Christmas before Christmas

We had Christmas with Zach's family last weekend, so Jackson and Katherine had a jump start on opening presents!  After Emma arrived, we took her and Jackson (Katherine was snoozing) to ride the merry-go-round!  The merry-go-round has been around for generations, and Zach remembers riding it when he was younger.

 That's a vicious looking zebra!

 Emma loves zebras, so they both had to ride the zebra!

Later on, and after our bellies were full, it was time for the presents!!

 Jackson really wanted there to be an ice cream cone in that box!

Oops!  Poor little girl. 

You would think someone would help her in her moment of

disarray rather than take a picture . . . like I said, poor little girl.

"Look, Mama!  A TRAIN!!"

Finally!!  I have my very own cheese!!

 But, wait a second . . . it's not silver!  And it's okay if I drop it?!

 Jackson and Katherine both received cameras. 

There would be constant arguing otherwise.

 After all of the excitement, we had tired babies!

The next day, Jackson and Emma were checking out his new LeapPad.  This was our first experience with trying to get our hands on one of the "hot" gifts of the season, and one of Zach's co-workers actually found it for us.  Poor Katherine has a fit each time she sees it and can't play with it . . . so much so, that just yesterday we decided to buy her something similar for Christmas.  I'm hoping "similar" will satisfy her.

Later that day, Zach and I took Jackson to Auburn.  I love visiting college campuses when we are near one, and I've been bugging Zach to take me to see Auburn for the past year when we're at his parents'.  Zach has said the campus is very pretty, and he was right, even if we did visit in the dead of winter.

 I also wanted to see Toomer's Corner before the trees are gone.

Once we were back to the grandparents', I was outside with Emma, Jackson, and Katherine, when Jackson let me get this sweet picture.

He actually let me get three really good pictures of him and this is my favorite.  For some reason, he only smiles like this for the camera when he is being mischievous.

 

The next morning, it was time to pack up.  While Zach and I were trying to figure out where to put all of the new toys in the car, the three amigos were playing and jumping on the bed.

 As well as riding on their horses.

Katherine loves this little one and is becoming a daredevil.

When she gets to really riding, for some reason she makes this little face!

  

As usual, we had a wonderful time, and the babies had an even better time!

One Wise Man

Jackson had his preschool Christmas program last week and our little fella was one of the three wise men!  Here he is walking down the aisle with his class and getting a glimpse of his personal audience as he passes family!

I'm not so sure he was into performing in front of a crowd!

 We were impressed he kept his costume on!

 Singing about the wise men!

 And afterwards, he was excited to be the center of attention!

Not Your Ordinary Gingerbread House

Let me begin by saying that Zach and I have absolutely no creative genes and we are aware of this {even more so after today}. I had grand intentions of making a gingerbread house with Jackson and Katherine this year.  I had planned for us to make it Wednesday morning, so we got the box out as planned and started tearing into it.

 Jackson pulled out the instructions, and even though he can't read, I should have taken the look on his face as an omen.

 Katherine found the candy.

 I started reading the directions and realized I was in a little over my head with Zach being at work.  I read words such as mixer, cornstarch, prepping the gingerbread pieces, etc. and knew immediately this project was going to be postponed until the weekend when I had back-up.  Jackson had spent most of Wednesday morning in time out and I couldn't bare the thought of having to do all of these things before we even started putting the house together.

Fast forward to today.  I thought I read through the directions, so Zach and I started "prepping" the house.  Needless to say, I must not have read very well since it stated that once the sides are put together you are to let it dry for an hour.  Then you add the roof and let the house dry for an additional 2-3 hours.  No way we're doing that.  Zach just "glued" it all together with the icing and we decided to let it dry while naps were underway.

Later, Zach started drawing the door and immediately ran into some problems with getting the icing to stick.  The directions suggested adding cornstarch so the icing would stick, but that was a disaster.

 After that, we'd had enough and let Jackson and Katherine jump on top of the table.  It became a free-for-all on who could eat the most icing.

Getting an icing mustache

 

 

  This is how our house turned out before we chunked it.

I know, pitiful.  Maybe next year.

Did you notice the flashlights in almost every picture?  They are obsessed.

Maybe next year we'll just stick to playing with flashlights rather than getting creative with icing and cornstarch.



The Missing Bead

This will hang on our Christmas tree from now on.  Yes, there is a story.

Jackson has been bringing home Christmas crafts from school this week and I pulled this out of his bag this afternoon.  In the picture there is a bead missing, which leads me to the story . . .  As soon as I found it in his bag, Jackson grabbed it and ran off.  I didn't think anything of it.  Several minutes later, I put Katherine down for her nap and walked back to the living room where Jackson was.  He was whimpering and uttering something about a bee and his nose.  He was getting upset and I finally put two and two together that he was saying 'bead' rather than 'bee.'  The more he told me the more upset he was getting.  I couldn't see anything just looking in his nose, but knew we were headed to the doctor's office or er.  While waiting for the call back from the doctor's office, I finally had the bright idea to shine a flashlight up his nose to see if I could see anything.  There it was . . . the green bead.  I made him try blowing his nose again and after several tries, there was a little green bead in the kleenex.  About an hour or two after all of this and the commotion had died down, I decided I wanted to keep that little peppermint stick and hang it on our tree from now on.  I put the beads back on and left one missing.  So, that's the story.  Along with providing trauma for the afternoon, we have a new Christmas memory that maybe we can chuckle over in coming years as we pull out this little ornament to find a place for on our trees (don't worry, it will have a spot high on the tree for many years to come).

Needless to say, we've had several quick talks and reminders that we don't stick things in our nose or ears and I think the experience has made a lasting impression.  I have no idea what came over him.  He never sticks anything in his nose or ears--that's usually Katherine's department.

4 Years in the Making

After 3 years of screaming pictures or no picture at all, we have a sweet picture of Jackson and Santa!!  He never sat in his lap, but he talked to him, stood by him, and even gave us a sweet smile!  After talking constantly the last few days about a whacky ball toy that Santa was going to bring (some baby toy he saw in a magazine!), Jackson changed his mind and told Santa he wanted a chainsaw, or "salt" as he says.  Now, we just have to get Katherine to come around and warm up to the big fella!

A Little Milestone and Punxsutawney Phil

Katherine had a doctor's appointment earlier this week and at just shy of turning 20 months, she has finally passed the 20 pound mark!  She was just a hair over weighing in at 20.2 pounds, but it's still over!

 Why is she dressed in a swimsuit in December you may wonder?  Her brother requested his swimsuit yesterday so he could go outside and play in water and asked that I get her swimsuit as well.  I tried to explain that it's too cold, but he wasn't very persuaded until I let him step outside.  I just hope Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow in February.

Thanksgiving

So we're almost a week late and into the next month before getting around to our Thanksgiving, but I'll find some truth in that old saying, "better late than never."  Jackson and Katherine had been at their grandparents for quite a while prior to Thanksgiving while Zach and I took a trip to New Orleans.  By the time we arrived at the grandparents, Jackson, Katherine, and Emma were running the show.

The morning of Thanksgiving they were playing Hide and Seek.

Katherine is quickly becoming a pro.

 Counting together while everyone else is supposed to be hiding.

I think this is my favorite picture from the trip.

 Their cousin, Sarah, came over for a little while and they had attention from an older cousin . . . . they were in heaven.  Just tonight and out of the blue, Jackson said he wanted to see Sarah.

 Carson and Sam are so sweet to Jackson, Katherine, and Emma.  Carson was one of the flower girls in our wedding and Sam was the ring bearer.  I think they were around 3 and 4 or 4 and 5 years old, and look how grown they are now!

Carson coordinated and prepared our Thanksgiving meal!  She did an outstanding job!  She also made sure we were entertained afterwards with a game of charades!

 

Jackson getting a little help!

And nothing can help this

 Later on, Sam's room was raided and Jackson came down with this thing.

 Everyone took a turn cramming their face in it!

Outside and working off the meal with a little rock climbing!

 Katherine found Grandpa's glasses

 Our little all-star in training!

 We had a fun Thanksgiving with Zach's family and had to head home the following morning.  We made it home and 45 minutes later I was back in the car heading south to run in a half marathon that I was persuaded into running.  Maybe that's why I'm just now updating the blog . . . every muscle in my body has been sore.  Anyway, we didn't have a camera and this is the only proof that I finished.

She is obsessed with this medal. 

And singing Itsy Bitsy Spider, which is what she is doing in the picture.  For her, the medal is a variety of things--a camera, a backpack, or a phone to name a few. 

The last two weeks have been anything but routine, so we're settling back in to the familiar this week.