Christmas Eve Night

In usual tradition, we celebrated Christmas Eve by attending our church's candlelight service and then hosting the Rogers Family for an evening of good food and presents. Ava was in sick mode and had been on antibiotics for 2 days when it was Christmas Eve. Harrison was snotty and by night's end, I had to call the pediatrician because it was obvious that he had pink eye. Other than that, it was a wonderful evening. Church was beautiful, Ava played hand bells, my voice held out where I could sing "Breath of Heaven," and I enjoyed watching the faces in candlelight as we sang "Silent Night." It is such a thing of beauty to see.

Dinner was delicious, if I do say so myself and the kids got so many wonderful presents. My only regret is that I didn't take many pictures. I hope Aunt Bethany picked up my slack and I can download hers eventually!

We stayed up way too late and almost forgot to hang the stockings! We had not hung them because we knew Harrison would destroy them. Ava left a note for Santa and then at around 11:00 she finally made it to bed!

Great night, wonderful memories!

Ava with all her presents. Spoiled? Nah...lol

The mess afterwards

Little Cinderella. Thanks Aunt Bethany and Uncle Lester. She loves it!

Harrison was playing on Pop's leg.

Ava leaving the milk and cookies for Santa.

Christmas at Nanny's

The weekend before Christmas we headed to the big KY to spend Christmas with my Mom's side of the family. We did a little something different this year and met at the Cracker Barrel to eat and then went to Nanny's to exchange gifts, eat dessert, and play games. It was nice to not have to worry about cooking or cleaning up, so the restaurant was well worth it. We had a nice afternoon and Ava LOVED her presents! Here she is with her Hello Kitty Build a Bear. Thanks, Bo and Mike!

The lovely, Nanny

Uncle Bradley and Trayton

The present hit of the day: these silly noise sticks that Bo and Mike bought for a dollar at Michael's

Love the finger in the nose, Bud

The crew - minus Gabriel and Trayton who were at play practice and my dad who had already left

So We've Had a Lot of Christmas...

a wonderful, magical, sick, tired Christmas. We are beyond worn out and our house is an absolute disaster. In keeping with tradition, I have taken both kids pictures with the "majority" of their gifts. A heartfelt thank you for each of you who helped make our children's Christmas so bright. We love you all and thank you from the bottom of our heart. Now I have to find where I am going to put all this stuff!

Merry Christmas!

Dear Santa...

for Christmas, I want an American Girl doll... Love, Ava

Summer Reading Program

It seems like summer was forever ago now that the Christmas season is in full swing. Ava and Harrison were both involved in the summer reading program at our library. A few weeks ago when we went in, the librarian presented them with their certificates and they got to be the first to check out the books that carry their name for reading 105 books. Ava was so excited that her book was a Fancy Nancy book. It was so much fun reading with them this past summer. I look forward to it being a summer tradition.

December Daily

Here are some pages for my December Daily scrapbook.

10 on Tuesday...well Wednesday

I am starting this post on Monday because it is the beginning of another crazy week her at the Rogers' house. The week that school late is out for a break is always a rush, but so blessed when it finally arrives!

1. Our weekly rundown is this: Monday - Ava cheer, possibly choir/band Christmas concert, Tuesday - Ava cheer, Wednesday - Ava - church Christmas party, Thursday - Ava cheer at TOMS middle school game, Friday - last day of school !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay! - Saturday - Christmas in KY at Nanny's house! I know that sounds crazy, but I know there are some things that I am forgetting!
2. Speaking of Christmas - I have to go and buy gifts for Ava for her Christmas party and all of her different teachers.
3. I just completed my 2nd class in my Masters program, and I currently have a 4.0 gpa. Yay!
4. Harrison's vocabulary is getting a little broader. He is now saying bye-bye, momma, dada, baba (bottle which we just took away), cat, uh-huh, and outside. Of course, he always throws out the "Ta" which stands for anything. Love him!
5. It snowed on Sunday and Harrison was so amazed by it. He stared out the window for the longest time watching it. Ava wanted to go out and play, but there just wasn't enough of it and it had mostly melted by afternoon. It was beautiful while it lasted though.
6. There is the possibility for winter weather tonight (aka, freezing rain) and I just want it to go away. I don't want a day off so close to break! That's a waste!
7. The sickness is creeping into our house. Bradley has lost his voice and has a horrible sore throat. Last night he felt awful and this morning was the same. Please, God, not so close to Christmas!
8. I have been keeping up with my December Daily book. I need to take some pictures of it and post. It is really coming along and I love it!
9. We have been playing the Wii like crazy lately. Mario, enough said....
10. Ava will be playing handbells at church on the 19th and the 24th. You are invited. She is fun to watch... :)