Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a fun and busy day!

We started off the day with a trip to see the airplanes and space shuttle

at the Udvar-Hazy Center

of the National Air and Space Museum.

It's a perfect place to take toddlers on cold or rainy days

because there is plenty of room to run around

and because the museum's observation tower

is a SUPER fun place to watch planes

land at Dulles airport!

Matthew really enjoyed all the new sights and sounds -
and then he crashed!

Matthew looks so grown up in his new "big boy" car seat!

(Can you believe that he has already outgrown the infant carrier???)

(Oh - and kindly ignore the tantrum occuring to the right -

guess it was naptime!)

In the afternoon (after naps!),

we enjoyed a Christmas Eve service designed especially for kids

at our church.

And then we went home to decorate cupcakes

for our birthday party for Jesus!

I wish I had pictures of our yummy Christmas Eve meal!

We found some new recipes that I'll definitely use againIn all the hustle and bustle,

it was really hard to get a good picture of the entire family!

This is the closest we got -

while reading to the kids right before bedtime.

After the children were nestled all snug in their beds,

we participated in another time-honored Christmas Eve tradition...

TOY ASSEMBLY!

This years "some assembly required" toy

was a train table.

It took 4 grown-ups to get it all figured out.

But the results were pretty magnificent!

And then it was time to sleep!

Quiet Family Evening at Home

On December 23rd, we enjoyed a quiet evening at home with the kids.

First, we carried on our holiday tradition of building a gingerbread house.

Kate really loved helping this year!We don't have many pictures of the actual decorating part

because supervising Kate with all that candy

was an "all hands on deck" project!

Then, we had a casual meal.

Finally, we read the last of our Advent devotions.

I can't believe how quickly December went this year!

Christmas Eve Eve

We had a fun Christmas play date

with cousins Abby and Barret

this morning!

Grandma made adorable Dr. Seuss aprons

for each of the kids -

the girls wanted to leave them on all morning!

By the way,

I dare you to try to get 3 kids to

stand still

and look at the camera

AND smile

at the same time!

But, you get the idea!

Matthew enjoyed hanging out in his bouncy seat...

... while the older kids decorated Christmas cookies

And made Christmas cards!

Kate, Matthew & One Miss Daisy Visit Santa

So, Kate was a little timid

when it came time to sit on Santa's lap this year.

But it was definitely more fun than last year!

Kate was pretty chatty with Santa.

She apologized that we left her letter on the kitchen counter

(oops! that was definitely my fault!),

told him that she would like a

Thomas set and a pillow pet

for Christmas,

and promised to be a good girl!

Matthew, on the other hand, didn't say much.

Early Christmas!

Christmas came early this year

in the form of a visit with Gran and Pop!

While they were here,

we enjoyed a fun family dinner

at Nana and Great Pop's house.

(Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures!

Guess I had my hands full with the kiddos!)

And my parents gave Kate and Matthew
their Christmas presents!
What a great art easel?!?

Here is Matthew opening his very first Christmas present!

This isn't a great picture by any means -

but it does show just how tall Matthew is!

Kinda amazing, huh?

These are 9-month pajamas!

Let it Snow!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Kate was so excited when it snowed last week!

It was a pretty light dusting -

but that didn't put a damper on Kate's enthusiasm -

or her insistence that we build a snowman!

Pop went to great lengths to help make that happen for her.

The snow was pretty dry -

and there wasn't much of it.

So, our attempt at a traditional, vertical

snowman was a bit sad.

So, Pop put on this thinking cap

and came up with an alternative!

The bas relief snowman!

Brilliant!

(And, apparently, Frosty is a Bulldawg!)

Forty Years!

December 11th was Tim's parents' 40th wedding anniversary!

To celebrate, we planned a family outing

to the U.S. Botanic Garden -

which was beautifully decorated for the holidays.

We all had a blast

and definitely plan to repeat this holiday outing next December!

The Thomas trains were a highlight of the trip.

These girls are so sweet with each other!

Happy anniversary, Grandma & Papa!

Thank you for loving each other

(and all of us)

so well!