Month: December 2015

I am so thankful we don’t have a piano in our house. I held them off until 7 am. Then the herd ran wild….

We left Collierville this morning and drove to Paducah to spend the evening at B’s. Due to our short time in town, we decided it would be fun to have Harper and Mackenzie stay at B’s house too. The kids couldn’t wait to feed the dogs (crazy, right?) and then they happily posed for a picture before we sent them all off to the room with the bunk beds (and then three hours later they were finally asleep – or something like that.) They had a blast together!

Aunt Emmy brought a craft for the boys – making ornaments out of puzzle pieces! Alex absolutely loves anything craft related and Teague loves to do what Alex does. Kaitlyn couldn’t be kept distracted for too long and was quickly in the middle of the crafting too!

Pop and Wade took the boys to the farm for the morning. That left Granny, Aunt Emmy, and I to be thoroughly entertained by Kaitlyn. She didn’t disappoint.

This was the most relaxed Sunday morning I have had in a long time. There were lots of people up and moving and entertaining my children.

Uncle John and Aunt Louise stopped by to say good-bye and we had one big group photo before they got on the road and the rest of us left for church.

Then we got down to the business of Christmas presents. (The boys were more than a tad excited. Kaitlyn is very into the “unwrapping” part of gifts. She happily walked to whoever had a turn and helped them open their gift before moving on to the next person.)

After I had put Kaitlyn to bed, I walked by the nativity scene and smiled to see at least one boy had seen it and made his own addition.

We spent a long day in the car, but finally arrived in Memphis a little after dinner time. We put Kaitlyn to bed but the boys had both napped in the car and were good for a little visiting. Judy suggested we open stockings and everyone thought that was a great idea.

Uncle John once again brought awesome hand-made gifts for the kids. The boys got wooden airplanes (Teague got a blue one) and the adults spent hours trying to beat Kaitlyn’s Tower of Hanoi Game. (She just likes the stacking part..)

Most of today was spent in our pajamas. We went downstairs a tad before 7 am and the boys were immediately full of squeals and yells. Kaitlyn was a little confused by all the chaos and definitely preferred her brothers’ toys to her own.

Then Kaitlyn needed a nap and the boys were engrossed in their toys. I was just starting to make some biscuits (for our dinner of ham biscuits) when Kaitlyn woke up from her nap. She and Teague love to watch and “help” in the kitchen. They were very excited about the biscuit making process.

My Mom was supposed to fly in on the 22nd, but weather proved to be a problem and she finally arrived late last night. The kids were so excited to wake up and find Gram in the guest room! We got the day started with a yummy breakfast and then some family pictures.

My family has always had their Christmas on Christmas Eve so we decided to continue that tradition (and the kids didn’t seem to mind). Alex is finally old enough to read the names on the tags so we let him do all the work on handing out the presents.

Then it was cookie making time (for Santa) while Kaitlyn took her nap.

In an impressive Dad-move, Wade was able to convince Alex that peeling carrots was an awesome activity. Alex happily took over Wade’s job and Wade snuck to the couch for a nap. (Very smart move on Wade’s part.)

We attended a Christmas Eve service, had our Christmas dinner, and put cookies out for Santa. The kids were ready for bed! (The tree last night before present opening today..)

Monkey doesn’t always sleep with Teague, but most nights. He has been the only stuffed animal in which Teague has ever had any lasting attachment or interest. I hope I never forget how sweetly Monkey fits in the crook of Teague’s arm and how Teague will carry him everywhere for a day or two and then not need him at all.

For the last two years I have been shamelessly using Alex and Teague to help me with the groceries. Kaitlyn has become quite adamant the last few months that she carry a bag too. The challenge is finding a bag she can physically carry….

Alex is still in school, but Teague’s last day was Friday. We decided to make a party of it and have Teague’s friends over for some cookie decorating.

These guys are best buds and it’s awesome to see!

Is this kid happy or what?

(Of course this is before we had a dead battery (again) and had to get jumped. It only seems to happen in the preschool parking lot – where thankfully there is always a willing person. I really need to see about getting a new battery.)

Today was Teague’s Christmas program at school. Wade, Kaitlyn, and I dropped Teague at his classroom and then went to the sanctuary to wait for the performance to begin. His class (and the other pre-K class) sang the cutest songs and put on a short skit.

Then we all went back to the classroom for a snack and pictures. These are the best you can hope for with thirteen kids excited for Christmas!

We decided to try some new things today. First I decided to let Kaitlyn try to feed herself yogurt (her first time using a spoon). Then I thought this might be a good time for her first ponytail.

When she was done (i.e., I was tired of taking pictures), there was no yogurt left in the cup and she hadn’t tried to stand up in the high chair once. Kaitlyn got an immediate sink bath and then we a nap. After her nap we continued our hair experimenting and decided to try pigtails for the first time.

I walk out of the room for a second and these kids come up with some new crazy activity. At least they are always having fun…

Alex was busy with circuits and then suddenly wasn’t. How happy was I to look up and see Teague attempting to build a circuit. He had no clue what he was doing but he was determined to make it work with battery power.