A Special Night

Tonight was special.......We were doing our nightly advent Bible devotion. We have one a night for the month of December. Well, we were a couple nights behind from all the holiday stuff and we really love doing these Bible discussions, so I wanted to make sure we had time to have good conversations every night. We started off with a happy half birthday song to Harper! It's December 29th - he is 4 1/2!!! He was so excited - for some reason those 1/2 birthdays are pretty special for my kids. Then we dove into our discussion. These devotions have a Bible verse, discussion, and an activity every night. They go over the story of Jesus' birth and the reason why Jesus came. They are very informative and the kids have some amazing questions and you can really see their wheels turning. It's not a bunch of Bible stories, it is just one amazing story the whole month- the birth of our Savior! So tonight we were talking about there being no room for Mary and Joseph, that is why Jesus was born in a stable. We talked about how you can't have your heart closed to Jesus. If you close your self off, you won't be able to let Jesus in. Then Harper asked why he didn't have Jesus in his heart. (They have been asking questions like this all month). I told him it was a decision that you have to make if you want Jesus to come into your heart and then he said he had to say a silent prayer and quickly closed his eyes. Carly quickly followed behind in a silent prayer. When he was done, I asked him what he prayed about. He said, "Dear God, Thank you for this day and keeping us safe. Thank you for this beautiful day and have Jesus and God come into my heart. Amen." Then Carly said, "I said, Dear God, Thank you for this day and please have Jesus come into my heart." It was so sweet and innocent. There was no sinners prayer said, no talking them through this decision, they just decided that they did not want to live anymore without Jesus in their hearts. They knew that their lives need Jesus. It was so sweet. Now, I am a big skeptic about kids getting saved so little. I don't like when kids make this decision if they really don't get it and it's not really their decision. But, these 2 really felt that they needed to do this. Now, I still think they aren't fully aware of everything that this involves and here is where our hard work comes in. Matt and I now have a HUGH job on our hands. We have so much to teach them now and show them. Thank you Lord for opening their hearts, now, please be with us so that we can teach them and guide them that will glorify you. What a special night!! I had to take a picture of them all so that they would remember this special night forever. God has big plans for these little people!

Carly prayed just like this. On her Daddy's arm!

Chloe: She informed us that she wanted to go to her bed and pray. She said she was going to say a prayer in bed and let me know how it goes in the morning. So, we shall see what she says in the morning.

I love you

I always hold my hand up in the I love you sign to the kids. Harper has his own version and it is so cute! I love seeing his cute smile and then him slip up his hand like this. He is such a sweetie!

Christmas 2011

We started our Christmas festivities on the 23rd at our house. My family all came over and we had a great time being with everyone. Here is Grandpa starting off some festivities with some Christmas trivia - they all did a great job answering questions.

The loot :)

We played some games before opening presents. Reilly was one determined child to get this box open. They had to wear a hat, scarf, and oven mitts and try to open several boxes within each other. They were so funny!

Harper looked awful cute with his stuff on.

Channing's first Christmas present for 2011!

She had to taste the packaging to see if it was good quality :)

Carly, Chloe, and Kaitlyn were all excited about their horses and Jeep!

Chloe loves her horse!

Kris, Gina, Connor, and Kaitlyn all spent the night here that night and in the morning the kids loved playing with their new stuff. Harper spent the entire morning with Gina. He got out all his gifts and they just sat together investigating. He really loved spending some good quality time with her! He loves for someone to just sit with him and this was the best thing in the world - and the fact that was with his awesome Aunt Gina made it even better (and he did get to do some Legos with Uncle Kris - yup, he was on cloud 9).

We mellowed out on Christmas Eve day and that afternoon, Matt's Grandma Thomas and Charlie were able to stop by and see the kids. She was so happy to see them - she hadn't even met Channing yet so it was special. She came in and went right with Finley to check out her train and to help her fix it. She was so sweet with them :)

And here they all are with her (Carly wasn't feeling well so she hadn't gotten dressed yet).

Channing was happy it was Christmas Eve!!

Don't they all look thrilled!

Then Christmas Eve night we went to church. We had to drop Channing off at Mom's house because there was no way she would make it through a service.

Christmas morning looked like this......until 8:00! The kids woke up and really didn't come flying in, they actually didn't even realize it was Christmas morning. So once we got everyone up and ready, I told the kids that it was Jesus' birthday and there was a celebration downstairs to be had in honor of Him!!! Then it clicked what was going on and they all got down there quickly!

Finley got a "boat" - it is a plasma car and it is really fun. She gave Channing some rides to test it out!

Channing wouldn't stop eating paper so we had to put her in the saucer for her own protection :) She clapped.

Finley spent the entire morning on her boat!

And then not long after it was all over, we hear a scream from the 3rd floor and this is how Channing comes downstairs. She slipped off a shelf she was holding onto and banged her lip in 2 spots. So she had a swollen eye, fat lip, and was bleeding everywhere - nice!!! I love how the blood pooled up into a heart over her first Christmas shirt. Classy!

That evening, Matt's parents and brother came over and we had a nice Christmas dinner. The kids got a lot of musical instruments (pics of those will come later). It was an amazing Christmas and we are so very thankful for our friends and family. Happy Birthday Jesus!

A few special moments

Finley absolutely adores Channing. She constantly hugs her and talks to her. She is proud to say, "She my sister." Channing is so lucky to be loved so much by all these kids! Matt and I just beam everytime we see one of them holding her, talking to her, singing to her, playing with her, and making her laugh! She is more than loved!

We went to kiss Carly the other night and she was sound asleep with her dogs all in a row. I guess they were guarding her while she slept. Oh and little dad is on the end too - he is one of her favorites :)

A Christmas Night

We took the kids out for a fun Christmas night. We started off in downtown Waxhaw with a free horse and carriage ride. It had been really warm this month, so we waited for a cold night - I mean, it's really hard to be in the Christmas spirit when it's 70 degrees!! Here the kids are waiting for the horse and carriage.

I love this picture of all my favorite people!!! My heart bursts looking at all 6 of these faces. Thank you Lord for each and everyone of them! (we were on the carriage enjoying a fun ride)

This is our horse - Pop Tart :)

Then we headed to the shops at Blakeney for some fun. We found Frosty the snowman. Finley flipped out when I said to stand next to him for a picture. She kept whining, "Him no touch me!!!" So therefore, I had to hold her in each picture!

2 Super Special girls. They are growing up to be such awesome kids!

We then fround Rudolph. Again, Finley did not want him to touch her! She waved and talked about him, but would not get too close!

And alas, the big guy. We had to get Channing's first Christmas documented with St. Nick, so here you have it........she was not impressed!!! Again - look at Finley eyeing the man the entire time. "Me no sit with him!" I really think we have had a screaming child for 6 years in a row with Santa. Good thing we don't celebrate with Santa - I think my kids would be terrified to go to sleep on Christmas Eve for the thought of him coming into their house!

One Determined Child

Finley is one determined child! She decided it was time to get her finger nails painted. This was what I hold over all my girls heads in order for them to stop sucking their thumbs. So I told her she had to prove to me that she was quitting the whole thumb thing. So I painted her thumb with Mavela Stop and put her to bed with a glove on her hand. Oh yes, she quit cold turkey that night! I really can't believe how she had her mind so set on this. But, alas, it's Finley and if she wants it, she will get her way! So my 27 1/2 month old child put her mind to being done and she did it.......good job Fifi!!

Christmas Concert

The girls had their Christmas Choir concert at church again this year, and of course, they loved every minute of it. We had to have Harper as our camera man. I was wrestling a 9 month old alligator and Matt was on video patrol and Fifi control. So that left our 4 year old camera man. He did a pretty good job. So if you need to hire a camera man that gets good shots from 3 feet, Harper is you man! I thought this picture of my Mom and Grandma was funny! Pete and Repeat!!

And all his pictures had Reilly's head in it. I thought this one was just super cute!

And here they all are after the performance. As always Carly and Chloe look very underwhelmed, but they love every minute of it and they sang all the songs - but one! My Mom and I were sitting there watching them singing during the concert, then we noticed Carly turn red and look away. She kind of had tears in her eyes. I didn't know what was going on, but she was able to dry it up and get back into singing mode. Later on Matt and I were talking about it, and I asked him if he saw her. He said yes, and it was because of the song. They were singing about the stinky, smelly Shepherds. I do not like them talking like that, and they were going to stand their ground and neither one of them sang that song! They knew it was inappropriate for them to say, so they clammed up and just waited till the next song. How sweet! They are such good girls. The next day I asked them about it and they just hugged me! They told me they didn't want to sing it and I told them I was proud of them for making a good choice in their heart and that they knew what to do. I am so proud of them. I know it sounds crazy, but I just want them to be respectful to others so I don't like them saying stuff like that. I am so proud of these girls ~ and they are growing up way too fast!

Finished Product

The mantel....yes, same every year, but it works :) Don't mind the Pandora pic in the TV... was in the mood for some great Christmas music and didn't want to turn it off for the pic!

The tree with a party on the top! And yes, I did not realize there was a train remote, toy and DVD player all laying out when I took the picture. I am still in search for a DVD stand and am not finding the perfect piece, so it sits on the box in the corner!

Decorating Time

We did it! We made the dreaded plunge............................to a FAKE tree!! It is sad not going to get a real tree, but when we looked at the "fun" of a real tree, it just wasn't being remember as fun!! No mountain trip to cut down a tree (Matt works crazy hours after Thanksgiving, so if we hope to have a tree up and lit right after Thanksgiving, that is so out of the picture). We usually went to a tree stand, watched a man untie our beloved imperfect tree from a pole,and then proceed to tie it to the roof of our minivan - which I had to watch the entire ride home through the sunroof window for fear of it flying off the top! Then we had a different tree stand story each year: broken, didn't tighten, cracked, leaked, too small, too big, etc. And don't forget last year with our tree leaning on the wall! Then there were those years where our tree was in full rigor by the time Christmas came, so if you even looked at it, the bristle things would fall off! And oh, the vacuuming and watering. I am not a good caretaker!! I can do kids and that is it. No plants or animals - they all die! Therefore, artificial was looking pretty good. So we got the prelit beauty and I am quite pleased! Just open the box and watch the branches fall into place! With a little fluffing, viola, insta Christmas tree! And I have been very happy not having to upkeep the tree. Harper is in charge of plugging and unplugging it, so I don't have to do anything. We even have our outside lights on a timer and the 2 little trees Harper plugs in, so again, I am scott free! Finley got to take part in the decorating this year. So 8 little hands managed to get the thing decorated in record time. Of course the step stool is such a big hit, so the top half was decorated heavily and we had to even it out after the fact. They love to decorate the tree!

Finley liked the pinecones.

And of course decorating must be done with stocking boots! I still can't believe we have made it with these stocking this long! I bought these for red snowflake ones for the girls 1st Christmas - I bought 5. One for Matt, Carly, Chloe, myself and for 1 more baby that we thought we would have. So after Harper, we were perfect with our 5 stockings. Then came Finley. So I decided to just get solid white ones for the ends and give the kids the red snowflake ones. Then came Channing, and we still have 5 of those, so it worked out perfectly. I always forgot to get them monogrammed after Christmas so they would be ready for the next year. I guess now we can go ahead and monogram them since we have used up all our stockings! I love our crowded mantel!

Scary Reindeer

I was pulling out the Christmas decorations while the 3 little kids were taking their nap. Later on that night, I asked Harper to go downstairs to get something. His reply, "No! That reindeer camel scares me!!" Ooops....I guess I should have told him the decorations were out - poor kid must have went down there and was scared to death from this thing just sitting in the corner! It was funny - and no he is not really scared of it....just for that day!

Almost Done!

Well Channing has made it to the end of her time in her "rhino." This lovely contraption replaces her straps that she had several months ago to fix her hip displasia. This is like a big hard diaper - called the rhino. She could have cared less about this thing! She didn't even act like it mattered. She even learned how to roll, sit, stand, you name it, in this thing!! Christmas Eve will be her last night in it and she should be done with this whole hip thing altogether! YAY!

What would you bring the King of Kings?

One of our advent stories we did this month was about the three Kings and their gifts. So we all had a discussion and afterwards, I told the girls they had to write a story on what they would bring the King of Kings. I left the school room and came back to these stories:

Chloe (left): I would bring Jesus a car so he can drive places. I would give him an ice cream. Hahaha

Carly (right): I would bring Jesus a cup. He would not be thirsty again. If I was a wiseman, that's what I will bring to Jesus.

So cute!

Christmas Card Flop

This was my original idea for our Christmas card this year. But I just couldn't find the right card to put it on that didn't have stuff written already on it. It just didn't work out, but it could have been super cute - you see where I was going with this don't you? Oh well!