Jesus' birthday!

Abby Jane called me into her room at 5:30, saying she was ready to get up.  Her bed was already made.

Somehow, the girl fell back asleep and WE woke her up when the twins awakened at 7:45!  WHAT a lovely way to start Christmas morning!! We all snuggled for a few minutes, read the Christmas story, then sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.  Then commenced the morning!  

After opening Santa's gifts and stockings, Mimi and Bop Bop arrived, and we paused for a bite of Holiday french toast and coffee (or sippies of milk) before returning to the business under the tree.  Here is big sis "helping" open the stickers and coloring book she picked out for Blythe and Joy for their Christmas gifts! She was so proud of having worked to purchase them.

 Stickers were a hit.  Children are truly so simply satisfied.

 Blythe and Joy received their first backpacks!

 Bop Bop became bow collector.

Aunt Bets was so smart and pre-bought some gifts before leaving for New Zealand.  We LOVED her sweater! There's a really fun flower under Abby Jane's hand.

Hope you don't feel thrown under the bus, Sandy, but I had to include a photo of your new butler from Bop Bop.

 This was the year of the first big girl bike!  It turned out to be raining all morning, so Abby Jane actually received it in the kitchen and had her first rides around the house.  It took her about 10 minutes to get over the intimidation of the moment before she decided to get on her new ride. This pic was about 20 minutes later.

 Jake and his mama.

 The baby stroller seeming attached to Blythe here was a gift for all the girls, and it remains both Blythe's favorite gift and the most fought-over. Here she was opening her first sleeping bag.

 Joy opening her sleeping bag, which went with her in her crib for her afternoon nap.

 Grandaddy and Granny Joan came after church, and there were kisses and hugs all around!

 We surely love them, and it was so special to have them be a part of our Christmas day! We are so thankful for Grandaddy being on the mend and for Granny Joan's expert care!

Christmas dinner was our "traditional" (as of last year) barbeque pulled pork, with sides courtesy of the ladies coming. My Aunt Becky was under the weather that morning and didn't end up being able to join us.  We were so sad to not have her with us, but we loved having Uncle Richard come!

I was particularly proud of the dessert buffet, as it held the chocolate-gingerbread toffee cake on the cover of this month's Southern Living.  My husband seemed to not feel that a white cake was Christmassy.  He didn't know that white cakes are a Southern Living tradition.  So I made him a caramel pecan pie... then made my white cake.  It was fun to make and we're still eating it, four days later.

Digesting and enjoying company.  

 After naps, we took the party outside and put those wheels on the ground!

Who says you can't put your new princess stickers on your Hello Kitty bike?  We're equal opportunity bike riders around here.

The girls' Christmas Day ended with us all sitting down together to do our final Jesse tree devotion and to choose a gift to send a family in need.  The girls had fun picking the gift, and it was neat to end the day with a focus shifted away from ourselves.

On Christmas Eve, we got to skype with the Gillies in New Zealand, and we were amazed to discover that Santa had already been there!  On Christmas night, the grown-ups skyped with the Elliotts and Grammy in Manila and got to hear all about their Christmas (the day before for them as well!) During the bike riding in the afternoon, I talked with my sister on the phone as they were en route to her in-laws' home in Birmingham. Technology is amazing, that while we were her in the Atlanta area, we were able to communicate to family in three different countries and on three continents (including our own) to wish them Merry Christmas and hear all about their special days.  What a blessing.

 After all our precious family had gone home, the girls were tucked in bed, and the skype was disconnected, Jake and I ended the day with our first game of Bananagrams, one of my stocking stuffers.  I love the game- a variation of Scrabble- and I have conveniently won every time we have played this week.  Good gift, Jake.

Merry Christmas, all, and happy birthday, Jesus!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is spent with Jake's side of the family- great food and great fellowship at Jake's Aunt Janet and Uncle Rick's. Betsy introduced this dip to the family in the last year, and it is, shall we say, addictive and popular.  I brought it her honor. There are two precious boys who have been added this year, and here is sweet Hudson is just five weeks old!  

 His cousin Caleb was as curious, busy, and full of things to say as 10 month olds are!

 Cousin Marcus and Abby Jane...

Caleb was fascinated by Abby Jane- or maybe it was the candy cane on her dress. We were lacking two families and missed them dearly, but it was still a really sweet evening, even with some of our normal crew lacking.

 When we got home, it was PJ and Santa's cookie time.  If you'll notice, the girls aren't in Christmas pj's.  Maybe y'all have more than one pair for your kids, but we don't and wanted to make sure theirs were... fresh as a daisy on Christmas morning! :) The things you don't consider pre-kids...

 Abby Jane handwrote her tags on the twins' gifts, for which she did chores in order to go shopping for.

The letters for "Blythe" are all there- just not in order.  I figure at age three, it's not important to push that yet.

 Christmas Eve as parents sure is fun. ;) We were even in bed by midnight!

Sugar

It is a family tradition on my side to make sugar cookies at Christmas.  Usually this involves 16 pairs of hands, so Abby Jane and I had quite a bit of work to do on Christmas Eve morning.  We started at 7:15 a.m.

 Jake took the twins out for a date to Waffle House and to help them shop for Abby Jane while she and worked away in the kitchen.

When they got back from their date, it was decorating time. Decorating cookies with two and three year olds is much like painting with them.  You're excited to do it, glad you're doing it, and really glad when it's over and you have the finished product and memory complete.

 This is double tasking at its best.

 I love how sprinkles stick to the shaker when you dip the shaker in frosting.

 Taste test.

I would love to take this opportunity to mention pecan pies.  I made two types this year: a bourbon pecan pie that was quite delish, and the below-pictured caramel pecan pie that we had on Christmas Day and really loved. It's from my Aunt Boo's third cookbook that she just completed and is only one of the plethora of fantastic recipes in her lastest collection!

Christmas Adam

With this Christmas being a different one than years past since our family is currently a bit scattered to the winds, we had the opportunity to do more with friends than we usually get to, as you've seen in the past few posts. Another super-fun outing was going to the zoo just two days before Christmas with two dear other families AND the dads, who don't usually get to join us!  

 It was so fun to have the dads be a part of our normal zoo crew!

 Jake and his harem.

Joy hopped up with Mr. Brian on the train- which makes sense, since his son looks more like her twin than her real twin. This was our first day to ride the train, and it was such a treat for the girls!

 The next treat was getting to do the merry-go-round- our very first with the girls! It was so fun to have Jake be there to experience all the fun.  So often the moms get to have these neat times with your kids, then relate the whole story that night, which is part of why I'm an obsessive photographer. I want Jake to get to see and be a part as much as he can.  But being there in person is best of all.  Abby Jane and Joy climbed right up and were ready for action.

 Blythe preferred the tandem ride experience, which suited me fine.  I love snuggling my sweet Blythe.

 That night, we went to another Cartersville Christmas specialty (the parade being the crown jewel)... the lights of Pettit Creek Farms from the best seats in the house- the back of Bop Bop's old pickup truck.

Approaching the lights- the sky looked really neat...

We all had a really good time.

 What trip to see Christmas lights would be complete without live camels?

 The live nativity scene was the highlight for the girls- they talked about that the most, especially the sparkly, fancy angel you can see a little in this picture.  Abby Jane wanted to know how she got there.  It became a long conversation.

We love these fun memories with Mimi and Bop Bop!! By the way, Christmas Adam is the day before Christmas Eve.  I know- it's a horrible joke.  Jake rethinks his choice of a wife every time I throw that one out there.