Christmas Party Fun

Whew! Christmas time can really wear a person out! We have had so much fun attending so many Christmas parties and spending time with good friends. Cole had a play group party at Miss Kerri's house which was super fun! The kiddos made Christmas cards and danced to carols all morning long! Then we were able to hang out with the Burrow family, the Cornetts and the Lowerys for a Christmas party this past weekend. The kids had a blast playing "Ring Around the Rosie" and watching Frosty the Snowman. They opened gifts and had so much fun playing together. It was so hard to get a picture of Cole, Audrie and Ben that we had to bride them with Christmas cookies to get them to sit still! Cole also had a cute Christmas party/program at his Mother's Day Out. They ate and opened gifts and then put on a little show about the birth of Jesus. Cole's class was a herd of sheep and they kept yelling "baaa" at all of the wrong times but it was precious! Then Santa made an appearance and Cole went nuts! He was the only child in the school to run up to Santa and then he started dancing along to Jingle Bells with him! It was great!!!! What a fun time of year this is....but how tiring too!

Give Away Day

Wow. That is the only word I can think of to describe the Give Away Day our church hosted last night. Our church has a ministry that reaches out to the children of underprivileged families in NWA called Potter's House. It is a huge thing and one that Rhonald and I have always wanted to know more about and get involved in. Last night was their annual "Give Away Day." Families from all over NWA that are in need of a little help at Christmas are able to come and receive one gift per child, a hot meal, enjoy some praise and worship time and meet people who truly care about them. We had no idea what it would be like...and boy were we shocked and blessed at what we were able to be apart of. 450 families signed up to be blessed by this day....450!!!! The families came in the morning to register and get a number and then they came back that evening for the actual event. One woman told me she came at 1 am to line up and people were already there!!! What was so humbling to us is that we live in a very wealthy community...very low crime and an area very focused on education...and there were 450 families there. Wow. I was a gift wrapper and Rhonald was a gift carrier (after I wrapped he carried gifts to cars) and I will say, we were so busy and tired when we left there - but it was awesome! We met some of the sweetest families and got to know people from our church even better too. The smiles we saw were priceless but really, as much as those families were blessed, we were blessed so much more. And we are thankful - for everything we have and especially for getting to be apart of this night. There are so many stories I could share, and I will, but it would take all day. I pray you have a blessed holiday and that you take time to remember where those blessings come from. We were definitely reminded of that last night and I pray we never lose sight of the real meaning of this time of year.

Here Comes Santa Claus...And Ben?!

What a fabulous day!!! We started out the day cuddled in bed (yes, all of us) watching cartoons and enjoyed pancakes and bacon (a Cole favorite) for breakfast. Today was a day that I have been waiting for since December 1st. It was Santa day!!!! After relaxing at the house for a little bit we all got ready and headed to the mall to see Santa. Santa was not a favorite for Cole last year so we have talked a lot about him and looked at a lot of Santa things to get him ready. Oh my -what a difference a year makes! I did have to carry him up to Santa but he did great and sat in his lap so well (the sucker Santa gave him helped a lot). Cole even told Santa that he wanted a Thomas train for Christmas..oh, and a Frosty (the snowman...a new Christmas obsession). When we were done visiting Santa we let Cole ride the rides in the food court area. As he was riding around I heard him shout "Ben!" and there was Emily and Ben! The boys had a blast playing on the cars and walking around. Once they had time to run of a little energy we all went to lunch at a local pizza place. The boys loved it and the grown ups had fun talking and catching up. When we sat down we noticed Cole was saying "Go Hogs!" and "Woo Pig Sooie" over and over. We finally realized there were football highlights playing on the TV near our table. I guess he thinks every football team is the Arkansas Razorbacks!!!! We ended the morning with a nap...yes, all of us. It was a wonderful day - one I will hold dear to my heart! I mean, hearing that little voice say "Thomas Train" to Santa was priceless!

O Christmas Tree

Rhonald and I decided to set up all of our Christmas decorations last night after Cole went to bed. So at about 8 pm we popped in a Christmas movie and put up our tree. It is always so much fun to get the ornaments out of their boxes and talk about the memories behind them. We were laughing and talking and having so much fun. What we were really excited about was seeing Cole's reaction to the new addition in our living room once he woke up. And, as usual, he did not disappoint! As soon as he saw the tree he yelled "big tree!" and went over to check everything out. He named all of the ornaments and enjoyed seeing the ones that we bought just for him (trains and trucks of course). The only problem with the tree turned out to be the presents. Cole noticed them right away but was very good about not touching them. About an hour later as I was brushing my hair I heard paper tearing and ran in to the living room to see that Cole was unwrapping his second gift. Well, needless to say, the gifts are now hidden away until Christmas eve! Another sweet thing he has done all day is that he says "Hi tree" and "Bye tree" when we go anywhere. It is so cute!!!!! I swear, Christmas is so much more fun when you get to share it with kids!!!!

Yummy Friday Morning Fun

I have been taking care of 2 sick boys this week and on Friday morning we all decided to stay in our pj's and relax and enjoy some down time together. Rhonald and Cole both seemed to be feeling a little better so I suggested that we make Christmas cookies! Cole was all about it! He has not been able to really help me make cookies before but this time he was a big help! He helped me stir the dough and cut out the cookies. Then, after I frosted them, he LOVED putting the sprinkles on them. Oh my - he would shout "sprinkle" every time he got to do it. And Cole's favorite part...eating the cookies of course. Every time he walks in to the kitchen he asks for a cookie for himself and one for Rhonald too! So sweet!

A Dear Tradition

The other day I heard someone ask a really great question about the holidays...will your children remember the gifts they received or the traditions you followed when they are grown? I thought about that a lot actually - it is so easy to get caught up in the material things of this season but what really matters is the time spent together and the things we take with us from that time. When I was a very little girl my Aunt Peggy started giving me an Advent calendar for Christmas. I loved them .... counting down the days until Christmas was so much fun. I have always remembered those calendars...in fact, I still have one in my baby book. This year she gave one to Cole with his Christmas gift and I was so excited. I know he does not understand what it is but I have had so much fun opening up the windows and watching him get excited about what he finds! It was so special to me to have her give that to him. It was awesome to see this tradition that I have loved continue.

Thanksgiving With The Stewarts

We recently returned from our annual trip to Chicago to see my side of the family for Thanksgiving. It was, as usual, a fast and fun trip! It was so nice to see family and catch up on what has been going on with everyone over the past year. My cousin, Katie, is expecting her first baby in March so it was really fun to talk about babies and look at sweet baby things. Dinner was amazing, of course! And the best part was that Cole passed out about 10 minutes before we sat down to eat so we all were able to eat together and he enjoyed a nice dinner once he woke up! Rhonald and I had a really great time watching Cole play with his cousins. As he gets older he is getting more and more interested in them and what they are doing. Luke was so good to help Cole do just about everything and Cole is still talking about all of them to this day. Rhonald and I were able to sneak off by ourselves, thanks to my mom, and do some shopping and enjoy lunch together. Cole and his cousins went swimming in the pool with Pops which Cole loved. Now every time he takes a bath he lays on his belly and says "pool" "pops." As you all have heard Cole is very into trains - he loves them. My Uncle Jim has the train set that my grandparents bought for my dad and his brothers over 60 years ago. He was so excited to set it up and show it to all of the kids and let me tell you...Cole loved it! And it was very neat to see my dad and my uncles playing with it once again too! One thing that was a huge blessing to us was that Cole was a great traveler on this trip. He never fussed in the car or through the night which made everything so much nicer for us. Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I wish we could have stayed and visited longer...once a year just doesn't seem like enough.