Our Christmas

Our Christmas celebration started the weekend before with a trip to Indiana for my cousin's wedding. The kids looked adorable all dressed up but, of course, getting them to smile for a family picture was out of the question...so I just had to settle for one with the hubby and me. :)
They were, however, all smiles when we got the bubbles out!
Hanging out with Auntie Em.
Daddy and his little princess enjoying a dance together.
On Christmas Eve morning, we let the kids open their presents from us. Again, I tried to get a nice picture of the kids with their stockings this time, and again, I failed.
Oh well, at least Addie cheered up.
Luke with his Super Why puzzle.
Addison loved her new tiger puppet.
That afternoon we headed to Jonathan's parents' for the Athearn Christmas. All ten grandkids were excited to see what was under the tree!
Luke got some cool Legos.
Addison's not too sure about all the craziness.
We got to Indiana around 11pm Christmas Eve and of course opened our Christmas jammies!
Christmas morning we read the Christmas story while Luke re-enacted it with Meemaw's nativity set.
Next came stockings!
And then all the presents!!



Unfortunately, I got really sick Christmas night which put a damper on things. I wasn't able to go to church or to my mom's family Christmas Sunday. But by Monday morning I was feeling better and was able to enjoy the last bit of our time with my family before we headed home that evening. It was a wonderful Christmas weekend topped off by my sister's engagement! We're all so happy for her and her fiance. Merry Christmas everyone!!

O Christmas Tree

Wow, it's hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner! We've had our decorations up for a while (like since two weeks before Thanksgiving, which was my husband's doing believe it or not!). The kids love the tree with the train around it and all the lights. My heart just melts seeing the joy on their faces. Ah, the magic of Christmas! They've also enjoyed our count down calendar, moving the star each day closer to Christmas, and doing Advent together each week. It's so important to teach our children that while, yes, it's fun getting presents, Christmas is about more than that. Most importantly, it's about Christ's birth. They've enjoyed reading the nativity story and learning about Jesus' birthday. We're also striving to teach them that Christmas is a time to think of others. We participated in Operation Christmas Child again this year and Luke loved picking out toys and clothes and other items for a little boy his age somewhere far away. He even drew him a card, which was so sweet! I wasn't sure if he was fully comprehending that all the things we were buying would not be for him, but he did get it and was beyond excited to send them to his "new friend". I hope you all enjoy this wonderful time and remember that Jesus is the reason for the season!

We may be needing a tree soon...we're running out of room for all our ornaments!

Mr. Bear and Meeko playing some Thomas Go Fish. :)
Luke and Addison love having tea parties together and I love it when they get along!

The Count of Monte Cristo

It only took me three months but I finally managed to finish reading "The Count of Monte Cristo". I renewed it from the library so many times, they were probably beginning to wonder if they would ever get it back! Yes, it was just under 1200 pages but it is a fantastic read! It used to be one of my favorite movies, but now that I've read the book, I realize how much the movie is lacking! So, if you have some spare time, (and it probably helps if you don't have children to take care of too--ha!) I would highly recommend reading this! :)