Some Leftovers

I can't believe it is the last day of December, much less, the last day of the year! I figured that I better post any last pictures from the holidays that I still have hanging around on the camera. A few days before Christmas we went to a Christmas festival that we have attended every year. Much to Lorelei's delight they had a Snow Princess there! She was most excited to see her and wanted to follow her around the whole evening. Unfortunately, we were too exhausted to stay around until the end to see the Snow Princess fly into the air and make it snow! Sounds really cool but 9:30 is just a little late for us sometimes. Anyway, we got to ride the Christmas carolling train, see a cute Christmas show (the kids loved this one because they both got pulled from the audience to participate!), and we got to watch a parade. I was surprised to see my good friend Ashely there with her family and adorable little Noah. Since Ashley lives out of state, it was so neat to run into her there. So here are the leftovers from our Christmas season.

Hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season and have a safe and happy New Years! We plan on having a little New Year's Eve and New Year's Day fun ourselves (more on that to come!)

Daddy helping Paxton and Lorelei decorate cookies at the Snow Princess' tent.

Yummy! Nothing like giving your kids a cookies with a ton of icing and sprinkles right before dinner!

The Snow Princess. As I examine this picture I see that Lorelei has a good grip on the Princess' wand! She may fight you for that one!

Standing like a soldier- my big man Pax!

At night, they had tons of lights on every spec of the place. The kids loved it! Lorelei kept saying "Look, it's Christmas!"

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! Ok, I know Christmas was a couple of days ago but I am just now catching up! We had a wonderful Christmas day with our kids. Of course Paxton pretty much gets it and Lorelei understands some of it. They woke up bright and early on Christmas and turned on the lights to see if Santa had eaten the cookies we made. (They couldn't really tell from upstairs but they were still excited!) Paxton and Lorelei dragged us out of bed and we went downstairs to see what Santa had brought! Paxton got Power Rangers, a scooter, Lego's, a fireball race track, Monsters Inc. DVD and some other toys. Lorelei got a Princess tricycle (yes, she is young but her therapist recommended this for strengthening), Playdoh activity table, a Princess changing set, two DVDs and some other toys as well. Lorelei loves her tricycle and Paxton is learning how to do his scooter (it is a Razor so it takes some practice for balancing).


After Christmas morning at our house we headed up my parents house for some gift exchanging. We handed out all the presents and it was so hard for the little ones to wait their turn as we went around the circle of people. The kids of course got some more fun things! Paxton got a Spider Man-web shooter, a cash register, a globe, books, clothes and some other neat things. Lorelei got a Belle tea party set, a huge doll set (where you can change their clothes, etc.), a Dora TV phone, books, clothes and more neat things. Later in the day my brother and sister in law came with the boys. Paxton and Luke had such fun playing outside together. It was unseasonably warm but it was so nice for the boys to run off some energy.


Mom cooked an awesome lunch and we just had a super time visiting and being with the whole family! The kids enjoyed it all but by the end of the day they were wiped out and so were this mommy and daddy! Since Christmas, Paxton and Lorelei love playing with their new toys. Get this, this morning we got to stay in bed until 8:45!!! Unheard of in this household!! The kids got up early and came in to our room every so often but they were so enthralled with their new toys that they didn't notice us still in bed! AHHH, so very very nice! I know it won't last so we are eating it up while we can!

Waiting at the top of the steps for the "go ahead!"

Paxton checking out his new stuff!

Lorelei's digging her new bike!

All smiles on this Christmas morning: Grandmama, Paxton and Grandaddy

Lorelei's checking out her new Dora TV phone

Look Out!! It's Spiderman . . .

and his web shooter!

Paxton in his new helmet (which by the way is still too small! Santa brought him this new one for ages 5-8! What in the world?!! ) and new Razor scooter!

Lorelei loves her new Princess tricycle. Mama loves it too! It has a seat belt and a handle in the back so I can help her steer!

Lala and Granny. Granny is finally home from the hospital and rehab place. We were so thankful to have her with us to celebrate Christmas!

Josh and our nephew Micah! We got some good baby loving on Micah on Christmas day!

The cousin pics again! They are all holding their stockings that hang at my parents house.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

A Pre K Christmas

On Thursday, we got to go to Paxton's school for a little Christmas performance. The kids sang about 7 songs and then we had a little holiday party with the other kids and their parents. Paxton did a very nice job during the performance. We had been coaching (okay, demanding him) to keep his hands and feet still during the performance and to sing with the other children. (If you know Pax, this is very hard for him to do!). So when performance time came, it only took one evil eye from his daddy and he shaped right up and did great!

He was quite cute singing in the back row next to the teacher (hmm. . . I can't imagine why they would put him in the back behind the big tall girl and next to the teacher?) As the kids sang their songs, Lorelei decided that she too needed to be apart of the performance. She kept trying to sing along with them and do the motions too. At one point she yelled out "Feliz Navidad!" to everyone. Lovely.

So I got a a cute video of them singing one of my favorite songs "Favorite Things." (Sorry the quality is not so good, but I took these clips with my camera-Josh took the whole thing with our video camera but I can't figure out how to upload those videos) By the way, if you listen carefully you can hear Lorelei trying to sing along.

Paxton and his sweet friend Zara. Paxton and Zara are good friends the teacher tells me. They are a great match for friendship. She is calm, sweet, and the perfect student which helps calm Paxton's more, let's say rambunctious side!

Away in a Manger

We have been fortunate enough to get to see several mangers this Christmas season. First, as I mentioned before we went through a drive thru Bethlehem. Then this past weekend we got to go to another church and walk through Bethlehem. When we got to the end we saw Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus in the manger. As we watched Mary caring for Jesus, Lorelei began to sing Away in a Manger. It was so so sweet. Her little voice singing such a precious song!

In addition to our live tours of Bethlehem we also have a Nativity at our house. It is a little play one that I bought for the kids last year. I always read and retell the Christmas story using these characters to help the kids really visualize the whole scene. We really want them to understand the meaning of Christmas and how special Jesus birth was to us! So anyway, Lorelei is totally obsessed with the nativity. She is constantly playing with everyone, the shepherds, wise men, angels, Mary and Joseph, baby Jesus and more! She loves reenacting the story and of course making up her own stories! She is just too cute with it all. We have only lost baby Jesus once, we found him in the recipe box!

So today I took some pics of what you would see daily at my house. Lorelei sitting on the kitchen floor playing with the nativity people. I asked her to sing Away in a Manger and she did a pretty good job! Got a little stuck on one par of the song but ended well. So enjoy the video of "Away in a Manger." (ok, whoops I don't know how to edit and rotate the video- hope you don't mind watching upside down!)

Christmas Happenings

Well we are in full swing for the Christmas season. We've been doing all of our Christmas things the last couple of weeks. On Saturday night we went to a live nativity story at a local church. It was really neat because we got to drive through it instead of getting out the in the cold. The kids loved the angels and baby Jesus the best. On Sunday, we went over to my grandmother and aunts' house to celebrate my aunt Von's birthday. We all wore our Christmas attire and their house was decorated for Christmas. They have this big Santa that sings and dances and Lorelei love to hold his hand and dance with him- too cute!

On Tuesday night, we went to see the jolly old man himself! We got all dressed up again and took the kids to a local mall to see Santa. At first Lorelei began to freak out but once she saw Paxton run up to Santa and sit in his lap, she agreed to it too! They did great and it was awesome because there was no line and Santa got to spend a few minutes with my kids. Not sure what they said to him because I was trying to get them to look at the camera and smile-hopefully they didn't give Santa a wish list that I haven't heard!

Lorelei and I also went to a Christmas party at church for the end of the semester Ladies Bible class too. I curled her hair and everyone said she look like Shirley Temple! Anyway, more Christmas things coming up so stay tuned!

Dancing with Santa

Obligatory: "Hey Paxton, now you go and stand by Santa picture."

Our family

Mom and me

Lorelei and her Lala (that's what we call her) having a good laugh. Those two have the best time together!

The cousin shot: And look at big boy Micah sitting on the steps with all the big kids. This was the best shot I got of all five of them.

Little Miss Thang showing off!

And of course Pax man with his Spidey moves!