Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Christmas 2013

Christmas around these parts seem to go so fast :( 
i'm already missin' it dreadfully 
once the kiddos were out of school the excitement really kicked in.
 we decorated cookies this year on the Sunday before Christmas. Mama tripled the recipe and made way to many. Why, I don't know, but considering they turned out extra yummy this year that means my waistline is in big, big, trouble. we sent some in to dad's work and even grandmas work but still had too many to eat!
 had to pull this guy out of a snow bank to come in and decorate. he was havin' way too much fun in playing in those sub zero temps.

 on Christmas Eve, one of our favorite traditions is to find the pickle hidden in the tree. once all 4 pickles are hidden they take turns youngest to oldest looking for one. once they find it they get to open one present...jammies!
 





 after the kids have gone to bed and the gifts are put under the tree I always catch a few shots of the cats playing under the tree. no matter how old they got they always loved Christmas.
 but this year we lost 3 of our sweet kitties so it was sadly quiet :(
 I did find this ol' girl first thing Christmas morning waiting for her treat from her stocking. her 17th Christmas!
 then we found these four on the steps eager to come down
  and the new kittens carrying on the tradition..took'em a while to catch on I guess!
 our second, who's all about the clothes & shoes
 our First Lady who's all about being surprised
 and our Oldest who's the collector


 the Lil Lady asked for a blue scooter and has been rippin' around the kitchen working those muscles ever since!
 okay. before you judge, know that this kid asks for Mt. Dew on a daily basis and never gets it. we knew he'd never expect it so he was quite surprised. now we gotta come up with a plan to ration it, should last him several months!



 another unexpected gift. our oldest used to watch "Brum" on the discovery channel when he was a toddler. the show was from the UK and didn't last long but he always loved that car. I found a remote control Brum on ebay for a great deal and boy was he surprised!
 our Second misses his home state terribly so we set him up with some gear
 and our youngest who's in love with Doc McStuffins. later you'll see she ditched her Christmas jammies and put on her scrubs!

 
 the view out back on Christmas morning




 dad pulled a "Ralphie" and hid our Second's last gift under the couch.
 he's barely put it down since. a hockey stick was all he wanted!
 just look at that smile he's got!
 our lil' Christmas angels. they had big shoes to fill but have already wrapped us around their little...paws.
 Thank You Lord for this wonderful season. Thank You for Your Son, the greatest Gift of all!
 

Saturday, December 21, 2013

2013~ Trimming the tree

the Saturday after Thanksgiving we decorated the trees. a bit late posting them, but here they are!
 the Lil' Lady not quite 4.5 years
 the First Lady, 9.5 years
 our first, 14.5 years
 and our second, 13 years
 
the family tree
 the boys tree
 the girls tree
the Lil' Lady decided to get into the giving spirit early so she used her blankies to wrap up her toys around the house and placed them under the trees that night :)