Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

I found these outfits and fell in LOVE!  They were just different and I like different!  I HAD to have them!

Tacky sweater party

In December, we had our Sunday School Christmas party.  It was sort of a progressive thing.  We had appetizers at our house and desserts at the Kings house.  It was the perfect night to do it because our church was also having parents night out so the kids were occupied there.  Thankfully, my parents agreed to keep ours because Larkin couldn’t go to church and it’s just nicer to have them all in one place.  Anyway, back to the party.  It was so much fun.  We decided to wear tacky christmas sweaters.  These are just a couple of couples that I got pictures of. 

Jarod and Heather…Jarod was such a good sport!Gabe and Amy…I would say that Gabe was such a good sport BUT Gabe CHOSE to do that!  The girlsThe boys…Slightly disturbing picture ahead…hahahaha!My vest…I called liz one day…which is NOT unusal at all…and said “hey, do you happen to still have some christmas sweaters”…because she used to have a closet of christmas clothing, NO exaggeration.  Her birthday is December 6th so my dad always felt the need to buy her christmas clothes for her bday when she was a teacher.  Anyway, her response was “why???  are you have a tacky sweater party?”  LOL…I felt kind of bad but I do have to say that she does not (or at least that I have seen) wear this anymore.  It is definitely very teacheryMe and AmyMe and Rebecca…her stepMIL actually told her how nice she looked on the way out the door…LOL…she liked rebeccas cardinals!  

It is always sooo much fun to get together with our class.   We really should do it more often!

Why do we celebrate Christmas?

We are trying our best to instill in our children the REAL meaning of Christmas.  I feel like always fall short though…I can always do better.  I think we did/do a better job of talking to Trigger about Jesus, his teachings, reading the bible, etc.  Campbell doesn’t get the one on one that Trigger got.  We are trying though.  I want our children to know that Christmas isn’t all about the presents…presents are fun…but that isn’t the reason we celebrate.  It is so hard to not get caught up in the material/fun side of christmas.  Santa and elves moving about our house…and cookie decorating…and opening presents…and eating big meals with family…those are all SO MUCH fun!  It is sometimes hard to teach our children how important the day is JUST BECAUSE JESUS WAS BORN…NOT because of all the other stuff.  Oh sure…they can give you the sunday school answer of “why do we celebrate Christmas?”….”Jesus was born.”  But they just don’t get the importance of the day…even I fall short and get caught up in the worldly christmas.  Im not sure why I just went into that little tangent other than to share my feelings. 

I bought Larkins outfit back in July or august as a preorder.  I fell in love with it because it was just so sweet…and has the nativity on it.  Campbell just happened to have a handme down from Trigger that matched it.  I had to get a few pictures of them in these sweet outfits. 

Ella Cate’s Birthday

Larkin and I went to Ella Cate’s birthday party in December.  It is really hard for me to believe that she is TWO!  This seems to be something I am saying over and over but my WORD, TIME FLIES!!!!  The project/favors was PRECIOUS!  Chasten had Buffy Walker paint the background, leotard, and name on the canvas.  Chasten did the handprints for the tutu at the party.  Larkins turned out so cute.  I have it up in her room. 

Love this picture…I can’t tell you how many projects that Chasten and I have worked on together!!!!  TOO many too count!Chastens grandmother and Ella CateI LOVE this dollhouse…larkin will definitely need one of these next year!I took pictures so Chasten’s dad held Larkin for me.  I was surprised that she stayed with him because she can be pretty clingy.  Chasten’s grandmother got Ella cate some real uggs…LOVE THEM!  I hope she takes good care of them.  HAHAHa!I truly don’t know how Chasten ever tells her no.  Look at those eyes!  Just beautiful!!!! 

I am thinking Campbell for her husband.  Trigger and Ella Cate might clash since they are both first borns.   :)

Choo-choo

We decided last minute to go see the Christmas train that was coming through Ruston…I don’t remember what it was really called so I’ll just call it the christmas train.  HA!  Anyway, it was really cold but I thought the boys would enjoy it.  We met matt at his office and walked over.  By the time we got in line, I knew it was going to be a good 1.5-2 hour wait.  I just didn’t know how we were going to pull that off.  Thankfully, a lady came over and said “santa is right over there and you don’t have to wait in this line to see him if yall would like to do that”…UMMMMMM…YES…that was a no brainer!  Especially since Trigger got all excited and said “can we go see santa…I want to go see him”.  We got out of line with a big grin on our face.  Headed over to see Santa where there was absolutely NO line.  We sat in his lap and told him what we wanted.  I was so surprised by Campbell…I really thought he would be more apprehensive but he sped past Trigger on his own and hopped in santa’s lap.  Oh yeah…and the best part is that right when we got there, we ran into the Hogans.  PERFECT!!!!  So we stuck together.  We got on the sleigh for a little family photo op.The Hogans and the Woodards kidsAfter Santa and the sleigh, we walked in front of the train so that the kids could see it…since we didn’t wait in the forever long line, we didn’t get to go inside but I am totally cool with that!!!!!Me and AmyI tried to get a picture of my children in front of the train but Campbell was actually scared of it….and trigger was trying to flip larkin…so this is the best I got!

I’m not sure what we will do next year.  It just takes so long to wait in that line.  I really would love to go to texas and ride on the polar express.  My boys LOVE that movie!!!!

Christmas Clothes

Okay…so I am going to be very truthful.  I LOVE dressing my children. I am not saying that is a good thing.  I know it is very shallow and should NOT be something that I love!  But I’m just being honest.  At this point, it’s like I have two little kens and one barbie that I get to dress however I want (with some meltdowns from the two kens…but they don’t buy the clothes so they can zip it..ha!).  REAL LIFE DOLLS for me to dress.  I know that I have this little window to dress them the way I want. Sooooo, I am taking advantage of it while I can.  I LOVE these matching shirts that I bought for my babies this year!   I have to warn that these are NOT frame worthy pictures but I wanted to remember their shirts.

Christmas Parade

whew…this catching up is killing me but I am getting there!

We decided last minute to take the kids to the Christmas parade here in Ruston.  It was so cold but they LOVED it.  I’m glad we are finally getting to do more things with them. 

Poor larkin looks like a little boy because I grabbed Campbells old sweatshirt for her to wear.  It’s funny because it’s not necessarily a boy sweatshirt but since Campbell wore it, it makes me see Larkin as a little boy in it…does that even make sense? 

Fun at Zizzy’s

We really didn’t have much of a chance to go to zizzy’s during Christmas time.  My boys LOVE their train set that they always have around the tree.  We made a point to go over there one afternoon after school.  They had the best time.  Larkin fell asleep on the way over there so she got take a siesta in the car. …while the boys played with the train.

Don’t you just love the joy on their faces.  Oh to be a child again and to get so excited over something as small as a remote control train.