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!!!