Christmas 2008

It has been an interesting Christmas season...for the record...I'm pretty much over Santa. A few days before Christmas the kids received letters from the big guy himself straight from the North Pole. In Abby's letter it said Santa was bringing her a special gift. My daughter looked at me with eyes the size of quarters...and said (grinning from ear to ear)..."Mom, I think I know what Santa's bringing me..." Oh, really...what's that dear (thinking doll, pet shop, maybe a pink ds...) "Mom....he's bringing me a KEY TO THE NORTHPOLE...so I can go visit anytime I want..." Jumping up and down...she believed she was getting the key....my thoughts....ARE YOU KIDDING ME? SERIOUSLY...how in the world am I going to pull this off. I thought about at that minute sitting the children down and telling them the ugly truth...but with just a few days till Christmas I couldn't do it...luckily, Abby is still at the age that we can sway her thinking...so just like any good parents would-that's what we did.

Hayden had changed his mind and decided he wanted the new Sonic Unleashed game and that was the only gift he talked about. The problem was..we found out about this game only a couple of weeks ago...and we'd pretty much finished his shopping. We tried to tell him that he may not get it because it wasn't on his list...his response, "Mom...Santa will know" so what did we do...yep, on the Monday before Christmas we bought the last one at Target.

All in all though...it worked out perfectly and the kids were so excited about EVERY gift they got. They were so funny unwrapping gifts, even the clothes...it was hilarious. "Oh...this is the BEST gift..no, THIS is the best gift...oh, wait...I just LOOOOVVVEEE this."

My dad (Grandpa Jim) and his wife (Donna) celebrated Christmas with us. The kids were so excited to see their "Silly Grandpa Jim"...they think he's hilarious....pretty much because he's a big kid himself. :) We did have a great time with him...I have to mention this because my dad is extremely competitive and he can normally beat me at pretty much everything, until now...I "cleaned his clock" as he would say playing tennis on the wii...it was a very proud moment for me! :)
On Christmas Eve we went to our church's service and then home to open gifts from the family. (Side note...gotta brag about James for a second...he had a calendar made for me with pictures of the kids from when they were little(r)...it was so precious and yes I cried)...We also had a Birthday Cake for Jesus which has become our family tradition.

I usually make a Red Velvet Cake...but this year I cheated and bought a Publix Cake...(I LOVE PUBLIX) I think the kids actually liked it better.


Our other tradition...new pajamas for Christmas Eve...the first gift they open!

Looks like a tornado hit, huh? Nope just the kids opening gifts from all of our family...we really didn't need Santa to visit but the kids wouldn't hear anything about that.

Hayden with his favorite Sonic Unleashed game!

Abby with one of her many Santa gifts-the camera is one of her favorites...we've already had over 100 pictures taken of us...woohoo love those pictures...no key to the North Pole, though...and thankfully she didn't even say a word about it.
I'm going to make a plug here for Leapfrog Tag...which Santa brought to Abby (I just didn't get a picture of her opening it)...the tag is one of the coolest things I've seen. I'm hoping they come out with more books...but it's awesome. Abby plays with it for extended periods of time which is a big thing for her because she gets bored very easy.

Here's a video of Fluffy's Christmas gift...

And the fun is not over yet...we're heading out on Wednesday morning to go to West Virginia. We're renting a cabin and meeting James' parents there (aka Nana and Grandad)...it should be a lot of fun! We're so excited to just get a way and not have to do anything but play some 42...eat good food and hang out together.

We hope that you all had as wonderful of a Christmas as we did...and without being too "churchy"...we pray that the true meaning...the "God loves us so much that he sent his ONE and ONLY son" resonates as the center point of our family and of yours not just during this season but everyday. We love ya'll...friends and family, near and far, old and new...we are so blessed with the people God has placed in our lives...thank you for your love, support and friendship.