Christmas Day

(Totally forgot to add this cute pic from the Christmas Eve service...so I'm adding it here!)

By the way--that is a giant mint in Colin's mouth, in case you were wondering!

Christmas morning we got all dolled up again and headed back to church.

This smile of Lola's kills me!

Sweet Ethan and Cameron, in almost identical poses

Our friends' daughter matched Lola--and no, we didn't plan that! 

Had to snap a picture of the adorable little ladies.

Our adult choir sang a lovely cantata with several songs by Travis Cottrell (so that tells you how good they were!) After the music there was a bit of preaching--all to reflect the goodness of God to send His Son for us!

Some pictures by the tree after the morning service.

My mom, Lola and I

Our family

And one of Grandma Jane and the kids.

Then it was back home to open presents from Grandma Jane. 

The boys all got brand new backpacks (Ethan picked JETS green)....

 ....and brand new lunchboxes with their names on them!

Cameron chose a bright yellow backpack.

Just like his personality!

Then came the LEGOS!! A new, huge hit with our boys.

Daddy got an awesome new Adidas jacket from Grandma Jane, too.

Grandma got a big surprise--a new Keurig!

The boys also got Bears knit hats and matching gloves from Grandma.

Ethan, as usual, had to model his!

Then Grandma opened her favorite gift--a shutterfly calendar. 

She loves to get these each year.

Lola got a new PINK coat, a PINK lunchbox with her name on it, and what else? 

A PINK backpack!

It is not only me who thinks it is so much fun having a girl after three boys!

Remember that picture of the angel on the wrapping paper, with the flipped out hair?

*grin*

After gift opening, we spent some time playing.

The boys and Grandma making crayons

This thing is really pretty cool, and a great use of old crayons!

It definitely held the boys' interest for several hours.

Lola decided to dress up....

....and there's that smile again!

Love this girl.

It was a tiring, fun-filled day and we loved every minute of it!

Christmas Eve program at Grape Creek

For the past four years, we have had a children's program at our church on Christmas Eve, and I have had the privilege of directing it. This year was absolutely the most fun I have had yet--the program we did was wonderful! Plus, with all of 'my' church children getting older, we can do more things. It just keeps getting better and better!

My friends were gracious to take some pictures for me, since I was directing.

Ethan, heading up to the stage--all smiles! 

You will see that is a common theme throughout the evening.

He marched right up to his spot, beaming the whole time. 

He was one of the youngest on the stage, but you sure wouldn't know it by how grown-up he acted!

A moment later, Colin and Cameron filed in behind him.

{Colin's expression kills me!}

There they are! The children of Grape Creek Baptist Church.

Ethan, making his way up to the microphone for his line.

You will notice in many of the pictures that his hands didn't leave his pockets the whole time.

Ethan, Wyatt (middle, son of one of my best friends), and Cameron all had lines regarding the shepherds.

Ethan: "They were poor!"

Wyatt: "They were outcasts!"

Cameron: "They were definitely at the bottom of the food chain!"

There were lots of giggles from those three adorable lines!

Later, Chloe (daughter of same said friend) and Colin said their lines.

Instead of going back to his seat when his line was done, Colin stayed at the microphone. 

I was so proud of him--he sang a solo (his second ever--last year he sang one in the adult program) 

and did a wonderful job. No nervousness here--he has clearly fallen FAR from the tree on that one.

The boys' cousin Mason (my cousin Haley's son) had some lines too!

This looks semi-dorky. But it's just how I roll. *grin*

I had to end this post with the memories I have of Ethan. 

Being the director, I have to focus on all of the children--but, even if he was not my son, Ethan just could not help but stand out. This child worked so hard learning all of the words of all five songs we sung. He listened to the CD over and over (and over and over) until he knew the lyrics better than I did! And he sand his little heart out that night. 

I have--I counted--21 pictures that include him, with almost this exact same expression in every shot: mouth open wide, singing and smiling! So many others commented to me also, how well he sung and knew the words. 

As a singer myself, I feel so blessed that God has given me 

a little guy who loves to do something that I love too!

And who is so CUTE doing it!

Christmas Eve Day

With Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, things in the present-opening-department went a little bit differently.

Backing up to Friday afternoon, I got a huge surprise when I walked in the door after a couple
of afternoon errands.  Shane had bought, picked up, and installed a new hutch for me in my
dining room while I was out! It was one I had seen months ago and commented on.
We both really liked it--needless to say, it was a wonderful gift.
Shane was ready for me and got a great shot of the shock on my face!

The next day, Saturday morning, we decided on a whim to open presents that day.
We didn't want to have to rush through everything to get to church in time and have it be hectic;
we were so glad we did that!
We did stocking first. Lola was so excited!

The boys had the opportunity (at school) to spend some of their money in 'Santa's workshop'.

Our PTO puts it on, and they have some really cute things that are very reasonably priced, 

so that the children can pick out their own presents for Dad, Mom, or siblings. 

Colin used his very own cleaning money and bought me this ornament 

(as did Cameron--so I am very luck to own two of them!)

And he also used his own money to buy Lola a very special necklace.

It is a black rope style necklace (perfect for the breakage factor) with a pink cross on the end.

She loves it and wears it all the time!

Then it was on to the boys' gift for their sister. 

They all picked it out for her and couldn't wait for her to open it.

I love the look on her face when she saw all of the dress up inside!

Immediately, the items had to be taken out and put on Lolee. They just could not wait.

The boys opened up lots of goodies. I love to shop clearance all year round, and stash it away in a box. When Christmas came this year, I felt like I hardly had to buy anything because we had so much already and had gotten it all so inexpensively! Two birds with one stone. *grin*

Anything BEARS always brings smiles to their faces!

I found these great gift sets last year, late winter, for $4 apiece! 

Each came with a t-shirt, a hat, and a football. Score!

Ethan was so cute. All day, anything he got had to be immediately put on. 

Hence, the Mario pajama pants!

And the Bears sweatshirt...I could have posted five different shots of him wearing different things!

Cameron, just having opened a new Bears sweatshirt

And Colin, with his sweatshirt!

The Lolee girl opened up her second big present:

A Veggie Tales Nativity set that sings her favorite song, Away in a Manger!

She saw this in the store and loved it immediately. 

I knew we had to get it for her and she plays with it all the time.

The boys have had so much fun with this Crayola crayon maker. Hours of creativity.

Love Ethan's face. This child absolutely adores anything Imaginext!

At the very end, we gave Daddy his gift. Does the shape give anything away? *giggle*

A new guitar! Shane has been asking for one and if you remember, even Cameron asked Mrs. Claus for one for Daddy! The boys wanted him to take it out right away, and as we suspected, he loved it.

We had so much fun Christmas Eve day....after a few hours playing with all our new fun things, it was off to our Church's Christmas Eve program! 

To be continued....