Christmas In Pictures

Sam wanted this series of books and was excited to get all 3!

Perfect gift for artsy Claire.

Uh, yeah. Cool.

Doing a happy dance about an hour before she tossed her cookies in this very same spot.

We had quite the Christmas! We enjoyed lots of family and friends at various get-togethers. Christmas night, however, both Kate and I got the stomach flu. A couple days later Sam got it. I also have bronchitis and am pretty sure the kids do too. Last year we hardly had a cold so I guess it is just our turn!

More pics here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2106143&id=1282268881&l=05f3f3faa7

Love This...

Early Opening

Claire discovers that the coveted purple unicorn pillow pet is inside!

She has touched every one of these she has passed in stores.

Kate got one too! And if you don't want to hug it you can...

ride it like a horse!

Oh yeah, this is waaaayyy better!

Sam snuggled up in his new snuggie.

New hats and hands too! (Kate calls mittens hands.)

Daisy totally ruined this shot by closing her eyes. :-)

The kids are all feeling a bit crummy so we decided to open some gifts that they

could snuggle up to tonight.

Hands Of Grace ~ Christmas Performance

Claire performed with Hands of Grace at church last night to the most beautiful song. Here's the video of the sound check practice, thus the people mingling in front of my camera! Also, I got her tucked in shirt straightened out before the real performance! :-)

Merry Christmas!

My pretty babies all ready for church.

First Look At The Snow!

It snowed last night!

Christmas Parade

We made a float for our football players to ride on for the Christmas parade last weekend. We had them all come to Larry's shop the night before to work on it. All I can say is "Praise the Lord no one was injured!" Those boys were running, tackling, and rough-housing around the shop that is filled with dangerous tools and equipment on a normal day, but that night we had box cutters and nail guns lying around. At one point we made them all sit and dared them to get up! After that we fed them pizza and sent them on home! The theme of the Parade was "Merry Little Elves," so we bought them elf hats to coordinate. It was fun, but here's the best part: Football is officially over now! The parade is the last event, and I am thankful for the break!

Countdown To Christmas

The kids and I are doing a special countdown to Christmas this year. Each day we turn over one of the numbered ornaments on our advent tree (there are cute pictures on the other side.) Then we turn over a paper "gift" surrounding the tree. Written on the back is something to do that day that is service oriented or an activity that helps them focus on why we truly celebrate Christmas. At the end of the countdown we will have completed several projects that are our gift to Jesus. So far we have done something nice for each family member, made a birthday cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, and taken a treat to a neighbor. I'm hoping this will be a tradition they ask to do again next year.

Christmas Came Early

Kate's Christmas wish came true! Granny and Grandaddy's tree required a ladder. She, of course, had to climb as high as the ceiling would let her. Oh my.

Decorating Granny's Tree

"I did it!" Kate was excited about placing an

ornament on the tree with Grandaddy.

This one says nice on one side and naughty on the other. I tried my hardest to get her to pose with the naughty side, but she wasn't having it. She's nice!

Almost Lost

I was about to clear one of my memory cards when I realized I had several really cute shots of Kate that had never been downloaded/edited. They were taken in March of this year. I can't believe how much her hair has grown in less than a year! Here is a link to the rest.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102955&id=1282268881&l=d9795a5e7a

More Praise and Worship Pics

The Kids Choir also performed at our Fall Praise and Worship, and Sam was totally into it. So glad that he is still a kid and doesn't think he's too grown for this!

Rememeber the lyrics of that song from the 80's..."It only takes a spark to get a fire going..." They sang that! Brought back lots of memories.

Performing "Awesome God."

Signing "Jesus"

Claire was a bit nervous before each performance but once it started she was shining. I'm so thankful for this ministry at our church. It has been a perfect fit for her.

Shackles

Claire performed with her sign-art group, Hands of Grace, today at church to the song, "Shackles." As you can see, she loves praising God this way!

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was such a whirlwind! Sam learned about honey bees and also received his football trophy. Claire attended a Girl Scout dance, spent the night with a friend, and attended an equestrian center for a birthday party. Kate went to Granny and Grandaddy's! We hosted a cookout for the football players and their families on Friday night. It was a LOT of work, but it was worth it to see them all having so much fun together. Here are a few shots:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102029&id=1282268881&l=64b4fd4406

Jump

Larry was cleaning the patio up tonight and making an enormous leaf pile. Kate walked out and when she saw it she yelled, "JUMP!" So the fun began! It was really dark out which made my flash blast everyone pretty harshly, but I couldn't resist capturing the fun.

Hodge Podge

Unplanned, the girls dressed similarly for church.

Dancing together

Stopping to pose as they performed

Ready for church!

Just a few shots of the kiddos from recent days for your viewing pleasure :-)