Christmas Season Fun

We love Christmastime at our house!  There are always such fun events with family and friends!  One of our favorite things to watch is Rudolph!  One night Brad had somewhere to go, so we had a picnic in the living room and watched it!

And of course putting their own trees up in their rooms!  Katie loves doing it - so proud! It is neat to look back at pictures and compare how much she has grown!  She used to be shorter than the tree!

And this was the first year Jack got to have a tree in his room!  He absolutely loved it - he felt like such a big boy!  And I love it too - it is a little taller than Katie's and just looks pretty...almost a rustic feel to it!

Ryan supervised as Brad went through the lights to make sure they were all working before we put them all up!  And by we, I mean Brad. :)

We did our annual Angel Tree shopping adventure...we pick three kiddos off the list and try to have them be the same gender and around the same age, that way our children can help shop for someone that may have similar interests!  It is always quite the outing and usually ends in me saying we are never bringing the kids to do it again.  And then each year we all venture out and do it together! 

Jack had his Christmas program at school and did a great job!  They always have such sweet programs and the kids absolutely love it!  Here he is with a couple of his buddies at school that day!

I think he was ready!

And of course the Santa visit!  We try to go in early December and we head to the mall directly from the bus stop!  This was the second year that we have gotten there and had literally zero people in front of us in line! So perfect!

Brad and I headed to an Ugly Sweater Party at some friends' house - so fun!  And we actually kind of coordinated...isn't that sweet? :)

I went with the Ministry Team from the boys' preschool to help set up a Christmas store for folks in a certain community who cannot afford to provide Christmas for their kids - they come into this room where all of these donated items are set up and they get to pick a toy for each child in the house, get a big bag of toiletries, a book, and an article of clothing.  It is always such a great time and provides so many blessings!

Brad and I went to the Christmas music program at our church - it was the first time we have been and it was quite the show!  We will definitely do our best to make it there each year!

I saw a post on Facebook or Instagram with a bucket of goodies set up for delivery folks and our mailman, and I did one!  They ate most everything - and the UPS man even left a thank you note! 

This was the sight in my foyer at one point in early December.  This is also exactly why I felt it would be nice to have something available to the folks that deliver all of this - I know I am not the only one that had stacks of delivered goods!

Katie and I got our nails Christmas-ready the week before Christmas!

And we headed to our neighbors' Christmas party - such a fun night!

Katie and I went to see The Nutrcracker with her Girl Scout troop - it was such a fun day!

Katie looked so incredibly grown up the day we went to see the show.  Goodness.

Love this sweet picture of my crazy ones.  I took this before school one morning - it was too cold for an outside picture, so the stockings hung up was the perfect backdrop! I plan to do a separate post of some of our Christmas décor - the stockings were definitely one of my favorite spots!

I had a doctor's appointment for my back so I wasn't able to go to Jack's class's Christmas party...this selfie when I took him to school worked though :) Love that sweet boy.

And Jenn and I matched on the last day of school before Christmas break! We got this picture before heading to the school for the kids' winter parties!

I am Katie's class's room mom, so I was wearing that cute headband so the kids could always find me.  Katie and I look oh so festive!

Jump for joy! Hooray for Christmas break! :) Love this!

The next day we had the annual Christmas lunch at Brad's office!  Here we were before heading to Daddy's office!

And a family shot!  Love this!  I think it is fun that his office hosts this lunch - delicious food (BBQ!) and family friendly!  They actually buy gifts for all of the kids in attendance!

We also decorated a gingerbread house as a family!  It was mainly Brad, Katie, and Jack that worked on it - I helped with logistics and setup and Ryan mainly ate icing!

The finished product!  This may be their best effort yet - I was so impressed!

Brad and I worked for a couple hours one night close to Christmas in order to get everything wrapped!  This is just about everything...whew!  I love seeing all of the "fruits of our labor" once we are finished!

It is so fun to go back and see these pictures - we really did have such a fun time gearing up for Christmas this year!

Our First Family Church Adventure

This past Sunday was our first family of four adventure to church!  And we got there on time!  Katie went to her Sunday school class and we took Jack into church with us.  He did great for the majority of the time - Brad took him out at the very end of the sermon since he was getting a little antsy.  And they had the neatest thing!...there was a TV screen outside the sanctuary so that you could still watch what was going on in the service.  Such a great idea!...and Brad wasn't the only daddy out there with a cute kiddo either.  Here he is watching when I came out.

So glad it went so well - and we know we can get there on time! Now, if we can just find a Sunday school class for me and Brad, we will be set!

Jack's Dedication

On September 16, we had Jack dedicated at church.  It was a great service (there were probably about 14-15 babies dedicated) and had a very personal touch.  When Katie was dedicated, all the families stood at the front.  Now, they have each family with the baby go stand up at the front while a pre-prepared paragraph is read and then a "life verse" is read by someone the family chooses.  And then there was a small reception for everybody afterwards.  It was so nice!  And after all that, we went to Chuy's for dinner - I hadn't been in a while and it was pretty tasty!

Here is my and my little man before the service - he was so happy! Thankfully he stayed that way the whole time :)

 And here is Brad with Jack.

 And we got a family shot at the front before the service started.

 A happy baby boy!

 Papa with Jack...my dad read the life verse we selected during the service.  We thought it would be neat for his grandfather to read it :)

And this is the verse that he read...it is definitely one of my favorites.

 Jack with Nanny and Papa...Katie wouldn't cooperate for a picture :)  She was in a funky mood that afternoon.

 Cee Cee with Jack!  I think this is a sweet picture!

And we got one with Cee Cee's eyes open! There is a specific setting on my camera that we have to use to catch her smiling and with her eyes open! :)

 We were the first ones to go to the front!  Here we are as the paragraph I put together was being read.  A woman from the children's ministry was praying over and for Jack.  After that, my dad read the verse. 

 And here is Jack with Tanja! He had fallen asleep, so he is kind of out of it in some of these pictures :)

 And Cat with Jack!  I love that some of our friends came!

 And here is Jack with Meme!

 And here he is with Ruth and Owen!

 And Jack with Uncle Will (and me, obviously)!

 Jack with the two grandmothers.  I took like 10 pictures and I think this was the best I could get between Jack crying and the two of them blinking or not smiling! ha!

 And Jack with Paulette and Darrell (Brad's aunt and uncle)!  They recently moved back from Texas - so glad!  My uncle on my mom's side and then an aunt and uncle on my dad's side were also there but I didn't get pictures with them in it!

 And Grandma with Jack - cute picture!

 Katie sort of cooperated for a picture by herself...I think she may have been overwhelmed with all of our family and friends together in one place - she is used to visiting with one or two or three at a time!  Plus it was during the afternoon when she usually has quiet time :)

 And one more family picture - love it!

 And last but not least, this sweet baby boy.  We borrowed the sweet outfit from some friends...I love it!

Such a special day!  And Jack got some sweet, thoughtful gifts to celebrate - a silver frame with his full name engraved, a pewter cup with a cross on it, a Bible with his name on it, an outfit, a toy, and lots and lots of love!

And I am super impressed if you are still with my on this post - sorry for the picture overload!  I am trying to play catch up :)