Ho! Ho! Ho!

Christmas Eve night was full of interruptions.  Roxy had a barking fit around 11:30.  Daniel woke up around 2:30 am too excited to fall back asleep.  William was up around 4:00 am.  Finally, at 5:50 am, Daniel, William, and John were up and in the bed.  Philip followed shortly after that.

We held them off until about 6:30 am, when we allowed them to wake Dee and head downstairs to see what Santa had brought.

he really wanted his very own Lego set!

For a little while, they were content to play with Santa's gifts...

but before long, we were tearing open packages with unbelievable speed!

The last gift came from Mom and Dad!  A new basketball...and a new goal outside!

We had a little bit of time to play and get dressed (for some of us...Pinchy stayed in his Christmas jammies all day!) before GranGran and PopPop joined us for brunch.

After brunch, the boys played outside while PopPop and Dad put together the new basketball goal.  GranGran (who I failed to get a single picture of :( ), Dee, and I hung out by the fire watching Christmas movies.

Finally, the goal was ready and the boys had a blast playing.  I'm not sure who was more excited...them or Dad!

Somebody needed a nap after all of his hard work!!

Dinner consisted of hot chocolate and leftovers!!  We were all ready for our bed after hours of excitement.

 Great Christmas memories with these little guys!

Christmas Eve 2014

Christmas Eve began like a normal day for us.  Dad went to work and the boys and I hung around getting things ready.  I did a little cooking...a chocolate cake for dessert that evening and quiches for Christmas day brunch.  Shortly before our early dinner, Aunt Susan, Uncle Rob, and Campbell stopped by to exchange presents!

We had a delicious dinner of filets, garlic mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus.  After dinner, we got ready for church.

I never quite finished attaching the boxwood trimmings to my new Advent wreath!!

can you tell someone is exhausted??

Despite the excitement, the boys behaved well during the service.  William helped Chris usher, and Philip and Daniel assisted Father Bailey in his sermon by holding up some signs.  John slept (and snored quite loudly) through the majority of the service!

At last, it is time to head home and have dessert!!

Gingerbread cookies for Santa and reindeer food for his helpers!

And now time for little boys to dream about what Santa may bring!

Family Fun

The days leading up to Christmas have been full of family visits.

Elizabeth and David visited on Saturday for a bit.  The boys enjoyed Aunt Elizabeth reading A Cajun Night Before Christmas.  No Aunt Elizabeth visit is complete without a trip to Old Dutch!

On Sunday, we went out to Cameron and Heather's for burgers and a chance to celebrate Christmas with them before they left for Memphis.  Always a good meal there...always fun for these boys!

Monday night the McCalls were in town for a Christmas visit.  We had everyone over for fish tacos!  My boys love playing with these older cousins!!

And last but not least...Tuesday brought a visit from some almost family friends...

and a special gingerbread man making party for the boys and Campbell!  Being well aware of the attention span of a two year old, the boys and I made the icing and dough before Campbell arrived!

Finally, we are ready to get busy cutting, cooking, and decorating!  Oh, and maybe eating!

And now it is quiet.  A busy few days...and tomorrow is only going to be more exciting!