BIG present!!!!!!

We got the kids a big present to share this year. They both have been wanting a trampoline for about a year now. So, we finally got them one. Shane and my dad started putting it together Christmas Eve before dark (which is like 6pm). Then Christmas Day after we were done with gifts and stuff they went back out to finish it up. Unfortunately they had to retake all the springs off and rotate the trampoline to get the net straight. So, it took a little longer than planned. By the time the girls got to see the trampoline it was 10:30 (note Christmas Celebration started at 6:45 am) . Mom and I were having so much fun playing with the kids and watching them jump, that we forgot we should be cooking lunch. About 11:10 we ran inside to start cooking. We already had the ham and turkey cooking, so we didn't have 5 hours of cooking, just longer that a normal 12:00 meal. Shane even eventually came inside and helped make the broccoli and Rice casserole. Yummy! Thank you babe! It was fun. No one seemed too bothered by the wait. We fed the kids earlier since they only will eat the meat anyways. My dad ended up taking a nap. He was too hungry to stay awake :) I promise it was worth the wait. The food was great. Even better than thanksgiving. Just not as much.

Happy Birthday JESUS!

Hayden banging his drum!!!!

We got her a stuffed horse to lay on in her room. She loves anything to do with horses! She is our little Cowgirl!

Hannah on her horse. She wanted a REAL one, but we couldnt do that, so Mimi and Papa bought her this. She LOVES it.

Hailey and Gabriella in their matching pj's

*All Hayden wanted to do was eat the candy cane he discovered as soon as he woke up and play with Hannahs horse. He had absolutely NO interest in opening gifts OR the wrapping paper!

Wow, what a CHRISTMAS!!! The kids got so many presents this year. We talked about making it smaller this year and I think they ended up having the biggest one ever.

Santa brought Hailey a radio, cds and high school musical dvd. Hannah got the Diamond Castle Doll and a sleepover kit for her A.G doll. Hayden got a stuffed mickey mouse and goofy doll. They were super excited.

After opening the gifts from Santa, we celebrated the birth of our savior, by having birthday cupcakes and talking about the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas. Surprisingly the girls were not too interested in having cake for breakfast. They preferred the sausage mimi cooked. Thanks mimi! After breakfast we headed back to the tree for the rest of the gifts.

They got so many wonderful presents that I cant even name them all. Some of the favorites were...

Hayden : Drum, BIG truck, Spiderman Car

Hannah : BIG horse and American Girl Doll Bed and acessories

Hailey : Labtop (not new) and American girl Doll matching pajamas

We had a good time watching the kids open their gifts. I love to see the excitement in their faces.

We of course opened our gifts last. The kids got us some cute things. Hailey made us a beautiful wreath at school with her picture and she picked me out a cross necklace. Mom said she took alot of time trying to find the perfect cross for me. She knew what she wanted and wasnt happy until she found it. Hailey got daddy two funny shirts. I will have to blog on them later.

Hannah bought me a mens cross keychain and got daddy a hot chocolate kit. She knew her daddy would love that :) Their gifts are always so much fun to open. They put so much thought and love into them.

I just LOVE christmas!!

Christmas Eve

Look a all the Lights! It was a packed church. We barely found a spot to sit. Note to self *Always get there EARLY*

My mom (mimi), dad (papa), and my brother (uncle Tim) came over on Wednesday to spend Christmas with us. Shane and my dad started putting the girls BIG present together (a trampoline) outside while the rest of us were doing crafts and other stuff. The girls never even noticed they were gone :) We left the house about 5 pm to go to our Christmas Eve service at our church. Which was GREAT by the way. The girls were really well behaved. Hayden had a little trouble staying still, so Shane and my dad ended up taking turns walking with him. Hannah couldnt wait until she got to light her candle. We ended up taking a potty break and almost missed it. Thank goodness we made it back in time before it was over. That was a great start to the night. We always want to keep the CHRIST in Christmas and make sure the kids understand the REAL reason we celebrate.

After the church service Grandma Kelly, Grandad and Aunt Gloria came over. We had a big meal of turkey, dressing and all the fixings from Black Eye Pea. Yummy! The kids exchanged presents and we all just relaxed and had a good time being together.

After they left about 10:30 the kids got ready for bed. We set out the cookies and milk for santa, the reindeer food, and the special key so santa could get inside our house. (just in case we decided to make a fire) :) We read our stories, said our prayers and got into bed. Good Night!!!!!

I just realized most of my pictures from Christmas Eve are on my moms camera :( I forgot to charge mine. Oooops!! I will post them another time. There were some CUTE ones!!!

Christmas Lights

Last night we took the kids and Hannahs friend Maggie to Diamond Loch to look at Christmas Lights. On the way we stopped at Sonic and Starbucks for icecream / cookie treats. Shane got a coffee and I got a hot chocolate. (we didnt want to be left out) :)

The kids had a great time singing, eating and looking at all the beautiful lights. We took Maggie back home about 8:30, and then headed home ourselves and got ready for bed.

After listening to 4 crazy kids screaming (not necessarily singing) christmas songs for 2 hours, I was ready to hit my pillow. Shane and I ended up staying up watching some terrible movie. i am not sure it was worth losing sleep for. But, the time with shane was great.

Christmas Party

Hailey and Mrs. Rhodes

Girls Playing Musical Puzzles

Decorating cookies

Mrs. Rhodes PM Kindergarten Class

Hailey and Ashley

Friday Hailey had a Christmas party at school. They had a lot of fun. They decorated cookies, made reindeer food, played musical puzzles (each kids brought a wrapped puzzle for a gift exchange), and had a yummy snack. The snack consisted of pretzals, chex mix, grapes, cheese, pineapple, apples and cookies. Between doctor appointments and other personal things we have had so many babysitters in the past 2 weeks. I felt terrible about having to ask someone else to watch the kids AGAIN! Thanks to my dear friend Cari, I was able to attend her party. She quickly volunteered to watch Hannah and Hayden. She even had to listen to my sweet little guy cry because he didnt want to take a nap. But, by the way, she DID get him to bed. I will let her tell the story sometime on her blog carihudkins.blogspot.com

Thank you Cari! It is such a blessing to have friends like you.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!

Special Gift from Mrs. Rhodes

Hailey's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Rhodes, made all the kids a very awesome pillow. The girls all got a pink pillow with the first letter of their name on it. She had to make 47 of them. Isnt that crazy? It was really cute. She has a really great teacher. We are so thankful for her.

Apple up the nose

Tonight during dinner Hayden decided to stick an apple up his nose. He started yelling "AP, AP" (his word for apple) and started grabbing his nose. Sure enough there was a huge chunk if apple lodged up his left nostril. I tried to pull it out, only to lodge in it further. To make matters worse he kept sucking it in further as well. I ran to the bathroom to get the tweezers. A slimy apple is hard to grab by the way. Finally I got smart and mashed his nose down where the apple couldn't go in further, and shane tweezed it out. Only seconds later, he tried to do it AGAIN! Crazy little boy!