Wordless Wednesday {Christmas Eve Edition}

The House wishes everyone a Merry Christmas!! 

See y'all in 2015!!!

Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree! {Let's try this again...}

Ok, so... Our Christmas lights died. Ok, maybe the one light died or something (and we already changed those out), but it caused some major tree drama.

We went from an "ok-it-will-do-for-now" tree to, "Are you freakin' kidding me?!" Stupid lights...

Really? Honestly, Charlie Brown's tree looked better than that...

So, while at - wait for it - Costco, I grabbed some lights. And, since it was the week before Christmas I could pick the icicle lights or the retro lights. Well, icicles go on a house.... Retro it is! 

Awesome. It will do, I suppose.

And, WOW!!

I love our tree again! It is just so festive and happy! And, Austin LOVES it!!

Full of wonder

Best part...he can touch the lights because they don't get hot. Not even a tiny bit. And, if one decides to die, the rest don't follow like dominoes!

Yay lights!!

Speaking of lights... the other day, the boys and I learned about the Festival of Lights, aka Hanukkah, from Albert Einstein on Peg + Cat. Who better to explain 2D and 3D dreidel shapes. Thanks, Al!

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Just a note: for friends and family wondering where the Christmas cards are... They are in the works and they may be, yet again, a New Year's card. I'll share the drama that surround the taking of Christmas photos... (Oh, mom... I am sorry for the insanity I caused for many years just because you need a picture of all of us by the "damn tree" - UGH!!)

Santa Hunting {Or...Visiting Santa at Bass Pro Shop}

So ready to go see Santa!

Super excited and giggled the whole time!!

Excited and asked quite loudly for a Batman Robot

Not a fan, but tried to be brave because his brothers did it.

After seeing Santa, the boys had to try out the different things you do in a Southern Winter Wonderland - archery...er, bow hunting? Shooting rifles. And, riding bears. No? You should try it sometime. 

  

Apparently, Alex is in need of a bow? Um, no.

 

See? Super fun!

 

Always stop to catch a train!

 Tracing his letter to Santa...yes, he is asking for a Battle Plan. Haha! Best Christmas letter so far. No worries. Santa knows what he is talking about.

Tracing his letter to Santa. If you don't already know...Alex is quite the Batman fan. I'll share a story of their playing soon. Super funny!

"Hmm...what should I ask that red suit guy that has the fuzzy face to bring me...? Maybe more Cheerios. I'm running low here, Mama."

Good times at Bass Pro Shop means saying goodbye to the fish.

 Merry Christmas!!

How Having Kids Changes Your Christmas Stockings

I'm sure you have seen that bit about how Christmas tree decoration evolve over time with a child (or more...ahem...)

source

Well, how about the stockings?

Oh, the stockings take a hit for sure...

Yes, I still have the dream that one day our stockings will the these beautifully coordinated Pottery Barn Kid or Land of Nod pretty things. But, this is what I'm working with for now:

You can totally see it... It goes right on down the line from left to right.

2007: Jason (green) and I (gold) have these beautiful velvet swirly stockings from our first Christmas in our house.

2009: Andrew gets his stocking put up as this is his first Christmas. And, it MUST be a for real Green Bay Packers stocking purchased from the Packer Pro Shop. No joke.

2011: Alex's first Christmas... There is a lot going on and I ALMOST forget his. So, he get the last fuzzy green one I found at Target which may or may not have cost less than $4 because it may or may not have been found at the dollar spot. I was in a pinch... St. Nicholas Day was the next day!

2013: Ok, Austin's first stocking is no longer up there because it was from a friend and it says, "Baby's First Christmas." BUT!! I have it still and it is nicely packed in the baby box.

2014: Austin's for real stocking joins the mantle... And, it was also found at Target... in Alabama. Which is either red or orange, depending on if you care. So, um, how I got a GREEN FOOTBALL stocking is beyond me. But, hey! It's green. And, has a football. And, it was $3.25 due to some coupon or something I had.

There you have it. The evolution of stockings.

Parenthood.

It is never what you expected, but it is everything you didn't know you wanted and are blessed to be a part of.

Merry Christmas!

7 Quick Takes

1.  "I'm not doing anything..."

Someone LOVES the Christmas balls.

I have since redecorated my tree...

source

 
2. Since we are keeping it real...

My backyard looks like a tornado went through it - which could happen... But it was just these 2 that did it. 

3. Where's that other one of mine??

Trying to find his way to Narnia, I suppose.

4. We made time to put together a hot chocolate and cookies playdate. 

See? I am somewhat organized still. The holidays really wear me out!

5. One of my Christmas presents to me came early! 

Of course, I opened it. I've gotta get our Feast! on, hello!

6. If you are wondering what we really are up to these days...

We have taken a break from "school" this month to just be. We have enjoyed playing Legos together, reading a ton of books, and watching a bunch of old Christmas cartoons.

While I was making dinner, I realized that the house was a tad too quiet... You know, the sound that either death or destruction? Ok, maybe that is exaggerating... But, thankfully, I found the bigger 2 snuggled together watching Polar Express for the 8 millionth time.

7. How to restore that Mama Spirit

Thankfully, I have a amazing husband that knows when I need to find that peace again and let's me go do just that. I had lunch with a great friend last weekend. Just us girls. No kids. No time that we needed to be back home. And, a restaurant that didn't have to have a kid's menu. Score. It was so nice to just talk and be out and not have to do anything.

Afterwards, I got some errands done and headed to my final stop.
 

Tis the season for quiet reflection. And, if you're Catholic...confession. And, as I've said before. It's like free therapy. I got to the Church early enough that I actually sat in the super quiet that is the sanctuary and just be still. I've never actually admired all the bits and pieces of stained glass until this afternoon (and, we have been members there since...maybe 4.5 years..?). It really is quite beautiful. And, FINALLY, after all these years, I got a picture of our parish's Nativity. Love it!

BONUS: Gotta love Gandalf! (turn your volume up. Sir Ian is soft-spoken when he isn't a wizard)

 

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Wordless Wednesday {The Peanut Gang}

7 Quick Takes: Catan Obsession, St. Nick, Tree Trimming, and more!

1. A Tad Obsessed with a Board Game

I just LOVE that our boys are loving their newest game - Catan Junior! Andrew asks to play it every day, I think. He loves that there are pirate ships and a ghost captain. Alex thinks it's awesome to get stuff when his numbers are rolled. Andrew is all about those Coco Cards (Development cards to us grown ups).

If that wasn't enough...check out what Saint Nicholas dropped off in Jason's stocking! The Catan Dice Game! HA! Now Jason and I can play Catan without a 3rd person... Finally!

2. Speaking of St. Nick... 

He stopped by the other night. This is how we take care of "Santa Business" around here. See, "Santa" IS a real guy. No, he doesn't have 8 tiny reindeer or elves or the magic of stopping time to deliver millions of presents. But, he does have the gift of giving. He gives "birthday" presents to remind us of what Christmas is all about - a very special birthday. Jesus' birthday. Of course, for sake of keeping the magic... We do believe in Santa Claus. We just want our boys to remember the point of all this one day with their own children. (To learn more about Saint Nicholas, click here!)

 

The boys each got "gold coins" to remember St. Nicholas by, along with a super cool chocolate bar that had Waldo on it!! Sweet. Austin had the "gold coins" - which he LOVES - and another Little People Wheelies car.

3. Time to put up the tree!

We finally got around to putting up the tree!! And, once again the boys picked out new ornaments this year!

Yes, every year they get to pick out a new ornament. When it is time to pack up the tree, their ornaments go in their own special boxes. One day, when they have a tree of their own, these ornaments will be given to them to share with their families. At least, that is my hope! I have a few of my old ones, as does Jason, on our tree that we get to tell them about.

4. Christmas stories!

I love bringing out all the Christmas books! We have some great ones that we decided to add to our collection and some others we picked up from the library.

So far, the favorites are The Polar Express and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I have a favorite one, but I hope to share it with you the coming weeks!

5. Rocket launches are awesome. 

The boys still talk about the Delta rocket that went up for the Orion mission last week! I already put on the calendar the launch happening next week for Space X (next friday!). Can't wait to watch that one with them!

6. Winter is approaching

The boys had a few great days outside, but it's been COLD mostly. You can see it in the clouds...Let's just hope there is no snow at all at any point in time found in those clouds (or any other ones). I've said it before... I LIVE IN THE SOUTH FOR A REASON!!

 
7. Treasure in the sky

Andrew and I found an "X" in the sky that some airplanes made. He said, "That looks like a treasure map, mama." I agreed and asked what kind of treasure he thought we would find..


Heaven.
I love that kid.

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Wordless Wednesday

What is the North Pole Really Like?

Note: This is what my boys told me about Christmastown the other day while playing. It was hilarious! I wanted to save this story for later. 

I'm sure you have wondered what the North Pole is really like, especially this time of year. So, my boys, Andrew (5) and Alex (3) are going to take you on a little tour of Christmastown.

It is quite nice, really. The big people are the rulers of the land, as you can see. The tell the Little People where they should go, what they should do, and what they need to say.

 Christmastown has a bustling train station with four main stops: Santa's Store, The Car Wash and Fixer Place, The Nativity, and Gotham City Jail.

Train Station

Santa's Store where Mary can buy some baby toys for the Baby Jesus because those 3 Kings didn't bring any.

The Natvity

The Car Wash and Fixer Place (left) and Gotham City Jail (right)

Now, I know... why would Christmastown - of all places - need a jail? Well, there are two Santas at this North Pole. One is good and drives the sleigh. The other...? Well, he has been on the bad boy list for quite a while now. But, Batman decided to put an end to it the other day. He capture Bad Santa and put him in jail! Christmastown is saved from mayhem!

You will never guess what he did to get in there...

Bad Santa was stealing Baby Jesus' gold!! Shame on you, Bad Santa...