'Twas the Weekend of Christmas

I must have been really good this past year because Chris and the kids gave me a new laptop for my birthday. Finally, I can blog again!

My birthday was on Friday, so we kicked off the weekend with dinner at Bonefish and a movie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Sorry, no pictures were taken.

The following morning, Aunt Sara swung by to pick up the kids for their annual bake day with Nana. Nana sent me these pictures. I was told that Evan immediately sprinkled flour all over himself to prove that he had been hard at work in the kitchen. Ha!

On Christmas Eve, we attended an awesome service at our church. After the service, it snowed, one of the many reasons that I love our church! You can always find snow on Christmas Eve at Evangel!

That afternoon, we headed to the country for a Christmas celebration at Nana and Granddaddy's.

If you aren't able to tell from the following pictures, we couldn't get enough of Baby Aubryana!

There is nothing sweeter than a great grandmother with her grandchild!

I have to caption this next photo!

Aubryana: " What do you expect me to do with all of this?"

This girl was beside herself when she opened her gift from Aunt Sara, an iPod. Now she can FaceTime with Aunt Sara. Oh, no!

After a fun-filled afternoon at Nana's, we headed back to our house to prepare for Santa's arrival.

The kids set out milk and cookies for Santa before going to bed.

I snapped this picture after Santa's arrival.

On Christmas morning, the kids searched the tree for our Christmas pickle to see who would get to open the first present. Evan found it!

Lola, Jerry, and my brothers showed up for a late lunch. And, the kids opened more presents.

I didn't take very many pictures, although I wish I had while the sun was still out. This was the best picture that I managed to get of my brothers and me. It's been a while since we've taken a sibling photo.

There you have it, our very full and fun Christmas, filled with Christ, cookies, family, food, and gifts. We are very blessed and thankful. Most of all, we're thankful for gift of a baby boy that would one day save us all. I hope that everyone had a blessed and Merry Christmas!!

All Aboard the North Pole Express...Again

We rode the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum's North Pole Express again this year! It's a bit of a drive, about an hour away from home, but the kids love it! This year, we invited our friend Carly to board the train with us.

We took these pictures while we waited on the train to return for our own departure.

Chris isn't too keen on the train ride. He has a "been there, done that" attitude when it comes to it, so he very willingly gave up his ticket to Carly. The tickets have been sold out for months, so we didn't have the option of buying an extra ticket at the depot. I don't like driving long distances, so Chris still drove us there. I tell you all this to make a point about how funny life is. The lady waiting behind us in line overheard Chris mention that he was going back to the car to wait for us. She stopped Chris and handed him a ticket saying that she had an extra. Did I mention that the tickets have been sold out for months?! Ha! Chris didn't get out of it this time!

I love when the kids wear matching PJ's!

Chris refuses to wear PJ's in public.

We took a ride a short ride to the North Pole. Is amazing how fast we were able to get there, almost as if it were magic.;) Oh, the anticipation!

We had to wait for the big man to make his way through the train, but the elves kept us company while we waited.

Finally, it was our turn!

They all asked Santa for hoverboards! Ha! At least Evan didn't ask this Santa for a puppy!

Afterward, the chef elves brought us cookies and chocolate milk and we sang Christmas songs all the way back to the depot.

We got home late and Carly slept over. The next day, we decorated gingerbread houses from the kit that the kids received during our North Pole Breakfast.

We had enough pieces to make five houses in our gingerbread village. However, we ran out of icing and candy. Below is how I displayed them with Evan's painting of a gingerbread house. He is quite the little artist.

It was so much fun and I'm glad that we got to experience this with Carly. I love experiencing the magic and fun of Christmas with children!

Santa Pictures {2017}

Every year with the exception of Chloe's first Christmas, my mom, AKA Lola, has brought the kids to our local mall to see and take pictures with Santa. This year was no exception. 

I love sharing these moments. To be honest, I'm not quite sure how much longer they will last. Chloe and Evan are already at the age where they don't like taking pictures. You know, because it's such a burden. Hmm. One day, they'll put an end to their annual Santa visit. Will my momma heart survive? I just don't know. For now, I'll soak up every second of their childhoods (and Santa) that I can.

2015 Santa Pictures
2016 Santa Pictures

Nutcracker Ballet & A Charlie Brown Christmas

True to our Christmas traditions, Chloe and I attended the Montgomery Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker.

Of course, photography is not allowed during the performance, but we attended the Sugar Plum Fairy Party after the ballet. Chloe got to meet and take pictures with several of the dancers.

Chloe and I look forward to this time together every Christmas season.

Evan has felt left out with this tradition, so a couple of years ago, I decided to institute a mother-son date every December. We've done dinner and a movie in the past, but this year I decided that we should go and see a play. We watched the Way Off Broadway Theatre's production of A Charlie Brown Christmas. The cast was made up entirely of children and teenagers. It was fantastic! I was so impressed with the talent.

There was even a "dance party" at the end. Evan got really shy and embarrassed when he was asked to dance, so we had to make a quick exit. Other than that, we loved the performance. 

We cherish our traditions. What Christmas traditions do you look forward to each year?