Favorite Christmas Presents

We have finally played with all our new stuff we got for Christmas and can now answer that all-time favorite question,
"What was your favorite Christmas present?"
Harrison picked his...


DSi and the Kung Zhu game he got with it.
Caitlin picked what she bought with her Christmas money...

a guinea pig! Isn't he cute?

And Randy and I both agree that our favorite present is our new...

kitchen table! (I promise there is a 6th chair! I didn't realize it wasn't there until after I took the picture. And I'm too lazy to take another picture and upload it to the computer!)

However, my least favorite thing was...

ALL the packing and boxes it came in!!!!!

So what was your favorite present????

Siesta Scripture Memory Team Verse 1

I have been a follower of Beth Moore's blog for some time now. I started reading her blog after participating in her Bible Study, Esther. I have done 2 other Bible Studies by her plus I've gone to the two simulcasts that have been done at my church. Can you say that I can really relate to her?!?
Anyway...on her blog 2 years ago she did a scripture memory team for the entire year. I was too chicken to participate because I thought there was no way I could memorize 24 Bible verses in a year! Well now that I have reached 2 of my other personal goals (losing weight and running in a 5K), I am much more motivated to participate.
I get to pick my own verses-one on the 1st of each month and one on the 15th. I plan on posting them here each time to keep myself honest! (Thank you, Sarah!)

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."
Psalm 34:18 NIV

10 For '10

10. Being a parent is HARD!!!

9. Being a parent of a "tweenager" is even HARDER!!

8. Macaroni and cheese vomit is the worst smell in the world.

7. My friends are the GrEaTeSt!!!

6. I am strong (in more ways than one).

5. I can run a 5K!

4. If my children shouldn't watch a TV show, then I probably shouldn't either.

3. Gigi's Cupcakes are the best dessert ever made!

2. The Memphis Zoo in July is one of the hottest places on Earth!

1. I love my family!!!!!

More Christmas!

Usually on Christmas Day, we drive over to Grandmother and Grandaddy's house after we have opened and played with all of our presents so that we can celebrate Christmas with them and feast one more time on turkey and dressing. We always end up staying until late afternoon. Since we had snow on the ground this year, and we weren't sure how long it would stay just snow and not ice, we travelled over there mid-morning (plus you gotta remember we had been up since 4!)
Grandmother completely understood, but was not dressed the way she wanted to be since she had been cooking all morning long. So we really only took pictures of Caitlin and Harrison. That doesn't mean we didn't enjoy each other's company or the delicious food!

Can you tell he wasn't thrilled about getting clothes for Christmas?!?

But that was exactly what this fashion diva wanted!!!

Yay! I can go buy my own toys!
We had fun visiting with Grandmother and Grandaddy, and Randy and I got some nice presents as well. (They try to spoil us!)
All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas Day!

Christmas Morning

We started our Christmas morning early, early, early!! Our plan has always been for Caitlin to call us on the walkie-talkies when she wakes up on Christmas morning. That way we don't miss the priceless looks on their faces when they see what Santa brought them. Well...we got the call at 4:04 a.m.!!!! We were just hoping for a nap later on!

Annual staircase picture

Look what all Santa brought us!

Time for stockings!

Santa even remembered to bring Brady some treats.

Then we got to open our presents under the Christmas tree. These are special because we only get 3 presents apiece: just like Jesus!

A cupcake maker!!! I can't wait to use it!

A Dippin' Dots maker!! Just what I asked for!

We had a food theme going on this year, in case you can't tell!

Yay!! An ipod Nano that I wanted for when I run.

Rock Band 3!! (He's been dropping hints for this game for awhile!)

Caitlin and Harrison's third and final present was a little box addressed to both of them. When they opened it, all they found was a note. Yay! Scavenger Hunt time! The first clue led them to...

...the pirate ship in Harrison's room. There they found the next clue which led them to...

...the mini-fridge in the Alabama movie room. There they were led to...

..Mommy and Daddy's bed. That clue then told them to start at the beginning. So as fast as their feet could carry them, they ran back to the Christmas tree to find...

DSis for both of them!!!

And mind you, all this excitement happened before 5:30 in the morning!!!

We had not even looked outside at this point because it was still dark. A little while later, as we were playing with all of our new toys, we looked out to find...

SNOW!!! I couldn't believe it!

In all my 30+ years, I have not seen this much snow on Christmas Day! In 1989, we had a dusting but nothing like this! When it was all said and done, 3 inches had fallen. Wow!!

So we had to play in it!

Harrison didn't get to stay out long because he is still fighting a cold and an ear infection. But he had fun while he was out there making snow angels and throwing snowballs at his sister.

Even Brady had a good time in the Christmas snow! He's peeping through the fence here seeing if his friend, Maggie, is out in the snow.

And then Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa came over to visit and see all our loot.

They couldn't believe all the presents! I'm so glad we live in the same town as my parents so that we can be with them on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!
So we had a JoYoUS Christmas morning before we took off for Grandmother and Grandaddy's house to celebrate with them.

Celebrating Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve 2010 started out busy, busy, busy! We had to pick up Caitlin and Harrison from their grandparents' house in the morning. While there, we got to eat a delicious breakfast cooked by Grandaddy of biscuits, eggs, bacon, and sausage gravy. YUM!
We came home and started our baking.

First up...mixing the cake batter (or licking it!) for our...

Happy Birthday Jesus cake! We've made one every year since Caitlin was born, so it is one of our annual traditions. We change up the design each year to surprise our family.

Then it was on to baking cookies for Santa.

Look at that detail!
After making a few more dishes for our Christmas Eve dinner at my parents' house, we got ready for our Christmas Eve Candlelight service at our church.

I wish they were always this sweet and kind to each other!
We saw lots of friends at the Christmas Eve service which made celebrating the birth of Jesus that much more special. This service is my most favorite!!
Then it was off to Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa's house for Christmas Eve dinner. After eating our wonderful meal of turkey, dressing, ham, sweet potato casserole, green beans, corn casserole, "regular" corn as Harrison calls it, potatoes, rolls, macaroni and cheese, and yummy desserts, it was time for presents!

We always start with the stockings, and we AlWaYs let the kids go first.

This year Caitlin got a surprise in her stocking...an empty Snickers wrapper! She blamed it on Pa-Pa, of course, because that's his favorite candy!
On to the Christmas tree!!!!

Caitlin can't wait to go shopping now! Who am I kidding?!? She always loves to go shoppping.

Daddy got the cassette tape converter he's been wanting. That will keep him busy for awhile.

Harrison got the game he's been asking everyone for--Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots!

Ma-Ma got a new ornament for her tree which is an annual tradition.

And surprise, surprise...Pa-Pa got a matching one! Their dog, Wally, was right there in the action the entire time.

My sweet family
Finally we made our way home to get ready for Santa!

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in the hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there." (along with our gingerbread cookies, carrots for the reindeer, and milk for Santa)

Merry Christmas From Us to You!!

"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on Earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."
Luke 2:14