CHRISTMAS DAY 2017

Santa came at some point in the night and ate our cookies and delivered the presents. Elle instructed us to put a baby gate at the top of the stairs and we were to move it when she could come down. Which I think was meant to mean in the morning. She did not want to run into Santa in the house knowing her tendency to roam the house at all hours of the night. At 2:30 AM we were woken up by an extremely excited little girl jumping up and down letting us know that Santa had arrived! She was so excited and wanted to get up right then and there but we made her get into bed with us for a little while. But then she was back up around 4 or 5 and asked to just go lay on the couch. I'm pretty sure she knew everything she and Walker had from Santa before anyone else ever woke up. We finally went and got Walker out of his crib around 6 and we had them sit on the stairs for the official come down. Walker was thrilled that the presents had finally come!

Going through their stockings that were full of fun stuff.

Elle with her Vampirina house. One of her main gifts she asked for from Santa.

Daddy putting together a Paw Patrol train track for Walker.

Elle received a karaoke microphone form Santa and she absolutely loves it. It plays 

the music through blue tooth from our phones and it is lots of fun!

Loving on her Welly Wisher doll in her new cold weather outfit.

Opening presents from Mommy and Daddy. All the presents from us were wrapped under the tree.

Sitting on his Paw Patrol potty because that is the natural place to sit to open presents!

Fingerling Sloths. For memories sake these were a HOT toy this Christmas that everyone was looking for and going nuts for. And I just happened to find these at Walmart one day and paid the regular price for them which was about $15. Which I am glad because the kids don't 

care too much about them.

Kenny and I exchanged stockings which really we should just call Christmas since we both got each other some really good stuff. It is nice to have Elle old enough to snap a picture of the two of us on Christmas morning.

Nannee and CeCe got in to Starkville mid morning just in time for us to all have a big breakfast together. Then we just hung out for a little while and let the kids show them their toys and play for a little while before started another fun round of present opening!

Look at that super fun and super mess!

Walker trying out his new balance bike from Nanee.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and opening and playing with toys. Lots and lots of opening of toys and lots and lots of playing. Then that night Mom made the traditional chicken enchiladas and we watched Remember the Titans.

CHRISTMAS EVE

Christmas Eve is always such a fun but very busy day! Lots of preparations for Christmas dinner and final wrapping and then we always decorate cookies for Santa and of course Christmas Eve church service. This year we also threw in a new tradition I hope to continue of making Jesus a birthday cake.  We didn't go too all out but it was fun to have the kids help me ice the cake.  Like I said it was a very busy Christmas Eve but a wonderful one full of traditions and memories made. 

We talked about it with Elle and pretty sure we have decorated cookies for probably 5 years now. Ever since she was semi old enough.  We were so happy to have Walker who was able to join us this year. Last year I believe he napped while we decorated cookies. He got into it a whole lot and also managed to eat lots of sugar which is no surprise!

Helping Walker decorate his cookies for Santa.

Elle gets more and more detailed with her cookies each year. It won't be long before she is giving Kenny who is our most detail oriented cookie decorator a run for his money. 

I get a few cookies decorated but for the most part move around and

 help everyone and take pictures and selfies of course!

Kenny concentrating very hard on his present cookie.

Kenny's long arms come in handy when we want a family selfie.

The two best cookie decorators...for now.

The finished products! Lots of good ones!

Elle was super proud of all our work.

Elle chose one to eat later in the afternoon and couldn't resist Kenny's beautiful Santa cookie!

As the afternoon went on Walker was getting pretty cranky from all the excitement. But Kenny and I had made the decision that we really wanted to attend the candlelight service this year. Last year they had an earlier family service that started at 4 but this year they changed it to just one service that was the really good candlelight service. I love it so much and we haven't been ale to go with small children in a while. So we pressed on with going despite the kids not being the happiest. Just a lot going on. We got all dressed and were getting ready to leave for church. Then Walker and Elle got into a little bit of a tif and he scratched her face and he was just melting down. Right as we are leaving out the door we made the game time decision to just stay home and have Christmas Eve dinner and a low key night at home together. Ultimately it was the completely right decision and we really enjoyed our time together for dinner and then getting into our pajamas, saying goodbye to our elf, sprinkling reindeer food and reading Christmas stories before bed. I did have our neighbor come over from across the street to take some pictures of us together as a family since we were all dressed up for church.

Ready to eat Christmas Eve dinner! We even made a plate for Charlie our elf!

Blowing out the candles on Jesus' birthday.

Change into their Christmas jimmies and taking our annual pictures in front of the tree.

Saying goodbye to our elf Charlie before he goes back to the North Pole with Santa.

Cookies and milk for Santa and a note for Charlie to say bye bye.

Santa came!

TIS THE SEASON

I got a little behind in my posting because December is so incredibly busy and then I literally have been sick all of December but with lots of Kenny's help have managed to do all the things and make some great memories. It really was such a fun Christmas season. Walker is old enough to understand most of the concepts of Christmas. Every morning he would wake up and ask if the presents came yet. And we would have to tell him no. We weren't able to put any presents under the tree this year because it would of driven him insane. He doesn't understand presents being around but not opening them. Here is a big photo dump of all the things before I do my posts for Christmas.

I met up with my little club that some of my girlfriends and I are in for a festive Christmas dinner. We exchanged gifts and drank Christmasy drinks and stayed out a little too late.

As if December and all of their school activities weren't enough. First graders were all assigned big book reports. They had to choose their favorite book character, dress as the character and give a 2-3 minute presentation on their book. We were given a good heads up on this so Elle and I decided together that she would be Ladybug Girl. I helped her make this decision knowing that I could pull together a decent costume with our good friend Amazon. Then the week and night before we made sure we read the book and Elle did a few practice presentations. She was super pumped to dress up and do her report and we were so excited for her. 

Lady Bug Girl

Of course for any big occasion we get out front and take lots of pictures. 

This was no different. Everyone got in on the Ladybug Girl love.

Posing with her book.

Even Walker wanted a hug with her.

Charlie the elf found himself his own Ladybug Girl and cuddled up to her for the occasion.

A picture of Elle with all of her classmates in their costumes.

One of the last days of school Elle's class decorated Christmas trees. It was a sweet craft. They all brought a tub of icing and they were given ice cream cones and all kinds of toppings to decorate with. Parents and family were invited to come and I was so happy to be able to be there with her.

Starting to get that Christmas tree green.

Elle with her friends decorating trees.

All done! She was so proud of her tree! She managed to eat lots of icing and 

candy in the decorating process.

I taught Sunday school one Sunday morning and I snapped this picture of Kenny and Walker.

Another day of school they have Polar Express Day. All the kids wear their pajamas and they eat popcorn and drink chocolate milk and watch Polar Express. The headmaster even dresses as a train conductor and gives them all a ticket when they walk through the doors. It is so cute and Elle always looks so forward to it! This morning was no different.

All ready for Polar Express Day in her pajamas.

And on her final day of school Elle had her class party. They had a craft where they made reindeer food, then had their party food and then they had a gift exchange.

Elle with her table of friends.

Later that afternoon a couple of girls and their moms hosted an ornament swap at the Country Club for the first grade girls. I was feeling really poorly so Missy took Elle with her girls. Elle came home happy with her ornament and also because she had won a round of bingo that they played during the party.

Holding up their ornaments.

Group shot of first grade girls.

Walker's last day of Parents Morning Out of Wednesday morning and he also got to wear his pajamas to school and also had a class party. Elle was out of school that morning so she and I hung around to stay for his little class party. We were the only family members there but he was happy to have us there and we left after a little bit.

Walker excited to wear his pajamas to PDO.

Lamb Class Christmas Party

Pictures with Mommy. I always say it but so grateful to be able to attend these sweet parties.

After Walker's class party Elle and I went home to make pretzel turtles to deliver to our friends. This is one of our annual Christmas traditions that is so special to me. The treats are easy to make but making them with Elle and then delivering them to all our friends and neighbors is always so much fun and something I hope we do for years to come!

Making pretzel turtles.

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Elle was excited for these to go in the oven.

Treats all ready and out for delivery on the golf cart!