Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, the kids got up around 8-8:30. My parents joined us around 9:45 for all the morning festivities, so we had time to shower, get dressed and eat a light breakfast.

My parents live 90 minutes away, but they got up bright and early so they could watch the kids open their gifts from Jay and I and our out of town family. Jay and I got the kids three gifts: camelback water bottles; kid-sized snow shovels and snowshoes.

The kids were so proud of themselves as they got us gifts at their preschool and there were several homemade gifts which we loved! Also, they bought each other their stocking stuffers for the second year in a row, which worked out so well. Definitely a tradition to be continued!

Jonathan showing off this ornament he made with Baba and Pappy. I am wearing my blue beaded necklace Faith got for me.


Jay got me a great ball cap I was hoping for!




Showing off their snowshoes-Jonathan was a bit more excited about his than Faith was. We are hoping to take a trip this winter to practice show shoeing, drink gallons of hot cocoa and visit a hot tub!


The kids got these great Melissa and Doug dress-up outfits from Aunt Katie and Uncle Kevin.





Smile Pappy! (Pappy took all of these pictures for me so I could enjoy Christmas morning, and so I could pry toys out of their packaging.)


Jay working on the hams. They were so good!

Jay had to take his mom to the airport at noon, and so the kids, Baba and Pappy and I went to my grandparents house.


Cousin Kaylee as an angel for the Christmas play.


"Joseph," "Mary" and one of Faith's baby dolls as Jesus.

What a great way to get a glimpse of the true meaning of Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a great day for Faith. She was happy, smiley, and thrilled by everything we did. As such, I got some nice pictures of her.


Faith with Mimi.


Mama and Faith at Cafe Kolache. We shared our favorite-ham and Swiss kolache. Yum!


Jonathan and I. He was so full of grouchy faces that I joined right in!


A view of the street in Beaver, PA. Love this town!


Faith cozying up to the giant LEGO man outside of the local toy store.


Love this photo of the two of them dreaming about what might be under the tree!


Our sorry attempt at a family photo. The kids were so uncooperative that Jay and I joined in!


Hey! At least we were happy!!!


Our lunch at our favorite pizza place. Note how Jonathan is covering his eyes with a straw!


Our timing was off and we were early to church, so we let the kids run around in the play area. Here comes Faith!!!


Getting closer!!!


One of my all-time favorites of Faith-this is her true smile.


This photo of Jonathan is a bit grainy, but it was one of the only smiles I saw on him the whole day.


Kinda goofy smiles, but note the sibling similarities!


Posing in front of the giant Christmas tree at church.




Faith decided to act out the scene from the "Sound of Music" where the kids sing "So Long, Farewell."


After the 3:00pm church service, we came home and Mimi and I whipped up the appetizers we were feasting on for dinner.


And then it was time to open our gifts from Mimi. She had to head to the airport at noon on Christmas, so we wanted to give the kids time to open and play with their gifts from her.


Faith opening up her Cinderella baby doll (who has been snuggled in beside her at bedtime ever since!)




Jonathan opening up his awesome hot wheels race track that sticks to a wall.






The kids showing off their new digital cameras!


Jonathan playing with his race track-due to the chair rail on his walls, the only place the track would fit was his closet mirrors-how fun is that?!

What a great day it turned out to be, even for this little kid!

Christmas Decorations and the Annual Decorating of the Sugar Cookies

On Christmas Eve, after setting up the gifts and stockings, I snapped a few pictures of our house. Our tree was looking quite droopy by this point, and the branches were wimpy so the ornaments kept sliding off and were re-arranged at lease a dozen times! Poor tree was delivered to the garbage men on December 26th. This mama is a little too concerned about fire-safety and that tree was close to kindling! (Note our cat sitting in front of the fireplace.)


I just love our nativity. My sister-in-law, Katie gave the set to us 8 years ago for our wedding gift, and I have been grateful for it every year when I unpack the decorations. Couldn't have picked a better one myself, Kate! Thank you!


The chairs on the wall were a find at a yard sale 5 years ago. They were original to a one-roomed school house.


This little pencil tree was decorated with all of my rustic decorations by Jonathan and Faith. I am thinking about leaving it up so they can decorate it for Valentines Day.


Faith and Jonathan were so proud of themselves when they brought home their nativity sets they made at preschool. What a treasure!


Our tree this year was a shorty, so I propped it up on crates, and then draped it with a tree skirt. Under the tree quickly became the cat's new favorite napping spot.


On the 23rd, we decorated sugar cookies. Well, Jay, Maureen, Faith and Jonathan decorated, and I did the fetching and cleaning-up, mainly after Faith. Seconds after starting, she dropped (and emptied) an entire container of sprinkles. Oh Faith. Disaster seems to follow her everywhere!

What fun memories we were able to make! And I am glad we had such a great Christmas week, because last night Jonathan puked all over his bed and today Faith has a 102* temp! Ho Ho Ho! At least we aren't missing any school this week, and the kids were able to watch their new DVD of Charlotte's Web while they are recuperating!