Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

What a beautiful way to start out Christmas morning.  Ron and I heard Kate stirring about 6:45 am and then, Will right after that.  We had closed the gate at the top of the stairs so they could not come down before we were ready.  So, we started the coffee, set the lights and got the cameras ready.  This is what I saw when I looked up the stairs:

They were so excited!  They were begging us to open the gate.  We waited as long as we could- so by 6:55, they were heading down the stairs with eyes full of anticipation!  Kate and Ben'd first look at the tree and the gifts:

This is a picture (below) of Will and Ben after Will had opened the gift that Ben had picked out.  It was so cute and Ben was really hoping that Will would like the GI Joe man.  Ron and I took Will and Ben seperately to the dollar store to let them pick out gifts for the family.  They did a really great job.  Ben picked out a play fry pan with spatula and eggs/ sausage for Kate, a GI Joe figure for Will and a beautiful ceramic dish fo me.  Will found a neat car set for Ben, a bracelet for Kate, a build yourself a car for Ron and a small basket with seashells for me.  It is so sweet to see what they pick when they choose all by themselves.  And, to have them pay for the gifts themselves, too, was a big deal!

More pictures of happy faces opening much anticipated gifts:

A new little table and chairs for Kate's babies.

A snow globe with a snowman inside (he was so excited!)

Will opening his ant farm.  He has wanted one for a very long time.  I finally relented and we will soon have harvester ants in our house!  Let's hope they don't get out!

The boys opening their new remote control cars.  Will got a big boy F-150 (blue of course) and Ben got a Crane.  It is amazing the things they come up with!

Kate playing with her new table, tea set and doctors kit.  We must have played tea party for the better part of the day.

As I started on breakfast (a big meal with pumpkin pancakes, sausage, eggs, and potatos), the boys and Ron headed down to the basement to start a fire.  There was a suprise gift down there- on the stairs, Santa had left an opened gift- a Wii for the family.  He even went to the trouble to set it up so we could play right away.  The boys were VERY excited, to say the least!  Will played most of the day.  Ben watched a lot, and caught several fish in the fishing game.  We have all had a great time playing the games. 

After dinner tonight, we headed out to try out the new GPS I got Ron.  There is a house near us that has a 17 minute light display that is set to music.  It was so neat- we all enjoyed it.  After a day of fun and rain, I can't wait until tomorrow when I get to try out my new toy- a Garmin 405 running watch!  What fun!! 

We hope you all enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did!  The children are all snuggled down, finally and, hopefully, will sleep in tomorrow! 

The Stockings Were Hung...

Our Gingerbread Village

Our stockings have been hung, the kids are in bed.

We are hoping that it's 7:00 before we are dragged out of bed!

The gifts are all out, we await the big guy.

Wishing to hear his jingle bell flight.

Missing those that are so far away.

Sending love this Christmas, have a very blessed day!

Merry Christmas!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Thanksgiving Party and Holiday Program

I was able to help with Wills school Thanksgiving Party this year.  We had a great time and enjoyed yummy Pumpkin Spice donuts.  The students made pinecone turkeys and we read a funny Thanksgiving book.  He has such a sweet teacher and great classmates. 

Will, also, had his schools Holiday Program on Dec 17th.  It was in the evening so we all went and- boy was it funny.  Each of the classes in First Grade did a dance (to a song the 2nd grades sang) that was customary in another country.  Will's class had Ghana and did a great dance.  I couldn't believe that he actually danced on the stage and really seemed to have a great time.  After the 1st and 2nd graders were done, the 3rd graders put on a play about the littlest raindeer.  It was hilarious! 

Happy Birthday, Ben!!

Ben had a pirate party for his 5th birthday.  We had such fun.  He invited his friends Sydney, Caleb, David and Colin.  The parents dropped off the children and boy did they have fun!  We played pin the treasure box on the 'X' and had a treasure hunt for the goodie bags.  It was a cold, rainy day here the day of the party so the kids just played upstairs.  It was a great success and Ben had a fantastic time! 

This is the cake I made him.  He had wanted a pirate ship, but I found this one online and he decided it was pretty cool! 

Ben's Friends

Ben and his friend Sydney!

Birthday boy!!

My First Piggies

Just had to share this picture!  Gotta love Piggies!!

Fun November Days

Ben and Kate both celebrated birthdays this month.  Kate turned 2 on November 4th and Ben turned 5 on November 27th.  We had a nice weekend with Grandma and Papa where we celebrated both of their birthdays.  I made cupcakes- ladybug for Kate and Pirate for Ben.  We had a great time and so enjoyed our visit with the grandparents!  I can't believe how big they both are getting! 

Ben, also, had family night at his preschool.  His class sang 10 Little Indians.  It was so much fun!  The class was really cute and Ben sang his heart out!  He was so proud of himself. 

We had to have some tree work done after Thanksgiving- too many dead branches up high and close to the house.  The boys were so excited and watched every minute they men worked!  The boys got up in trees with their chain saw and imitated the arborists.  They continued this game for several days!  What fun for us all!!

The kids at Thanksgiving.