Twas the Night Before Christmas!!!!

CHRISTmas Eve service at our church. I grew up in this church.......was christened here, got married here, both of my babies were christened here and this is where I spent every Christmas Eve as a child (and as a young adult) with my family. I can't tell you how special it is to keep this tradition going with my own children.Each Christmas Eve we open one special present............it's a gift my mom passed on to my brother and I after we started our own families. Inside this box is a baby Jesus (from a nativity) and the book called The Real Story of Christmas. We recycle this gift every year and it sits wrapped among all of the other presents through out the month of December until this special night.

This year it was so fun to have Nathan actually read Twas the Night Before Christmas to Wilson....can I just tell you how awesome it is to have another "reader" in the house. :)
Boys will be Boys!!!!
This is what happens when you ask my two if they will take a few pics in their Christmas pjs before we go to bed..................................

I finally got them calmed down long enough to capture a couple sweet pictures.

And lets not forget the COOKIES!!!!!!! The Man in Red might be disappointed if these didn't get left out for him :)

Santa Treats!

Treats actually mean COOKIES!!!!!!! This week we tried to find lots of fun things to do and of course one of those being cookie decorating in preparation of Santa's arrival. We all know he LOVES some cookies.

I'm not sure why it is, but the older my kiddos get, it seems the busier I am so.........................I would tell you a little white lie about how I slaved in the kitchen trying to make the perfect cookies to decorate BUT I won't. Instead, I will tell you my secret

I called Gourmet Tiger and ordered a dozen undecorated sugar cookies, bought the icing and sprinkles and wa-la, it's cookie decorating time! :)

Please tell me you can figure out the ones the kiddos did?!?!?!?!? ;)

MERRY MERRY!!!!

Party Time----Christmas style!!!

Wilson's class party was great!!!! The big man in red (not real authentic looking- but the kiddos don't care) dropped by to hand out a little treat to each little person. After he moved onto the older kids classes, the kids got to enjoy lots of yummy snacks/treats.

The whole class with Santa!!!!

Yummy time!!!

And after the food was all consumed, the class had a gift/book exchange with each other. Everyone brought a book for their gender and had it wrapped up. They traded with each other and everyone LOVED IT!!!!
Wilson and Claire!!! Love bugs!!!
Present time!!!! Wilson was extremely pleased with the gift he got to open........Thomas the Train book! With little character pieces......he thought he had hit the jack pot.

A little CHRISTmas singin'!!!!!

It's definitely Christmas time when moms and dads are running themselves crazy to make it to each one of their kiddos programs and parties at their schools..................BUT once you get there and you witness all the "cuteness" these little people can bestow on some Christmas songs, it's ALL WORTH IT!!!!

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Wilson would actually participate in the singing.......he surprised us all. Now, he didn't sing the whole time but I will take what I can get. He even did some of the motions that went with the songs. So precious!!!!!

Playing a little maraca during one of the songs.

myself, Wilson, Stirling & Ali

Kissing cousins at Christmas time............it's better than the alternative. Which is Wilson pushing or shoving her ;0)

Then it was on to Nathan's performance. At Ogletree the 1st & 2nd graders do their own show together. This year it was a Western Christmas theme. It was an all out Musical with script, characters and all!!!!

That's my cowboy on the back/top row.

Nathan with his buddy Davis.

And the most exciting thing for Nathan that day was that Wilson got to come see the performance with me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS YA'LL!!!!

A Night filled with Lights!!!!

Last week we took our annual trip to Callaway Gardens to see Fantasy in lights with the Wilson Fam. It was SUPER C.O.L.D. so at the last minute we opted to go in our car versus the trolley. I think the kiddos loved it just as much. **Especially mine since they stuck their heads out the sunroof most of the time** Crazy kids! We had lots of fun before taking off on the trail of lights.....face painting, shopping, pics with fun characters, hot chocolate and a FRIED milky way!!! The cousins seemed to really enjoy themselves --- hopefully this tradition will continue on!!!!Family Time!!!! CHRISTmas 2010

Ali and I with all the kiddos!!!

Check out these 2 little Rudolphs!! Love them!!!!

These 2 brothers were super excited about the lights!!!!

See ya next year Callaway!!!!

Brunch with Santa

Last weekend the boys and I ventured out for a morning with Santa. Our daddy was away on a business trip so we were always looking for something fun to do. Of course they were super excited to see the main man dressed in red. But it was also fun running into some of our favorite peeps and enjoying some yummy food with good friends.

Check out these 2 clowns......er, I mean "rudolphs"!!!

Prather and Wilson are best buds.

And this little lady is Anne Reynolds, affectionately known to me as JJ (Joanna Jr.) -- for those who know her mother, Joanna, let me just tell you this is exactly what Jo looked like as a baby! I

And the day wouldn't have been complete had we not gotten to see the "girlfriend"!! These two miss each other greatly due to the fact they are at different elementary schools this year. But when they do see each other, it's like they haven't missed a beat.
Last but not least......the Clegg Clan were there too! So much fun was had by ALL!!!!