Christmas Pajamas

My mom always gets the grandkids matching Christmas pajamas for Christmas Eve.  They are always so cute and this year did not disappoint.  The girls had gingerbread shirts with matching pants and the boys had red pajamas with a small gingerbread on the pocket. 

 

Getting a good picture of all six kids is still not an easy task but we were able to get a few good ones.  Here are some of my favorites:

 Thanks Granna for the cute Christmas pajamas!  We've enjoyed wearing them this holiday season!

Annual Cookie Decorating at Granna's

The Monday before Christmas we went to Granna's house for our annual cookie decorating.  We waited until Ryan went down for his nap and then we let the kids get started.  It's fun to see how independent they are now that they are older.  Lily still required a little bit of help but for the most part, we were able to sit back and just watch (and give reminders that if we lick the knife, we can't use it again!!!). 



 

Don't worry...we saved a few cookies for Ryan and Granna to decorate after he got up from his nap!

The kids had fun eating their creations and we made sure to save a few cookies to leave out for Santa the next night!

Daddy's Christmas Helpers (A Guest Post by Cory)

A couple of weeks before Christmas I asked the girls to go with me to Wal-Mart. I needed to buy some ornaments and hooks for our tree. They were happy to go with me, and they looked super cute in their cold weather hats! Many of our fellow shoppers were commenting to me how cute they looked. Of course, the trip could not be as easy as it should have been. Within a few minutes of arrival Lily announced she had to go to the bathroom. #2, of course! So off to the men's restroom we went. Luckily it was empty, but the toilet was nasty, and I cleaned it as best as I could. The three of us stood in the stall waiting for her to complete the task. As soon as she was don, Eden announced her biological need. At least it was the quicker version, but they both managed to touch way too many surfaces for my comfort. We scrubbed at the sink for a lengthy period and finished our shopping. Oh well. It was still fun taking my girls on a shopping trip!

A few days prior to that the weather was very nice, and since Parker was wanting to put up the outside lights, we got busy. He was a tremendous help. He is old enough now to stay on task, and he probably did over half of the work. Someday he will understand what a big help he was since physical tasks can be overwhelming for me. Thanks a ton Parker...I am so excited you are old enough to share the experience of putting up lights with me! 

Christmas Programs

Eden and Parker both had Christmas programs the week before Christmas.  Eden's was on Wednesday- her last day of preschool this semester.  I was devastated when I learned that I was not going to be able to attend her program due to an AR field trip in Fort Worth that I couldn't get out of.  Luckily, Aunt Emily stepped in  and took my place so that she would have someone in the audience to support her. 

 

Instead of exchanging gifts, the students all brought gloves, scarves, and hats to give to needy children in our community.  After listening to a story about giving, the students placed the items under the "Giving Tree" and then sang two songs for the parents. 

 

Last year Eden spent the entire program sitting on the stage with her head in her lap crying hysterically.  I have been so worried about how she would do this year but I had nothing to worry about... she did great!  She walked right up on stage and sang both songs with her classmates.  I can not describe how proud I was of Eden when Emily texted me to tell me what a great job she had done!  She has come so far this year and gained so much confidence!  It is definitely something to celebrate!   

A HUGE thanks to Aunt Emily for filling in for me that day!

 After the program, Eden enjoyed some Christmas treats with her friends!

 We are so grateful for Miss Amy.  She has been so patient with Eden this year!

Parker and Eden had their Christmas program the Tuesday before Christmas.  Each grade level came up on stage and sang three songs that they had learned in music class.  They both did a great job!



Aubrey had her preschool program on Thursday night.  I didn't get  to go because I had my staff Christmas dinner, but everyone said she did an awesome job!  I will definitely look forward to seeing her at the end of school program in May!

Christmas Parties at School

Eden and Lily had their parties at Thursday school the Thursday before Christmas.  Eden enjoyed a snack with her class before going to the gym for a "snowball" (cotton ball) fight! 

Lily's class enjoyed a snack and then went into the hall for their book exchange.  They got to wear their Rudolph shirts that they had made the previous week.

At the party, I received the pictures of the girls with Santa that were taken the week before.  I guess we didn't officially make it through this year without any tears!!

Parker's party was on the Friday that we got out for Christmas break.  They started by making gingerbread houses.  It was fun to watch Parker and his friends show their creativity as they worked on their creations.

After all the gingerbread houses were finished, they enjoyed lots of yummy breakfast treats like donuts and cinnamon rolls.

It was a busy and crazy week leading up to our Christmas break.  Their teachers definitely earned their days off!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

After we returned from DC, we were able to go into full Christmas mode.  We did most of the decorating before we left and the kids loved helping us decorate the tree.  They did a pretty good job this year and I only had to do a little bit of rearranging after they went to bed! 

I got out my Willow Tree nativity set just like I do every year.  This time Lily thought I needed a few more animals in my manger scene!  I didn't have the heart to move them so the gorilla and rhino remained there throughout the holiday season.

I find it a little ironic that as I sit here writing this post, I have just finished putting all of the Christmas decorations back into the attic, but I wanted to make sure that I posted about our holidays even if I was a little (or a lot) late!