Friday, January 4, 2013

Christmas....take 2

We continued our Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with a few less people than expected.  The stomach bug decided to hit Christmas Eve morning and stuck around for a few days!  Luckily the kids stayed strong and got to enjoy Christmas despite all the sickness around them!

So....Christmas Eve ended up being Owen, Ava Kate, Josh, and I, but we didn't let it put a damper on things!  We had a relaxing day in our pajamas and spent most of the day in the kitchen making goodies for Santa!


We've always done a Ginger Bread House or a Ginger Bread Train at Christmas, but this year we decided to go with a Rice Crispy Train!  


Owen loved eating all the candies that were suppose to be decorations and Ava Kate really liked pretending to put icing all over the train.  She really thought she was big stuff!!

Another project of the day was making cookies for Santa!  Owen was so excited and wanted to do everything himself!

Such a big boy...

So yummy...

After a day of lounging in our pajamas and preparing goodies for Santa, we decided to get out of the house and go look at Christmas lights....

Our favorite lights were in Marion.  The lights were all coordinated to music and Santa and Mrs. Clause where there too!!  Owen loved watching the lights flash to the music and getting to tell Santa his last minute wishes!  Ava Kate seemed to enjoy herself, but I'm not sure she knew what to think of all of it!

Santa and Mrs. Clause
 (aka Uncle Bill and Aunt Becky)
 


When we got home, Owen put out reindeer food....

....and cookies and milk for Santa!!!

Owen was soooooo excited on Christmas morning!! He couldn't wait to see what Santa had brought him....


I guess the kids made it onto the nice list...

There was one present that was too big for Santa to fit in his sleigh, so he left a picture instead...A swing set/playhouse in our backyard!!  Owen spotted the picture first thing, but didn't really understand.  We asked him why Santa brought him a picture of a swing set and he said "because I like pictures"!  We quickly explained, but he really didn't get excited or understand until we got home. Ha! 

Owen pointing out that Buddy the elf was in the swing...

the hot wheels race track was a big hit!


trying out Ava Kate's new toy...


 

our little Santa...

opening one of his FAVORITE gifts....a marshmallow shooter!!!


 he played with this non-stop...Gigi's house had marshmallows EVERYWHERE!!!!  

love this pic...Daddy's little girl!

 a little karaoke...

His own "little" golf set....looks like he and daddy are going to have a lot of fun when it warms up!


Everyone emerged from there rooms Christmas afternoon to exchange presents.  It was pretty low key since everyone was still not feeling well, but we made the best of it!  


Memaw admiring her collage of all her siblings...

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Christmas....Take 1

We headed to West Memphis the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with friends and family.


Our silly little girl excited about all the attention from everyone....

 A short visit with Ashley and Kinley...as you can see, Ava Kate was all about giving Kinley hugs!  I'm not sure if she was being sweet or just trying to keep her away from me!  


 Not everyone could be there on Christmas Day, so we celebrated early with extended family.  Memaw worked her magic in the kitchen, we all ate way too much, and then gathered (vegged out) in the living room to exchange presents.


Amelia and Uncle Carrold...

 Watching "Elf Youself".....this kept us entertained ALL night!


Our little Santa handing out all the presents!  The only name he could read was his own...so he managed to get a stack pretty quickly!



Carrold and Yulonda...

Ava Kate loved feeding her baby...

Aunt Anna and Amelia...

Memaw


 We also got to spend some time with Mr. Miles....Such a happy little guy!!


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Buddy the elf....

Our "Elf on the Shelf", Buddy, arrived just before Thanksgiving.  Owen was so excited!!

zip lining across the living room...

 Buddy the elf watched over the kids each day and flew back to the North Pole each night to report back to Santa!  When he returned to our house he would find a new place to observe all the happenings of the day.

making snow angles...

When Buddy first arrived, he would just move from place to place without much activity...but after a few weeks he started getting creative!!  I guess that's what happens when he shows up in November!

looks like he got into the skittles....

One day, Buddy had to bring a letter from Santa!!  Apparently Owen had made it on the BAD list and Santa wanted him to work really hard to get back on the NICE list!!

 

Owen was really concerned about the mess Buddy had made....he kept telling us "He made a mess...that's not okay"

cutting out paper snowflakes...

Owen was sooooo excited about looking/finding Buddy every morning!  It was the FIRST thing he did everyday!  Sometimes he would wake up extra early just to find Buddy!!  One night he actually woke up in the middle of the night and realized Buddy had already returned from the North Pole....this lead to some difficulty at bedtime.  For a few nights after this occurrence, Owen would get up 4-5 times after we put him to bed just to see if Buddy had moved!  Fun times!!

napping in the tissue box...

TP-ing the Christmas tree....

Owen was pretty funny when he saw the toilet paper wrapped around the Christmas tree.  He said "That's not okay mommy", "Did he use all the toilet paper?", and then he ran to his bathroom to make sure Buddy hadn't taken his toilet paper.

fishing...

praying over baby Jesus....

hinging the cereal box....

taking a marshmallow bath....

swinging at Gigi's house...

drinking syrup after eating some marshmallows and building a snowman in Gigi's pantry....