Christmas Eve with Grandma and Papa

This year we spent Christmas Eve with Cory's parents.  The kids were so excited to finally get to open some presents!  We let them open their stockings before dinner and they could hardly contain themselves.  Parker's new Transformer was the hit of the evening.  Even Eden thought it was pretty cool!

After a delicious lasagna dinner, we finally passed out the presents.  Lily was so excited about her new monkey.  She carried it around the rest of the night and even slept with it that night. 

 Eden got a new game and two princess dolls.  Perfect gifts for our little princess!

 And Parker got some books and a new baseball helmet.  He can't wait to wear it when t-ball starts up again.

 It was such a fun, relaxing evening with family...just the way I like it!

Christmas Pajamas

Every year, my mom always finds the cutest Christmas pajamas for the kids to wear on Christmas Eve.  This year the boys had red pajamas with a reindeer on the pocket and the girls has green polka dot pajamas.  I wish I could report that it is getting easier to get a picture of all six kids together but it is not.  Someone is always crying, not looking or trying to crawl away.  This is the best we could get this year:

Parker- 5 years old

Eden- 4 years old

Lily- 2 years old

Parker and Addison

Eden and Aubrey

We did bribe the kids with getting to open a package if they smiled nicely for the picture and that seemed to help a little bit!  Thanks again Granna for our cute Christmas pajamas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Browns! 

We hope that you have a wonderful day filled with love and laughter!

Here Comes Santa Claus

It's that time again- Santa pictures with the Browns!

 

We always seem to take Santa pictures that will make you smile and this year does not disappoint!  In the 6 years that we have been taking pictures with Santa, we have only had one year that did not have a screaming child in it- Parker's first Christmas when he was 8 months old and didn't know better.  Every since then, the jolly old man in red and white has not made my children feel so jolly!  Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we!

 

2007- Parker and Addison

 2008- I didn't even make him sit in Santa's lap and he was still hysterical!

 2009- Now it's Eden's year to cry!

 2010- Still Eden's year- and she was much more mobile this year.  She tried everything in her power to escape!

 2011-Moving on to Lily!

 2012- Lily again...priceless!

 2012- We actually had two pictures this year.  I REALLY didn't want to be in this picture but it was the only way this picture was ever going to happen.  Look at that look of disgust on Lily's face... if looks could kill!

I have a really good feeling about 2013!  I think it will be the year that all of the tears will disappear.  Except mine maybe... I'm going to be a little bit sad when they don't cry anymore.  These are some of my favorite pictures and when all three kids are happy about sitting on Santa's lap, it will feel like the end of an era.  Plus, once they stop crying, what pictures am I going to use to embarrass them when they are teenagers!?!?!

Gingerbread Houses

Today we decorated gingerbread houses at Granna's house.  I don't remember decorating gingerbread houses as a kid, so it's always fun to watch my own kids enjoy this fun part of the holidays.  Every year the kids get more creative with the way they choose to decorate their houses.  

Lily was big enough to join in this year and did surprisingly well without much help.  After Aunt MerMer helped her get the icing spread on her house, she worked very diligently to decorate her house.  I was quite surprised at how long she lasted.  I could tell she felt like such a big girl!     

The other kids stayed very focused, in between licking their icing-filled popsicle sticks and sampling the candy!  There is no telling how many calories were consumed in that 30 minute period!

 They were so proud of their finished products!  Thanks Granna for another fun Christmas memory!

Breakfast with Santa

This morning we had the chance to have breakfast with Santa at The Art Barn, a local paint-your-own-pottery place.  The kids were so excited to go and see Santa and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

An impromptu group hug

When we arrived, we chose our ornaments and found a seat in the same room as Santa.  The girls could hardly stay focused on painting- all they wanted to do was watch Santa. 

As they were painting, Santa walked around and visited with them.  Lily has never been a huge fan of Santa, although she constantly refers to him as her friend.  I don't know if it was the relaxed atmosphere or the distraction of the painting, but she did not start screaming when Santa came around to see her ornament.  I was even able to get Santa to sneak in behind her for a quick picture!

After the kids I finished painting their ornaments (they lost interest after about 5 minutes!), we attempted to get some pictures with Santa.  Eden and Parker jumped right up in his lap. 

And then it was time for the group shot.  It went just as I had predicted!  Poor Lily!

After the failed attempt, Santa offered Lily a candy cane and the tears stopped.  It's pretty easy to make friends with Lily when candy is involved!  She even gave him a high five when it was time to leave.  Hopefully, next year will not be so traumatic for her!

We had a great time eating breakfast with Santa.  I loved how relaxed and uncrowded it was and I can't wait to see how their ornaments turned out.  We are definitely making this a new tradition in our house!