Christmas Morning 2015

Ah, the wonder of Christmas morning with small children.  Could it get more magical?  I love the glow of a Christmas tree when all the other lights in the house are still off and everything is very quiet.  Santa Claus left Hadley a very girly tent, complete with a chandelier inside.  Talk about being excited when she saw that waiting for her.  

Santa also surprised Hadley with her first "big" American Girl Doll.  This doll happens to look just like my girl, too.  She was over the top with excitement when she unwrapped this gift.

Hadley is very math minded and is constantly wanting us to give her math problems to figure out in her head.  Simple addition facts mind you, but she can't get enough of them.  So Santa was a genius when he got her this Math Slam game that gives her math facts and she has to slam the color displaying the correct answer.  

Canaan loves to work outside with his Daddy in the yard.  Whether it's blowing leaves or mowing the yard, he is obsessed.  He calls a leaf blower a "blower leaf" and he couldn't contain his excitement when he opened this gift.  We only had a slight meltdown when he realized that it doesn't actually blow air like the real deals.  Yikes. Canaan also loved his basketball goal and fishing rod and accessories that Santa brought.

Is he not the cutest yard man you have ever seen?

Hadley got several more American Girl accessories to go with her new doll, including a doll-sized matching tent as her big one.  

What a blessed Christmas morning we had.  Love our little family so incredibly much.  Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Christmas Festivities

One thing that is magical about December is just all the activities/festivities associated with the Holiday.  Sometimes I look back on the month and think, did we really do all that in 31 days?  Sheesh.  At school, we celebrated "Dress like your Favorite Toy Day."  Hmmm...that really got my wheels spinning.  Luckily my super creative friend, Lacey pulled through and made these American Girl Doll boxes for all our girls.  

Hadley loved getting to be a living American Girl Doll for the day and I have to say that she made one super cute doll!

The Kindergarten Christmas Program at school was adorable and I loved getting to see Hadley perform her selection of Christmas songs, complete with hand motions.   Of course, Miss Feese was there every step of the way.  We just adore her Kindergarten teacher. 

Santa Claus even made an on stage appearance during the Program.  These kiddos had no idea he was even coming, so the oohs and aahs were just adorable.  Talk about some excited kids!   The talk around our house, for days leading up to the performance, was that she was actually getting to sing "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" when she has no front teeth at all.  The timing couldn't have been more perfect. 

I love my sweet performer.   

Granna and Grandad joined us to see Hadley in all her glory.  It is so wonderful to have family at special events to support and share in excitement for your children.  It means so much to the kids, especially.  

When my kids out-grow Christmas-themed clothing, I know I will be so sad.  The kids are always decked out in their Christmas attire for all the Sundays leading up to the 25th.  I cracked up at Canaan, one Sunday morning, when he was dressed and ready for church but decided to chill out on the couch and watch a few more minutes of cartoons.  This exact position is how I found him and I just thought he was too cute.  

The day of Hadley's Christmas Party, at school, we sported our matching scarves.  However, she was more excited about her bitty baby having a matching outfit as herself.  She stuffed the doll in her backpack to show Miss Feese but promised she would leave it in her backpack all day long, other than that,

Kindergarten parties are just too cute and I loved all the stations the kids rotated to.  Hadley made reindeer food at this particular station.  They either made Christmas crafts or food of some kind at each station.

We also got to celebrate Christmas with our sweet four year olds, in our Sunday School class, at church.  We had sweet treats and fruit and made a Christmas craft with them, as well.  These were just a few highlights from our insanely busy month.  Between celebrating the season and basketball games, we rarely had time to breathe.  But thankful to get to celebrate the Reason for the Season in the midst of the chaos! 

Breakfast with the Grinch

Breakfast with the Grinch, at Barren River Lodge, is a time to eat an unbelievably huge, delicious buffet breakfast while interacting with none other than the Grinch himself.  After seeing the musical just a few days ago, the kids have really been talking about the Grinch, so I thought this would be a fun activity.  Plus, finding time for Christmas activities for the whole family, during ball season is tough.  This happened to be a Saturday free, with no ball game, so it worked out perfectly.

The Grinch was so much fun and made each child feel very special; taking time to play and interact with everyone.  Hadley couldn't get enough of the big green guy and thought he was so funny.

Canaan, on the other hand, wanted no part of getting close to the Grinch.  It was all fun and games until he got close to Canaan.

I wanted a whole family picture in front of the tree, but look who decided to crash the party.  I love Canaan's expression.  He couldn't take his eyes off the Grinch because he was so scared of what he might do.

With lots of coaxing from us, Canaan finally looked up long enough to smile for the camera.  We had the best time with the Grinch and are already looking forward to next year.  Wonder how little brother or sister will feel about the Grinch?  We shall see....

Go Lady Scotties

As if Christmas festivities weren't a big enough December activity, let's throw the beginning of basketball in the mix.  Another year of Lady Scottie basketball is back in action!  They are the longest and busiest 3+ months of our lives, but some of the most fulfilling and fun as well.  We love our girls and getting to watch them grow into fabulous young women, equipped with lessons that will help them face adversity or work with others later on in life.  It really is a special honor.

As they always are, Granna and Grandad are always right there beside us, helping out by bringing snacks of every kind, taking someone to the bathroom, trips to the concession stand,  and just helping in every way imaginable.  We love this special time with them and know we'll cherish it always.

Kindergarten is an adjustment anyway, and we've noticed that by these Friday night games, Hadley is so worn out.  She fell asleep at more than one Friday night game this year.  Granna's Nook provided great entertainment for the kids.  There is a game about feeding a horse that they both love, as well as drawing, too. 

Yes, we are excited about another season of basketball games and hope for lots of Wins.  But whatever the season brings, we will enjoy being together and supporting Justin and the girls!

All Aboard the Polar Express

Thanks to my mom and nana for standing in line for two hours to secure our tickets to the Polar Express, we actually did get to attend again this year.  This free event is getting more and more popular every year.  I so hope we continue to get to go because it has turned in to a fun tradition for us.  I love it when the kids get to wear their Christmas jammies.  They love the hot chocolate and cookies while waiting for the conductor to make the All Aboard call.

You board the train in the very back but have to walk all the way to the front for the reading of the Polar Express.  It's a long walk through super narrow hallways that smell, well, old.  But it's an awesome part of history that I love.

My parents, grandparents, and Bradley's family were all with us for this fun night.  We love any family time we can get.

We actually had this reader a couple of years ago when we attended, and he does an excellent job. 

We had such a big crew that we didn't all get to sit together, but I love this picture of Bradley's family and Nana and Grandaddy.  Little Lawson was so stinkin cute!

Canaan loves his Great-Nan and Grandaddy Hughes.  He gripped his hand tightly through the long walk back off the train.

I so hoped I could snap a picture of both kids with Santa but Canaan would have no part.  When he rounded the last corner of the train and saw St. Nick, he was more than a little stand-offish.  He didn't scream or anything, but as far as snuggling up close to him, he certainly wasn't going to do that.  But I'm glad I got a good picture of Hadley with Santa.

After spending some time in the gift shop looking at an enormous train set, we said our goodbyes to the rest of our family and headed home.  But we had the best time and wouldn't trade these moments for anything.  Till next year, Polar Express!!

Grinch the Musical

Grinch the Musical was a brand new show to the Grand Ole Opry this Christmas season.  We went to see the Rockettes just two years ago, but this was the first year to bring the Grinch to Nashville.  It was the first time for us to don Christmas attire and really get in the spirit of the Holiday.

The musical was just fabulous.  I liked it so much more than the Rockettes.  The colors and costumes were unreal.  I attempted to make a Pinterest recipe of Grinch popcorn where you add green food coloring, marshmallows, and red M&M's to have to munch on during Intermission.  It wasn't as Grinch green as I would've liked, but it did taste yummy.  We knew Hadley would be fine during the show, but we were so proud of three year old Canaan. He sat on the edge of his seat during the performance and loved every second of it.

We had the best time together ringing in the Christmas season.  Love sweet times like these with my family!

North Pole Breakfast

Our North Pole Breakfast is turning in to quite the tradition for us, and it just keeps getting sweeter every year.  To hear the kid's screams when I tell them that someone has been to our house and left a special treat, is just the sweetest thing.  We had been talking about our Elf making his arrival and how he was due any day now.  

Hadley and Canaan just happened to sport their Elf on the Shelf  jammies the night before.  Now wasn't that a coincidence?  Our elf, Rudolph, made monkey bread for breakfast, which the kids just love.

OK, Canaan's hysterical smile is just cracking us up these days.  He looks part mouse or something, but I think it's too cute.  Really it's not cute at all, but of course it's cute to Mama.

Rudolph wrote each child a letter about his expectations for them over the next few weeks that he's with us.  He also brought them a new ornament for the their trees and some other cheap Christmas themed goodies.

Oh me....it's here!  The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!  We couldn't be more excited at our house!