Christmas Day

Playing in the SNOW!

 

Family Portraits. The only way that Mae would smile is if she was allowed to wear MiMi's pearls. Notice that this didn't even help in some of the pictures.

 

Opening presents. Katey got a significant number of Vera Bradley bags. Mae sincererely believed that they were hers!

 

Snowed In!

On Sunday we planned to get up and go shopping, I was scheduled to sing at church, and we were going to go home. Well, the snow had other plans. It was too slick to do any of those things. Brax couldn't even get out of the driveway to get to Wal-Mart. So, instead we RELAXED! The kids played in the snow with PaPa, we played lots of games (Brax and I lost about a hundred games of Sequence to MiMi and Katey before we staged a comeback!), ate leftovers and Royal Reds, played with Christmas toys, and (if you were Thomas) played games of Angry Birds on Katey's phone. It was wonderful!

 

Christmas Morning

Unbelievably, we woke up to a white Christmas. That pretty much NEVER happens in Alabama. The last time there was any snow at all on Christmas day was 1989, and that was just a dusting. We had actual snow! It was SO festive to listen to Christmas music while we opened our presents and see snow falling outside our windows!

We opened presents, let the kids jump on the trampoline for a little while and then enjoyed what is becoming our family tradition for Christmas morning: French Toast Casserole. Brax and I were a little disappointed because Thomas came downstairs before he woke us up and saw the "Santa" toys under the tree and the trampoline without us. Next year we'll have to give instructions. Who knew.

While we were eating breakfast, it became more and more apparent that we needed to go ahead and pack up for PaPa and MiMi's if we were going to make it there at all on Christmas day. So, away went our plans of a relaxing morning playing with toys, and instead we ran around getting stuff ready. We all left in our pajamas. :)

 

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve Brax didn't have to work so we had a wonderfully relaxing day at home! Our family lit the Christ candle at our church's 5:00 Christmas eve service, which was really special because I love the tradition of the advent candles! PaPa, MiMi and Aunt Katey were with us, so after the service we went to Five Guys for dinner and then to the Botanical Garden to drive through the Galaxy of Lights. (We hadn't thought about the fact that a lots and lots of other people might be wanting to drive through the lights also-took a little longer than we were anticipating.)

After the lights we came home and the kids opened their Christmas pajamas. We set our cookies and milk for Santa the the kids went to bed. Then, "Santa" and I put together the trampoline and got the house ready for Christmas morning.

 

Family Christmases

Christmas with Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary's Family

 

Christmas with Uncle Mike and Aunt Laura's Family

 

Funnies

Today we were home all day. I cut Thomas's hair this afternoon, so the kids had had a bath, and were all ready for bed before supper. I thought I would take some pictures of them in front of the Christmas tree while they were all clean. Of course at the end Thomas had to show me how he could jump over the present!

 

And now, the funnies...

Brax: Thomas if you tried mashed potatoes I'm sure you would like them.
Thomas: No, Dad. I'm sure I only like them fried and "tatortotted."

Kim: What's my name?
Mae: Mommy
Kim: What's my other name?
Mae: Mommy
Kim: Am I Brax?
Mae: No.
Kim: Who's Brax?
Mae: Babe.

Kim: Thomas, it's really bright outside.
Thomas: I can see out there because of my blue eyes.

Kim: Can you tell Daddy what we put up today?
Thomas: Our Treenery
Kim: No, remember (whispering) our Nativity.
Thomas: Oh yeah! Our activity!

Kim: We really need to clean up the playroom. I need you to help please.
Thomas: My foot hurts. Can I just watch?

Thomas: Who did call?
Kim: Aunt Sally.
Thomas: Why didn't she answer? Maybe she's at the doctor and can't talk. Maybe her voice is gone. Maybe her breath is down.

Kim: I mean could she (Mae) be any cuter?
Brax: No.
Mae: I cute!
(Yikes, apparently we'll have to start spelling cute!)

The Friendly Beasts

Thomas was recently a sheep in the school Christmas program. He even had a line, which was, "I could hardly believe my eyes!" The program was pretty much as adorable as you would imagine that it would be with 1-5 year olds dressed up as sheep, donkeys, cows, camels, and the other Christmas story characters!

 

Evolution of a Christmas Card

Getting four people to look the same way (and nicely) in one picture is really hard. I decided that this year I was going to make it easier for myself and just get pictures of the two of us and the two of them. Turns out it's not much easier...None of these made the cut.

 

Santa

A few weeks ago Thomas and Mae got to visit with Santa at a craft show. Mae wasn't sure about it, but since Thomas sat with him she agreed. Thomas told Santa that he wanted a dinosaur that walks and talks.(check) Mae didn't tell Santa anything, so Thomas told Santa that she wants a pink spoon. (pretty sure we can cover that one too!)

 

 

Gingerbread House

It has been really fun this year to have two kids that are able to participate in things rather than one and a baby! We've been doing Christmassy things like an Advent Calendar, lighting the Advent Candles at home, watching Christmas movies, looking at Christmas lights, etc. We also did a gingerbread house all together. The kids loved it, although I'm pretty sure Mae ate A LOT more candy than she put on the house! (Thomas has a fever in these pictures from a raging cold/ear infection!It's also the time of year for that!)

 

Decking the Halls

 

 

 

Christmas Tree Farm 2010

 

Funnies

Kim: Could you please put your shoes on Big T (a nickname we've used his whole life)?
Thomas: Ok, Big Mama!
(This is a nickname I'm hoping does not stick!)

Thomas: Could I have a kiss?
Kim: When we get home, I will give you a big kiss!
Thomas: I meant a chocolate kiss.

Addington Family Reunion

The second part of our trip was spent near St. Louis, MO at a family reunion. (For those that don't know, my dad is the oldest of ten kids, I am the oldest of 48 grandkids (not including spouses) and Thomas is the oldest of 10 greatgrandkids-with two more on the way!) There were 77 of us. It was fun for us to get to visit with people we so often see only on Facebook or not at all. And it was neat for Thomas and Mae to get to play with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Second Cousins!

Crafting.

 

Playing.

 

Family Pictures.

 

Fayetteville Novemeber 2010

We had (as always) a delightful visit with Gram and Pops. Lots of games; a bonfire; cutting down trees; trips to Sonic; Harry Potter with Sally, Carlos and Becky; Gram Bags; messages in the special mailbox from Hong Kong; numerous games of Sequence. And SEVERAL visits to Gram and Pops's new cottage, one of which was alone and overnight for Brax and me!!!

We always love visiting my parents, and always feel sad to leave them!

I did a horrible job taking pictures this whole trip-just enjoying the conversations!

 

Thanksmas

We celebrated Thanksgiving/Christmas early while we were in Arkansas this year. It was a WONDERFUL day, and we had the added bonus of Aunt Jayne being there for the day. It was a super big treat! LOVE her!

Thanksmas.

 

Family.

 

(Please note that Sally and I came completely coordinated. Brax was wearing Blue and Carlos was wearing black. Spooky!)

Presents.

 

Mae's 2nd Birthday

 

We had a very low key birthday for Mae this year. And by low key I mean, I took her to the doctor to get shots, and we had GiGi's cupcakes when Brax got home. VERY low key! We didn't even open any presents.

Stats:
Weight: 27.5 pounds (2 pounds more than Thomas at this age) which is 60th%
Height: 36 inches (1.75 inches taller than Thomas at this age) which is above 95% and therefore off the charts

She is talking constantly, and speaking in sentences all of a sudden. Her most used response when I ask her to do something is "I'm twyyyying." She is EXTREMELY independent, and we hear the phrase, "Do it myself" a lot! She loves to sing songs-especially "so big" (my God is so big) and "children" (Jesus Loves the Little Children).

She goes between a sweet precious cuddly girl who loves dolls, coloring, and most of all her big brother Thomas and a huge fit thrower, who hits her big brother, sits down (even in puddles) and stomps her feet. It's quite the combo.

We love watching her grow, love hearing her voice and love her great hugs!

Here's Thomas at 2.

Funnies

Thomas (to one of his teachers): Miss Cherie, you're going to have to miss me next week. I'm going out of the town.

Thomas: Can I watch something while I eat?
Kim: No.
Thomas: Dad, can I watch something while I eat?
Brax: No, Thomas. Buddy, mom and I are on the same team.
Thomas (after thinking a minute): MiMi, are you on the same team?

Thomas (after falling): My ankle has a spray!

Thomas: Mom, don't change this song. It's rock and roll. It's boy's music.

Mae (overheard in her crib): I spy. No. No. Your turn. I spy. No. No. My turn.

Kim: Are you going to have a Christmas program at school?
Thomas: Yes, but I have to be a dumb sheep.
Kim: Why don't you want to be a sheep?
Thomas: I wanted to be a donkey.
Kim: Why?
Thomas: The donkeys get to stand up.
(What makes this one funnier is that I relayed this conversation to Thomas's teacher and she told me that actually the sheep get to stand up too. Random!)

Mae's Birthday Take 1

 

Last weekend we had an early birthday celebration for Mae. The day of her birthday is crazy, and we're hoping to go out of town the next day, so we celebrated with Brax's family, and decided to give her the presents from us also so that she could play with them for a few days before we left. Aunt Katey got an adorable cake, and we celebrated all day! Mae wasn't quite sure what to do with the presents, but Thomas was MORE than happy to help her open them! What a helpful brother!

(The picture on the bottom, 2nd from the right is the face that she made the whole time we were singing Happy Birthday to her. It's like she was happy, but embarrassed. So sweet.)

Galaxy of Lights

Our Botanical Garden has a HUGE light display every year from November-December. It's called Galaxy of Lights (if you haven't noticed, everything in our town has a space theme) and we've driven through it before. Well this year we decided to use our member privilege and walk through early. We picked Firday, and it was perfect weather. Crisp, so that it felt a little Christmassy, but not too cold that it wouldn't be fun. We thought it would be a really fun thing to do with the kids. However, this is what Brax and I have learned about doing life with kids. Sometimes activities are fun, sometimes not as much. Mae was feeling particularly independent that evening, and cried (and by cried I mean screamed) for quite awhile when she was put back in the stroller. Thomas whined on and off that he was tired and that he didn't get to ride in the stroller. Awesome.
We did finish off with ice cream at Sonic, which was a huge hit with both kids of course. We'll drive through when that part starts. Maybe it will be more fun then.

 

 

 

 

Love These Two!