My thoughts on Christmas morning

All the hoopla, craziness and shopping excursions. All the excitement, anticipation and preparation. It's all over. The stockings that were hung by the chimney with care, have been opened. Breaskfast has been eaten and all the beautifully wrapped presents have been torn into and opened. And with that, it's over. Christmas just doesn't have the magic that it did when I was a kid. Our Christmas lasted all day! Here, with my own kids, it's over so quickly. Growing up, we'd be opening presents for hours, then we'd head to my grandma's house that night or the next day. The snow on the ground brought a magin to Christmas morning. Here, there's no snow, no grandparents, no opening presents all day. It's done....and I'm sort of sad.

The kids argued and complained and faught this morning. Who fights and argues on Christmas morning????? Fortunately, now they are all playing with their new toys. Jacob is climbing on the kitchen table taking a bite out of every single gingerbread man. Tim is laying sprawled across the livingroom floor. And I'm reminiscing about days gone by, before I start preparing dinner. I just can't believe it's over so quickly. I had so many ideas. So many things I wanted to do to make this year special. Non of them happened. There is nothing special about this Christmas that the kids will remember and carry with them.


Christmas is done :(

Cheerleading??

So, if this rugby thing doesn't work out for Tim, he's thinking about joinging the cheerleading squad, alongside our friend Marty.

Ok, not seriously, but this is one of the new passtimes in our household. Mikayla loves standing on Tim's shoulders. Maybe SHE will be a cheerleader!!!

Snowmen

Being in Georgia, we didn't get all the snow that the rest of the nation got. It seems like every state seemed to get snow, except Georgia and Florida. So, this year we had to make a different kind of snowmen. They were great the next morning for breakfast too! haha

Decorating Gingerbread houses

We had a lot of fun this year decoarting gingerbread houses.I definitely see this becoming a yearly thing, and a 'competition' as the kids get older!





Seth and Mikayla's finished Christmas tree







Katelyn and Micah's finished product


And Jacob just enjoyed eating the icing!!!

A LOT more pictures of the process located at http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f19/GeorgiaAdventure/ginger%20bread%20houses/

Katelyn's homework

Micah's Christmas Party

Last Friday, Tim and I made the rounds of all the kids Christmas parties. Unfortunatly, Katelyn's was at 10am on Thursday, right in the middle of one of our finals, so we missed hers but we made it to the other 3, all one right after the other. We only took pictures at Micah's though since Mikayla's was a Polar Express party and it was dark in there so they could watch the movie and Seth's was towards the end when we got there. Here's a few from Micah's though. They were ALL so excited to have us there. For Seth and Mikayla's we were the only parents who showed up!!! Mikayla told me "That's why this day is so special to me! You are the only mom and dad here".

Making Gingerbread houses

Tim wanted to decorate gingerbread houses this year with the kids. Tim, Katelyn and Micah did a house and Mikayla and Seth worked together on a tree. I took pictures. ;)






















Finished Product

How do you spend a December day in Georgia???

Sitting on the back deck, watching the birds, of course!!!

New Fur Babies

Tim and I had promised Mikayla a kitten for her birthday. She'd been begging for months and months. Before we would allow it to happen, she had to prove to us that she was ready and able to take care of it. She had to keep her room picked up and keep her attitude in check. She had gone to the pet store a few times to see what they had available and last week Tim and I went to look. Well, this weekend, Tim took her, Katelyn & Micah to the petstore and looked. This pet store rents out space to two different rescue agencies so these animals have been rescued from kill shelters and are up for adoption. Tim and I had a set amount in mind of what we'd be willing to spend on a new cat. Mikayla picked out a tortoise shell 6 month old kitten that she named Cocoa. On the way out, Tim saw some puppies. OH GREAT!! He calls me and says "I probably shouldn't even ask" and I immediately "NO!" and started laughing. They had 8 week old black lab puppies. They were half black and half chocolate. We'd been talking about getting a dog too since he'll be traveling so much with Rugby soon. I told him all the reasons why we shouldn't and all the reasons why we should and then told him he would have to decide. I began preparing the house because I knew I was about to get a new puppy too! Since they were being adopted, they were very inexpensive and we got both of them for what we were planning on just kitten so that worked out well. They are both so great! The kitten took to the house right away. Her and the dog actually play together since they are so young and don't know they aren't supposed to like each other. lol We will be moving in the spring so that we are closer to the school and will only take a house at that time with a backyard. The puppy (named Rex) is doing great with housebreaking and is SO smart. I'd always heard that about labs, but he's proving it to be true. Enjoy the pics!! Oh, and "I" had wanted to name the puppy Coal since he's black and it's Christmastime. "The kids got Coal in their stockings this year!!!" haha

Cocoa

Mikayla, so proud with her new kitten

Rex

Decorating the Christmas Tree

At 3am, we heard a crash. Seth came running upstairs and into our room to tell us the tree had fallen. Great!!!!! I left it and cleaned it up in the morning and as I was getting ready to put on the last ornament, it fell again.


Tim's solution? Tie it up...with what else but TWINE!?!?!

Fireside Chat

Tim made our first fire in the fireplace this year and Jacob decided he wasn't going to go to bed. Instead, he wanted to sit with Tim. The pictures are priceless (although I'm still learning to use my new camera so they aren't perfect.)



Jacob sat for a long time with his arm around Tim


Jacob telling Tim that it was hot


Then Jacob would tackle Tim with HUGE hugs

Mikayla's Birthday

Since it's almost Christmastime, I figured I probably should get Mikayla's birthday pictures posted. Hard to believe she's 8 already!!!! When we were in Michigan for Thanksgiving, we had a small family party for her and then on her birthday, she opened presents from us and had a cake. We thought that since she was so goofy acting on her birthday, that we'd trick her with relighting candles. I wasn't sure how she'd react to them, but she thought they were pretty funny.




Yes, it's a headband around her neck! She thought it was cute.








After many failed attempts, she finally got it