Christmas Blessings

As I try to start this post, I’m not even sure how to put into words just how incredible this holiday season has been for us. We are SOO blessed!

We started the festivities on Friday morning when the girls woke up to find that their cousin, Emmy Cate, had come for a visit while they were sleeping! We all enjoyed a livermush breakfast (a favorite of my little southern belles!), then the adults took turns running errands while the girls played, ate, and napped. Mamaw and Papaw came down to complete the crew, and it was a fun day at home.

As soon as dusk came, we made a trip to Zootastic, a small little farm in Troutman that goes all out with a drive thru Christmas lights show, then finishes with a petting zoo and Santa. The girls had a great time and loved the lights and animals, but unfortunately, it was a little bit rushed since we had a lot on the agenda for the night. Afterwards, we headed back to Mamaw and Papaw’s house for dinner and our first round of PRESENTS!! The girls were delighted with their gifts, and I think the night’s favorites were a new baby, a singing microphone, and an adorable backpack that Makayla proceeded to stuff with all of her goodies…and didn't take it off for about 4 days!!

The next day was Christmas Eve, and we started the morning baking our cookies for Santa!

After the cookies were done, the girls made a trip to Lowe’s and to eat lunch with Daddy, then they caught a quick nap before we headed to the annual Christmas Eve celebration at Mamaw Eunice’s house! The girls had a wonderful time playing with their cousins, aunts, and uncles, as well as their Mamaws and Papaw, of course!

It was such a fun night and the girls got sweet gifts from the family!

The highlight, however, may have been just before time to change into jammies! Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and by the time the girls were able to answer it, there was no one to be found…however, we figured out that it must have been Santa himself, since there were two Santa boxes sitting on the doorstep!!

The girls were delighted to find Christmas Jammies in the boxes, and Macy got so excited that she forgot to put them on…instead, she did a couple of streaks around the house, and caught everyone’s attention!! Such a crazy girl!!

We ended the evening with another late night, but still had to get home and do our duties to prepare for Santa’s REAL visit! We put out our cookies, poured a glass of milk, and then it was time to take care of the reindeer! The girls had prepared some reindeer food at school the week before, and we complimented that with fresh carrots and went outside to sprinkle both on the sidewalk.

Thankfully, the excitement wasn’t enough to overtake the exhaustion from all of the festivities, and the girls were fast asleep before Santa even got close! It was a late night for Gary and I as we waited up on his arrival, but he finally came and we all squeezed in some sleep…and the girls even gave us an extra Christmas gift when they slept the latest EVER…7:40!!! (It’s the little things that sometimes mean the most!! :)

Christmas morning was about as magical as I could have imagined. The expressions on the girls faces was something I wish I could capture to hold in a bottle forever!

We spent about 2 hours just opening the simple little gifts that Santa left under the tree, and the girls loved that he followed through with their only request, a new baby and “baby doll toys”! The other favorite gift, I think, was the new Dora umbrellas. They’ve been asking for umbrellas for over a month now, and they couldn’t have been more pleased that their wish was finally granted…and those things come in handy for keeping us dry EVERYWHERE (living room included! :)

We saved the best surprise until all the inside gifts were opened and “tested”, and then it was time to see what might have been left in the garage! The girls were so surprised that it took them a few minutes to even comprehend that they were the proud owners of a new BOUNCE CASTLE!!! After they finally accepted it, the jumping was ON!! They didn’t care that it was cold, they didn’t care that lunch time came, they only cared about BOUNCING!!

They did take a quick break when I finished opening MY gift from Santa (a new Elliptical Machine which I am SOOO excited about) and realized how much fun this HUGE  box could be...but that didn't compare enough to last too long!)

Mamaw and Papaw came over to hang out for the afternoon too, and the girls loved showing off their new treasures, and then were as thrilled as Mommy to get their “main” gift from them as well…a keyboard! We sang a few tunes and played a few notes, and I selfishly enjoyed their gift for a while myself while they bounced around between all of their gifts.

We had a yummy dinner, and then closed out our day with a little birthday party for Baby Jesus!  The girls had a blast, and it was a nice way to bring home the real meaning for all of the joy!

As the evening closed, it was almost bittersweet as Gary and I spent some time thinking about how truly blessed we are! I could have never dreamed that it was possible to feel quite as happy as I did this Christmas.

(As much as I wrote here, this only covers half of our Christmas...another post on its way to go through the rest of the excitement!)

All Aboard the Polar Express!!

Last weekend, we had an amazing trip to the Great Smokies to take a ride on the Polar Express Train!  The girls were delighted with our plan to ride a REAL train, and the excitement was compounded by the fact that they got to meet up with Haley, Aunt Sabrina, Mimi, and Papa before the ride! 

On the way up the mountain, the girls got a preview by watching the movie for the first time.  We headed straight for our cabin, met our group, and had a yummy dinner before heading to the train!  Mimi had bought all three girls cute matching jammies and robes for the trip, and the girls were thrilled to get in their garb prior to boarding! 

While waiting for our turn to board, we had another nice surprise to see that Santa was sitting on the platform...as clearly noted in my last post, the girls still like to talk about him and look, but had no interest in getting too close. I love the looks on all 3 faces as they notice him and just watch! No one will ever be as mystical as the man in red! :)

Once aboard, the girls were almost overwhelmed...Haley obviously had a lot more going through her head as she could totally relate to the movie in so many ways...Macy and Makayla quickly became focused on ONE thing...the basket of treats on the table!!!  It was unbelievable how they managed to enhale cookies, petit fours, and muffins, and I quickly became concerned that I might have to intervene at least a little so that we wouldn't end up with sick little train riders! 

Before we knew it, it was time for the dancing delivery of our hot chocolate and cookies!!  It was so much fun and just like the movie, and I thought the concoction itself was DELISH...surprisingly, though, the girls weren't that interested...it was back to the cookies!  :)  Haley seemed to love hers, and the grown ups definitely drank their share as well!

After riding for a bit, we finally approached the North Pole, where we were welcomed by Santa and his toy land, we were able to see where Santa and Mrs Claus lived, as well as Rudolph, Frosty, the elves, and the toy factory!  It was SOOO cute!!

We started our ride home, sang some carols, and our tired little girls were just about ready to get off of the train...however, the fun wasn't over yet!  Santa finally made his appearance in our train car, and although Macy started shaking in her boots a little, all three girls accepted their bells from him, wished him a Merry Christmas, and our ride was complete!

After a long day, we headed back to the cabin to see Uncle Clayton, Baby Noah, and Papa, and the fun picked up again.  Getting 3 sugar-filled little girls to settle in for a "nap" was not an easy task, but we finally succeeded, and our fun day was done!

The next morning we had a yummy breakfast with the group, all parted ways, and we made one more quick pass by the train.  Macy was too tired to care, at this point, but Makayla took a few extra photo ops, and we headed home!

This was definitely a perfect start to our Christmas week!

Must be Santa, Santa Claus!

I will have to say, starting out the Christmas season with two sweet little girls at the age of two is A-W-E-S-O-M-E!  We have had SO much fun talking about the season, the main man, Jesus, as well as the second man of the hour, Santa Claus!!

The girls are SO excited about Baby Jesus, and have spent countless hours listening to Bible stories, playing with their nativity "Little People", and going to a couple of live nativity scenes to see the various animals, angels, Mary, Joseph, and, of course, the baby himself!  It's so cool how much they grasp the story...even yesterday, their Sunday School teacher bragged on how they knew all of the "character" names during Bible Story time, and we feel SO incredibly honored to get the opportunity to teach it to them!

Besides that, however, the big guy in red is getting his share of attention as well!  We've made a few attempts to get the girls in his lap, but the best pic we've gotten so far is another family shot similar to last year.  Unfortunately, the girls aren't even in their Christmas garb, because it was a random stop after church one Sunday.  We've talked about going back through SO MANY times, and the girls gear themselves up, and have prepared themselves to show "Juicy" and "Tassle" (their baby dolls) how it's done.  It is quite comical, however, to watch them freeze in their tracks as soon as they get ready for the full encounter!

Luckily, Makayla finally even gave in and gave the big guy a hug...although the look of fear in her face almost makes me feel guilty! :)

Last weekend we went to "Breakfast with Santa" at our club after church.  This was probably the most ideal scenario, since Santa was in his own private room, and the girls had time to really interact...and he brought gifts!  The gifts were a hit, and a couple of high-fives were exchanged, but only mommy was willing to actually have a seat on the lap! 

Regardless, it's been a lot of fun trying! Besides our trips to visit Santa, we were surprised and delighted when he even made a visit appearance in our street...on a firetruck!!   The girls have also had a lot of fun with the decorations,

they LOVE looking at the lights, and, of course, they continue to enjoy Christmas baking and subsequent TREATS! :) (Not unlike their daddy! :)

It IS the most wonderful time of the year! :)

Thankful, but no turkey, please!

As much as I LOVE the turkey day and am passionate about celebrating it as its own true holiday BEFORE Christmas begins, I failed miserably in the department of "photography".  Regardless of that, we had a very nice, "cozy" day here with Mamaw Pam, Mamaw Eunice, and Papaw, a fun dinner with the extended Childers family, and then a fun filled weekend in Georgia!

Due to some previously determined bargaining agreements, Gary started the day in the woods...in a tree...what he was doing there is beyond my understanding...but that's where he was. :)  Meanwhile, the girls and I started the morning off in PERFECT Macy's day parade style...well, actually, we get up earlier than that these days...so we started with Mickey Mouse clubhouse...but at least there was a Thanksgiving theme for that too!

After some cuddle time on the couch, we proceeded to our next morning activity...COOKIES!  Given my status as a mom, I felt like it was finally the point in my life where I needed to try something I'd never done before...Gingerbread Men...the girls had a great time helping make the cookies, and weren't at all bashful about adding icing and eating them up...but Gary and I are pretty sure I should stick to my standard "drop" cookies and not get so crazy...a little "misshapen" and kinda weird tasting, but the girls didn't care, and that's what mattered most!

We headed to mom and dad's for a big lunch, and luckily afterward, the other 3 members of my family passed out for a decent nap.  My annoyingly napless personality decided to go for a run instead.  It was a PERFECT day, at least!  After that, we headed to Aunt Judy's, and  I was pleasantly surprised to see my girls actually get in the floor and play with their cousins...or at least their cousins' toys!! :)  (When is it that this "parallel play" phase REALLY ends again?)  When dinner time came, they did sample SMALL bites of just about everything...but turkey was NOT their favorite food...not sure how they can be related to me, but some things have to just be accepted as WEIRD! :)

On Friday morning, we got up bright and early to make our trip to Gainesville.  This was one of those times when we all REALLY appreciated our use of Mr Greg's plane, and we landed in just about an hour!  We hung with the family for the weekend, and mostly just stayed around the house, hung out by a few campfires, and let the kids PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!  These girls love their Haley and Noah!!  Mimi was kind enough to do some babysitting, and gave us time to hang out with the brother and sister in laws, and I even accomplished a few errands!

Building up to the big day itself, I spent part of the month of November (unfortunately I was a slacker for the other part) talking through the concept of being thankful with the girls.  Since they're so little, and have to really learn the concept, my approach was to ask them, and if they didn't have an answer on their own (which they surprisingly did on more than one occassion), give them a few options of things they might be thankful for, so that they could take their pick one thing each day.  We'd then put it on a paper, they'd color it, we'd put it on the wall in the toy room, and we'd try to actually talk about that "thing" and why we were thankful...sometimes more attentively than others.  All in all, it turned out to be quite an interesting little experiment, and I think they got the point, probably more than I realize!  Since I feel like the list is worth hanging onto, here it is - 1 - Baby Jesus (Both) 2 - Peanut Butter and Jelly (Both) 3- Doctors (who are helping Papaw) (Both) 4 - Mommy and Daddy (Both) 5 - sister (Both) 6 - Baby Dolls (Both) 7 - Cousins (Macy) 8 - Candy (Makayla) 9 - Pumpkins (Makayla) 10 - Marley (Macy) 11 - The sunshine and the moon (Makayla) 12 - Cheerios (Macy) 13 - Her Playhouse (Makayla) 14 - Tacos (Macy) 15 - Mamaw and Papaw and Mimi and Papa (Both) 16 - Cupcakes (Makayla) 17 - Ice Cream at Haley and Noah's house (Macy) 18 - Cars we have at our house (Makayla) 19 - her nice warm bed (Macy) 20 - Friends at school (both)...Pretty good list, if I do say so myself!

We are SOOO blessed!!

Papaw

When trying to figure out how far I need to backtrack tonight, I realized that I never even had a real post about the horrible accident my dad was in back in October!  He and a friend decided it would be a good idea to ride a motorcycle all the way to what ended up seeming like the OTHER END of the world...Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Just before turning around to head home, some lady decided it would be a good idea to pull out in front of him.  It was an ugly crash, but could've been MUCH worse!  After a crazy couple of months, he's home, hobbling quite nicely with a cane, and is able to play hide-and-seek (VERY slowly and carefully) and sing with the girls...almost like "normal Papaw"! 

It's been quite an adventure, since the girls get freaked out by just about anything unusual these days, and seeing Papaw, first bound to a hospital bed, now just stuck with a neck brace and cane, they've not really understood what to think.  As I did post before, Macy is just so nervous about ANYONE being sick or hurt, she just completely "clams up".  Makayla doesn't understand, but usually warms up more quickly, and Macy bonds back with him a little more every time she sees him!  Regardless of how little or how much they actually interact with him, there's no argument as to whether they LOVE his "stroller"!  They will push themselves around and around the house in that thing!  They're going to be sad when it completely disappears!

All in all, he's a lucky guy, and the girls will come around.  We're all just happy that they still have their Papaw!  It's been quite a year from my parents, first with a broken hip (Mamaw), then with an injured Mamaw Eunice, now this...but God is good, and they're getting through it.  The girls have gotten to really practice up on praying for others, and between talking about how God answers prayers and using this to help explain the importance of seatbelts to defiant little Macy ;) there's some good coming out of all of it!

A couple of weeks ago, the girls were delighted by a visit by their cousin, Emmy Cate, as well as Uncle Nathan and Aunt Lauren! Let me tell you, when you put these 3 together, things are CRAZY!!!! They had SO much fun playing, even at the hospital, then it was PARTY TIME when we got home! These girls were NUTS, and it was hilarious watching them laugh, run, and scream...about ANYTHING...or NOTHING! :)

After a fun "group" bath, we had the crazy expectation that these girls were going to all just settle down and go to sleep...in the same room. It was NOT happening! We tried, and I think they all got close to dreamland a few times...unfortunately, it was at different times for each of them. Finally, after about an hour, we realized we HAD to separate them, and they IMMEDIATELY passed out. The next morning picked right back up where the night left off, and we were sad to say our goodbyes for a few more weeks! Good times to come at Christmas!!

Aside from the hospital and house visits with Papaw, I just had some random "fall" pictures that I wanted to post so that I could catch up to at least the beginning of the holidays.  Nothing special, just some fall sillies!

A couple of birthday celebrations -

 including Daddy's, where he had expert helpers to unwrap his gifts!

Gearing up for winter with new "heavy coats"...

And Jammies and Snowboots!  Last year we had a random snow, and kiddie snowboots were no where to be found...this year, we weren't getting caught bare footed again! :)

and forget warmth...Macy's into style...koozie gloves!

 And to sum up our fall, GOOO APPS!