in the next week or two, for hosting in her beautiful home. 

And on Friday we met some friends from our church at a park for a sweet time together. We each brought a Christmas goodie to share and the kids made a star ornament wrapped in yard. Very thankful for these families in my life.

Dancing in the Streets

Last night Allyson's dance studio performed at the Denton Square after the lighting of the City's Christmas tree. They did a great job and I'm so glad she got to be part of it! 

Maebry enjoyed the music too! She would not stay still for a clear picture!

They boys did great too and supported they sister on this cool evening. Despite the picture, Jase enjoyed himself. 

Allyson with her friends in her class!

Mama and her baby girl! That is the courthouse behind us. 

And look what we found! So good!

I'd do it all over again {crazy parking, massive crowds, chilly night} to see her dance for another minute and a half. Love her to bits. 

Glasses for Allyson

Last month on October 28th we took Finn and Allyson in for their annual check-ups at the doctor and I asked them to check her vision. There have not been huge signs that her vision was weak, but just little things here and there we have picked up on and she always sits right on top of the TV. She has never squinted or complained of headaches. Anyhow, when the nurse checked her vision, there were some definite vision issues.

I scheduled her an appointment at my optometrist for the following week, which was the earliest I could get in. Ally did great at the appt and the doctor confirmed she is need of glasses. However, she felt more comfortable if we also got a second opinion at a pediatric ophthalmologist since she is only 6 and could not correct her left eye to 20/20 {only 20/40 because it is pretty week and her right eye has been compensating for it}.

So, yesterday she had her appointment across town at a hospital. She had an assistant check her eyes, then a doctor and lastly an ophthalmologist. She was a trooper and never complained once.

So proud of my big girl. The little butterfly headband she has on is one she made from a kit she got from her MawMaw and PawPaw for her birthday. :-)

She ended up having to get her eyes dilated, so she had to wear some cool shades home!

Since we've had to wait a few weeks for appointments, I did not want to wait anymore on getting her glasses. I want my baby to see clear! Oh and her prescription was the same at both doctors: -3.00 in her left eye and -1.25 in her right eye. She is near sided and has an astigmatism in her left eye. All of that is very similar to my vision as well. She is also supposed to wear a patch on her right eye for a couple of hours a day to help strengthen her left eye. We go back in 2 months for a check-up.

I packed up the kiddos and we headed to Lens Crafters in the mall. Can I tell you it was like country came to town in there?!? We definitely do not get out enough. Jase could not get over all of the stores {plus this was a pretty big and fancy mall}. He said "this place has all you need. It's like Walmart and Target all in one." I was dying!! He kept saying Walmart over and over again as we're walking past Nordstrom's!! Pipe down, son! It was funny!

She narrowed down her selection between a black and purple Disney pair and a black and pink pair with a butterfly on the side. She kept going back to the butterfly pair so that was the winner!

Daddy met us at the mall after work, which was nice. Walking out of the store Daddy and Allyson tested her new glasses out on some signs in the distance.

Before we left we were able to stop in the Disney and Lego store. Of course I had to get a few shots of her with her new glasses on! So cute!

Family in town

This past month we've had quite a few visitors and I haven't had time to document our weekends.

Grandma and Grandpa came up a month ago and brought up two of our nephews: Coby and Lance. The kids had a blast playing with them. Unfortunately, our kids came down with a stomach bug and our visitors ended up taking it home too. Hate that.

 
Grandma and Grandpa join in on the bowling fun!

 
We just love Beard Park, and we thought they might enjoy it as well!

Intense game of Tenzi going on!

Nanny and PawPaw came up the first weekend in November. Jase and PawPaw must have worked on this circuits kit for several hours. They started out inside and then moved in the garage and then to the backyard. It was great seeing them work on this together.

Worship time with my family! I'm so glad they got to hear the word from our preacher. So good!

So sweet. PawPaw loves his Ally. He is great with the kids. Always willing to play Lego's or hold a baby.

And with the sudden change of plans for Maebry's party, my mom, sister and brother's girlfriend decided to make a quick trip up this past weekend. They were only in town for about 36 hours, but it was good to see them. My mom was a huge help {as always} getting ready for the party.

Silly girls!