Our Christmas Eve day and night were so great this year. Unfortunately, my camera is going nuts, and almost every picture I have is totally blurry.
But of the few pictures that did turn out….
The first picture is of the rad couple who created the funnest Christmas Eve!
This year, we switched up Christmas Eve. Instead of drawing names, we all brought a gift and picked numbers. There was a kid exchange, and an adult one.
Let me introduce….the most coveted gift of all!
The money machine!!!
Everyone tried to get this gift!
And Scout, Navy and I were all the lucky recipients!
It was so fun…and I hate to brag, but I racked in the cash!
I was definitely the big winner of the night!
Although Dash thought he was with “Party in a box’, until Trey stole it!
It was a new and really fun way to exchange gifts.
We shall see if it carries on to next year?!?!
ANd a shout out to Nonnie who found the best PJ’s this year!
Right before we headed to the Denison’s Christmas Eve extravaganza, I made my kids sit for a picture in their cutest pajamas!
Grandma nailed it this year with these darling PJ’s.
I’m a sucker for matching kids, and a bigger sucker for Christmas matching kids!
With only two days until Christmas, it was time to get some more festivities in.
The kids made their gingerbread houses with Jon and Bella.
This year, they were selling mini houses, and I am a fan!
Same amount of creativity with half of the mess.
Meanwhile, Nonnie was making up a batch of her famous cinnamon rolls.
And the most amazing part of all?
Social-life queen Skills pitched in and hung out all afternoon!
It was definitely our pleasure!
This may be in the top five candids I have taken in my life!
Something melts my heart, when I see a big sis reading her little brother a book.
Somehow, Photobooth never gets old.
These are two of the 75 sessions we took!
And every time I say, OK….let’s be done, I hear “NO! one more, one more!”
And then “one more” turns into lots more.
And then an hour of our life was wasted…..or making memories.
Last night, I took the kids to pick up Bella from the airport. Afterwards, we were going to the Trinity Broadcasting Church to see their amazing lights. They have a driving tour that my kids love. But when we got there, the gates were closed. Apparently, they close at 10:00, and we arrived at 10:06. When we saw a security guard, we tried to talk our way in, but he was not having it. And then to prove that he was not having it, he went over and with one click turned every single light off at once. We were all stunned to see a place so bright, do dark in an instant.
We were a bit bummed, and I started to back out. As I drove away, Dash said, “That was an epic fail!”
And then the entire car erupted with laughter.
Tonight was the night we went out to award our favorite houses.
This year, we made up an award, and attached candy to it.
It was the kid’s ideas, and the recipients were very cute about the award and the candy — which obviously was rad for the kids!
On this Christmas Sunday, my kids were dying to get out of their clothes. So you can imagine how cooperative they were when I told them it was time to snap a quick pic. Among some real doosies, I got this passable picture.
Scout was cuddling, Pippi was squinting, Navy was trying to be my best subject, and Dash insisted upon his reindeer ears — and a Groucho Marx stash.
A closer look at that stash reveals that it was just some cupcake saved for later.
One of the songs I always remember my mom singing while I was growing up was “Dancing Cheek to Cheek”.
This morning, Pippi was the lucky recipient of being Nonnie’s dance partner.
And they were cheek to cheek the whole time!
After a fun-filled morning, with lots of action and dancing, Dash came up to me and said, “Mom, I feel a little bit sick.”
And now we have moved on to a sick bed with a pan next to him.
When my kids are sick….I hate it and love it. I love that they love to cuddle, and they are sooo sweet. Dash just kept thanking me for every blanket I got him, and for letting him sleep on the couch, and for letting him take his shirt off. Talk about a sick kid who doesn’t go without saying thank you for everything!
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