The cookies and pictures for Santa along with the carrots and apples for the reindeer were set out in anticipation of his arrival.
He totally came through! Princess Barbies for Claire.
Madden 10 for Sam
Only a nibble of a carrot was left on the plate!
Kate was super happy about her gift.
Encouragement to climb, bounce, and jump!
We began our CHRISTmas celebration with Christmas Eve brunch at our house
Brudder got a new hat that he shared.
Daddy got a new waffle maker!
Sam with a new Wii game
Barbie!
Yummy bones!
Always the poser, Claire was most cooperative this morning for some quick snapshots before church.
Kate, however, was a bit less cooperative...but happy about it!
"Come on, sister, pose with me!" Claire pleads.
Kate relents as long as she can hold her blankie.
And why oh why is Mr. Sam not dressed in Christmas finery? He and Daddy were headed to the Titans game. Free skybox tickets don't come along every week, ya know.
She's brilliant! A 17 month old that can write her name!
All right, all right...this is what she actually wrote.
At least he can write his name, you know - being home-schooled and all.
Ooh, and even she can too! 
However, this one...she just likes to destroy everyone's art.
But sometimes she plays well with others!
Claire admires herself in the mirror
A beautiful dress from Aunt Betty and Uncle Brad
The surprise location...we secretly decorated an area downstairs.
A Winter Wonderland theme with icicles hanging from the canopy.
Claire was very pleased and surprised!
Cookies, sandwiches, snack mix, and hot cocoa were on the menu.
Of course, Claire's BFF Lauren was also a guest of honor! We told the girls we were doing something together but didn't tell them what it was. We got them in the truck then told them we needed to go back inside for a minute, and that's when they walked into their party. Afterwards we visited Santa and looked at Christmas lights.
Pinkies up, darling!
Me and my sweet Claire-Bear.
A portion of Claire's book for school last week was about sewing, so we tried a little project. She made a tiny heart pillow. She made a pattern, cut it out, cut out the material, pinned it and started sewing. She was persistent and persevered even through a few needle pricks.
Kate insists that she is a big kid too! The kids wanted to eat lunch watching a movie, and Kate was tickled to be a part of the action.
With Sam it's either hiding from me or
Being a goofball. So there you go, a lovely 9 year old.
Peeking from her castle window, Renaissance Claire takes a moment to pose for us.
She studied the Italian Renaissance this week, and also had time to build this castle.
We learned about stained glass, and made stained glass cookies (which did not taste good.) Also, here's a tip: When teaching Italian Renaissance art, it is a good idea to preview the art book you hand to your child to explore. Renaissance artists were very into nudity we soon discovered. Lots of it too. What an eduacation Claire got this week!
Sam's football team had a float in the Christmas parade last night, and they won 1st place!
It was a football field with a goal post and had their trophy on display.
It was really cute...and they won $200! Larry did a lot of it because it was his trailer being stored in his shop. That is also him pulling it in his truck. I guess these guys are just winners in whatever they do ;-)
