Fun Holidays

We are definitely not as busy as we usually are this time of year, but we are having fun spending time with family and getting ready for Christmas.

One night we popped some popcorn and gathered round to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. Even though it's only thirty minutes long, the kids couldn't sit through the whole thing. Interestingly they love A Christmas Story the best.

 

Avery loves to put decorations on the tree. That's a good shot of the bed in the living room, too :o)

 

I decided to make goodies for our neighbors. I've never done this before, but I thought it would be a good way to meet them. And of course I picked the two hardest things to make--rice krispies treats and brownies. But they turned out cute. And we met some sweet neighbors in the process.

 

The day I made the goodies Daniel, Colt, and I were all sick. Aunt B saved our lives and called to see if Avery could spend the night. Um, do you really have to ask?? So they picked her up and she had a blast. They went to a petting zoo, ate pizza, and watched the Polar Express.

 

Natalie had her 12th birthday last Tuesday, and we went over to help her celebrate. We ate chicken parm, and all I could think about was Peyton Manning and the fact that Colt can finish the words to the Nationwide commercial. That's when you know you watch too much TV.

 

 

 

Wednesday we headed to Birmingham. Daniel and I had two dates planned at the Alabama Theatre. This is my favorite thing to do during the holidays. Wednesday we ate at Urban Cookhouse (yum!!) then went to see Scrooged with Bill Murray. It was my first time seeing it, and I really enjoyed it. Thursday we got there super early to see the sold out movie Elf. We got there at 5:45 for a 7:00 movie and still didn't get the seats we wanted. In two nights we bought five boxes of popcorn and four large Cokes...we were in a movie snack coma all weekend! Such a fun couple of nights!

 

 

Saturday started our weekend of family Christmases. We went to visit Peepaw, A, and Sarah Grace Saturday afternoon. I had to watch this joker with poor Lucky. They both finally settled down and were able to sit by each other.

 

This is what happens when your sister gets the Elsa doll that you wanted so badly. Poor, deprived Colty.

 

My sweet sisters. I can't believe Sarah Grace is almost taller than I am!

 

Family picture. I'm so glad my dad remembers to do stuff like this. I'm lucky to remember both my kids at the end of the night.

 

Sunday Daniel's family came over. Daniel and Papaw stayed up super late Saturday night making turkeys and stuffing. We literally had enough stuffing to feed an army. It was a little silly. Papaw's friend came over and brought her daughter, Riley. She and Avery had fun playing, and this is the only picture I got all day.

 

 

We are super excited for Christmas, and can't wait to see what Santa brings everyone! Merry Christmas, friends!!

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We have been having fun decorating and getting ready for Christmas this year. Avery and I started by making a Happy Birthday Jesus banner. Avery knows this is why we celebrate Christmas, but as she gets older I hope to focus more on that. For now, she's more interested in the presents. We are looking forward to making a birthday cake for Jesus for the first time.

I found this cute craft, and luckily I drink lots of coffee so I had the main ingredient for the craft.

 

Avery and I have made tons of these cute snowmen for our family in the past few week. Isn't he cute?

 

 

Avery has so much fun with these. It's definitely a craft we do while Colt is asleep!

 

 

We don't have a chimney in our house, so Santa will have to sneak in our front door. I also had to find a place to hang our stockings with care. We have a barn full of old barn wood, so I got to work finding the right piece and nailing the stockings on. I found another use for barn wood, too.

 

 

I am in love with my makeshift nativity. It even survived the rain last night.

 

 

Earlier in the week we finally went and got our Christmas tree. Apparently Fayetteville doesn't encourage the use of real trees. Papaw told us about a Christmas tree farm in Huntsville, so we went to check it out. We've never actually cut down our own tree. Daniel asked the man if he was going to cut it once we found the one we like, and the man handed Daniel a saw and told him no, he could do it.

 

 

 

 

The kids had fun running around looking at the trees. Colt's new thing is to furrow his brow when he doesn't want to do something. Oh, and it's all the time.

 

 

It doesn't look quite like a tree you get from a tree lot, but it's cute and unique. Avery helped me decorate it. And Colt broke two ornaments. For those of you who haven't been to our house, yes, that is our bed in the living room. Our bedroom and living room are one and the same. Welcome to the country! You can thank Papaw for that one.

 

 

I can already tell he's going to be a mess with the tree this year.

 

 

Friday we took the kids to the mall to see Santa. To recap, Avery screamed her first two years, and they both did good last year. I wasn't sure how Colt would do this year. We put him on Santa's lap and he was fine. I think he even smiled a couple times. We got down and the girl said the pictures came out all black so we had to do it again. And this is what we got.

 

I actually like this better. I think it's hilarious when they scream. I can't wait to show them all their Santa pictures when they get older. Santa is such a trooper.

 

We can't wait to celebrate Jesus's birth and get to spend time with our family and friends over the holidays. Next weekend I will be attempting Christmas goodies for the neighbors. Wish me luck!