Christmas Arrived

Santa came and brought gifts for the kids.  They apparently made the "Good List" or "Happy List" as Alex called it.  They were very worried they would make the "Naughty List."  Reassurance came when they receivd a letter from North Pole, Alaska, telling them they were on the "Good List."  The kids all started cheering.  I'm guessing Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Andrew up there in Alaska had a chat with Santa. 

 Piles for each kid

 The boxes were "sent all the way from Afghanistan."  It's a good thing Madison didn't look too closely at those address labels.  The kids were so excited that Daddy "sent" them presents.  Each kid had a box.  You can't see Alex's box because it was under the tree, flat and long, for his new fishing pole.  Alex told me he was going to "catch sharks" as soon as he opened it.

 Luke's pile-yes, that's a giant spider on the floor with its baby on top of the Lego box.

 Madison's piled (duh)...pink and a Barbie dollhouse

Alex's pile

Christmas Morning with the Gifts still to come

Christmas Eve Continued...

The pictures I already posted were taken with my phone, so I wanted to add the ones I took with my camera.

Ready for church

The church had a birthday cake to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  When the service started, the pastor asked whose birthday it was, and all of the kids yelled, "Jesus."  After that, Alex yelled out, "Daddy!"

Cherub Choir-Luke is in the front left, and Madison is in the back middle.

Eating the cake at church

At home, ready for Santa

 List, milk, cookies, and an apple

I let the kids open a present,the present from Mommy and Daddy.  Most years, they get a new pair of pjs, slippers, or such, just a box of some type of clothing.

Slippers!

Shark slippers

Alex and Luke got matching knight costumes. I had no idea they would be such a hit.  They both wanted to wear them to bed.

Go Tigers!!!  Her bus driver will hate this.  He is an older man who went to University of North Carolina and jokes about Clemson/UNC a lot.

Knight Luke

All ready for bed. The kids all kept saying, "Happy Birthday Jesus and Happy Birthday Daddy."

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve attending church and going out to eat.  Now, that may sound strange, but we always go out to eat because it is Edward's birthday!  All of us really missed celebrating his birthday, but we still wanted to keep up the tradition.  Now, we did change our location...normally, we go to Texas Roadhouse, but this year we went to Jason's Deli because the kids were begging to go there. 

Before church...We went to the 4:00 Children's Service.  They celebrated Jesus' birthday and had a birthday party for Jesus after the service.  The Cherub Choir sang, and both Madison and Luke are in that.  They also asked that the kids bring a new birthday present for Jesus, which was actually going to one of the local women's shelters in town.  It was an awesome idea, and when they asked the kids to bring up their birthday presents, it was overwhelming what the kids brought in.  So great to see.

At Jason's Deli waiting for our meals...there was only one other family there, so it was really nice and laid back for us.  Luke ordered pizza, ate it, and half of my Reuben.

Alex ordered mac-n-cheese.

Madison ordered mac-n-cheese as well.  The best thing about Jason's Deli is the free soft serve ice cream after your meal.  Merry Christmas!

Shopping with a lot of Kids...

My friend, Jen, and I have known each other for over eight years now.  We met in Florida where we both worked at Bath and Body Works.  Jen was one of the assistant managers while attending graduate school, and I was teaching, had just finished grad school, alone as Edward was gone for med school rotations, and wanted something to fill the time.  So, we worked together, became great friends, and have ever since.  We talk everyday on the phone; distance has not changed that.  Edward and I moved from Florida right before Jen and I had our first babies.  I had Madison, and she had Cassandra.  Soon after, Jen's husband was transferred to Raleigh, so we were able to see each other often the last time we lived here.  We made  a monthly outing to the outlet mall at Smithfield.  It wasn't too bad when we each had one child to shop with...now we have a total of six!!!  That's right, we both now have three kids, and we were brave enough to tackle Smithfield once again.  Honestly, I don't think either of us expected much out of the trip, other than to see each other, and basically eat lunch.  We had a great day, and the kids did well.  We know that mall so well, so we have a good "attack" strategy (and buy a lot of the same thing, so it helps to have two sets of eyes shopping).  We also mixed in a trip to the Dairy Queen (within the mall) to keep the kids' energy up (as if they needed to keep up their energy!). 

 Before we started shopping, we had lunch at Zaxbys, which is right next to the mall.  Since there were eight of us, we split up into a "girl table" and a "boy table."  Jen sat at the girl table with her three girls and Madison.  I was an honorary member at the boy table.

Boy table.  It should be no shock that the boy table finished way before the girl table.  My boys know how to eat and were hungry.  They even started in on my plate after they finished their own plates.

Hopefully, we can do it again.  We definitely were brave to venture out with this crew, but we all had a fun day, and we even managed to find some good deals (including the free pj's I got for Luke at Carters).

A Message for Daddy

http://youtu.be/pIFzizXK0sY

While it is still December 23 here, we know you are sleeping and will wake up to it being December 24. We miss you very much and hope you have a wonderful day. We are all thinking about you and wish we could be together.

To go along with this, my very good friend Jen was telling me about a conversation she had with her daughter, Cassandra.  Madison and Cassandra are the same age, and we had all been at the outlet mall earlier in the day.  Cassandra was telling Jen that it must be really cool to have your birthday at Christmas because you get double the presents.  Jen said she knew of someone whose birthday was Christmas Eve and told her it was Madison's dad.  Cassandra replied with, "You mean he's as old as Jesus?"

Christmas Cookes

Made with a lot of love and ready for their 7,000 mile journey.

 Our German pressed Christmas cookies.  We make these every year and have since I was a kid.  My new press (last two broke easily) didn't make a great Christmas tree, but the wreaths/stars (whatever they are) turned out much better.

 The baking staff

My Grandpa

My grandfather passed away on Monday afternoon.  He was my last grandparent (I only knew two as the other two had died before I was ever born).  His obituary is here:  http://www.the-review.com/news/no_byline_article/5138230

Grandpa lived a long life.  He served as an officer in the Navy during WWII, and I can remember as a kid seeing some of the cool things he picked up while off at war.  Funny, I remember thinking as a kid, I didn't know how anyone could send their loved one off to war, and look where I am today...

Grandpa was a jeweler.  I will always remember his making earrings and such for my sister and me.    Often, as kids, we received "pieces" to jewelry for our birthdays and Christmas, which might seem weird, but over the years, the pieces all were strung together to make whatever he was going to make.  He used to joke about sleeping in my bedroom when he visited because I had a canopy bed, and he would say that he was glad he wouldn't get wet from any rain. 

Rest in Peace, Grandpa.

I stole this picture off of my sister's blog.  Thanks, Mer.  This photo would have been taken 11 years ago, at our grandma's funeral. That was the other side of the family (dad's mom), and Grandpa was our mom's dad.  This was the property where we grew up in Ohio.

 

A Night in Bethlehem

Sunday evening, we were invited to our friends' church in Southern Pines for "A Night in Bethlehem."  It's a kids' event, full of crafts and even live animals!  The kids were given coins when they signed in to "pay their way" as Mary and Joseph would have done on their walk to Bethlehem.  We made stops at the craft and food booths, where we also had to "pay" for our incidentals.

The kids loved the crafts, and I'm so glad my friend, Katrina, invited us.

Yeah, he's another lefty.

They made wooden sheep on wheels.  Luke is demonstrating.

Both boys loved this craft.

Alex and his sheep

Here is one of the food stations.  It was perfect for little kids with dried fruit, raisins, and crackers.

The youth who worked at each station were really kind and sweet with the kids.

It's a long "walk" to Bethlehem.  The kids are eating up for the journey.

The craft and bead stand

Most of the stands looked like this.  They were super creative.

Outside, finally, to the animals.  The kids LOVED this part.  Lexi is petting a sheep.

Madison and Lexi both enjoyed the donkey.

Luke keeps telling me he wants to be a "Soldier Pet Doctor/Soldier Vet (he uses both terms)," and man, he loved every single animal out there.

Alex was about the same size as the goat.

I thought the donkey was super sweet too.  All of the animals were awesome. Thanks, Southern Pines United Methodist for the great evening.  It was low key, but full of a lot of fun activities for the kids. Thanks again, Katrina, for the invite.  Hopefully, next year, the husbands will be home to join us.