Sometimes It's Hard to Play on the Computer...

...when your little brother is around.

But then, sometimes, it's not.

Christmas Fiesta with the McLaughlins

Oh, how we love spending time with the McLaughlins!!! Tante and Uncle Tim invited us over last Friday for a fun, relaxing evening to celebrate Christmas together.  Tante made tacos and delicious chicken enchiladas with, quite possibly, the best salsa I have ever tasted!  And then of course, we all dove into the Oreo balls (courtesy of Dada and Biz) and Rice Krispie balls.  Great food! Great friends!

Tante made the boys the most creative gifts this year.  But then again, her gifts are always quite innovative.   I am not sure who was more excited about the boys special Tante pillows...us or them.  I didn't get a good picture of Sethie's pillow, but here is Biz, proudly showing his off.

Soccer balls for Biz and Guitars for Seth.  They know our boys so well!!

And if you have ever had dinner with the McLauglins, you know what a beautiful array of serving pottery Shar has.  She has collected many different, unique pieces over the years, and this year, she and Tim, gifted me with my "starter" piece.  Move over Tupperware!!

And what fiesta would be complete without "the Faces game?"  

Even Josiah got in on the action.

And he got sweetly rewarded for his participation.

We love you, Tante and Uncle Tim!  Merry  Christmas!!

Messy Work

Those Workman boys don't mind rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty.

Especially when it involves O-R-E-Os!!

Unbelievable!!

On the first try, I got a shot of ALL four buddies actually looking at the camera!

No one had to be bribed with candy, no one ended up in tears.

That never happens.

Success!!

What a fun playdate with those fun and silly Davis boys!

Decking the Halls

Okay, this post is a little out of order, but it has finally made it onto the blog.

The day after Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year.  We traditionally do not travel or have family in on this holiday, since we are usually home in Kentucky for at least a week over Christmas.  (By the way, last night while celebrating Christmas with the McLaughlins, Caleb informed them that he was "going home" to Kentucky next week for Christmas.  We all had to laugh, since the one the words came from has never actually lived in Kentucky).  Anyway, Thanksgiving is just a time for our little family to hang out together, rest, and start preparing for the Christmas season.  After we have stuffed ourselves with our Cracker Barrel Thanksgiving dinner the day before, we enjoy the leftovers on Friday and then get to work...fun work.  And did I mention, it is the ultimate pjs day?!

This year, we added a new tradition.  While the boys were doing the heavy duty tree unloading and assembling, I made mint chocolate chip cookies. (Has anyone noticed how most of our family traditions revolve around food?)  Needless to say, it was big hit!!  I even sprang for the fancy, schmancy Blue Bell mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Frugal me will rarely spend over five bucks on a half gallon of ice cream, but this was a pretty special day.  And it was worth it! 

Of course the best part of cookie baking is licking that yummy batter out of the bowl and off the spatula.  However, with the two boys, I rarely get to share in this part anymore.  I guess I am just not quick enough.

Caleb was quite the big helper this year.  What a difference a year makes!  He was able to totally unpack and decorate the tree in his room on his own.  He did a good job carrying items from the attic, sticking the branches in our big Christmas tree, and he did a dandy job with ornament placement this year.  In years past, he would try to see how many he could get on one branch.  And again this year, Seth did more supervising than actual assembling.  Both Mommy and Seth like this job. 

Workman boys...Hard at work

Seth did provide a little working music for the crew.

Of course, all workers need to take a zerbert break.

As always, my favorite part of decorating the tree is looking at all of our special ornaments we have gathered throughout the years and reflecting on the special meaning of each.  I remember when Eric and I were first married, I tried to have some sort of tree theme.  I wanted a gingerbread tree, and I think we may have accomplished that once.  Now our tree has a few remnant gingerbread ornaments, but it is mostly a hodge podge of family ornaments, mixed in with sweet ornaments that the kids have made, those we have received as gifts, and then the special ornament we select each year as "our ornament."  No rhyme, reason, and certainly no theme. That is okay.  I like it better this way. 

This year "our ornament" is a little snowman dressed in a UK football uniform with football tightly clinched in his arms.  If you know our family at all, you know that this fall, it was rare to see our Sethie without a football in hand and any time he was in a home with a football helmet present, it promptly went on his little head for the duration of our visit.   When we saw that ornament, aside from the whole snowman thing, we thought it really looked like our Seth. 

Setting up the Advent calendar is a very special part of our decorating extravaganza.  This is the second year that we have done Advent as a family.  It is a daily highlight, as the boys take turns pulling out a piece of our Playmobil nativity from the Advent calendar and placing it in our little Bethlehem.  It is so exciting for them to see which surprise piece will be uncovered that day. This year, we did it a little differently than the traditional Advent daily devotional.  I combined the birth stories in the gospels of Luke (2:1-10)and Matthew (1:18-2:12)and each day, along with the nativity piece, the boys pull out a strip of paper with scripture from the gospels and we add it to the birth story, so on the final day of Advent we will have both the Baby Jesus piece and the complete birth story that we have been building on.  It is a lot of fun and the Word is abiding in their hearts as they hear the birth story every day leading up to Christmas.

It is hard to believe that Christmas is less than a week away, but we pray you are having a wonderful Christmas season, preparing to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour and resting in the hope that resides in Him alone!  We wish you a very Merry Christmas!!