It has been a fun, but chaotic Christmas (as always), but I don't think I would ever change a thing (except maybe for less fussing and fighting!!). We have enjoyed having some days off and not having to set the alarm clock! I let the kids open an early Christmas present on Dec. 22. It had originally been scheduled to open on the 23rd, but we were going to Clarksdale that day, so they persuaded me to let them open it a day early. They had built it up in their heads so much that they were sorely disappointed when they opened up matching pajamas. You can tell by the look on their faces that pajamas is NOT what they wanted! Needless to say, we had a long discussion and thankfulness and appropriate behavior when receiving gifts!!
This is our "we are so excited about our present" picture!
As you can tell, the faces were a little different when they opened them!
On Saturday 12/23, we headed to Clarksdale for a quick night of Christmas with our families! It was also extremely loud and chaotic, but it's fun and thankful for the time we get to spend together. We ate a big Italian Ravioli lunch and opened presents. We were all there except for Lindsey, who currently lives in Iowa! Poor old Sam, he got more clothes than he wanted (even though he loves his Under Armor Clothing) so he was disappointed until he got his envelope full of money!! He has been so excited about having his own money to spend when we do fun things! Kathryn and Annalyce were taking naps during all the present-opening, so things were a little less chaotic not having little hands to touch it all! :)
Mimi had a birthday cake for Jesus, so we got to light candles and sing Happy birthday to Jesus before digging in!!
This is our whole crew (minus Chet who was taking the picture and Lindsey who couldn't come)!
After we spent some time at Mimi's house, we headed over to see Aunt Scott! Taylor and Carson weren't there so we missed seeing them! The kids were excited about their gifts and Sam finally got a toy he could play with! Pure excitement!!
We came back to Tupelo on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, just in time for our Christmas Eve service at church and our annual dinner and fun with our friends (Brands, Beavers, and Kahlstorfs).
We ate dinner, let the kids play, decorated ugly sweater cookies, listened to the reading of the Christmas Story, sang the 12 Days of Christmas (which was terrible--LOL), and even Christmas Caroled at the neighbors house. We look forward to this every year. We are so thankful that God put sweet friends in our lives so many years ago that have grown in to our "family"!
The whole crew--Abrahams, Beavers, Brands, Kahlstorfs
The kids decorating their cookies!
All of our sweet kiddos!
After finishing the evening at the Beavers, we came home to spread our reindeer food on the driveway. It was SO COLD!! We let the kids open up another present before bed, and Sam got another hoodie and he was sad! Kendall got her hoodie and vest that she had wanted so she was thrilled. And sweet Kathryn got her magna tiles which she LOVES! After our annual PJ picture in front of the tree, the kids headed to bed to eagerly await the next mornings excitement!
On Christmas morning, Kathryn was the first one up so she got to play with her toys before anyone else! She went to wake up the 2 big sleepy-heads, but they were too tired to get up. Kendall got up eventually and was excited about all of her new stuff! I had to go wake Sam 2 more times, and he was still slow to get into the Christmas spirit with his gifts. After that, they all began to play and we spent the day at home enjoying our gifts and having fun. We were so thankful that our day did not involve any rushing around or getting dressed. We stayed in our pj's all day! We even took a nap, watched a Christmas movie, and made cookies!!
Kathryn enjoying some fun time with her toys!!
Sleepy head Sam!
We went out to attempt to ride the cars but it was so cold that we couldn't stay out very long!! They did have a great time riding them around the house, though!
The hair chalk was a big hit!
We finished up a wonderful Christmas day with our annual trip to Cotton Plant to see the inflatables and the lights. It was SO COLD, but we endured it and had a good time. We even stayed in our pajamas!! We couldn't end the Christmas season without going to see the massive display they have. Kathryn loved everything! She kept shouting "Look, Daddy!" and pointing to everything! I wish the weather could've been a little warmer, but we still had a good time!
