Christmas Day

I just love the excitement of children on Christmas Day!

Maddie with a new princess costume

Dylan loved holding his little cars and reading a book with Mommy.

Holding onto Daddy!

Brandon Little

Papa

Nana and Maddie had quite the bond!

Benjamin thrilled to open a gift.

Maddie getting some help from Nana.

Brandon and his sweet smile!

Brown-eyed girl!
Handsome Ethan

Christmas magic with Dylan
Benjamin and his pirate ship

Brandon and a robot

They love the Nerf guns. And using the fireplace for target practice.


This is all we have seen of Ethan since he opened his Nintendo DS on Christmas.

Maddie and her creepy life-sized Barbie (Why does Santa buy such hideous gifts?)

Nana and Papa

Sewn Gifts from the Heart

We were so lucky to have Nana and Papa with us for Christmas! Nana's Mom, Grandma Deaver, sent her this beautiful home-made gift. Amazing, isn't it! And to think Grandma Deaver is in her 80's and does such incredible work. Grandma Deaver is amazingly talented. Maybe my kids will inherit her gifts and talents. I can only hope.


Grandma Deaver also made her this fabulous table runner, about double the size of what is shown.

With love, from little Brandon

How sweet. Little Brandon (8) made this at school and gave it to me for Christmas. He wrapped it and was so excited to give it to me for Christmas. The boy has a "sweet" nature. Love it.

White Trash New Years Idea for Kids

Seriously. You can get the huge thing of it for $2.00 at Walmart. I bought two of them. You should have heard Ethan (6). He was so excited that Mom had bought Hawaiian Punch for him. You would've thought it was freakin' Christmas morning. Not to mention the excitement from my husband Brandon. Yeah, we may a bit easy to please around here. Who knew New Years could be so exciting?

I just love it when......

I find my bonus bucks reward of $10 from the Children's Place two days after it expires. Yeah, I should know better than to put anything of value in my purse. My purse is an abyss where everything disappears. New Years Resolution: keep my purse clean and organized. Follow through rating (0-10, 10 being fulfillable): 0.

When the family is sick.....

Beanbags, blankets, and videos. A perfect combination when everyone has been sick. Especially on New Years Eve afternoon. Let's just hope Maddie doesn't have another "vomit" incident.

The Hills are Alive.......

And no, I am not talking about the reality show.

Wouldn't it just stink to be the Baroness from "The Sound of Music"? And be the lady that almost made the story NOT happen....and to know the story happened because you left the picture? So tragic. To know you sorta' made history in a bad way---except you are just known as the Baroness, pretty much without a name. Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria? OK, I will stop now.

Oh, the non-deep thoughts I have when I am sick. Much of our family is sick. So, what do we do? We end up watching movies. Today's selections included Parent Trap and the second half of Sound of Music. Just be glad I chose to highlight Sound of Music.

Other non-deep thought of the day: Why can't I get all my kids to line up and salute me at the sound of a whistle? And we need to get that singing thing down too. I will just add it to the list.

Random facts about the REAL story behind the Sound Of Music:

Maria married George because she was in love with the children. She didn't love him when they married. She did grow to love him through time.

The family was invited to perform for Hitler and declined the invitation.

The family ended up settling in Vermont and quickly became fans of Ben & Jerry's. (Ok, maybe not the Ben & Jerry's part, but it sounded like a fun fact to add. Ben & Jerry's can only make any story a little sweeter.)

I need to find a book about the real story and read it. I think I would really enjoy that read.

For tonight, so long.......farewell...........

A White Christmas!

There was no dreamin' for it. It just happened. A White Christmas! Or I should say a VERY, WHITE CHRISTMAS! It was so fierce that Papa and my man Brandon had to go out and shovel a path out. Although, Papa, coming from Texas could not have been more thrilled with all the snow. We told him he better stop praying for the snow, as we had quite enough of it! Even if it was Christmas!

Our front porch

The snowdrifts on our front porch just a few hours later

Did you know Santa had such big feet? He left a path. I guess he didn't go down the chimney this time.

My Brandons shoveling

Papa digging us out!

Our dog Teddy liked the snow

A Star Wars Christmas Eve

After our family remake of the Christmas Story, the children were excited to open gifts from Nana and Papa. Nana rocks! She made the kids Star Wars costumes, and bought them light sabers to go with them. So it ended up being a bit of a Star Wars Christmas Eve. Some of the things that Christmas dreams are made of. Especially if you have four boys. And Maddie was thrilled with her "three babies" that she had requested from Nana. Not to be confused with the baby now known as the "Jesus baby" that was in our Christmas Story production.

Brandon (8) reminding me of Anakin

Baby Star Wars with baby Dylan

Dylan and Ethan dueling it out

Ethan excitedly holding his new light saber

Maddie with her new babies

Benjamin with his new Star Wars costume (and the black eye making him so pitiful on Christmas)

That smile that warms my heart. I love my baby Dylan.

Nana helping Ethan with his robe

Benjamin thrilled with his light saber

Dylan with his USMC dog.

Maddie put all her babies in a bag and would not let anyone touch them.

Ethan

Fabric Stash Idea

Do you have a fabric stash that is taking up storage space? Well, no worries. Let it sit around until next Christmas, and then I have an idea for you that can help with that extra fabric stash.

I have Christmas stockings, but they are "too good for children". Sorta' like when you have good treats around that you can't bring out till the Mommy/Daddy party, or the china, or your "good" lotion and bath products. Some things are just "too good for children".

So, every year, I buy stockings at the Dollar Store that we can throw out after Christmas. Cause what Mom really wants to deal with the icky goo that will be stuck on stockings from sticky baby fingers. Not me! Well, this year I was a little late. By the time I made it to the Dollar Store (the week before Christmas), the white trash Christmas stockings (perfect for children) were not available.

So, what is a mother to do?

Well, I definately didn't want to ruin the "good" stockings, so I was racking my brain for ideas. Finally, I came up with the idea of using my fabric stash to make Christmas bags for the kids, rather than stockings. It was perfect. I ironed the fabric, threw the treats in, tied them with bows, printed off their names, and stuck their name on the fabric.

Great, because when the kids are done with their stockings, I can just throw them in the wash and use that fabric when it is needed. Anyway, I thought they turned out quite cute, and it was an easy solution!

So, just hold onto this thought for about 360 days, and you will have a great idea for next Christmas!

Christmas Pageant

Brandon (8)---a wise man

Maddie/Mary

Ethan a wise man

Benj---a wise man

Teddy, Papa, and wise man Brandon

Mary and Joseph

Mary and Joseph (Maddie and Benj)

Mary, the "Jesus baby" as Maddie calls him, and the sippy. (Mary gets thirsty you know)

Some wise men!