Happy Valentines!

 Happy Valentine's Day!

I was a little too slow this year and didn't get our 

Valentines out...

cant be perfect all the time,

ya know!

 Valentines days is a day

dedicated to 

Love...

and we have lots of that 

in our house!

Christmas Morning...

There is just something so priceless

about Christmas morning...

the excitement, the joy, the energy...

I wish I could somehow capture all the 

emotion of the day!

 

Angelina was at such a fun age this year...

she understood how to open the gifts 

and she wasso excited and happy!

Elsie looked like such a hoot with those eyes!

But she was so happy and excited...

and so was James!

James knew his big package was 

behind the tree...

so he dove right in to get it out!

Love the way a boy's mind works!

We leisurely take turns opening gifts...

the kids always have to take the toys out of the 

packages and play with them before

moving on to the next gift.

I love that opening of gifts lasts for a couple hours.

And Daddy always get the job of reading 

through all those instructions 

and putting together all those tiny pieces!

Angelina opened up a 

tiny red piano...

its very noisy and she loves it!

I don't handle messes well,

but I love the kind of mess 

Christmas morning creates!

I love to sit there and take the moment in

and just imagine the memories 

my kids have!

Angelina gave Elsie the famous

rubber band making kit...

and its a little harder than it looks at first...

good thing Daddy is always willing to figure things out!

I think this is the last of our 

Christmas Pictures...

we had a fabulous Christmas filled with 

so many warm cozy memories...

Part of me is always a little sad when 

Christmas is over...

its such a magical time of the year and I just want 

to hang onto it for as long as possible!

We may or not be on the count down for 

next Christmas already...

Christmas Eve Pictures...

No Christmas eve is complete without the 

fancy clothes and pictures in front of the 

Christmas tree.

 

This year we didn't make it to church...

and I still feel bad about it!

But baby was so miserable with indigestion,

Elsie was still in pain with her nose

and it was bitterly cold outside!

We still made it to Grammie and Papa Wayne's house

for a fancy meal though...

and for the $5 movie exchange.

Before we left though,

the kids remembered to sprinkle the Reindeer food outside!

I'm not sure we have ever remembered to take a 

family picture in front of our own tree...ever...

we have one every year in front of my 

parents tree though!

We had a lovely Christmas eve...

even if Angelina did burp with her indigestion and 

spit up avocado all over the dining room floor just 

as everyone was sitting down to eat.

Memories.

Christmas Eve...

Every year we open our 

stocking stuffers on 

Christmas eve.

The stocking stuffers are almost more

exciting than opening the big 

gifts on Christmas morning!

We each take turns opening gifts...

James was so excited for everyone to open 

their gifts,

that he opened his up last because he kept 

handing out gifts to everyone else!

All the stocking stuffers are just 

little dollar items that I collect all year long 

from sales and clearance shopping. 

And we get a few of the same items every single year...

band aids, tooth brushes and scrubbies to name a few.

Angelina wasn't feeling too good,

but she still got into ripping open the gifts!

2 days before Christmas eve,

Angelina had the stomach flu,

then the day before she ate some of her cousins 

dairy and wheat food and had 

terrible indigestion all of Christmas eve...

poor girl!

Angelina found lots of earrings in her stocking!

James spent quite a bit of time 

video taping from the leap pad...

didn't want to miss a single memory,

I guess!

Someone found a spiffy new hat 

in one of his little gifts...

still wears it on an almost daily basis!

And Elsie found the coveted 

lump of coal in her stocking!

Last year we started the tradition of the lump of coal.

Last year Elsie gave daddy the lump...

so this year was Daddy's turn to give it someone.

He quietly wrapped it up and slipped it into

Elsie's stocking. 

She was pretty happy to open it up...

because now she gets to wrap it up and 

slip it into someone elses stocking next year!

We are hoping this will be another fun tradition 

that will continue when our children

are grown...

~

Side note:

3 days before Christmas eve Elsie fell,

hard

and broke her nose...

so she looked downright lovely for Christmas!

Christmas memories for sure!

Reindeer Food...

Its our yearly tradition to make 

Reindeer food...

Someday I will be sad when the kids are

too old for this!

While the kids are off playing 

in the other room,

I raid the pantry for random crazy {and stale}

food items,

put them in fancy dishes and call for the kids...

The kids love mixing up the special food...

all while talking about 

where the reindeer will land,

how they will eat the food,

how Santa will get in to bring the gifts...

magical stuff...

I love, love, love listening to them!

Glitter is what makes the 

Reindeer food special.

Its the secret ingredient.

Its helps the reindeer to fly!

Christmas eve,

before the fancy meal at 

Grammie and Papa Wayne's house,

the kids carefully sprinkle all the food outside 

on the snow.

The glitter reflects off the moon

and shows the reindeer where to stop next.

~

There is nothing quite as magical as 

Childhood...