Christmas Eve

12.24

What a fun month this has been and the moment we've all been waiting for is finally here! Beck has been listening to Christmas songs all month and now sings them to us all of the time and we love it! We decided to open our gifts on Christmas Eve for several reasons. First of all, I thought it would be too overwhelming opening our gifts then opening more gifts at Kiki and Pops house. Secondly, everybody would have to wait for us to open gifts Sunday morning. Plus, I'm dying to wear my new boots tonight and Brent really wants to start wearing his new giant watch!

After the kids woke up from their afternoon nap, we gathered around the tree and I asked Wendy to take a family picture...too bad it's blurry but that's ok.

This is a Christmas that I'll never forget...we are in a temporary home and my mom is in another country. (Notice all of the ornaments at the top of the tree...that's because Kinsey kept taking them off and playing with them. So, every time I found an ornament laying around the house, I would put it towards the top of the tree.)

All Beck has talked about wanting for Christmas is Transformer this and Transformer that...he got lots of Transformer stuff!

I have no idea why Kinsey was laying on the floor but she did enjoy pulling the tissue paper out of the sacks. Wendy helped her open gifts since I was taking pictures and Brent was holding his iTouch while we did a video chat with Neena and Stephen. They really enjoyed watching the kids open their gifts.

We got the kids musical instruments (guitars, drum, tambourines) and I hope I don't regret it.

Now it's time to get ready to eat dinner at Kiki and Pops house.

The Night Before Christmas Eve

12.23

We picked Wendy up this morning from the workshop and ran a few errands then we ate lunch at Ryan's. Beck and Kinsey ate a lot of food which made me very happy. The kids took a long afternoon nap and Brent got off work early so we headed over to Kiki and Pop's house.

Jeff, Jill and Marcus were there and we had fun playing with Jeff's new toy...the XBox Kinetic. This game has a camera pointed on you and can mimic your body movement with the game. It's way cool! We skied, played tennis and I tried to do Zumba but it felt weird working out in front of the family.

I obviously wasn't thinking when I purchased the shirt that Kinsey is wearing because it says, "Best Big Sister Ever" so you can probably imagine what happened when people read it. The first person to notice was Jill and she asked if we were making an announcement. I had no clue what she was talking about until she read Kinsey's shirt out loud. Oops! Old Navy had a sale (buy one, get one 75% off) so I picked out a couple of t-shirts that had glitter on them and I knew it said something about being a sister. Then, Jeff and Jill told Kiki to read the shirt and she got so excited and hugged both of us. I wanted to say something but she was so happy. Finally, Brent spoke up and broke the news to her that the shirt was not an announcement. I'd love to have one more but we are done. I'm too old and too tired to have another baby.

Beck fell in love with this piggy bank truck. He kept asking us for coins so he could put it in the truck.

Certainly a fun evening and there's only two more days until Christmas!

Library with Natalie and Anderson

12.22

I got a text from my good friend, Leigh, last night saying they were in town and where should they go to look at Christmas lights. Ironically, that's exactly what we were doing when I got the text! They were in town to do Christmas with her mom and grandma. I told her they should come to the library for story time. Beck was so excited to hear that his Plano friends, Natalie and Anderson, would be at the library. The kids usually make a craft after hearing two stories but they had a cookie, juice and a chocolate Santa today. All of the kids were very happy! Little Miss Kinsey made the biggest mess!

Afterwards, we all went back to Nanny's house and they had a blast playing together. Then, we ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the square which was chaotic especially my two kids! Beck spilled Natalie's lemonade on the floor and Kinsey did not want to sit in the high chair. Beck ate all of the rice on his plate then wanted a corn dog because Natalie had one. My stress level was at an all time high but it was fun getting together with old friends. Too bad they don't live closer so we could see each other more often.

Only three more days until Christmas!!!

A Step Back In Time

Last night, I copied over 1,000 pictures from Kiki's camera(s) and found some that I wanted to post. A few are from when Jill and Marcus came into town before Thanksgiving, our Christmas decorations and a couple of pictures of Beck and Kinsey and I think these were taken when Brent had to work late and I went to the Zumba class.

Build and Grow

12.17

Today's project is to build the engine to go with the coal car that Beck built last Saturday and it seemed to go a lot quicker. I discovered the engine didn't have as many nails as the coal car so it was a lot easier to build. And, just like the coal car, we were given two sets of stickers but Beck likes his train without any stickers. I'd like to get out the paint someday and let Beck paint them.

Once again, Kinsey was a trooper and hung out while Beck and Brent worked on building the engine for his train. She sat and watched for a little bit then grabbed the hammers and started banging them together. I was afraid she was going to bang me at one point.

I'm sure you've noticed the camo jacket...Beck loves this jacket and he especially loves wearing the hoodie! I try to tell him that he can't wear the hoodie inside the store but he insists on wearing it. This time Beck asked Happy T. Clown to make him a hat with horns...I love it!

Surprisingly, Lowe's has a selection of children's books that I'd like to get and Kinsey sure enjoyed looking at them.

On the way out to the truck, one of the horns on Beck's hat popped after touching the parking lot. I'm not sure what caused it to pop but Beck learned a lessen that morning. He played with his one-horned hat on the way to lunch and it didn't take long for the other horn to deflate. Beck was pretty bummed but maybe we'll get something that will last longer next time.

Kinsey had a full belly and fell asleep right before we got to Kiki and Pop's house. While Kinsey napped, Brent and I went back to Longview to see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows which was really entertaining.

Well, the next class is on January 14 and the kids will build a castle which sounds neat...I hope we can make it!

Christmas Dinner at Church

There were so many people at the Christmas dinner tonight! Senior citizens went through the line first then families with kids under the age of ten which seemed like the entire ward. I made two pounds of macaroni and cheese (mom's recipe) and it was almost gone by the time we got to it! Luckily, there was just enough for Beck and Kinsey. All of the food was delicious! Below are a few pictures of Beck making many faces while standing in line.

When we ate desserts, Beck tried to eat his cookie with a spoon...he was actually just eating the icing. Oh my goodness, this kid is a hoot!

It was a fun family evening! In fact, there were a variety of acts/entertainment such as reading Christmas stories, playing hangman and listening to the DeGala's sing and the primary kids sing. I loved it! Mrs. Dodd read a Christmas story from a book her dad gave her when she was a little girl. How special is that!

Merry Christmas!

Santa at the Library

12.15

I love that the ladies at the library put so much effort into decorating for each holiday. It's always so festive there and Beck loves going to the library! The librarian told us last week to be sure and bring our camera because a special guest would make an appearance today...I wonder who it is?

The craft today was very cute and really simple/easy which is nice since the craft we made last week was very complicated but I'm not complaining. It was Santa's face made of a paper plate with white streamers used for the beard along with a hat and wiggly eyes. It was very, very cute! Wendy got to join in on making one too (last week and this week)! This week the kids put stickers on a stocking and Beck loved it!

The surprise guest has arrived...it's Santa! Kinsey's best friend! Ha! I was very proud of Beck because he told Santa what he wanted for Christmas...a Transformer!

Lydia and Kinzie did a great job sitting on Santa's lap...

We took Aunt Wendy to the workshop then we spent the afternoon getting ready for the Christmas party at church.