Christmas Eve Jammies, Cookies etc.

When we got home from the Foreman's on Christmas Eve we did some of our traditional Christmas Eveing...

Opening pajamas from g. Lynn and g. Steve

the kids showing off their new sleepwear :)

some rare brother/sister affection

my babies..why are they getting so big?

Ty reading the Christmas story out of the BIG bible...just like my dad used to do. Don't tell my sister I have it at my house...I'm thinking she might not like that.

acting out the nativity...Maggie wrapping up "baby Jesus"

some wisemen delivering gifts

and at the end of the night treats for the big guy and his reindeer

a photo of the living room Christmas eve.

ty always does snowflakes with the kids, so cute.

for lia

for maggie

for jax

Merry Christmas! :)

Christmas Eve Party

On Christmas Eve we went to a party at the Foreman household. They are such sweet friends and invited several families over for the evening. I think there were 14 children under the age of 8 running around there house....on Christmas Eve of all nights, so needless to say it was very nice of them to host. We had great food and enjoyed chatting, singing carols etc.

Thanks to all of our friends..we love you!

the goodies

April's pretty centerpiece Maggie, Lena and Lucy watching Rudolph in the basement

cute Clare in Christmas jammies

Ty and Jason played some songs so we could all sing along

the tiny ones just chilling on the floor (Jane and Hailee)

Me snugging on baby Jane, and my friend Kathleen (mom of said baby)

all the kids jammin' with their jingle bells

super cute Upton-Rowley kids

Jason and April's son Nate...do you think he's excited it's Christmas Eve?

Lia played a few of her Christmas songs for everyone...they were a great audience

more music

Thank you April and Jason for such a fun night! :)

christmas goodies

A few pics of some Christmas goodies that went out the door during the holidays. Ty thinks it's totally weird that I take pictures of food, but I like to look back and remember what we made....

Am i the only one?

see that Army and their Salvation band

We signed up to ring the Salvation Army bell for family night the 1st week of December. I have always wanted to volunteer, but it seems like December gets busy and then I forget to sign up. This year I remember and we were excited. We had a 2 hour time slot in front of the Neenah Shopko. Ty brought along his guitar and played some holiday tunes for the shoppers. The kids seemed to enjoy ringing the bells..and only fought a little bit about whose bell had the better sounding ring. Between the guitar music and the children we had a very full bucket by the end of he night. The hope is that the kids learned a little bit about giving at a time of year that seems to be increasingly selfish. It was a chilly Wisconsin evening so we stopped at Starbucks for donuts and hot chocolate on our way home. Here are some pictures of our night.

my cute hubby...do you love that he is rockin' a Santa hat as he plays.

he has a such a good heart...i love him

Oshkosh Lights/Visit with Santa

Mid December we made our annual trip down to the Oshkosh festival of lights with the kiddos. They love the lights, the live reindeer and visiting with Santa. I think we are to the point that they are no longer scared to death of the big man in red.... which is nice.

Hot cocoa, candy canes and Ty's Christmas mix blaring away in the car....it was a very fun night!

Jaxon just got his Packers jammie pants from grandma in the mail, he was not interested in putting on real pants for this outing. Ty and Mags checking out the reindeer

the whole crew in Santa's sleigh with Santa

I think Maggie is our only child that will eat a peppermint candy cane..

she enjoyed it the rest of the night, and was a huge bundle of stickiness when we got home