Merry Christmas!

As you can see. . .

Graydon has the Christmas spirit.

Bella has the Christmas spirit.

But Curtis?  Hmmm. . .

Bella took a beautiful picture.

Graydon gave a fantastic smile.


Curtis?  Not in the mood.   (I was feeling lazy/rushed and opted out of an under shirt for him.  Mistake.  He refused to zip it up and this is the look we ended up with). 


In his defense, he hasn't been feeling well.  He has a mild case of croup - the barking cough mainly flares up at night.  But then his nose started running.  Not quite feeling like himself.   

Of course, after our second Christmas Eve service, he perked right up.  He was even climbing over the pews.  Not quite sure where the sudden burst of energy came from!  At least he smiled (and stood still) for this picture - even if his eyes were closed. 


Christmas Morning!

Present time!


But first, lighting our last Advent candle and singing 'Happy Birthday' to Jesus. 


Each kid in our family gets three presents.

Bella: Blingles kit, Earring holder, and Doll Armoire

Graydon: Tinker Toys, Paper Jamz guitar, and Jack and the Neverland Pirates tent (shared with Curtis)

Curtis: Stomp Rocket, Paper Jamz guitar, and Jack and the Neverland Pirates tent (shared with Graydon)








I love that both boys were totally cool with sharing their third present.  No complaints and just excitement!








After the kids opened their presents from under the tree, we brought out a ton more from church friends and the Texas Benetti family.  These are some well-loved kids!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!


Wisconsin here we come!

Christmas Programs

'Tis the season for Christmas programs!  Between church, Bella's school, and Graydon's school, we were really ushered into the Christmas spirit.

Here's some photos from our church program.










Bella was Mary this year!


Graydon was a king.








Curtis was a lamb.


That following Wednesday was the program at Bella's school:  'Our House is a Holiday House'.


And then Graydon's preschool program was on Friday. 

We were all responsible for our kids' costumes.  I intended to borrow a shepherd costume from our church - but they were all just too big.  I didn't realize that until the night before the program.  After a quick Google search, I was able to find materials from my house (a pillowcase and a large piece of fabric) and put his Shepherd costume together in about 20 minutes.  And it didn't cost anything!






The shepherds said, "I wish I were a shepherd, so I could go and see the baby born in Bethlehem, asleep on Mary's knee." 


Here are some of the video highlights from the three programs.  A little disclaimer on Graydon's program - I didn't have our video camera with me (forgot to charge the battery) and ended up using my cell phone.  I couldn't zoom with it and the footage was tiny - so I only included video from the end of the program when he was walking offstage. 

Cell Phone Pics: November/December

Curtis gets some good Mommy/Daddy time on Wednesday mornings when it's Andy's day off.  Morning snuggles at Starbucks.


Bella really loves to read to her brothers.


Decisions.  Decisions. 


Balloon animals from a birthday party:  a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (Curtis called it an "inja turtle". 


All three sitting quietly at the table doing a Christmas crafts.  Moments like these are rare, but they do happen. 


Curtis helped make the brownies for Bella's class birthday treat. 


Graydon wrapped a few candles for our Christmas Eve candle light service. 


On my mom's last day in town, we spent the day in historic Smithville, NJ.  Over 60 cute little shops, a short train ride, and a Christmas light display on the water.  We started the day out with some hot chocolate. 


The train wasn't running at first due to rain.  We actually spent quite a bit of time in an indoor arcade.  But then the rain stopped and the train started! 






Girls Day!  Bella and I went to see the NJ Ballet perform The Nutcracker. 


In our seats and ready for the show to start!


At the end, she got an autograph and photo with the Sugar Plum Fairy. 


Kitchen projects with the kids.  This one is only a little messy and the kids can pretty much do it on their own. 


Winter has barely begun and we've already had two small snow storms! We even had a snow day!




A lazy afternoon.


The answer to our "ice cream park". Some friends recommended an ice cream parlour that has a carnival theme.  Worked for us!


The mirrors were a super hit.


And then we went to a park that still had some ice on the ground from our latest snow. An "ice park".  Close enough.






Christmas cookie time!