Spider Monkeys and Bat Puppies

This Christmas we had four special friends join us. Ally's Christmas Reindeer, Wyatt's Batman Puppy, Stacey's Spiderman Monkey and Ryan's Camo Darth Vader. There is only one place that could create such "special" friends. :)

One morning when the stars aligned and all four grandkids earned something in their daily stocking (this is nothing short of a Christmas miracle!) Honey & GP stepped in and gave them all a trip to Build A Bear!!! We have never been so my boys didn't know quite what to expect, but they were excited!!

The heart ceremony - so cute.
I love Ryan's face in this one - he is trying to be cool, but can't help but bless that precious bears heart :)
In bed that night Wyatt wanted to sleep with "dat heart - Mommy, get dat heart out so I can sweep wif it."
Bath time.

Me: Wyatt look over here at these cute Christmas Jammies - would you like those for your puppy?

Wyatt: NO, I NOT WANT JAMMIES I WANT BATMAN!

Well OK then, a man with a plan.

Satisfaction!
I love this picture of GP entering the information for these crazy creatures birth certificates. Dad you're the best!
Thank you Honey!!
Stacey named his monkey William (?) and I have never seen him so attached to a stuffed animal. William did everything with him all week. William needed a kiss in the morning and William needed me to tuck him in a night and William needs a snack etc. I'm hoping William isn't expecting a college education because this gravy train will only take him so far!

We went to see Santa afterwards and Wyatt asked him for none other than...a Batman Puppy. I guess there was a little extra room in the sleigh because that wish was already granted. :)

As expected it was huge hit with all four kids!

The Mayborn

We were hoping to make a trip to the Waco Zoo, but it was a little wet the morning we were planning on going so we changed our plans and headed to the Mayborn Museum instead. My kids had been with Honey and GP before, but I had never been.

These elfs were thoroughly entertained.

They had a huge train display featuring non other than Thomas himself and the boys LOVED IT!
Standing over some fossils and pushing Lila of course.
We sure did love all the quality time with our cousins!!
GP supplying the spare change for this one.
Lila was such a trooper hanging with the big kids all week.

Filler Up.

Christmas Sing Along

Before the break we got to attend a Christmas Sing Along at Parkway Hills - Stacey's Preschool. The kids were all asked to bring their own Santa hat for the performance. I'm not sure what was threatened if they didn't but apparently it was serious because Stacey would remind me EVERY day that he needed that Santa hat!! And you could tell he was nervous about what might happen if he didn't get it.

You would think with so many reminders I might have been able to purchase a nice fluffy perhaps child sized Santa hat - right? Wrong. I kept thinking I would run across one, but as the day got closer and closer, and I became increasingly concerned about my 4 year old's anxiety level, when I saw one at the Dollar Tree I snagged it. And as we all know sometimes (although not always at Dollar Tree because let me tell you they have some treasures for $1) you get what you pay for. Poor thing looked like someone stole his fluff and shrunk his head in that pathetic hat! Thankfully he was clueless (and probably just relieved that he didn't have to endure the lashing showing up hatless would have brought him) and the sing along was priceless nonetheless.

Afterwards, we got to go to the classroom and have cookies with Stacey's class. This picture in no way shows just how cool Mr. Wyatt thought he was standing by Stacey, in his class with all his school friends. He was playing it so cool saying, "Hi, I'm Wyatt what's your name?" And then dyeing laughing at whatever they said. Polar opposite to III who didn't speak the first few weeks of school.
Sweet thing cries every time we drop of Stace cause HE wants to go too!!
Next year buddy - don't worry we'll try to save for a better Santa hat by then.

Candyland

The week before Christmas Stacey headed off to Colorado for the annual Watermark Student Ministry ski trip and we headed to Waco for a week full of family Christmas festivities!! We kicked things off on Friday night with a Candyland birthday party for my niece, Miss Ally Wood. And it might have been the cutest birthday party ever!! Angie outdid herself once again and had every Candyland detail looking party perfect! And the best part was Ally actually appreciated every little detail and thanked her sweet Mommy repeatedly for her perfect party! Precious Girl!

She looks pretty excited to me.

The kids decorated gingerbread houses as well as a few other available crafts. Angie converted the garage into party overflow space, but you didn't miss a beat as the sugarplum fairies seemed to have been there as well.

It's nice when your sister hosts a big party the night you get in town because in addition to my entire family being there so were some of my best buds!! (Sorry Katy our picture was a little blurry!)
The decorations were the stuff Candyland dreams are made of. I kept finding Wyatt lingering around this particular table. All the kids got to fill a bag of candy for the road.


The game board ran all through the house! And even had the picture spaces just like the real game.

Happy Birthday Ally. I can't think of anyone sweeter for this sugary party. We loved celebrating with you and WE LOVE YOU!!

Holiday Hangover

We are slowly coming out of the wonderful holiday fog that we've been in for the past week or so. In an effort to make it last just a little longer I've pretty much been acting as if I'm still on vacation since we returned from Waco on Sat. Today I finally finished the laundry, put away the homeless new toys, vacuumed etc. - you know the stuff you do when Christmas is over. :(

However, I can only detox so much in one day so our decorations remain intact to be tackled tomorrow...or maybe this weekend. And until then, I'm clinging to the simple enjoyment of little white lights, cinnamon candles, SNOW!, and everything else that makes this the most wonderful time of the year!!

I've got lots of Christmas posts to come but here are a few pictures of my boys since we got home. Just enjoying a few of Santa's treasures!

Honey, I mean Santa, the boys are LOVING reading all their new books with their Tag and Tag Jr.

Wyatt keeps saying, "I can read it again??" And he is delighted when the answer is yes!

And of course every two and four year old needs a good shave!

They grow up so fast ;)

A few slight modifications

And there were shepherds lying out in their fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And behold the bat symbol appeared to them, and they were terrified.

And you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a Crock.

December Stockings

I know this year Elf On The Shelf has gotten very popular, and it is a precious, genius idea, but I have to give my Mom credit for coming up with her own version some 30 years ago. I just wish she had written a cute book about it so she could have reaped the benefits. :)

For as long as I can remember on December 1st we hung stockings outside our bedroom doors and if we were "good" - however that was defined depending on our ages - then we would get a little treat in the morning. In elementary school our whole carpool started doing it so every morning we'd talk about what we got in our stockings. It was embarrassing if you had to confess that you didn't get anything. :)

Mom even sent us packages in college with the days of the month on them. I am sure my sisters opened them all a once but my rule following self would make my bed (one of our rules growing up) and then open the gift each day. It was just a little piece of home for the holidays.

The gifts were anything from a new shirt to a pack of gum and everything in between.

Like lots of family traditions I love passing this one on to my boys! I think 3-years-old is probably the perfect age to start, but Wyatt would be devastated if Stacey got something and he didn't, so this year they're both starting the tradition. And during a busy month like December it doesn't hurt to have a little extra incentive for obedience!

Just in case you're curious I've included our rules below. These are printed on our fridge with the pictures so even though they can't read, we can review the rules.

At their ages we give warnings for some of these, but we've had plenty of mornings with empt stockings and they do not like that one bit. When they do have a good day I love picking a treat from my stash and seeing them enjoy it in the morning.

(My font colors seem to be messing up so if you can't see the rules in google reader you may have to go to my blog?? Sorry)

Obey the first time, with a good attitude.

"Children obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord." Colossians 3:20

Be kind to your brother.

“Honor one another above yourself.” Romans 12:10

Have a good day at school (no color changes).

“God gives joy to those who promote peace.” Proverbs 12:20

Help clean up toys, and help with a daily chore (assigned by Mom).

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.” Colossians 3:23”

Go to bed/Take a nap without fussing.

“Do everything without complaining or arguing.” Philippians 2:14

BFFs :)

Last weekend I got to get together with my girls (Shannon M. was living it up with the hubby in NYC and was missed terribly) for about 24 hours to catch up, take a breather from the boys and celebrate Wendi's sweet baby girl who is on her way!! Thank you Shelley and Aunt Cassie for watching the boys while I was playing.

The guest of honor, Wendi, is my buddy who has two boys very close in age to mine so she'll be blazing new trails adding a girl to her family dynamic. I can't wait to meet Miss G!

These two precious bundles (Clark & Julia) joined the party as well as Payton Chandler. Couldn't you just eat them up!!

Our tradition with second and third babies with this group is to have a little mini shower with just us. It is low key but still oh so fun!

A little of the decor.

We all brought a girly ornament for Miss Georgia Junod to start her Christmas collection. Wendi had just decided on the name the day before the shower!

The loot.

Later in the evening (Katy and Ann had to head back to Waco a little earlier) we channelled our inner high schooler and had a little style show at Target! Oh let the good times role.

I know Target seems a little lame since we are all there all the time - but, it was a perfect time to do some Christmas shopping without our kiddos there and I loved having the other Mommies input on toy dos and don'ts!!

After some yummy dinner at Uncle Julio's we headed home and got into our real PJ's and did what we do best. Just talk and talk and talk.

Julia and I just happened t be a little matchy matchy.

Thank you Wendi for taking time out of you very busy and short time here to make this happen. I know I'm a broken record, but I love all of these girls and I'm already looking forward to our next weekend together!