New Year's Eve

The end of 2012!  We spent the evening celebrating with great friends.  Reed was happy to spend some special time with mom and dad.  He wore his "handsome" clothes and enjoyed dinner and the sucker for dessert.  The sugar set in on the way home, and he was ready to party. 

 

 

Ryland was invited to spend the night with Harker and Keaton.  They had a fun night of popcorn and movies in their pajamas.  He loved every moment!

Cabinet trim

It isn't a holiday break for us, unless we work on some sort of home project.  We completed a small one today that we have been talking about for a while.  The kitchen cabinets were plain along the bottom of the upper cabinets, so we added a small piece of trim to give them a more finished look.  I am very happy with the finished look.  It is a small addition, but it gave the cabinets a heavier, custom look.

 

After

 

 Before

 

 After

 

 Before

Trying to escape

Reed has had enough with the lock on the back door.  The combination lock keeps him trapped in the house and safely out of the pool.  He had a great plan, so he pulled up the step stool and grabbed a screwdriver.  He was going to escape, or so he thought.  John Chris and I watched and laughed, but we were impressed by his ingenuity.  I wonder how he got so darn handy.

Twister

 

Santa brought a couple of really fun games, and since it was cold out today, we opened Twister.  I explained the game to the boys and demonstrated how to play.  Needless to say, we didn't go by the rules for long.  It helps teach Ryland left from right, and it helps Reed with his colors.  Who knew Twister was so educational and fun?  Wow, Santa, you did a great job!

White Christmas

What a great surprise! The snow started falling early afternoon, so when the boys woke up from their nap, they were shocked to look outside.  From the moment they saw the snow, they wanted out!

 

Since it had rained all night and morning, the ground was saturated.  It didn't take long for the boys to be completely soaked.  It was beautiful and such a nice way to celebrate Jesus' birthday!

Santa was here

Santa stopped to leave the boys lots of fun toys!

 

Ryland and Reed were beyond excited to see all the toys, and they couldn't believe all the Imaginext men!

 

Reed loves his new Elmo doll and loves to push him around in the shopping cart.

 

Ryland found some Operation band-aids in his stocking which are perfect for his hurt thumb.  He wanted one right then.

 

Santa also left some fancy twist up crayons with huge coloring books.  I showed Ryland and Reed how they worked, and we colored for all of 5 minutes before returning to the toys.

Christmas Eve

We had a Christmas treat for breakfast to get us all in the mood for Santa.  Ryland and Reed were so excited to see Santa on their plates.

 

 

I found the Santa pancake idea on Pintrest, and John Chris and I had fun putting them together.

 

 

Later that afternoon when Reed and John Chris napped, Ryland and I worked on a little baking.  We have the cutest gingerbread cookie cutters that assemble to create a three dimensional reindeer, sleds, snowmen, and trees.  Since the dough had to be chilled for a few hours, we were really excited to get started.  After a few failed attempts to cut out the shapes, we decided to go another route.

 

Reindeer poop!  It was so obvious to me at this moment that God knew what he was doing when he blessed me with boys. Ryland and I laughed hysterically and couldn't wait to try them.

 

We all got dressed in our "handsome" clothes and headed to church. Unfortunately, church was packed when we arrived, and the sanctuary was already at max capacity.  We decided to come back for the next service, so we had about an hour to burn.  Just enough time to swing by the grocery store for Vanilla Bean ice cream and deliver a few gifts.

 

The later Christmas Eve service was completely full as well, but we were there in time to find seats.  The music was beautiful and the lighting of the candles to Silent Night was absolutely breathtaking.  It is my favorite moment at church every year.

 

We headed home to get the last little things together for Santa.  Ryland and Reed spread the reindeer food all over the side yard to make sure the reindeer were full for their long night.

 

 

One last attempt to capture a cute picture of the boys in their Santa pajamas and rain boots 

 

 

We headed out to take another look at the beautiful Christmas lights.  Reed requested to see Santa, so we drove to the over the top house in our neighborhood.  They have a huge Santa sitting in a chair with about a million lights all over their house and yard.

 

Ryland was out.

 

We couldn't go to bed without leaving Santa some delicious cookies and a Coke.  Lizzie and Pops had a Christmas Eve present for us to open, and it was a cute glass plate just perfect for Santa's treat.  Ryland also wanted to leave Santa the pictures he and Reed had colored earlier.

 

 

 

Showing off

The boys had new audience to entertain this evening.  One of their Dad's best friends from high school came to spend a few days with us, and this was the first time the boys had met Trevor.  Let's just say it was a total show!

Cookie Maker

It was just Reed and myself tonight while the older boys went hunting.  We got started with some Christmas cookie making.  I just adore spending one on one time with my little Reedo.  He is funny and such a sweetheart.  This evening he refused to wear pants, so we just went with it.

 

 

We mixed up a delicious batch of sugar cookie dough to make green Christmas trees in the cookie press. We went ahead and baked one batch just for a taste test.  Reed's favorite part was mixing the flour.

Christmas plate 2012

The Christmas plate that we ordered in November came in, and I was so very pleased!  I absolutely love it!  I couldn't wait to get it home to display it in the kitchen. 

 

Puppet show

One thing I love about living in Southlake is all the fun, family activities that are available.  The library does a great job of keeping the children active when school is out.  Today we attended a puppet show, and as the pictures show, the boys were really interested.

 

 

Reed wanted to make sure I was seeing the awesomeness.

 

At the end of the show, Ryland and Reed were able to touch one of the puppets and take a picture. 

 

Ryland and Harker couldn't pass up the opportunity to ride one of the cows in Town Square.

 

Monkey see, monkey do.  Reed had a turn too.

Bike

Ryland and Reed got bikes for Christmas this year, so we will be practicing as much as the weather will allow.  Today was perfect outside, and Ryland took off like a pro.  He loves the new bike.  Reed is still a little uninterested, but we will see what happens.

 

CHCS Christmas party

Ryland's class had their Christmas party, and all the kids had a great time.  The class mom, Kristen, did an outstanding job of planning a fun party.  They looked cute too, in their monogrammed red aprons.

 

 

Mrs. Pam helped open mini peppermint canes for decorating the gingerbread houses.

 

Even after eating several pieces of candy, Ryland's gingerbread house had plenty of colorful goodies.  It was fun to decorate the house with gum drops, M&Ms, and lots of marshmallows.

 

Since Reed was already out of school for Christmas break, he was able to come to Ryland's party and play.  He really liked the tractors in the fake snow, which is also his big brother's favorite place to play in his classroom.

Class party treats

We made adorable little Rudolph Hershey bars for Ryland's class.  He was quite the helper on their assembly.  They turned out really cute, and he couldn't wait to give them to his friends at school.  Merry Christmas!

Painting

While we were in Ruston, the boys opened Christmas presents from Aunt Emily and Uncle Jeffery.  They are the coolest paints.  The brush wand lights up when it touches the clear paint, but the paint isn't clear.  It is actually colorful when it gets on the brush and on the special paper.  Super cool!  Thanks!

The Polar Express

The boys and I took our annual ride on the Polar Express in Grapevine this morning with the GCS Moms' League.  We got there in the nick of time for a quick picture with the Wood girls before boarding the train.

 

 

We found a seat and got comfy for the ride to the North Pole.

Look who came on the train to say Merry Christmas to all the children.  Santa!

Ryland and Reed were thrilled to see Santa, and they were so excited to get a gift from him before Christmas.  Santa had bells for everyone.



 

Ryland and Harker being silly.

 

The best picture of Reed and Keaton.  He thought it was hilarious to pick his nose while we tried to take his picture.

Silly Tom

Our Elf on the Shelf must want to join the circus.  We were shocked to see Tom hanging upside down from the vent in the breakfast room.  He is so darn silly!  Every day he finds another spot to sit while he observes the boys.  The boys look for him every morning, and I think we will all be sad when he leaves with Santa on Christmas Eve.

 

Christmas card 2012