Christmas Memories

Afternoon, y'all!  I really thought this week would be a little busier on my little blog-o; but keeping up with my kiddos and getting back to school, church activities, and basketball practice schedules, aside from the fact that I'm in serious organizing mode, has kept me on my toes so much, that once all is said and done at the end of the day, I barely have enough energy left to put myself to bed.  I also think the busyness of the holiday season has simply run me dry.  We really did have a wonderful Christmas, though!

Stockings couldn't even wait for the Christmas story.

But we were sure to take a time out for such...

 

before refilling the coffee mugs and diving into big gifts.

You all already saw the goofy picture on Christmas day, but here we are being nice in everyone's new championship tees.

The rest of the day was spent playing with new toys, watching Christmas movies, and enjoying fabulous food.

We ran out of time to decorate our favorite sugar cookies, but they didn't get forgotten.  We just saved them for another day.

On Christmas Eve, we made the trek to celebrate with my parents and sisters and brother and their families.  I was so excited to give this year's gifts, that I didn't even take any real pictures beforehand.  Among other things, we got my parents this beautiful print from Words Work Prints.  Marina was super easy to work with, and I was uber pleased with the quality of the overall design.  I highly recommend this etsy seller!

We put together "snow day" kits for my sisters and their families, and they were a big hit!  The kits included the following:

• Dunkin' Donuts coffee (my favorite)
• hot cocoa
• pancake mix
• specialty Silver Dollar City syrup, that we picked up on our trip to Branson this fall
• indoor snowballs
• board game
• DVD

My brother and his wife received the food portion of the package above, minus the hot cocoa, as well as a pretty, vintage, Christmas towel and coffee mugs...

and a gift for the baby on the way, too.  Yay!

Plus, my kiddos got all kinds of things to keep them entertained.  (My niece couldn't resist touching those curls, which reminds me that I've got pics to share of Kaden's first haircut.  I went through with it, and it looks like those curls are around for the long haul.  Woohoo!)

And I couldn't resist sharing a picture of my brother-in-law taking a snooze during all the activity...

or this one of Kaden playing with a new toy with his cheeks stuffed with Pfeffernuse...

or this one (I promise this is the last.) of the mermaid bag that my sister-in-law made for Adina.  She didn't even know that I got Adina and Kaden mermaid and shark duvet covers for their new, shared bedroom for Christmas.

That about covers things this go around, but so much has happened since my last Family Update post, that I've got to stop waiting so long to share.  I'll have my top ten creations of 2015 coming your way tomorrow.  Until then, thanks so much for checking in on us, and have a great night!