Merry Christmas

Oh what fun it was to celebrate Jesus's birthday at our house this year!!!  We had a low key day of staying in our pjs ALL day long (adults included) and enjoying being together ... and playing with a few new toys didn't hurt :) So grateful for all the joy in my life!!

 Lunch at Jackson and Margie's house on Christmas Eve

 Making Christmas cookies for Santa

 Of course, they ALL had to carry the plate to the fireplace

 Santa came!!! And yes, it's early - it was still pretty dark outside :)

 Playing with some new Star Wars toys

 I love Graham's face in this one - he was very excited about his very own video recorder from Bet Bet and Snacks

 What's in your stocking, Luke?

 "Woody and Buzz" oh boy!!

3 Christmas cuties!!

Going to Christmas

Luke has a very wacked out sense of time.  Every night when I put him to bed, I ask him what was the best part of his day ... something big will happen and then for the next 3-4 weeks he will say that EVERY SINGLE night.  Some examples are "1000 tickets" (when he won 1000 tickets at an arcade in Gatlinburg), "Brantley's birthday present," "going to Bet Bet's house," and as of late it has been "going to Christmas."  I'm not sure if he thinks Christmas is a place we are going to in a few days, but his excitement and smile are too precious to squash.  Anyway, here are some Christmasy things we've been doing lately around here.

 Christmas time at Cheekwood ... they also had 2 live reindeer that were a big hit

 Walk Through Bethlehem with a live nativity - Graham does not look impressed :)

 L&C's adorable Christmas program

 Pops and Gigi came to town to celebrate Christmas with us

 They LOVE their new tumbling mat

 Luke - already in action

 What a great find - Pops and Gigi know how much we love sticker books 

Carter opening his pirate costume ... what a fun time!!

 Seeing Santa at the Green Hills Mall

 Our neighbors down the street hosted a Christmas party where the kids got to act out the Christmas story ... my boys were shepherds.  It was really sweet!!

You can see all 3 if you look closely :)

Togetherness

Due to the nature of our family dynamics - 3 kids pretty much all the same age and the same gender - we spend A LOT of time together all doing the same thing.  While it can be quite exhausting at times and hard to figure out how to make sure I am meeting individual needs well, this togetherness is something I view as a true gift.  My boys LOVE each other whole-heartedly and are such wonderful playmates.  Graham begs me almost every morning to go get L&C up so he can have someone to play with, and L&C constantly ask where Graham is when he's at school.  And L&C's bond is just in a whole other league of its own.  Today is everyone's last full day of school, so we're about to get 3 weeks of even more time together!!  We are all really enjoying this special time of year :)

 Gingerbread House time :)

 Their favorite game lately is playing "Santa" - someone gets to be Santa and the others have to "go to sleep" while Santa brings toys - one day the couch was overflowing with almost every toy in the house :)

 Constantly building forts - notice they've unknowingly used one of their Christmas presents that they also made the "wrapping paper" for as a wall

Ok, I did sneak out on a date with Graham - I took him to his first play at the Nashville Children's Theater.  We saw You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Graham's Christmas Program

Graham was a shepherd in the St. Paul JK Christmas program this morning, and of course he (and it) was adorable!!  

 He's on the top row, second from the right

 L&C were excited to see Graham in his costume

 Me and my boys ... I chopped all my hair off last week and donated it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths again

Graham and his proud papa