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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
Shawn and I are high school sweethearts. Married for 12 years with 4 beautiful children and reside in the great state of Texas. We are sinners who have been saved by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus. In our home we enjoy: laughing, praising and learning about God, watching sports, and homeschooling.
