Holiday Traditions

It just isn't the holidays at our house without our cheeseballs. I know what you are thinking - a cheeseball for a cheeseball?! What can we say?! We all love them and it has become something the girls look forward to. I think it started out that they just liked getting messy in the cheese, and now they love eating them as much as I do. Don't worry - we wash our hands really good before making them!




While we were doing this, the boys were busy putting the train around the tree.

The Beach in December

So, I will admit it was my idea to head to the beach for a walk. It didn't seem too cold, and I needed the exercise. Steve knew it would be cold and had the kids all wear their snow pants for extra warmth. I know what you are thinking - snow pants on the beach?! We made fun of him too, but the kids were very grateful once we got on the beach. It was very windy and the air was cold off the water. The ocean was very rough, and mostly empty. We did our usual looking for shells and were surprised that there weren't many to be found.

We did, however, see lots of sea foam. The kids decided that this was our White Christmas! They had fun running through it, kicking it and watching it blow - they even tried throwing it (thankfully at Steve) and quickly found it not to be a good idea. It is not as white as it seems - it got their pants filthy. They had lots of fun!!

I will also admit that part of my plan was to run some of the sugar out of the kids. Which, when you see these next pictures you might think that I succeeded. Drew was getting tired...

...and so his nice big sister gave him a piggy back.

Abby, on the other hand, was so tired she resorted to crawling (because she tired of begging for a piggy back).

Then, in true Abby fashion, once we got to the car she asked when we were coming again. Then, when we got home they were all running around the house again. Oh well, at least it was a fun diversion!

Homemade Christmas Play

As a parent, this made me very proud of my children. They really do know the true meaning of Christmas. All on their own they put this "play" together and called us in to watch. They were quite disappointed to not be in a Christmas play this year (since we just moved here) - looks like they took the initiative and created their own. I had to share this with you! Enjoy the drama and the creative songs! Watch out Hollywood! All those moments when I am trying to get my children to stop fighting, and just get along - and now I have a wonderful memory to come back to! What a joy!

Breakfast with Santa

This morning was Breakfast with Santa at the girls Elementary School. Very cute, and very fun. We got to have a Chick-Fil-A breakfast, followed by time with Santa, and lots of fun crafts and games. The kids got to make reindeer food, coffee filter snowflakes, pine cone birdfeeders, ornaments, etc.

I didn't realize that Drew was making a face. They are about to go see Santa. Too funny!

Abby told Santa that she wanted a Nintendo DS for Christmas. I love this picture of Abby.

Drew is finally not afraid of Santa!! He also told Santa he wanted a DS.

I guess I caught Sarah mid-stream telling Santa she also wants a DS for Christmas. At least we are making it easy for Santa to remember!

Here they all are with Santa!


Daddy and Drew were ready to go before the girls, and they waited in the car for the girls to finish. Looks like fun!

This explains why my kids were tired for the breakfast with Santa! Late night at the Triple R Ranch the night before. Lots of fun, but a bit too late. Why is Greyson the only one awake?! I think Sarah is pretending to be asleep?!

Decorating the Tree

The kids love to help decorate the tree for Christmas. We found most of our Christmas boxes in the mess of boxes in the garage. We are still looking for our movies and Christmas music. Christmas morning will not be the same without the New Christy Minstrels. We have searched most of the garage, but to no avail. We weren't planning on organizing the garage just yet, but our plans may change! We got the essentials unpacked and placed around the house.

The kids got tired of waiting for the tree to be ready, so they started decorating themselves to kill the time! Abby was the official photographer.

The kids love to put the ornaments on the tree. Pajamas and santa hats complete the scene. We used Christmas music from the DirectTV channel - pretty good selection.

A Night in Bethlehem

Our church had a Night in Bethlehem that was very special. The kids got to experience different aspects of the culture in Bethlehem, learn about the journey of Mary and Joseph, and see a live Nativity. My friend Stephanie and her kids went with us and all the kids had a great time!

The donkey and sheep from the live nativity were a big hit. I made the comment that I wondered where they would find a donkey around here, and Steve of course had several answers for me. The funniest was donkey.com - which was overheard by someone working at the event - needless to say she got a big kick out of that! You probably had to be there to really appreciate it!

I love these pictures of Steve and I with the kids...

I think this is where they got to play some kind of game - not very specific I know. I should have payed more attention!!! Sarah told me it was the Dreidel game.

Sarah making some bread.

This is where they learned about different spices and herbs and got to put some in a vial with olive oil to make a scented oil. I had never smelled Myrrh and Frankincense before.

This is baby Landon. He got to watch everything from the stroller! He was very good!

This is my friend and college roommate Stephanie. We live about 15 minutes from them. We really have enjoyed getting to spend time with them.

Family Photo (from the summer)

Here is the whole family at the beach...