I was certain Christmas Eve that we wouldn’t need to stay up late getting presents finished and whatnot.  I was wrong.  We crawled in to bed at 1 on Christmas morning after doing finishing touches and making sure everything was ready.  That led to our traditional Christmas morning sleep in.  Malachi woke up at 6 to eat and then Mark and I waited impatiently on the other kids.  Except Ceili Rain.  She had crawled in to our bed at some point during the night and was wide awake at 6 ready to see her presents and enjoy celebrating the day.  By 7 we told her that if she woke up her brothers and sister that we could read about the birth of Christ and then open presents.  She popped out of the bed like it was on fire and got everyone up.  We sat on our landing upstairs and read What God Wants for Christmas and sleepy eyes soon became wide eyed.  And then the presents happened.

 I made something for each of the kids this year (and for Mark).  Zoe got an infinity scarf, Ceili Rain got a slouchy hat and the boys got survival bracelets in Bama colors (that included Mark because when I made them on Christmas eve he pouted until I did one for him).

Liam had asked for a real bow and arrow for Christmas and Ace let it be known about three days before Christmas that he wanted a real bow and arrow.  That was a little too late time and we had already scored these fun z-curve bows with foam arrows.  He was excited to have it but is now saving his money for a real one.

Malachi spent most of the morning wondering where his food was and why we were all up so early.

 Let me tell ya about this doll.  It’s a Bitty Baby from The American Girl company.  I won an auction for it on ebay and it came with a matching dress for Ceili Rain.  She has been nicely asking for a Bitty Baby for a very long time (and I do mean nicely).  I was so excited to have been able to not only find her the doll but also one with a matching outfit.  Well, we waited a couple of weeks and it had not arrived here.  I checked online and discovered I had it sent to our old house address.  I was panicked.  We searched the house to see if it had been left and all I could think was that someone had stolen it.  Mark contacted the post office and they said it had been shipped back to a city 2 hours away to be shipped to our new address (which is about 15 minutes from our old house, mind you).  All this time I had been in touch with the seller to let her know my mistake and ask that she keep a look out and that we would gladly pay extra shipping should it come back to her.  She was very kind and amazingly generous.

The doll came a month later and not only had the seller shipped the doll and matching dresses, she had also included a Christmas outfit complete with headband and shoes!   Ceili Rain was thrilled!  Bitty Baby continues to go to church with us and she sleeps with her almost every night.  A win for the parents!

This isn’t pain.  This is a very, very happy Zoe who just got her first pair of fashion boots!  She had been eyeing mine for about a month.  She wears them everywhere!

 Mark has admired the old timey popcorn poppers for awhile.  I searched for one for him but could not find it anywhere until we went to a local grocery store and there it was (on sale too).    We always have a big breakfast for Christmas day and so, we did a light lunch of rice krispy treats, hot chocolate, popcorn and a movie.  Yum-my!  I told Mark that would be another tradition from now on.  Don’t worry, for supper we ate real food.

For my present, I requested a fire pit. We hosted Mark’s work party at our house a couple of weeks in to December and I reflected on how nice it would be to have the fire pit and to be able to have the kids roast marshmallows. Mark has been watching a bunch of Duck Dynasty lately and taken a few lesson from Phil so his answer was, “Yes dear.”  It really didn’t take long to do and they finished it in less than a day (well, he did have to go back to get more stone).  I say “they” because he had lots of fun helpers.  I can not wait to finish expanding the patio out so we can have a nice place around the pit.

*No toddlers, young boys or young ladies were harmed in the making of this very fun and memorable Christmas day.

After a few days with Papa and Grandmere and seeing and loving on and being loved on relatives over there, we headed out to Ge and Granddaddy’s house.  Aunt Yaya, Uncle J, and cousins J and E were there too.  Lots of play time and lots of cuddles all around.

Malachi’s fever was down by the time we got over to Ge and Granddaddy’s house but we noticed the rash on Sunday and the crankiness continued.  It was a very long visit for daddy and mama alike!  Regardless, we still enjoyed our family and watching the kids eyes light up at the gifts.

 Aunt Yaya and family have discovered boomwhacker videos on youtube and Uncle Jay found them on a shopping trip.  He just knew we needed them.  Aunt Yaya said he pouted until she agreed to get them for our kids.  We thanked them immensely (sarcasm detected) and lamented that our payback had come.  We have no way to return the loud favor since their little ones aren’t little anymore and noisemakers are a thing of the past.  Oh well.

Ge asked Josiah what he wanted for Christmas and he said a train.  She said he was the only one of ours who actually told her what he wanted.  He was thrilled!

And still the best seat.  Even for a nap.  Bryant was cuddled with his granddaddy and we could tell he was fading fast so Mark grabbed him to put him down but he protested and granddaddy insisted.  So, back in the lap he went and they both had a nice little snooze.  Bryant loves his granddaddy.

Here is one sample of how to correctly use boomwhackers:

If that doesn’t satisfy your curiosity, then you should really just do a youtube search of boomwhackers!  You’ll be hooked.

 This year, we actually traveled to our families to celebrate Christmas.  We all had a wonderful time.  Okay, that’s not entirely true.  Malachi was grumpy.  He started running a fever the day before we left.  It got really high so before we left I took him to the doctor.  I always panic when I see the high fevers but then in my babies it usually turns out to be a simple virus.  Mainly, roseola.  And that was what it was.  Four days of fevers and then the fun rash all over his tummy and some on his face.  Unfortunately, it made him very, very grumpy.  He didn’t want to be put down but he didn’t want anyone but mommy or daddy and he didn’t want mommy or daddy to sit down.  It was sad to see that he couldn’t enjoy the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who wanted to dote on him.  We came home Christmas Eve and by late Christmas day he was his normal smiley self.

All that to say, our first travel stop was to Papa and Grandmere’s house.

The kids got a treat because Uncle D came down in his hot rod that he had built.  Honestly, that care was AWEsome!  The big kids got to ride in it and the little ones just enjoyed playing in it.

Yes, I know that Christmas was a few weeks ago, but this week (or at least until I get it all covered) is going to be dedicated to our celebrations!

We put our big nativity (the one my grandmother had painted) on the school shelf.  It just “happened” to be under the map of the world.  Everyone say John 3:16 now!  It was a great reminder to us that we need to share Christ with everyone.

Now get ready for the adorable bunches of Characters with wrapping paper, smiles, and fun!

Our homeschool care group hosted a Christmas party for the kids. This year it was low-key and perfect. The Christmas story, gingerbread houses and a birthday cake for Jesus. We all had such a wonderful time!  Here are their creations to prove it!