Christmas Morning

The girls woke from their slumber party at 4:30am wide awake and ready to go. They raced to our room, turned all the lights on and screamed It's Christmas!!! We told them it wasn't Christmas yet, it was the middle of the night and tucked them back in. As I tucked them in, I realized it was really just Addison awake and excited, the other two were basically just following her lead in a half-asleep state. They woke the second time at 6:45 and Christmas began. They ran downstairs to find a good-bye note from Trixie the Elf and Santa's empty cookie plate.

Santa left American Girl horses, Pappy gave the girls the stable and Miss Debra got all the dolls their riding clothes. They were all a big hit and we have played horses all week.

She's a happy little elf, passing out presents.

Forget all the American Girl stuff, this girl just really wanted that purple Ty bunny. She was so excited. She got the bunny and the unicorn and they have gone everywhere with us this week.

Reagan and her American Girl Cooper Dog from Aunt Tressia and Uncle Bryan.

All the girls in the house got these matching aprons from Miss Debra.

The girls got Daddy a boy Barbie, so he can play Barbies with them. He said he looked at Ken's 6 pack abs and ripped arms and suddenly understood the whole Barbie and self-image issue! :) Ken had him down on the floor doing some Christmas day push-ups.

Sweet

I don't even know what she was opening here, but she loved it and she raced over the give me this huge hug!

We opened lots of presents, cooked a big lunch and made Happy Birthday Jesus cookies. We skyped and talked to family in Texas, stayed in jammies and played all day. It was a perfect day.

Christmas Eve

Late Christmas Eve afternoon we headed to the family Christmas Eve concert and candlelight service at our church. I always look forward to this service every year. In my head I always have visions of sweet cuddles with my children, worship and prayer time and quiet moments focusing on the season's gifts. It never quite turns out just like it is in my head. I love it and I do get sweet cuddles, worship and prayer time and some focus, but there were also lots of loud whispers, a huge cup of hot chocolate spilled, Gracyn pointing things out with her middle finger, and the worries of three small children with fire! We managed through (barely) without catching any one's hair on fire. Despite the chaos, we love it and are thankful to have Christmas Eve service as part of our family tradition.

Another big tradition at our church here is to pass out donuts on Christmas Eve. The church provides thousands of boxes. They encourage you to take as many as you want and to go and bless someone with them. This year, each girl took a box and after dinner, we headed to the Children's Hospital near our house. We gave one box to the staff working that night and we passed several other boxes out to families in the waiting room. We pray they were a blessing to people who weren't home on Christmas Eve night. This is one of our favorite Christmas traditions in Cincinnati and something I think we will always continue, even if we move away from here.

We got home with an excited group of girls, ready to make preparations for Santa. They braved the cold to scatter reindeer food around the yard.



Trixie the Elf had used a bag of M&M's to write a Christmas countdown several days before. Trixie started at 2 Days, and the girls changed it for the few days after that. 

So excited!

Addison and Reagan worked really hard on letters for Trixie and Santa.

Gracyn skipped the letter writing and just ran around, super excited.

Do you think she is ready for Santa?

Reagan and Daddy having a little worship time.

The girls got everything ready for Santa and then we read the Christmas story in the bible and tucked them all in for a slumber party in Addison's room. The anticipation of the morning to come kept them up for quite a while, but they eventually gave up and fell asleep.

Blankets

Each year, at Christmas and really all year, we try to find opportunities as a family to serve others and help people who might be in need. This year, Addison really wanted to make blankets and take them downtown to help homeless people. We worked as a family to make 3 fleece blankets and then we filled 3 big Christmas bags with food, the blankets and a bible. We tried and tried to convince the girls that we should take them to a shelter downtown, but they (mostly Addison) weren't satisfied with that. She was determined that some people might not know where the shelter is or might not go there. She was adamant that she wanted to hand deliver the bags to people that could use them. So, we prayed that God would lead us to the right place, loaded in the car and headed downtown. It only took a few minutes of driving around, before we came across a group of 3 homeless men walking together. We handed them the bags, wished them a Merry Christmas and headed on our way. It actually turned out to be really easy and is something I am sure we will do again. I pray that those men were blessed by the hearts of my children and their desire to help. May we always realize how abundantly blessed we are and always keep our eyes and hearts open to others in need.

School Parties

The week before Christmas I got to attend parties at all 3 girls school. It made for a crazy week, but it was so much fun. Reagan's class was first. She is in the "Penguin" kindergarten, so we decorated cute little penguin picture frames. My friend, Carolyn, and I ran that station. Reagan has some super sweet little cuties in her class and she is always so thrilled to see me, so I always love spending time in there.

At another station they had snowman races. Each team raced to turn a teammate into a toilet paper snowman.

They ate penguin cupcakes. My little clown got a laugh from her friends when she decorated her face with icing, so of course, she loved doing it!



Addison's class was next. They played three games, did a craft and decorated cookies. It was pajama day for them and they were watching The Polar Express that afternoon.

Can you tell she loves a good game?

I wrapped up the week with a Happy Birthday Jesus party in Gracyn's class. My little cutie was the Christian Flag holder in chapel that day.

The class sang songs for us, we had birthday cake and we did a book exchange.

She was so excited. She was especially proud to give me the bag of gifts that she had made. She managed to keep all her gifts secret until it was time for me to open them.

I love experiencing the magic of the season through their eyes. Every little event and detail means so much to them and I am grateful that I get to take it all in with them.

Nutcracker Weekend

My Mom and Jimmy made the LONG drive up from Texas to see Addison dance in the Nutcracker this year. They arrived on Friday afternoon, just as Addison was recovering from a night of stomach flu. We had a big dinner and kicked off the weekend with Christmas presents. Reagan is delighted with her Justice body glitter from Aunt Erica.

They brought the girls so many fun Christmas presents. They spent the rest of the weekend using the craft tables Mimi made them.

Saturday morning we headed to Big Tree farm. It wasn't too cold and we had fun seeing Santa, doing crafts, drinking hot chocolate and taking a carriage ride through the trees.

My sweet family.

The girls first horse drawn carriage ride. They loved it. Did I mention that it gets a little gray and gloomy here in the winter?

My pretty girl is growing up too fast.

The whole crew with Santa.

That night we had the first of Addison's 2 Nutcracker performances. She made such a cute little mouse. She had a huge smile on her face the whole time. She spotted her audience right on the front row and was delighted. I was backstage mom that night, so I saw snippets of the show from the balcony and the wings. What I saw was beautiful. I loved hanging out with the girls and helping do costumes and hair. During the finale of the show I stood backstage just crying! It was so sweet to see all their hard work come together in, they were bubbling over with excitement and so supportive of each other.

Addison signed autographs for fans after the show. Reagan had the BIGGEST smile all night! She was so proud and excited to watch Addison. Next year she is old enough for the show and I think she already knows all the dances!

Mommy and Daddy with our little star. We were so proud of her. It was the perfect end to such a great day. Good thing, too, because by Sunday morning despite all the cleaning and sanitizing I had done, my mom, Jimmy and I had all caught Addison's stomach flu. We were miserable. Tommy was the only well adult in the house and he had to leave at 11am for a flight to Dallas. He was off to entertain customers at the Cowboy game, while we tried to survive around here. Somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed at 2:00  to get Addison ready for her 2nd show. I took Reagan and Gracyn back and despite my misery I loved watching her again. By Monday the crew here was feeling mostly better. They headed back to Texas and we started a very busy last week of school before Christmas.

Ice Skating

This past weekend, a local pharmaceutical company that is run by a Christian family and that is big on community outreach, hosted a Christmas weekend. They had free ice-skating on Saturday and Sunday and an AMAZING evening with Santa on Saturday night. We were there both days.

The girls picked up ice-skating in just a few minutes. They have skated well the past two winters, but we never know how it will be after a year off. Gracyn was most impressive this year. She did so well on her own! A big change considering the first year we began going to the rink, she and I played and ate snacks on the side and last year, she had skates but we had to hold her up. See my rubber boots? That's how I roll on the ice 8-weeks post knee surgery. I just began getting around well about a month ago, I am not about to risk getting hurt again!



Reagan and Daddy doing some figure skating moves!

Cincinnati is gloomy this time of year. It actually wasn't cold, but there isn't a leaf left on a tree or a speck of sunlight in sight. It might be April before we see much sun again. :(

Look at her go!!!

She is such a cutie.



The Santa portion of the evening was one of  the neatest Christmas activities we have ever experienced. They manage crowds amazingly well and they are handing out gifts right and left. There is no cost for any of the activities and they gave us a Veggie Tales movie, books and gift bags. The girls made crafts and listened to a story from Mrs. Clause while we waited our turn with Santa. On the way to Santa, the halls are lined with scripture telling the story of Jesus's birth.

Santa's room is beautifully decorated and we received a free portrait. After Santa, you get the biggest surprise of the evening. We excited his workshop to enter an old-fashioned soda shop in the middle of the building. For this event it is stocked with EVERY kind of dessert and candy you can imagine. It is beautifully displayed and ready for the eager hands of the children. We loaded our plates with goodies and hit a yummy hot chocolate bar. I didn't get any pictures in this room because my hands were too full of delicious desserts. The girls were thrilled with the whole experience. It truly was a magical evening.

Playing Catch-up

The Blog has taken a big back-seat to life lately. Just keeping up with all 3 girls, their activities and managing my house takes up more hours than I have in a day! By the time we get the last child to bed around 9pm, I have no desire to blog. I just want to hang out with my husband, visit him and relax and/or watch mindless TV (hello Duck Dynasty!) for a bit before we crash. As a result, much of November is lumped together in my attempt to get it all on here.

Since Addison was having surgery the Monday before Thanksgiving, we broke my no-decorations-before-Christmas rule and decorated the weekend before Thanksgiving, while she was feeling well. Good thing, because she wouldn't have been able to help at all, had we waited. The girls all put trees in their room, and although Tommy moved on to MARS in May, I still put up my Coke tree.

I love the trees and lights and most of all the delight it brings my children, but to be totally honest, it is December 8th, and the decorations are already starting to drive me a little crazy! As beautiful as they are, they are also a bit cluttered and part of me longs for the peace and order of my regular decorations.

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Addison and I arrived bright and early (before daylight) to Children's Hospital to have her tonsils and adenoids removed. I have put this surgery off for 6 months, but after determining that she did need to have it done, we booked that day so she would only miss 2 days of school, but have a week to recover. Children's Hospital is amazing and the stuffed animal, balloon and wheelchair went a long way to making her feel better. This surgery is ROUGH! My girl has a high pain tolerance and it served her well throughout recovery. The poor girl seems to have an adverse affect to pain medication and she can not sleep while taking them! It made for a long week. She spent 4 solid days in bed and 3 more barely moving around the house. She ate lots and lots of ice cream, Popsicles and frozen yogurt tubes. She did go back to school on the 8th day and only came home early twice that week. The sweet school nurse was very helpful and accommodating, we kept her freezer stocked with Popsicles and Addison made daily visits down for pain meds, a Popsicle and a short rest on the cot. We are three weeks out now, and she seems to be back to 100%. I am thankful to have that procedure behind us! Thanks so much to all the friends and family that called, provided meals and sent her gifts. We felt very loved.

Reagan's kindergarten had Open House. She was an outstanding tour guide, showing us around her classroom and specials classes. She loves school and we are so proud of how well she is doing.

 

We have baked lots of holiday treats. You know Addison doesn't feel well when she is missing out on the licking of the spoons! Notice the blue sundresses in the middle of winter? Gracyn LOVES this dress. She asks to wear it everyday and can't because, it is 50 degrees outside. However, the minute we come in the house from our daily activities, she goes straight to her room and puts it on. EVERYDAY! Sometimes she talks Reagan into putting on her matching one.

Same dress, different day. Thankful for a beautiful, warm and sunny day to put up our outside decorations. I set up a chair and blankets outside for Addison, but she never made it out. She got from our bed to the couch that day and couldn't go any farther.The rest of us had fun enjoying the day and setting up the yard.

Gracyn decorated Gingerbread Houses with her class. The kids were adorable....they just piled and piled candy on their little houses. Miss Megan let them lick the spoons from their icing for a few minutes. When she went to take Gracyn's away for the trash, I thought she might have to wrestle her for it. Gracyn was not ready to give it up!

Another blue dress picture. She has her "Dad" tattoo on. The tattoos were actually part of the small group bible study that Tommy and I are leading. We were supposed to wear them to remind us of God's love for us, but our children got to them first!

Our children toilet-papered our room. They got the idea from our naughty elf, Trixie! He rolled Addison's room one night while she slept and they were inspired. Tommy and I knew exactly what they were doing when they wanted to give us a "surprise" in our room. We just let them have their fun and enjoyed our 10 minutes alone on the couch while they worked!

Reagan joined Daisy Scouts!

She had her little ceremony to join, which was fun for the whole family. I am not sure how I feel about the whole Girl Scouts thing. Many of the activities they strive to do are things we do regularly as a family, so I wasn't sure about paying dues and adding another thing to our schedule, but the group is all sweet, special little girls we know, love and want to foster friendships with, so we went for it. She is having a blast so far. Ask me how I feel next month when we are selling cookies!



Gracyn got to bring home the class fish, "Gus". He came to spend the weekend with us and we documented our activities with him.

 

Trixie the Elf joined us from the North Pole. This might be the most favorite holiday tradition in our house! The girls are ecstatic to find him each morning and he is always coming up with new mischievous things to do. He has ridden the American Girl horses, played on their Gymnastics equipment, toilet papered bedrooms, eaten candy and brought treats and notes to the girls.

 

How is that for November in a lump? Add in an ear infection for one child, a sinus infection for Daddy, final days of physical therapy for me as well as oral surgeon visits about wisdom teeth, lots more fun activities, Nutcracker rehearsals and just everyday life to complete the picture. November went by in a flash and December promises to do the same. May we take a break in all the chaos and fun to remember the reason for this season.