wrapping up another christmas

well, this marks the end of my christmas posts for this year. we will probably pack up all the ornaments and christmas decorations tomorrow, and our tree will sit on the side of the road until the city decides to finally pick it up... i have almost found a place for all the kids' presents, and brian has almost figured out how to spend all of his christmas money. :) (there is already a big hole burned in his pocket!) i guess it's time to pack away the great compilation cd i burned of christmas music, but i think i'll leave my cinnamon broom out for just a little while longer. it's always fun to decorate for the holidays, but there's also a comfort in returning to normal. though the advent calendar will be out of sight, i hope that the Reason for all of our celebration will not be out of mind. merry Christmas to all of you, and a happy new year!

visions of SUGAR COOKIES!

these are perhaps my very favorite pictures from christmas 2007... if you know me very well, you will not be surprised to find that each picture contains cookies! and not just any cookies... classic christmas cookies, hand decorated and iced so carefully and beautifully by a friend of brian's mom. i was so excited to see the big platter of cookies on christmas morning... i seriously could not take my eyes off of them for a very long time. they looked as if they'd jumped off the cover of a holiday baking magazine... you know, all those recipes that you attempt to duplicate? they may taste good, but mine never end up looking like the pictures! anyway, these cookies tasted as good as they look. i am hoping that these treats will be a christmas tradition from now on. (hint, hint, nana!!) :)


so how did these christmas babies end up with cookies in hand, you ask? well, i realllllly wanted a picture of all three kids in front of nana's christmas tree on christmas day, and kristie and i both knew that the only way that was happening was 1) super glue, 2) duct tape, or 3) bribery with cookies. we didn't have any super glue, and i figured that duct tape wouldn't look that great in the pictures (kidding!!!!), so we went with option #3. our plan worked perfectly, and the kids were of course so happy to each be given a HUGE cookie! i stupidly gave caroline a RED stocking cookie and boy did she go to town with that sugary teething biscuit! haha! as you can see below, she ended up with red icing everywhere... but it was worth it for these pictures. :) i hope that we will be able to make this cookie photo shoot an annual event. i'm sure the kids would vote for that as well, don't you think? now these pictures may all look the same to you, but i love something about each one of these pictures, whether it is karina with her mouth absolutely full of cookie, red icing all over caroline's hands, or ethan falling backwards with pure joy over his christmas treat... i did narrow a ton of them down to these pictures, but i couldn't leave any of these out!

ok, get ready...here comes the sugar high!











i couldn't let the kids have all this fun with cookies by themselves!

the christmas celebration continues!

after leaving nana & pappy's about 3:30 on christmas afternoon, we came home, took a few breaths, and opened our home to my dad & joy, grandma, and cousin betsy around 4:30. we had so much fun enjoying more food and the fellowship of family. the kids got more presents, including DOGS! dad and joy know that the only pets we'll ever have in our house will be those with batteries and an "off" switch! :) they found the coolest voice recognition dog for ethan...after you say its name, it will follow several commands, such as "tug of war", "shake hands", "sing a song", and our favorite, "put 'em up, bang bang" (it stands up on its hind legs and then falls backwards when you say "bang bang"!) pretty hilarious! i really thought ethan would be quite scared of the dog, but within minutes, he was calling its name and patting it on the back.... caroline loves it too, as long as it doesn't come too close! dad & joy gave caroline her own little dogs that bark when she pulls them. so cute! :)





below, you can see ethan getting progressively closer to the dog...




my cousin betsy stayed with grandma all week...i hadn't seen betsy since my wedding in 2004, so this time around, she was able to get to know brian better and meet ethan & caroline. they warmed up to her so quickly, and ethan asked several times during the week, "where's betsy?" :) we went to lunch, as well as had pizza & a good game of sore thumb with grandma (our family's card game, similar to rummy). what a HUGE blessing it was to be with her this past week! i know grandma loved having her here all week, and we look forward to seeing her again soon, hopefully! below you'll see me and betsy with our sweet grandma...



by the end of the night, ethan was partied out. he did pretty well without a nap all day, and he played till the very last minute before hauling him off to bed in his christmas pjs once again.

christmas morning fun!

after finishing my christmas morning post, the kids did indeed wake up, and we rushed out the door to nana and pappy's house! after running back to our house (just once) to pick up things i'd forgotten, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast while watching the disney christmas parade (which was filmed while we were at disney!). my mom and brian's grandmother also spent the day with us at brian's parents' house, and it was such a blessing to have them there! after breakfast, we dug in to the stockings and presents right away so that the girls could take a nap. caroline & karina were very happy about opening presents, but ethan refused! he was content to play with the matchbox cars from his stocking and karina's toys that she'd already opened... i should have expected this based on his "one present at a time" attitude the night before! we eventually convinced him to open some of his gifts, but i made a mental note for next year that less is more for ethan! (of course, a lot can change in a year!) this was supposed to be a "light christmas", gifts wise, but we still ended up with boxes and paper all over the living room. nana just can't help herself. :) we eventually sat down to enjoy a delicious christmas lunch while the kids played contentedly with karina's adorable kitchen and ethan's fun train roller coaster. after lunch, we piled the kids on the beanbag chair with cookies and took some priceless cousin pictures... those pictures have earned their own post, so i will share those next. stay tuned for the sugar high!! as much as i wanted to curl up and take a big nap at nana & pappy's after lunch, we packed up and headed home for more celebration with my dad and family.... enjoy this look into our first christmas day in town.

ethan was still waking up a little on our way to brian's parents' house...

caroline watching the christmas parade with pappy

ethan peeking in his stocking designed by mama hawkins

caroline loved her pooh train from nana & pappy!

jeff & kristie gave karina the cutest little kitchen!

ethan was excited to see all of the special mr. potato head parts
that we brought back from disney

pappy could not wait for ethan to open his train roller coaster!
and then ethan could not wait for daddy to put it together! :)

ethan finally decided to open the little einstein's book that we brought back from disney! (you can tell where we did most of our christmas shopping!)

caroline knew just what to do with this phone!

our first christmas dinner at nana & pappy's!

cozy christmas coffee with kristie

what a wonderful day we had, starting new traditions (the kids vote for the cookie thing to be a tradition from now on!) and laughing about memories from christmas past. we did miss family that was not with us, but i know that you all were having a special christmas of your own. praise the Lord for family and friends. it's way too late for me to keep going tonite, so i'll share the cookie post and the rest of christmas pictures real soon. until then....

merry christmas to all, and to all a good night...

twas the night before christmas...

and all through the house, caroline was stirring...
because she got a little stove from gram! :)

after our beautiful candlelight christmas eve service at church, my mom came over, and we opened presents from her. ethan loved his garage for his dozens and dozens of cars, and caroline was thrilled to bang her pots and pans on her new little sink/stove! we had to be patient with ethan while he only wanted to open one present every half hour or so... he was not the least bit concerned with the fact that he had other presents to open! this christmas eve marked the first time for us to celebrate christmas in our own home under our own christmas tree, and we loved sharing this special time as a family.... all dressed in our pjs, and when the kids just couldn't last another minute, we tucked them in with christmas kisses, and within no time, i bet visions of sugar plums danced in their heads!

here we are in our christmas pjs for our first christmas eve at home!

below, you can see ethan's new thing, saying "cheese" without looking at the camera. he doesn't quite understand why this doesn't work! :)

ethan was so excited when he found out that
this big bag was a present for HIM!

i cracked up at how he was kickin' back so casually,
yet he was so excited about this garage! :)

the kids both loved the little einstein's book that gram gave them...
they can steer the wheel and pretend that they are driving rocket!

"can we just play with our toys, mom?"

sweet christmas baby...

dressed up for christmas

i snapped these pictures after church last sunday... caroline looked so sweet in this red christmas dress that natalie wore a few years ago. and when we got to church, we realized that natalie's baby sister claire wore caroline's dress from last christmas! awww! so tammy and i enjoyed gushing over our babies in their traded dresses (claire will probably wear this red dress next christmas!). :) i was so happy that caroline cooperated for these pictures because my heart was melting to see my baby girl in this precious corduroy dress... my heart is melting looking at them again. thank you, tammy, for thinking of her and loaning us this dress!


here are both of the kids looking at their 2007 ornaments. caroline's musical ornament was quite the favorite at our house this year, and the little girl that was dancing around the tree seems to have been our first christmas casuality! i'm actually surprised that ethan's "happy bday Jesus" cake survived the whole "chmismas" season, as ethan says.




we pray that your family enjoyed a wonderful Christmas celebration.  we surely did... those pictures are next!