A Very Merry Christmas

What a terrific Christmas we had! We did our usual Christmas at my parent's house on Christmas Eve. As always, it was wild, but a ton of fun!! Can you imagine - 7 kids between the ages 6 and 1!!! CRAZY! We ate, then we went to Lake Park and watched the house with the dancing lights as the girls call it - it is a house with the lights on timers that go to music. Then we went back and opened presents!!

The whole gang: Reagan, Connor, Kaitlyn, Carly, Chloe, Harper, and Reilly (notice Harper leaning on his Ry!! He loves Reilly so much)

Kaitlyn helping Harper open his big scoop! It was big enough for him to sit on, so he rode it the whole time (so did Reagan - until she flipped off of it!)

This is Christmas morning at our house. Harper got this dump truck, which he had to get in, which of course flipped him out! So he ended up with rug burn all over his face! He looked pretty rough Christmas morning!

This is Chloe sporting her gifts from Carly. We took the girls to the Dollar Tree to go shopping for each other. We told them they could get one thing for each other. I took Chloe and Matt took Carly and we split up. Chloe had to get green pom-poms and then absolutely had to get Carly a green crown to go with it. So, I ended up spelling to Matt what she got her sister and that she suckered me into getting her sister 2 things. He looked at me with big eyes and said - "She got the same thing!!" They ended up buying each other the exact same thing in the exact same color!!! Not that is so wierd - they are definately identical!!!! I was so amazed. Of course as soon as they got into the car, they told each other what they got. They both said they didn't want pom-poms!!! UGH! So on the 23rd, we let them wrap each others gifts and put them under the tree. Christmas morning Chloe was very excited to get her gift. Carly wasn't too thrilled, but after Chloe opened her gift for her, she was excited and quickly put on the crown and started cheering.

I tried to get one toy each that was very special to each of the girls. It is very hard to do that, because they both like the same things. But I did succeed with buying Carly this remote controlled dog. It walks and Barks. Carly loves dogs, but is terrified of them at the same time!! She thinks all dogs will lick her, and she doesn't like that (if she only knew that they bite!) I got Chloe a pet carrier with a kitty in it and it had accessories like a hair dryer, pretend nail polish, food, etc. to take care of the cat. She like it too!

This was the girls' big Christmas present!! Finally big girl beds!! We put their crib/toddler bed mattresses on the floor in our room Christmas Eve and they had a sleep over in our room so that we could assemble the beds. They were thrilled to get some warm beds (didn't quite realize how cold and miserable they were in their little beds)! The sheets are their Christmas sheets, but I will get their regular bedding soon. I can't believe how much older they look! It is so sad, my babies are growing up!

Here we are later Christmas Day at the Riffle's house.

Grandma Kay got an umbrella, which the girls were thrilled about! They love umbrellas for some reason and were excited to get under hers. I guess I know what to put in their Easter baskets!!!

Oh guess what I got??? - A new camera!! Hopefully it will take some better pictures that are clearer. Now I just have to figure out how to use it!

Santa - hmmm

When explaining to the girls what Christmas is all about, I am kind of at a stand still for the whole Santa thing. They know what Santa looks like and that he says Ho, Ho, Ho, but that is really it. I decided to make sure that they really know the true meaning of Christmas without Santa! I told them Christmas is a huge birthday party for Jesus. Just like they had a circus party this year, Jesus has a Christmas party every year and everyone celebrates it. Presents, well I told them that Jesus gave us the greatest gift and he shares all his presents with everyone (that is why they get presents). They love seeing baby Jesus everywhere. We made cookies yesterday and they had a candy cane cookie cutter. They told me it was a J for Jesus! So, I don't know what I will do with this whole Santa thing, because it is fun to play it up, but I really just don't want to take away any glory from Jesus! Parenting, whew, hard work!!

Billy Graham Library

Last night we went to the Billy Graham Library. It was beautiful!! We went on a horse drawn carriage ride. Our horse's name was Elvis! The kids LOVED it! The girls sang Jingle Bells throughout the trip. I love hearing their little voices sing!! We didn't get to see everything there, but we will go back another time and see it all - the bathrooms were even really neat!

Grandma and Grandpa came too!! We had a great ride!

This was the live nativity - yes that is a real camel!! The girls loved seeing baby Jesus!

Christmas Family

This month our Sunday School class has been collecting stuff for a family in need in our community. It is a mom and 2 kids. There is a 5 yr. old girl and a 4 yr. old boy. Tuesday was our delivery day of the gifts. WOW!!! That was awesome!! Each kid received 4 outfits, pjs, 2 pairs of shoes, a jacket, socks, and several toys each as well as several family toys. We got the mom some sweaters and a bike for the boy and a scooter for the girl. We brought them Boston Market for dinner and we gave the mom a gift card to use on family needs. I have never been apart of the delivery of gifts before, and it really touched my heart. Deanna and I (and my kids)pulled up at the house and they were just waiting at the door for us all smiles and SO excited!! The girls were so excited to bring them gifts. We unloaded the car (which my trunk was slapped full) and put them all under the tree (which was completely empty). The kids (Josie and Chavis) were so excited too and were big helpers. The family was so appreciative and invited us to sit and chat with them. It was really nice to meet them and it felt great to help them out. We found out Josie's birthday is the same day as the girls' so Carly and Chloe said they wanted to bring her a birthday present in May. I think Carly and Chloe thought that we were bringing the kids the shoe boxes we made a while ago. When we did the shoe boxes there was a picture of a boy and girl on the flyer and I told them we were buying them gifts. So when we got there and saw a boy and a girl, they thought it was them. We dropped the shoe boxes off at church on the pile of shoe boxes, so I think they thought we brought them the pile. They kept telling me that night that we made the boy and girl so happy!! This has been the best parts of this Christmas seeing how much joy this brought my kids!!! They were so giving and really enjoyed making those kids happy! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Perfect Little Husband

Harper Banks is a cleaning maniac!! The boy loves to clean! I can't open the closets that contain the vaccuums without him flipping out needing the vaccuum! He has his own little dirt devil that he has to use when I vaccuum. He also enjoys cleaning up. He puts his diapers and wipes away when he is done with a diaper change as well. He also enjoys doing laundry. Here is a little video of my little man that will make any woman happy when he gets older!!

Toddler Jesus??

Today I was watching Harper play around the living room, and he was trying to test what he could touch. He would touch everything and look at me to see if I would let him pick the object up. Of course, he is a good boy and didn't do a thing, he just wanted to point, touch, and say the name. It got me thinking. I always think of Jesus as a baby around Christmas. Every other day in the year I think of Him as a man. I have never thought of Him as a toddler!! A toddler that touches, tests, has to learn about the world (like don't touch something hot), etc. What kind of toddler do you think He was? Did he get in trouble and have to sit on the naughty mat for not making good choices? Was He just a genuine good kid that always behaved? Did He throw temper tantrums? Wouldn't you like to know how the King was when He was young? Just a thought that came through my mind as my little toddler was entertaining me. And I couldn't help but think how hard it must have been for many to see that little 18 month old walking around knowing He was the Messiah!!!

Christmas Activities

I love Christmas time! My kids are really excited for it too and that just makes it 10 times more enjoyable. Here are some pics of things we have been doing to get excited for the upcoming season.
Sarah and Preston came Christmas light looking with us. The kids got to stand in the van while we drove the neighborhood - OOHH! They got glow bracelets and we had fresh baked cookies when we got home - YUMMY!! Then we put the kids to bed and had a girls night and watch The Holiday movie.

We went to the mall to go see Santa. Before we went, we all rode the train in the mall. They loved it and it was Harper's first time on it. He kept saying "Choo Choo!" Then it was time for Santa and the girls made sure that I knew that they would not go and sit with him. I decided not to torture them this year and grant their wish. Reilly and Reagan came too and they had no problems, well Reagan was fine as long as Nichole was near her. Harper went straight to Santa and posed for his pics. He even did the classic tug on Santa's beard.


Reilly, Reagan, and Nichole with the big man!

Harper looking calm and collected!
Carly and Chloe making sure they were FAR away and had their entourage of body guards: Oma, Grandma, and Aunt NiNi.

We got them to stand with us for a family photo - we had to force them to put their backs to this man!!

Look! Chloe is with Santa! That distance was almost not enough for them!

Carly finally getting brave and posing for her pic.

Carly and Chloe are very into reenactments! So the next day, Matt had to pretend to be Santa and I had to take pictures of them. They are so skittish!! They kept pretending to be Santa and were making their voices deep and scary saying, "Come here little girl and sit with me. I'll give you a treat." So, if that is what they got out of the whole sitting with Santa thing, I'm glad they didn't go - stay away from scary men telling you he will give you treats!!!

Oh Christmas Tree!!

Monday we went to pick up our Christmas tree. We decided we would save a little money and go to Lowes to see Grandpa and pick up the tree. Well, they were just too skinny for us!! Our corner that the tree goes in requires a nice round tree, so we couldn't get one (but the kids loved seeing all the inflatables in Lowes and sang Jingle Bells all the way from Tool World to the garden center). We went to our good old trusty Simpson tree stand (we get our pumpkins here too) and got our tree. Let me tell you, Monday was so windy - we were freezing. We took pictures in front of one tree, then another, and then we ended up getting the third one I liked, and guess what - no pictures in front of the tree that we got!!! AGH!! Oh well, it was so cold we were running as fast as we could through all the trees - Harper was the only one the cold wasn't bothering! The guys strapped it to the top of the van - the girls thought that was funny. I kept an eye on it, it was moving all over the place with that wind, but we made it home.

Harper found a rock - look a tree, that we didn't get!!!

Carly decorating the tree for the first time!! They have never been allowed to touch the Christmas tree until this year. We put Harper to bed and then they put the ornaments on. They did pretty good, but couldn't get too high!! Later that night we were checking out the tree and noticed one branch had 5 ornaments on it. So we have been having to redo some of them! It was so fun and we thoroughly enjoyed watching our kids have so much fun this Christmas!

Chloe on the steps - she thought she was pretty cool putting ornaments on that high

Joe

Harper is so cute!!! In his bed he has an elephant blankie thing that he smells when he sucks his thumb. He also has a monkey that sits in the corner of his bed. Well, he named the monkey. His name is Joe. Everytime he gets in bed, he grabs the monkey and shows me and tell me that it is Joe. So cute!! I guess he got the name Joe from when I took the kids to Monkey Joes, so he decided his monkey should be Joe. I love him!!!

Crap-i-olies

The other night I made myself some dinner (different from what the kids were eating - kind of a leftover night). I made raviolis. Well, the girls really thought that was a funny name. Several nights later they started calling their food crap-i-olies!!!! They forgot how to say raviolis!!! That is the name all my food I make gets now is crap-i-olies! Just imagine slaving over a hot stove cooking a great meal and your kids get their plate and say, "oooh, crap-i-olies!!!" Luckily for me, I know they haven't heard that word and don't know the meaning, so I know it is pure innocent fun, but, boy, would that hurt my feelings if they meant it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flag

This is another post I forgot to put on the blog from a couple weeks ago. We were driving home from bed shopping and the girls broke out in song. It was so cute, so I had to crawl into the back and video these two nuts!!!

Fun times

Tonight Sarah and Preston came over to play. The girls love playing with Preston!! We played and ate dinner. Then the boys took a bath together and then the girls. I am sure Harper appreciated taking a bath with Preston rather than his sisters!! Then we cleaned up and made chocolate chip cookies - YUMMY!! Oh, and we read our bedtime story and got tucked into bed. We always have fun with Sarah and Preston!

Carly and Preston

Chloe and Harper

Messy, Messy, Messy

Some days, there is just no wining in this house with the mess!! Today after lunch I put the kids to bed, and just stared at the floor. How can 3 small kids make such a big mess?? It is absurd how disgusting the floor was!!! This was a picture of just one meal - lunch - can you believe it???


Sickening!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Sunday night we had Thanksgiving at my Mom and Dad's house. We had so much fun hanging out with everyone. I had some crafts for the kids to do after dinner. They enjoyed being Indians!

Chief Toots and Sacajawea

Pocahontas

Chief Cheese and Bug

Reagan did not enjoy her Indian garb, but lacing a turkey leg was fun!!

Fall time

I forgot to blog this a while back. We took the kids to Idlewild Rd. park with Reilly (she was out of school for the day). We had so much fun going on our hike. We found a beautiful stream - it was so peaceful. We went there with my dad a few days prior and did the hike too. The leaves were actually gorgeous this day and it was like 70 degrees out and the sun was so bright - it was my favorite fall day this year, but this day was fun too with Matt and Reilly. We really enjoyed relaxing and taking in the last few warmer days.
Pete and Repeat


These two are inseparable

Operation Christmas Child

This week we assembled our shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. The girls LOVED doing this. We went to the store and they picked out everything that was important to them and put the stuff in their little shopping baskets. They even picked out stuff that Harper loves and put them in the buggy for his box. He really liked the balls he purchased for his box. It was so cute to see what they wanted in them. They HAD to put in headbands. They wanted these sparking ones, but there wasn't enough room for them so they settled for some smaller ones. They both needed a cow stuffed animal (Carly wanted a dog, but they didn't have one so she settled for the cow). We did this on Wednesday, after shopping we came home and they were so upset because they wanted to deliver all their presents right then. Friday we went and bought the boxes and wrapped them. They love to wrap too. They just kept talking about the boy and girls that were getting these boxes. Saturday afternoon, they worked so hard packing their boxes. We took a picture of them and put it in the box and then they prayed for the kids that would get their boxes. I really hope they get the concept of giving. They were so excited to bring them to church today and put them in the stack. They stood in the hallway and we prayed that the box would go to some special kids who would love them lots. This was so special to watch them get so excited about giving these presents. Our church goes to Mexico in January and delivers shoe boxes - It would be so cool if they continued to do this trip and I could bring the kids when they get older and they could actually see the impact these boxes have on the kids lives.

Thanksgiving

Today I was reading my Bible, and I ended up reading about David's Psalm of Thanks. It made me think of all the things I am thankful for. David's Psalm of Thanks occurred when the Israelites were bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel. They were all so excited to have it and a homeland since they had been "traveling" and having it back from the Philistines, that they had this huge party and just praised God for the Ark. All the Israelites were gathered together to witness this. The Psalm is located in 1 Chronicles 16: 8-36. This was the perfect thing to read right before Thanksgiving. I really liked this "Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,..." (verses 11 & 12). Isn't that great!! Think about your past year. There is so much to be thankful for. I am so thankful for my family. My 3 kids are amazing!! They are so sweet and they truly give me so much joy that it hurts!! My husband - man!!! There is so much I could say about him. He is my everything. He is so patient, loving, caring, fun, loyal, - I am just going to stop now, because there aren't enough words to describe him. This past year I have had my ups and my downs, but those downs don't last long, because God quickly shows me why I had those downs and how to get up from them. Losing the baby was hard, but God is working with me right now to do something I have been wanting to do for a while. I lost one of my best friends too, due to differences, but God is showing me why he did this. Sometimes we do things because they make us happy, and that is not God's will. I am really standing back and looking at what God wants for me - Godly friends. Those friends that pray for you, support your walk with the Lord, and those that put God first. My ups - of course there are way too many to list. I am so thankful for my family's health, wonderful friends, my extended family, staying home to raise our kids, ends always seeming to meet no matter what, and just the love of God - he is amazing!!! Anyways, I just was wanting to put down in words what I am thankful for - look at this Mom and Dad - I'm already for Thanksgiving Day - my speech is prepared!!! :)

Big Duck

I love the conversations my 3 1/2 yr. olds have with each other. They never ask me questions about too much. If they don't know what something is, they just pull something out of their little brains that they think it is, and then proceed to have full conversations about it. Today we were driving down the road and there is this fenced in pond area on the side of the road. Carly looks outside her window and the conversation goes like this: "Ooh, Chloe, Chloe did you see that big duck? That was a big duck by that water. It was a really big duck sissy." The big duck - it was an ostrich!!

Birthday Party

Today we went to Preston's 3rd birthday party (Preston is my friend Sarah's son). We had a great time. It was definately a party Harper really enjoyed. It was a fire truck theme, so a fire truck came and Harper LOVED it! He was the first to sit in the truck and the last to get off. I finally just had to take the kid off, because the girls were done and wanted to play!! Also, Chubby Checker (the hockey team's mascot) came. The girls cried their heads off so I had to stand in the gazebo holding them. Harper played ball with him and really liked him. Of course I couldn't get a picture him because my hands were tied, but maybe Sarah did. I didn't get a pic of the birthday boy either - he was too hard to catch and I only had my cell phone camera. Anyways, it was fun!!

Chloe with the jacket on - the helmet was so heavy she couldn't keep her head up!

Harper loved standing in front of these wheels. He would run to Ryan, get a tickle, then run to the wheel, when he was about 2 feet from it he would stop, turn around and slowly back up until he had his back to the wheel. He is so funny!!

Whose driving this rig?? Looks like little brother is going to do the majority of the driving when the teenage years come along!!!!!

COW TRAIN!

We made it to the real hayride and the cowtrain!! Saturday (the 1st) Matt and I went to a Fireproof my marriage conference. It was great - will share more later. Afterwards, we went and picked up the girls from my parent's house and we took them to the corn maze. They needed Grandma and Grandpa to come too!! So we got to ride the hayride - with real hay, and we rode the cow train. (I forgot my camera again - so these aren't the greatest pics)

Carly and Grandpa

Chloe and Grandma

Daddy and Chloe

Mommy and Harper

This is Carly riding Peanut -she picked the smallest horse to ride. Chloe rode Benny - the largest horse there was!!

Here I am riding the cow train with Chloe. These barrels were pulled by a 4 wheeler. My brain was rattling after this!! It was very bumpy but it was fun. Carly cried when it was her turn. But by the end of the night, she had gained the courage to ride it with me. She liked it too and was so proud of herself that she was brave enough to ride.

This is the corn box. Kind of like a sand box, but filled completely with corn. It kind of hurt my feet when I got in, but then it felt good. Harper did not like it one bit! He cried when I put him in it. The girls were burying each other and swimming in it!