We want to know your favorite part about this Christmas or any Christmas!

Courtney said..."My favorite part about Christmas is the stockings, the excitement, and the Christmas morning breakfast. It's the only breakfast I really make each year and it carries on my mother's tradition and reminds me of home."


Londyn said..."My favorite part about Christmas is opening presents and celebrating the birth of Jesus. I kept waking up all night long and couldn't wait to get out of bed in the morning."


Adam said..."My favorite part about this Christmas is playing with toys and sledding with my family. My favorite toy this year was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse."


Lucy said...."dabadabadee, dabadabadoo!"

Ryan said..."My favorite part about this year was laying in bed pretending to be asleep as the kids came upstairs to see what Santa brought them. Listening to the giggles and wows and ooohs and screams as the kids dove into their stockings and Santa gifts. And then they came running into our room to wake us up by jumping on the bed. We let them come back two or three times, each time begging us to get out of bed...even though we were awake the whole time. That was my favorite part."

Christmas Day Sledding

Getting ready for Christmas!

The kids are so excited for Christmas they can hardly stand it. They want to tear into their presents today if mom and dad would only let them. Courtney told the kids today that she was going to put a sign on our roof telling Santa not to come unless they shape up. Somehow, I think Santa will still come to our house. We don't have a chimney though so we're not quite sure how he's going to get in, but he does have magical powers so he'll figure out a way. The kids are excited to make him cookies and leave some food for the reindeer. We will spend Christmas eve reading the Christmas story, the kids will be allowed to open one gift, and we'll indulge in delicious goodies reserved just for the occasion. We'll try to post more pictures on Christmas day after things settle down and we change out of our pajamas....sometime around 3pm.

Burr!!!

Old man winter might be here for a while. Just when we think the snow is going away, we get more...and more...and more. We will be enjoying a very white Christmas this year! And with all the snow comes the building of snowmen, sledding, skiiing, and evening horseback rides through the snow.

Londyn's Birthday

Londyn had a very white birthday on the first day of December. It snowed pretty much all day. As you can see the birthday theme was horses. Courtney usually makes birthday cakes and does a great job, but this time she wanted to spend her energy elsewhere. Adam got a little excited to taste the cake and 'accidently' put his hand in it before the party. He's seven and I can't blame him, sugar is a kid's best friend! (And the dentist's too)

Londyn invited about 8 of her closest friends over to the party(that lasted for 5 hours). Did I mention it lasted for 5 hours? She is definitely the social child of the family. The plan was to ride the horse for an hour or so, but the corral turned to snow and mud and the horse smelled like....wet horse, so we skipped that part. There was a horse pinata, and horse presents, pizza and a horse cake, and a non-horse movie Bratz, and some time to play the games that 10 year old girls like to play, and time to build a fort. And time for Adam to have a blast annoying every last one of the girls as much as he possibly could. What else was he supposed to do? At least he didn't dress down as Underwear Boy while they were here so we'll count that as a successful party! Imagine whity-tighties and a large red/black cape and you have now experienced Underwear Boy, except he runs very fast and comes out of nowhere, oddly similar to streaking....and he did not learn that from me! That I know of! Heaven help him!

Thanks to Grandmas and Grandpas for the presents they sent. She'll spend many hours with those gifts. As parents we deprived her of the one present she wanted, a metal detector and opted instead for Courtney to take her shopping. Londyn was still pretty excited about that and I have a feeling the shopping sprees are only going to get more expensive as the years go by. I wonder if that counts as a hardship for a 401k withdrawal?

Londyn had a great day and she was sad to see it end. One day soon birthdays won't be about horses and ponies and dolls and that makes her Dad sad! But for this year she's 10 and 16 will just have to wait!!

Londyn and a few of her friends

Lucy's acquired tastes!

What else is there to say? Not all kids enjoy the taste of dirt, but this one does. What drives a child to eat dirt? Is it their mother's cooking? Is it the taste of bottled baby food? The endless supply of blah baby crackers? Maybe simply a lack of parental supervision? Or perhaps it's the taste of a dry gritty substance transforming into a pudding like dessert that captures their interest. Some kids like it, while others won't touch the stuff. It obviously won't kill you. The dirt after all is somewhat clean which brings up another question, is there such a thing as clean dirt? I think most men would say that it does in fact exist. Whatever your opinion is, one thing is for sure, this kid likes it cause her smile says it's so.