Merry Christmas!!!!

I think this might have been one of my most favorite years with my children at Christmas! The month of December was full of all kinds of mischief from our elf, Clarence and this was the first year we did Ann Voskamp's Jessie Tree Advent. We were also very busy with piano recitals and school Christmas events. This really made the time pass quickly and before we knew it...it was Christmas Eve. Here are some pics leading up to the 24th.

Some memories from Clarence the Elf:
-He was found hanging from the ceiling fan on a toilet paper swing.
-He colored mustaches and funny things on our family pictures. (see pic below)
-He drove the Suburban up to the front door. He was sitting on the steering wheel.
-He colored the kids noses red while they were sleeping.
-He brought them chocolate things for breakfast.
-He was found sitting in the highchair. He had a diaper and a bib on! And he was eating cookies like a baby!!!!

I wanted to interview the kids about Christmas and here is what they have to say:

Noah-
What is your favorite Christmas memory?
"When I got my scooter and I drove it up the living room wall on accident." "That was hilarious."
What did you learn from the advent readings?
"Christmas is about Jesus. He was born a baby and then died on the cross for our sins."

Lily-
What is your favorite Christmas memory?
"Being with my family." "Opening presents with my family." "Running down the stairs and seeing all the gifts Mommy and Daddy left for me." "I was too excited. " "That's all."
What did you learn from the advent readings?
"He was born. It was his birthday. He was born so he could grown up. He can grow up and save them people from bad."

Hannah Grace:
What is your favorite Christmas memory?
"It was getting an Ipad on Christmas morning. I was really really surprised. I thought it was going to be a Nano."
What did you learn from the advent readings?
"God will provide for His children. He provided Esther with courage and Ruth with bravery to stand up for what she believed. I learned about how, like, the story of the Bible leads up to Christmas. The Old Testament is always pointing towards Him, Jesus. "

Hope loved her Big Barney, and Elmo books. She was not really too hot about her baby doll. She pulled its hair out and threw her on the floor. Sigh....
Hope is now 17 months and spunky as ever! She is constantly singing around our house. She loves to sing her ABC's and the Barney and Elmo theme songs. She says lots of words and can repeat just about anything. She never stops moving and is always in to something. We adore her feisty personality. We love her spunk.

We are forever grateful to have the opportunity to raise 4 incredible children. Thank you Lord!

And now for pictures!

Christmas Eve...all in new PJ's. Hope is ready to watch a Christmas movie. LOL

Christmas morning!
Noah opens up new tennis shoes!

Hannah Grace gets a new Cross necklace.

Lily gets a new bike!!

Lily opens up pizza for her kitchen!

Noah gets a motorized scooter. He couldn't wait..he had to drive it right away!

HG gets her own flat iron.

Noah gets The Action Bible. This came highly recommended! It's a hit! He has been reading it ALL THE TIME!

Ada was here for our Christmas morning. We enjoyed having Anna and Jordan and Ada over to open presents and then have a wonderful breakfast together. This year we ate: Crockpot Apple Cobbler, Breakfast Casserole, Monkey Bread, Sausage Balls and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. And shhhhh...don't tell anyone, but Carlton and I might be the only humans who did an Insanity workout on Christmas day. Yep, we squeezed it in before we left for Mississippi. Crazy, I tell you.

Look at Noah's face!! HAHA!!!
Hope gave Ada the Jesus Storybook Bible. Look at those sweet cheeks!



We want to thank the "SANTA" who sacrificially gave our family this brand-new IPAD 2. We are so incredibly thankful.
This was her reaction when she figured out what it was! She said, "NO WAY!"

OFF TO DEDA'S (my mother) HOUSE!!!!
Each year we travel to Columbus, MS to visit my mom and family. We usually get there around 5pm. Here are pictures from our Christmas in MS.

We made this picture for Deda. If you double click you can see that the kids held up letters that spelled out DEDA. She loved it.

Lily got a Baby Alive. And oh boy, does she love this thing!!!!!

Noah got a Pogo stick and an electric helicopter.

Hope got an Elmo that sings lullabies.

Okay...hope you enjoyed...Now I am off to have a cup of coffee courtesy of my new Keurig! Thanks MOM!