It's been a very good Christmas for our family. Very busy, but great!
Tony and I were brought on last minute to be in the CIC Christmas Cantata. We had a good time. It was hard to make all of the practices with 3 kids, but we managed and it was well worth it.
The Christmas Season is always fun at school, too. I teach a thematic unit on Jan Brett (children's book author) and we do a mini-thematic unit on the Polar Express book by Chris Van Allsburg. We also go on our 2nd grade field trip in December. This year we went to the Louisville Science Center and IMAX and ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory.
Once I was off for Christmas Break, Tony and I finished up some last minute Christmas shopping and then focused on family over the weekend. We had Christmas with his mom on Sunday and went to the movies later that afternoon.
On Christmas Eve, my mom kept the kids for a few hours while we finished wrapping and getting things ready for Christmas. After leaving the Coomer Christmas Party, we stopped by the church to have communion, to pray, and to watch the slide show. It was nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle and really focus on what Christmas is all about. When we got home, I let the kids open one gift each (new pajamas), gave them their baths and then put everyone to bed. Tony and I were even able to sit down, relax, drink some hot apple cider, and have great conversation.
Christmas morning, Blair was the first one to wake up (at 6:30). Rhett and Micah both wanted to sleep in our room so that we could all go into the living room together (tradition) and I could video their expressions and reactions. Blair ended up being loud enough to wake up Rhett about 7:30. While I went to set up the tripod for the video camera, they woke up Micah, which is unusual because she's usually the first to wake up. They were so excited when they saw what Santa had left them. Blair didn't know what to think! After opening all of the presents, Micah went to see if Santa had ate the cookies we had left for him. When Rhett noticed that ALL of the milk was gone, he immediately said, "Santa is real! He drank all of the milk!" It was so sweet!
Rhett got a basketball goal, soccer goal, Nerf goal and ball, skateboard, real basketball, set of 3 pound weights, Transformers, clothes, pajamas, Pirate ship, Trouble, hot wheels cars, legos, Veggie Tales DVD, etc.
Micah got a new bed, dresser, and mirror for her bedroom, a wooden dollhouse with furniture and people, a baby doll and playset (high chair, stroller, and playyard), Barbie car, Disney Babies (Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora), pajamas, clothes, etc.
Blair got a baby doll, a teddy bear, finger puppets, and a lot of clothes.
Tony and I didn't exchange gifts for each other. We are planning on getting carpet in the basement soon. We just aren't big on giving gifts. Getting gifts was never big in my family growing up, and I'm just not good at it. Plus, we just bought cell phones (we had previously shared 1 pre-paid phone) and I bought Tony a lot of clothes the week before.
We both commented on how content we are and how blessed our family is. God is so good! My mom is cancer free, we both have jobs that we like, we are all healthy, we have good friends and family, we have an awesome church family, and we have a great marriage. I could go on and on about all of the blessings we are thankful for. Most of all, we are thankful that God sent his son, Jesus, to save us from our sins. That is the most important gift of all.
"Self-Feeding" a cut up banana
By this point, there's smashed banana in her ear, on her forehead, in the creases of her neck, etc.
On New Year's Eve we (Our family, Tabby's family, and Cindy's family) went and ate pizza at the Pizza King in New Albany, went bowling, and then came back to my house for snacks and games (Marcye's family met us later at our house). For some reason, I didn't end up with very many pictures. We had a lot of appetizers and snacks and we made our own "mocktails" (Julian, John, Devin, and Caleb were creating their own concoctions)and drank sparkling grape juice and sparkling apple cider! We played games (Apples to Apples) and watched the ball drop on TV! It was nice hosting a kid-friendly party! I hope to have more "Game Nights" in the future. If anyone has any suggestions for some great group games to buy, please let me know!
Tabby teaching the kids how to slide down my stairs ... will she ever grow up? ;)
This was taken at the end of the night, the adults were ready to crash after consuming too much sugar ... (the kids were still going strong playing in the basement on a major sugar high)!
A great way to start 2008!