Annual Tree Campout

It has been tricky trying to plan our annual Christmas Tree Camp out this year! We actually had 7 showings on our house in 1 week, so pitching a tent in the living room wasn't going to happen. But we managed to squeeze in the fun night right before Christmas. The kids blew up their own air mattresses and got themselves all ready. They had books, flashlights, animals, etc. all in their little corners of the tent. They love sleeping next to the tree with the lights on! They all slept great and are waiting for the next camp out!

The annual Santa Outing

We took the kids to the annual bravery outing! Each year they have to pump themselves up for this 1 picture with Santa. It is rather amusing. They don't speak to the man, they don't hang around at all actually, they just smile and take off!

Reilly and Reagan always go with us, so here they are! They are getting so big, they barely could fit on his lap!
And here is our crew. Finley was waving to Santa the whole time, but as soon as I put her on his lap, she SCREAMED!! I took her off, and she turned around and waved some more. She was not sitting with that man! So now all 3 girls will not sit with Santa! That works for me - no sitting on old men with beards laps!! Harper on the other hand, has to show his bravery and do the impossible!!

Then we always ride the train after Santa. Harper is too little to ride by himself, so the man MADE me ride the train! I tried to get out of it, but he wouldn't bend the rules. He was going to let him ride in a car with another family, but Harper was about to break down when he realized no one would be with him. So I sucked it up and paid the extra $3 for myself (yes, I had to pay) and I took my boy in the blue train! There are just some things you have to do for your kids and for this boy, I guess I could ride the train!

And all the girls! They were talking the entire time to everyone around, except Reilly. She barked!! Another year of fun memories with their cousins!

The Nutcracker

I had the opportunity to take the girls to see the Nutcracker yesterday! We got free tickets from someone in our homeschool group. It was so fun to take my big girls out and about doing something just for them. It made me realize how big they are getting! They are such funny girls and we really enjoyed our day together. I was nervous about the weather, but it ended up being fine and we only got lost walking to the theatre! We ended up ice skating down the sidewalks of Charlotte only to wind up back where we started. It was an adventure!

Getting ready to get our seats. They were so excited to go to the ballet!

T minus 10 minutes! The show was beautiful. It even had a snow scene that was breath taking. It was an educational performance, so it was only and hour and 15 minutes, which was perfect for their attention span. Now, of course, they want to be in the Nutcracker!

A huge Christmas tree in Bank of America - they made be get the whole tree in the picture so they could show Dad and Harper how big it was! After the show, we went out to lunch and finished our girls day with full bellies. I love my sweet Carly and Chloe!

Christmas Time is Coming

December 15th was a big day for Carly and Chloe! They started choir at our church, and this was the big Christmas performance. They absolutely LOVE Ms. Kim and singing with her. For the past few months, Wednesdays have been their favorite day of the week, because they get to see her! So, needless to say, this performance was so exciting for them!

They had to make sure they looked their absolute best, so they called on Oma to come and paint their nails red to match their outfit! Oma was happy to come at their request!
Getting ready to leave!

During the show they had puppets - they thought they were silly!

All the boys played instruments during the first and last song. It was rather humorous!

The choir! They all did so well!

And their favorite person - Ms. Kim!!

Aww

We actually got all 4 kids to look at the camera and look decent the other morning before church!! Just had to share!!

Can you Imagine?

After telling the Christmas story a million times, I realized something. Imagine holding your sweet baby as it is wrapped in swaddling clothes. What are swaddling clothes? Well, they are used to wrap the limbs of the dead! (They also believed that the swaddling clothes would help their babies bodies grow straight). Crazy! Holding your baby and marveling at his beauty but to have that visual of his death right away! And what about the gifts you get when you have a baby? Diapers, wipes, cute outfits, essentials, etc. Mary got Myrrh, an incense you burn at a burial, to represent His death. So from the get go, the miracle of Jesus was reminding the world that He came to die for OUR sins. Awesome!

Christmas with Friends

Tonight we had our annual drive around and look at lights in the neighborhood with Sarah, Preston, and Ethan. They all dressed in their pjs and got to stand up, unbuckled in the car as we looked and they sang - rather loudly! And then we came home for some fresh baked cookies - you know the Pilsbury pull aparts :)

I don't know what it is about these boys, but my girls love them!! Finley liked laughing with Ethan. They looked so cute!
So cute!

Yes, six kids - our families are growing!! They have so much fun together and tomorrow they get to go to Monkey Joes together for some needed play time - they should be very worn out!!