Aaaahhhh....relaxation.

No schedule.

Naps optional.

Sand in the toes. {Sand, everywhere}

Family.

Fresh Oranges {and fresh juice}

Big breakfast.

Skip lunch.

Yummy dinner.

Sidewalk chalk.

Ice cream

Hi Ho Cheerio... a lot of times.

Wagon rides

Shorts and sweatshirts.

Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakel.

Salty Air

Cool breezes

Lawn chairs

oh and lots of familiar faces

Kinda like Daviess Co. in Sarasota, FL

Christmas {quick}

Christmas Post {QUICK}

It was so much fun.

The boys' grins were big.

And their eyes very sparkly.

Our hearts were filled with the hope of the birth of our Christ Jesus

and the Magic of the Season, too.

We celebrated Christmas Eve at my family's homeplace.

It was joyous, aunts and uncles, twenties of grandkids and twenties of great-grandkids.

We read the Christmas story as each family member listened.

We set out Milk and Cookies for Santa

and

The reindeer food that sam made at preschool (oatmeal and glitter)

And daddy read The Night Before Christmas

and

Would you believe that some of the cookies were gone, milk was drank, and

the reindeer food was scattered when we awoke on

Christmas Day

Santa was good to these two sweeties.

They were glad they were not forgotten!

And then we were glad to spend the day with my family

before

heading out for FLORIDA...

we are here now...loving the family time.

More later!

Christmas Card Picture Follies...

Click here to view these pictures larger

Christmas Goodness!

So, I am working today.

Would love to be at home with my sweeties on Christmas Eve.

{But really, I may have just put off way to much still until today otherwise}

And my day began with some Christmas Goodness from my co-worker.

I will just spend my day spreading Christmas Cheer

 to those that need their own Christmas Candy {pain meds, hrumph}.

And let DH make the taco salad to take to our celebration tonight- Bonus.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

to me...

Nothing new, just missed.

Today I got my camera back from repair

Nothing fancy, just familiar and trustworthy.

Now I cannot wait to capture those Christmas smiles

and 20 toes in the sand...{wink,smile!}

Oh, and Merry Christmas to all of you to - hope Christmas brings you something cherished and familiar.

Sharing Cookies

So, I thought the last post was cute.  And then, as I finished it.  Joe woke up from his nap and Sam was so excited to share his cookies with Joe.  He showed them to daddy and then asked if we could get the sprinkles out so that Joe could decorate cookies, too.  So that is what we did!

Finger licking good.

Cookies Anyone?

Sam and I helped decorate a lot of cookies today.

Daddy and Joey had to stay home because Joe has a cough and slight fever {boo}

We went to my Grandma's house and decorated with all my cousins and my cousins' children.  I don't think there is anything more fun and rewarding than being with extended family.  I really like it, stretch out, relax, laugh, talk, and enjoy.  Did I mention we were decorating cookies?

I am sad that Joe had to miss it because his 3 girl friend cousins Ella, Ava, and Landrey who are all his age were there.  And no worries, Sam had plenty of attention from Uncle Scott. 

And there was lots of other activites going on too, this the sam living room that I have had Christmas Eve in for 33 years.  I love the afghan behind Sam, it reminds me so much of my Granny Two-Shoes.

Sydney stuck with helping the little ones make cookies.  She really has a heart and patience for younger kids and Cole, he just likes younger kids toys.  I can see your 16th birthday announcement in the paper little buddy.  Should have thought twice about picking up that doll in front of your auntie who always has a camera...

And the mastermind behind all this cookies/sprinkle madness?  My Aunt Polly {and all of her sisters}... Thank you Aunt Polly for beginning to bake cookies at 7am this am {she was still baking at 2pm this afternoon}.  And for buying all the colors/ shapes of sprinkles any small child could ask for.  It was a lot of fun to let them pour away, they got to decorate as many as their little heart desired.  And that, my friend, is what they did!

Mamaw's Christmas

We went to Mamaw and Papaw's.

They are Grandma and Grandpa to Sam {most of the time}, he sometimes says mamaw and papaw.

But clearly they are mamaw and papaw to Joe {all of the time}.

We usually have this family Christmas time on Christmas Day evening, but we will be headed to Florida at that time to spend a week with this family, so we gathered early.

Mamaw is very thoughtful on her gifts.  She fills each boys' handmade stocking with things they like.  They get socks and underwear, small toys, a card game and some candy.  And for their gifts this year...Sam will tell you that his suitcase {with wheels}, absolutely could not be beat.  Unless of course you asked Joe who got the John Deere Harvester set from daddy's work, or if you asked Dryce who got the ESPN Basketball game. 

We took some time enjoying each toy and then played the game that Grandma got her big boys, Blockus and the ever important game of Rook.  I have a feeling that some more of this will be played in Florida.

Preschool Christmas

Ruldolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

So glad the he has Drew to share this with.

And Kyleigh, too.

Santa came to visit each child.  He was very authentic.

Each child took a turn sitting on Santa's lap.

Sam told Santa he wanted a bike.  {hmmmmm}

A Star Topper

Been wishing all season that I had a tree topper for our Christmas tree.

Tonight we made our own, very special toppers.

The best part according to Sam was using the safety scissors.

Proud of their creations!

And I am proud of the paper chains they made with Mamaw and Papaw this year.

Our 1st Ornament - a gift from our wedding.  Not sure we looked like this?

And this is one of my favorites - my parents 1st ornament from 1967.

Let the Celebrations Begin

Today we began to celebrate the season that marks Our Savior's Birth.

What better way to begin than by attending church

and then lunch at Grandma's with the Stoll family.

We are operating on a borrowed camera. {I am responsible, wink}

It only has a 2 second self timer, we laughed out loud

as mommy tried to race back to the camera.

But we were dressed in our Christmas best,\

so I wasn't about to miss a memory.

Sam ran around this morning with socks on his hands?

He is so proud of his Fisher Price mini school bus ornament -

 this year is his 1st year of preschool.

And Joe is in love with his Thomas the Train ornament.

After church we gathered with the local Stoll's - this is about 1/4 of the whole bunch.

But a very merry bunch.

I can remember when the teens {and twenties} at this end of the big table

used to sit at this table.

Sam and Joe at lunch with Dryce.

And we sang Joy to the World.

Oh, and we didn't miss the Colts game either.

Go Colts!!