Christmas Time Festivities

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG ONE!!

The month of December flew by as it always does, filled with parties and baking and shopping and decorating. It seemed as though Christmas kind of snuck up on me this year. I have to admit that my glass of Christmas cheer seemed to be half empty this season, but even in spite of my internal "Bah-hum-bugs" we managed to squeeze in some festive fun!

Because we live in The Less-Than-Spacious Rental on D. Street and all of our Christmas decorations are in storage, we kept the hanging of garland and tinsel to a MINIMUM!

I let the boys be in charge of putting up the (three-foot) Christmas tree and all of the decorating. And for the first time, I relinquished all of my decorating control!! A big step for me, and the joy it brought to the boys made it totally worthwhile.


They carefully hung each ornament and ribbon (and stuffed animal and Dr. Seuss book).

Once something was put into place then that is where it stayed...at lease until the next day when they would rearrange everything!

Tytus took this picture of Beau next to the tree (and vase??). He was obviously very proud of his work...he even fixed his hair for this photo session (I guess wearing a shirt was optional!).

I bought the boys this Nativity scene to which Tytus so precisely placed each person and animal admiring the baby Jesus!

And we colored Christmas pictures for our friends and family....

he can't color worth a darn yet, but he's as cute as can be...and he always wants to be a part of the activity.

T-Man takes it pretty seriously...

but not as serious as Beau...yup, you saw it...a PURPLE Christmas tree...the boy still LOVES purple!

Cash really likes to color...just not on the paper (oh, well).





Tytus had a Christmas assembly at school...

The Pre-K class led the other grades in songs and poems. Tytus line was something like, "Please join us in a moment of silence. Ready, begin."...you couldn't hear a word he said, but he's come a long way from crying hysterically like he did at the VBS program! He did a great job and sang loud and proud on "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Tytus with his "best friend" KC.



And we made gingerbread houses.....

Projects like this are serious business to Beau...constructing something with sugary, delicious treats...what could be more important to a three year old than that?!

Thank goodness for Tytus or I would never be in a picture with my children (not that I'm that eager to be on the other side of the camera!) And on a completely unrelated note: someday I'd like to count how many photos I am in wearing that beloved O-State hoodie that I somehow managed to steal from my sister and hang on to it all these years...I'll get back to you on this one...I know you are waiting with baited-breath!

Not sure Cash was that much help with the house construction, but once again..."How cute is this kid?!!"

The finished product! Next year......Daddy is in charge of the gingerbread house construction!!





And Beau had a preschool Christmas program...(which lasted all of seven minutes!)

He did a fantastic job! He walked around for weeks with his "I'm way too cool to practice singing this song" attitude, then surprised us as usual by knowing every word! He seemed a little confused as to why Mrs. S. felt the need to clutch onto his shoulders during the performance (as did I), but he shrugged it off and kept on singing!

We worked for hours making cookies for the "cookie exchange." Then as soon as it was his turn to choose which cookies he wanted to take home...he ran straight to the cookies we had made rather than "exchanging" them for others brought by his classmates! We were in and out of there in 25 minutes flat!!


And Tytus had a Christmas Pajama party at school...

they had a book exchange, which seemed to confuse and frustrate most of them as they really just wanted to keep the book that they had brought!

and he got to sit and Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas...thank goodness I was there for this! I had no idea all he wanted was a "Slinky-dog" from Toy Story 3! Thankfully my sister was not finished with her shopping either and could join me on the "dog" hunt.

At this point I will refrain from sharing my Scrooge-like feeling towards Santa!

We saw Santa again...Man, that guy is EVERYWHERE! Beau and Cash wanted NOTHING to do with him, so this is the family picture with Santa this year!


And we went to The Christmas Train with the Becks...which is officially going to become an annual Holiday event for us.

IT WAS COLD!!! and it's impossible to get a good picture of five kids.

Look closely...yeah, that's Kyle on the carousel!

Look at those chubby cheeks....have I mentioned how cute I think this kid is?!?!

The Boys with their best bud, Eli. Those three have so much fun together!

Ahhh, how sweet! We love these two.

and Journey Faith came too!

The Gang loved The Christmas Train. It will definitely be a family tradition from now on, as well as the coloring pictures for friends and family and making gingerbread houses and baking cookies...I may even allow the boys to decorate the tree again. Okay, let me clarify...I will let them decorate their own three foot Christmas tree again next year and keep the big one all to my controlling self!

Naptime Hide and Seek

I can see why you might think that this is a comforter wadded up on the floor (the dirty clothes next to it certainly don't help in leading you to believe otherwise!). Sure at first glance that's what I might think too. And, indeed that is what I thought when I went looking for Beau one recent afternoon. It was naptime and as usual his instructions were to go lay down and I would be in to tuck him in and give him kisses a few minutes later. But when I went to fulfill my duties, he wasnt' in his bed, he wasn't on the top bunk, nor was he in my bed, the bathroom, or hiding in the closet!

Thankfully, Beau is a snorer...his "log sawing" led me to this pile of bed covers. He had sneakily hid under his comforter, but was so exhausted that he fell asleep before he had a chance to jump out and surprise me! I'm telling you this kid was completely covered with covers!! I couldn't see even an inch of him.

I gently lifted him onto the bed and uncovered his face. (How does one sleep with a blanket over his face anyway?) But not until I snapped a picture! Trust me, I made sure his airway wasn't blocked first!

He napped all afternoon as usual (and then we had a little chat about when and where to hide from Mommy).

SUPRISE!....Momma Turns 30!!!

Ahhhh...Thirty! I've been anticipating entering this decade for the past few years....and now it's here! And was I SURPRISED at how I got to celebrate!! My sister, mom and inner circle (with a little help from Brock) pulled off a wonderful suprise evening just for me. I unknowingly threw some kinks in their plan along the way, but they adjusted and we had a most fantabulous time complete with mani/pedis, Mexican food, high school scrapbooks (YIKES!), and of course dessert! I LOVE these women...Carissa, Jade, Bratt, Shanna, Kandy, and Mom...THANKS for a very special evening. I can't wait to see what the thirties have in store!

The (Big Red) Barn!!

She's Finished!!!

Isn't she pretty?! I've always wanted a red barn....I think she's pretty!

I especially like these (umm, what are these called?)...anyway...I really like this detail.

The boys are so excited about the barn too! Tytus asked to have his picture taken with her.

You can do lots of things with a barn...store a tractor and all your equipment. I think that's the main idea. I'm leaning a little more toward parties, barn dances, maybe even a good ol' fashion box supper...ooohhh, maybe someday one of my sons with meet and fall in love with a wonderful woman and it will have always been her dream to have a big wedding reception in a big red barn and then I will fall in love with her too and call all my friends and we will start cleaning and preparing and throw one giant wedding party reception!!! oh boy, did I get side tracked for a second...

You could even live in a barn...

(to be continued!)