Christmas Morning

A few weeks before Christmas, Makena told me she wanted to give Kyle a gift for Christmas. We have a secret stash of Matchbox cars in our bedroom (Daddy couldn't resist the 10 for $10 deal!). I let Makena choose a car from our stash. She wrapped it and told Kyle it was under the tree. Our little boy is a smart cookie and he could tell right away what was inside the wrapping. So every day, for weeks, he told he wanted it to be Christmas and begged me to open his gift. I was so close to just letting him open the little gift just so he would leave me alone! Needless to say, there was a lot of anticipation for Christmas morning.  

On the top of Makena's wish list this year was Beanie Boo's -- little stuffed animals with big sparkly eyes. Santa brought her two of them!

Karis wanted lots and lots of Shopkins -- and that's what she got!

 

Kyle got cars, trucks and trains (no surprise!).

   

Their favorite gifts were the Vtech Kiddie Zoom watches from Mom and Dad. They saw a commercial for them a long time and have been asking for them. The watch takes pictures and videos, has a couple of games, a timer and a clock. 

  

They spent lots of time with them during the Christmas break!

I wanted a picture of Makena with her new scooter she was going to try for the first time. But she just wanted me to take a picture of her with her new watch!

Thank you to all our family who sent gifts for our kids. Even though they may not have made it into the pictures, the kids loved every one of them!!

Christmas Eve Service

On Christmas Eve, we went to church for a candlelight family service. They had the preschool kids sing a couple songs in the service. We brought Kyle to church early to practice, but during the service he changed his mind and didn't want to go up on stage. When he was practicing, the yawning started again! So funny!

O Holy Night

The first year he was entrusted with fire.

They were so excited that Christmas was finally here. They couldn't wait to go home to go to bed. Probably the only day they're excited for bedtime!

Christmas Festivities

When we returned from our vacation, we were quick to get ready for Christmas. There was less than tree weeks left! The kids were excited to put up the Christmas tree. 

This was the first year that Kyle wanted to help. He found the perfect spot to put ALL the balls!

Every morning afterwards, the first thing Kyle did in the morning was turn on the tree lights. 

After school one day, I took the kids to the mall. They all wanted to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Karis wanted Shopkins, Makena wanted a Beanie Boo and Kyle wanted a choo-choo. We only had to wait a short time, but in that time Kyle decided he didn't want to go near Santa. Maybe next year...

The kids ate candy...I mean, decorated gingerbread houses. 

The finished products

We went to our usual spots to see Christmas lights and even checked out the drive-thru lights in Farmers Branch. 

Christmas vacation was perfect for naps on the couch.

Makena and Kyle made a cake together for Jesus. 

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Class Holiday Parties

The girls had their class parties at school the last full day before Christmas break. Makena's class played a couple games, had a fun snack, and worked on a craft. 

They also had a gift exchange. The kids made a list of what they thought their class needs -- more Legos, dress up clothes, smelly markers, etc. Each child brings in a gift and then they draw numbers to open the gifts. The kids loved seeing all the new things for their classroom. 

They even had a visit from Santa (but everyone knew it was Alyssa's Dad!). 

I loved that Karis' classroom is right across the hall so that I could bounce back and forth between the two parties. Karis worked on a craft, played a game and also had a yummy snack. 

A fun way to end the week and celebrate the Christmas holiday!

Preschool Christmas Program

Every year our preschool has the cutest Christmas program. The pre-K classes act out the Christmas story while the 3-year old classes sing in the supporting choir. After three years of watching his sisters either on stage or in the choir, it was finally his year to be in the program!

Kyle did a great job singing the songs and doing the motions. 

I think he my have yawned more than he sang. Poor boy was tired and couldn't stop yawning!

Karis' Birthday Party

Karis couldn't wait to celebrate with her friends! It took awhile for her to decide what she actually wanted to do for her party, but once she decided, she was super excited. She invited five girlfriends from school to the house on Friday evening for pizza, ice cream sundaes and a movie. Since she was now a big girl, I told her she could have soda at her party. She couldn't wait!

She asked her friends to come in their pajamas and she gave each one a tiara. It was like a princess slumber party but everyone goes home at 8!

Unfortunately two of the girls were sick that day and left school early. Karis still had a great time with her three friends. It was hard to get them to sit down and eat because they just wanted to play. 

After dinner, Karis opened her presents. She received a Shopkins board game so the girls played that for awhile. 

Then they made ice cream sundaes and we sang Happy Birthday to the birthday girl. 

We popped popcorn and the girls watched Cinderella III. 

It was a fun, stress-free party with very little work on my part. I hope all her future parties are this easy!

Happy 7th Birthday Karis!

A few months back, Karis told Daddy that she wanted him to shave his head for his birthday. Karis forgot she said that but Daddy didn't. She was quite surprised that morning when she saw Daddy's head! 

We celebrated Karis before school with donuts and presents. 

 

 Kyle gave Karis a Barbie Lego set

Makena gave her a Beanie Boo

 

Mom and Dad gave her Cinderella's Castle

And then it was off to school. She asked for a Sonic hot dog and a special drink for lunch. 

Later in the day, she got to share a birthday snack with her class. Daddy, Kyle and I brought candy coated pretzels. 

The girls table