December 2009 recap Part 1

I'm gonna try to catch up my blog even just for myself, so here is part one of who knows how many :o) I like to have this documented so when I go and scrapbook I can remember the details! The trio one Sunday morning just before church. This is usually the best time to try and snap a picture of them all together, as they are typically dressed nice and are all clean at the same time :o). Of course we use our tree as our back drop all through the Christmas season. This year we had to get a 7.5 ft. tree as our older 12 ft. tree was just to tall for the ceilings in our new house. I read several blogs during Christmas where families had 3 or 4 trees. Man I think I need to do a Snow Babies tree next year and maybe a kids tree of just their ornaments and then a theme tree like chocolate and golds. Hmmm I'll need to start thinking earlier next year about adding some more trees to our decorations. I will say though, that the boys did not mess with my decorations at all once they were up! I was so proud of them. I was actually able to put all my decorations up and nothing got broke :o).......

The boys on the last day of school before Christmas break. Bennett's wanted a Mickey Mouse Santa hat, and Brayden and Baylor just wore a regular Santa hat!

Cutie Kaitlyn at Bennett's classroom party. I'm the room mom, so I was responsible for leading the party. It was a fun time and I got to bring Brayden and Baylor with me as well. It was nice for Brayden to go as he had missed his class Christmas party the day before because he had a tummy bug. He was so broken hearted and kept telling me he felt fine although I knew otherwise. At least he felt like he got to have a Christmas party since he was included in Bennett's class party.

We decorated sugar cookies and here is Baylor frosting his cookie and licking frosting off with a knife :o)

They played Jesus Bingo and that was a big hit with all the kids. Love that our kids go to a Christian school so we can alter regular Bingo for Jesus Bingo! After all he is the reason for the season!!!!

Each child drew a name of one of their classmates and was responsible for purchasing a book for them. Here is Bennett opening his gift from Makena. He got a Snoopy comic book, which he loved!!!!

Bennett thanking Makena for his gift! Isn't she a cutie. They were in Kindergarten together last year and sit across from one another this year.

Bennett and Tatum just after school was released.

After we left from early release, we dropped Baylor off at home for his nap and headed to one of Brayden's classmates, Thomas' house for a pizza/cookie decorating party! There were 11 boys there and NO girls. Well there are only 3 girls in his class to begin with, but can you believe that no one has a sister for a sibling. Each of us had between 2-3 boys each. CRAZY?!?!?!

Brayden trying one of his creations!

Bennett showing off his creation.

It was a beautiful warm Arizona December day, so the boys played outside in Thomas' big back yard. We did manage to get the 11 boys to stop and pose for a few pictures :o).

The beautiful mommies and all the plates of decorated cookies!!!!

We took the trio to see the Santa at Anthem Mills one Saturday, and only had about a 15 minute wait. After Santa we ate lunch in the food court and then let the boys play outside on the play ground. Baylor went up and down the slide several times and LOVED every minute of it. Of course in true mommy fashion I hit a couple of the outlets stores while we were there.

The trio with the Big guy. Of course Baylor wanted nothing to do with him up close, so one of the Elves suggested we put him up front in a little chair. He seemed fine with that and at least we got a picture for Christmas 2009 with Santa!!!! I think he was saying, "Cheese" in the picture.

I'll be adding a ton more, so keep checking back. hopfully I'll get it all caught up soon!!!

Christmas 2008

This is our Christmas tree this year! Each year we add more ornaments to our ever growing collection. The boys each get one and we get a family one with all of our family members names on it. Baylor has actually done very well with the tree and uses only one finger to touch much to our surprise. We put it in our living room for fear that he would mess with it and possibly knock it over if we had it in the family room again. The angel on top is one that my mother and I bought at her last time to the Southern Christmas show. It's so very special to me and I love having it on top looking down at us through the Christmas season, much like I know my mom is.

This picture is from Breakfast with Santa 12/10 at the boys school. It is so wonderful, to have a nice relaxing breakfast and stand is a short line to see the big guy. This marks our 3rd year of Breakfast with Santa. Definitely a tradition we look forward to each Christmas season.

This is the boys making sure Santa knows what each of them wants. Got that Santa?

Here is Baylor on 12/16 practicing his walking. He just looks so grown up and big to me here. Probably his shortened bangs by Bennett's karate teacher!!!

Brayden at his Gingerbread house party 12/16 at the Community Center. It was a cold(well cold for us) rainy day, and Brayden, Baylor and myself had a great time making this Gingerbread house, having stories, making crafts, and snacks.

The finished product, he did very well I think.

The sweet teacher that leads the parties at the Community Center named Lisa, gave each of the children there these cute little Ty Gingerbread Men. Brayden loves all things cute, and he loved this little guy!

This is Bennett and his classmates at his school play 12/16. He had a small speaking part and we all enjoyed all the hard work the children put into making the play so wonderful.

Bennett just after the program. So handsome I must say...

This is Brayden at his pre-school Christmas party 12/19. He is making a Christmas card at this station. I had both older boys parties on the same day at the same times, so I had to divide my time with each. I started with Brayden's class and then went to Bennett's room. Such a cute smile...

Mommy and Brayden

This is Brayden with all his boy classmates. There are a lot of tall tales that comes from these sweet little faces each day, let me tell you! From L-R: Brayden, Gunnar, Steven, Cole, and Logan.

Me and my boys after their Christmas parties.

Here is Baylor sitting under the Christmas tree. The little snowman ornament by his rt. arm, was given to me by my kindergarten teacher when I was in kindergarten! We had so much fun walking down memory lane with our ornaments. I truly love this time of the year. It so much fun making all the magic with the kids, it almost makes me feel like a kid again myself.

These pictures are from Christmas Eve of Baylor taking his first unassisted steps documented on camera. He began with 3-4 steps on Christmas Eve and by Christmas Day he was going all the way across the room unassisted! Yay Baylor, so big....

I'm on my way, you better watch out now!!!!

The boys leaving cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve.

I tried to pick one of each of the boys from Christmas morning. They were so excited when they woke up to see what gifts had been left for them. I truly love the innocent age that they are at, and wish I could keep them sweet and innocent forever.

Bennett holding up his new DC shoes he wanted, so happy....

The main thing Brayden wanted was a Webkinz Snowman. I knew he would like it, as he loves all things cute and cuddly. I showed it to him, and after he saw it and declared it was something he had to have, he nearly drove me crazy talking about the snowman and wanting to go to the store to look at it. One day about 9 days before Christmas we went into Berean to get a few gifts, and he went to find the Snowman and found out they were sold out. He was so upset and was afraid Santa would not get his Snowman to him. Needless to say he was beyond thrilled Christmas morning to find Frosty The Snowman!!!! The only downfall, was i guess lots of other kids got Webkinz for Christmas, because we had to wait quite a while to get online and set up Frosty's room :o).

Baylor really did not seem all that in to gifts, but he did like his little Elmo ride-on. He also got a lego table that he has enjoyed a lot too!I had a hard time getting Baylor to look at me this year, as he is just too busy to stop and take pictures.

Well I hope each of you had a Christmas filled with lots of love and wonderful memories. I hope each of you remembers the true reason for the season. God's gift of a son, so that you and I may have eternal life with HIM!!! Lastly may you all have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!!

Our 3 Little Elves

We Elfed our kids and think they are quite talented! Enjoy...

Christmas 2007

Mommy and Bennett at Bennett's pre-school Christmas party!!! The kids made snowman tee shirts with their footprints that said,"Let it snow", that they wore to their party and had cookies, Reindeer bark, & muffins to eat. Each child also brought a wrapped book and they did a musical chair book swap. We had a great time.

The boys by the tree in Kid Kountry just after Bennett's school party. Bennett is now on break and will no go back until the end of January. He is so excited to have a break.

Baylor sitting in his Bumbo for the first time. Look at his happy face!!! I don't think he knew what to make of sitting by himself with out being held.

Baylor wearing his cute little shirt from the Musgraves that says, "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night." Notice how is laughing about it :o) He is actually doing quite a bit better with his sleeping, thank goodness!!!

Baylor Christmas Eve just before heading to church. The outfit he is wearing was Brayden's Christmas outfit. I often like to take pictures of each boy in the same outfit and compare how they looked at the same age. We went to the 3pm Children's service which was perfect as they had the children to participate in the service. After we got home we made our traditional Potato soup with deli sandwiches. We got the kids ready and off to bed by 8:00 pm. We got everything out and ready and were in bed by 12pm ourselves after watching A Christmas Story. Around 1:30am Bennett came in to announce that Santa had arrived. We told him to go back to bed as it was not time to get up. Then Baylor woke up at 2:30am and needed to have his passy back. At 5:30am Bennett came back in and announced that Santa had arrived, we told him it still was not time to get up so he went back to bed. At 6:00am Baylor woke again and wanted milk, so we fed him and put him back to bed and started our Breakfast casserole in the oven. (I had made it the night before and it had to soak overnight in the fridge before baking) Finally around 7:30am everyone was up for good except Baylor, but we just got him up so he could be a part of the action. Wow I was wore out before the day started :o).

The boys received so many wonderful things for Christmas. Bennett got a Star Wars storm trooper blaster gun that he had been wanting for some time. He was soooooo excited when he opened the gift.

I love this picture, because it captures how totally surprised he was opening his gifts. It is so wonderful to experience life through the eyes of a child! He also got many games for the XBOX and Nintendo DS Lite systems, Legos and subscription to Brickmaster magazine, books, & Webkinz. In addition we got a Wii for the family! Our fabulous friend Tony Musgrave was walking into Best Buy before Christmas and they set out a pallet and he grabbed one for us! Thanks Tony you ROCK! The kids and us have had such a fun time with the boxing game in particular.

Brayden waiting patiently for his turn to open a gift. He got Candy Land Castle, Webkinz Gorilla, Spiderman doll, Ben 10 action figure, Playmobile Pirate set, counting money jar, and Zoob.

Baylor snuggling with his new blanket which is part of his Zoobie pal. (His is a crocodile which is a stuffed animal/pillow/blanket all in one) He also got teethers, rattle monkey, clothes, and Leap Frog stackers.

Holding his Monkey rattle Christmas morning. This was his first time holding a toy!!!

The boys boxing each other on the Wii. They are so much fun to watch. Bennett runs in place so hard and fast trying to KO his opponent. He is very competitive and does not like to loose, but who does?

They also got Batman and Superman chairs from Grandma and Grandpa McKinstry and Bennett is sitting in his chair checking out the Wii.

This was our first Christmas ever without any family, so again our friends the Musgraves invited us to be with their family Christmas Eve and this is a picture of the boys waiting to open their gifts.

Mommy and Baylor Christmas Eve.

Our beautiful sons, the best Christmas presents we could ask for. We are looking forward to all the wonderful things in store for us for 2008!!!