Christmas!

Christmas morning!
It is thrilling for a parent to watch her children excitedly open their presents. The pure joy on their faces is priceless.
Clayton got the green cord he had asked Santa for. There was a dollhouse for Caroline. She was so cute...she saw it and asked "who is this dollhouse for?" When we told her it was for her, she ran right to it and played with it for the rest of the day. Austin recieved an assortment of matchbox cars. (His absolute favorite is the garbage truck. He carried it around with him all day and would smile and exclaim "ga ga cuck!"

Because there are no toys out there that really get at Clayton's quirky interests, Kevin made a toy - a custom board with outlets, hinges, phone jacks, and knobs to wrap cords and ropes around. He was thrilled!

It was a very special moment seeing a son receive not only something that he loves, but something that his father handcrafted specially for him.

There were more trains for Austin

and a pink dress for Caroline's doll.

Caroline made us a special manger scene at preschool that she gave to us on Christmas morn. She was very proud :)

After Christmas morning at our house, we headed to Kevin's parents where we had Christmas brunch and spent time with them, Kim, Jim, and nieces Sarah and Alyssa.

Then it was off to BB and Papa's house for a few more gifts...

An American Girl Samantha doll for Caroline! (It was my doll that we had saved from when I was a little girl.)

Our happy Family - Christmas 2010 We are so blessed.

Our last stop of the day was to my Aunt Liz and Uncle Jim who very graciously hosted all of us for Christmas dinner.

It was so much fun to be around everyone for Christmas. The kids had a ball playing with little Gracie. Here they are sitting on the steps singing jingle bells!

We had a wonderful feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and red velvet cake for dessert.

It was a truly magical day!

American Girl store

OK - this post is a little out of order. My mom and I took Caroline downtown to the American Girl store last week. It was so much fun. As a doll-lover myself, I really wanted to go, and felt even more excited that I could share the experience with my mom and my daughter. We all loved seeing all of the displays of dolls, their clothes, and accessories. Caroline picked out Elizabeth (the doll with long blond hair and a long colonial, princess-like dress) as her favorite. Here she is posing with her...
We also got to take her to the Walnut room to see the famous giant Christmas tree. Again - a very special experience for all.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, BB, Papa, and Uncle Taylor came over for brunch and we opened some of the grandparent, aunt & uncle gifts.

The kids were so excited!

The boys were enthralled with all their "Thomas choo choos" and new matchbox cars.

Caroline loved her new outfits and ballerina book.

Aunt Meredith and Uncle Dan sent beautfiul silhouettes of each child. Such a special gift that we'll have forever!

BB and Papa got Caroline and Clayton adorable sweaters with their names embroidered on them. (Austin already has one.)

I'm seeing some photo shoots in their sweaters in the near future...

And I finally found a cinnamon roll recipe worth the effort - Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls with maple frosting.

It was a wonderful day. That night, we went to Christmas Eve services with all three kids. This was the first time all 3 of them have sat with us in the pew...wait...did I say "sat"? Not one of them actually sat for very long at all. I brought crayons, magna-doodles, books, etc. to keep them occupied and quiet. It didn't go quite as well as I had hoped, but then again, it is hard for a 3 year old and 21 month old to just sit still and quiet for an hour!Hopefully, we'll have better luck next year!

The evening ended with a family dinner in the dining room and a reading of "The Night Before Christmas" and The Christmas Story from the Bible.

The kids left their plate of cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

As they went to bed, both exclaimed that they would be listening for Santa's sleigh bells when they went to sleep.

Christmas through the eyes of a child is so magical. I feel so blessed that I get to relive these moments through my children :)

Visiting santa

On Saturday, we had our visit with Santa Claus. Caroline, in the spirit of giving, brought Santa a bell (since he deserves a present too!) She asked santa for a doll with a pink dress.

Clayton loved Santa too and asked him for a green cord. (Santa was a little confused, so I had to explain that Clayton loves extension cords.)

Austin wanted nothing to do with Santa's lap.

He quickly squirmed off and was mush more happy visiting the Christmas cookie table instead.

2 elves and an angel

I spy 2 elves and an angel!

We love Christmas!

We've been reading Christmas books, singing Christmas songs, watching Christmas movies, etc.

On Sunday, we attended a birthday party for Jesus at church.

What else?

Making Christmas cookies

Clayton has been stringing up his colored Christmas lights on any and everything he can. He strings them up, then takes them down and puts them somewhere else. He does this for literally HOURS every day.

Caroline drew her first manger scene

'

Mama made her first twirly skirt (for Caroline).

Can you believe it is FIVE days until Christmas already?