Christmas 2012

We had a fantastic Christmas this year! It's always fun waking up in our own house, and seeing the boys' faces when they walk down the stairs. So far, we've been lucky: no one wakes up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning. I don't think anyone has told my kids that it's customary for kids to wake up super early on Christmas morning. And I'm ok with that! My mom and dad, Trent and Paige, and my Grandma came over to see the boys opening gifts since they weren't here last year. 

After a morning of playing with new toys, we went to my mom and dad's house. The cousins got to exchange their Christmas gifts, and we started our Decathalon and then dinner and then more decathlon.

After gifts with the cousins, the kids went outside to play IN THE SNOW! It was such a Christmas treat this year. Around noon, it started snowing. The boys were ECSTATIC! We all were, really. It's been so so long since we actually had a white Christmas.

We decided to change things up a bit this year, so we went with Indian food for our dinner. Each family was in charge of making 2 dishes. I made Lamb Vindaloo and Chicken Curry. It was all very delicious!

It was a great day, with our WHOLE family!

Day 25: anticipation

The kids slept in until 8 on Christmas morning (YAY!). While we were waiting for them, Dave started a fire. The kids were pumped when they got up, especially William.

Day 24: Christmas Eve

Today is going to be a fairly low-key day, getting ready for tomorrow. This evening we will be going to the youth homeless shelter to take dinner to the kids there. I am very much looking forward to it, but I'm anticipating it to be hard...just like last year. So many kids out there without warm, loving homes. But, very thankful we can bless those kids just a little.

Most of you should have received our Christmas card by now. If not, probably for 2 reasons: 1)I didn't have your address, or 2)I put the wrong address (and like an idiot, I TOTALLY forgot to put return addresses). SO, if you didn't get one, and you'd like one, let me know! I have extras. :-)

Here is our card this year:

Day 23: country living

This morning before we headed back to Texas, the men took off to check out the leases while Tasha, me, and the kids went to picks pecans (tasha and me) and build/collect weapons for any bad guys (we heard some shots from hunters). The kids pretty much spent every waking minute outside while we were there. So fun to see their imaginations run wild, and Crew was right in the mix!

Day 22: kisses

We had my Aunt Anita's 80th birthday party today up here in Oklahoma. It was particularly fun because lots and lots of family that we don't get to see very often came to celebrate. (More on that later...)
Anyway, I got some great kisses from Hudson, and my cousin Hazel snapped a pic.

Day 21: 1st grade Christmas

Yesterday William had his Christmas party and Christmas play. It was fun to see all the kids memorizing their lines, and then sing Away in a Manger together.

Day 20: generosity

Last year on Christmas Eve, we took gifts and Olive Garden down to a youth homeless shelter in Fort Worth. We also took homemade sugar cookies and all the decorating supplies you could imagine. The kids down there loved it. One of the girls commented that it was one of her best Christmases ever. It was a true blessing to us as well. And I think it was a big eye opening experience for my boys to see how truly blessed they are.

We are doing it again this year, but we're upping the ante, so to speak. We are taking Olive Garden again this year, since it went over SO well last year. Friends from church have donated some AWESOME gifts this year as well as $$ to help towards gifts and dinner, so I think the kids down there will be so excited.

(sorry for the poor iPhone pic, but you get the idea...):

I was so excited by the generosity of my friends, especially during this busy, expensive time of year. Looking forward to an evening with these precious kids!

 

Day 19: Road Trip

Hudson is going on his first solo road trip, with Mimi and Papa. We are all headed up to OK for the weekend, so they are taking Hudson up 2 days early to "get things ready" (i.e. get the horse, go grocery shopping, etc). He is SO excited!

Day 18: Preschool Christmas

Today was Hudson's Pre-K Christmas program. It was adorable!

Of course, getting ready for school isn't always fun and games, especially when mommy makes you wear non-fun shirts to school!

He wants to stay mad, but he just can't!

Ah, there's my happy guy!

He was SO excited for his program today, and he did a GREAT job.

Crew LOVED watching Hudson and all his friends sing. He even danced along...

I can't believe we are 1/2 way through Hudson's pre-K year! It's going way too fast.

Day 17: ornament

We got our new 2012 Christmas ornament in the mail yesterday, and I love it!

Day 16: at home date

Every now and again Dave and I will have a date night at home after the kids go to bed. We'll get takeout and watch a movie. Tonight was that night. Good food, below-average movie.

Day 15: a FUN day

Today was amazing weather, so we decided to take advantage of it. We headed to the zoo first. We got there right after it opened, so the animals were very active, which always makes for a fun zoo visit. And, there were very few people there, which makes it even more fun.

First stop: Gorillas

The Rhino was particularly active this morning...

My personal favorite: the Meerkats 

I do NOT enjoy going in to feed the birds. I normally make the boys skip this, in spite of their begging. But, today I indulged them. They were thrilled!

After the zoo, we headed to McKinley's for lunch-- my favorite lunch spot down there! 

Then we went to the Fort Worth Museum of Science. We love it there! We played for about 1.5 hours...

even Dave loves to play there!

Crew was desperate to get in with that tortoise!

William enjoyed the architect game on the computers

After playing for awhile we met my sister and her family at the IMAX for a viewing of The Polar Express. It was a very fun movie to watch on the IMAX. 

It was a GREAT family day.

Day 14: making progress

Today I finished my Christmas shopping, which was a huge load off. I only had a few remaining items to get, but it was bugging me that I didn't have them yet. With that, I also got a few birthday gifts knocked out. As I've mentioned before, we have an INSANE number of birthdays in our family from September-February. So many, in fact, that I have a list on the fridge, so I can mark them off. It's hard on the ol' checkbook, but it is such a fun celebrating season!

Day 13: I got nothin'

I was sick yesterday. I was out of bed only when required. Consequently, not a single picture was taken. The good news? Today I feel good!

In order to keep with the pic a day theme...here's my mantle again this year. It's the same every year. I always want to change it up, and do something new, but every year I just love it. So for now, it will remain (by the way, it's really starting to grow on me to have the only "girl" stocking in the house):

Day 12: under the weather

This is what dinner looks like when mommy doesn't feel well and daddy is working late:

Day 11: Gingerbread Houses

One of the highlights of the Christmas season for our family is going to my friend, Cindy's, annual Gingerbread House decorating party. This year was very fun, as always, but with the added bonus of HOMEMADE eggnog!