Christmas 2010

Christmas this year was so great!  One of the great things about moving away--and then coming back, is that you don't take for granted not having to travel.  It was so nice that we didn't have to pack up our Suburban to the max and go back and forth from West Texas.  Needless to say, being closer again to our family is definitely one of the things I'm grateful for this year.  

We celebrated Christmas Eve and most of Christmas day at my parents' house.  

Here we all are....Brady, Lindsay, Me, Jeff, Landry, Hadley (PopPop), Gaynell, (Gigi), and Korley

Little Miss Thang

Sisters--hugging!  Christmas miracle!

Landry made a "throne" out of her packages

My dad got an OU snuggie.....or, a "Boomer blanket" as Korley calls it

Korley's favorite and coincidentally least expensive gift--lip gloss!  This girl LOVES make-up!  

Shortly after she opened her make-up, she went hiding behind the ottoman......

and was busted applying gobs and gobs of lipgloss!

I have ZERO pictures of Christmas morning and the kids with their Santa gifts!  The girls got cameras on Christmas Eve and they took pictures, so I'll have to get some off of their cameras.  

On Christmas day, we all went to the Gaylord Texan to see the Christmas decorations and go to ICE.  We have done this for several years now, so it has become somewhat of a tradition.  

The Gaylord, as always, was decorated so beautifully!

Love this picture of my mom and dad!

Here we are going into ICE!  Freeeeeeeeeezing!

This year the ICE theme was Charlie Brown.  We all agreed that the display was really great, BUT it was otherwise the worst year we had ever been to the ICE show.  They changed the way you line up and go into the exhibition and it was not for the better.  They basically herded you like cattle, which made it really crowded and we waited far longer than we ever had.  Unless they change back to the old way, I'm afraid our ICE days might be over!

This was the only family picture we got (without parkas on) and if you can't tell, Korley was D-O-N-E!

We didn't get to go to Jeff's parents' house until Sunday because Grammy had the flu. :(  But, we finally all got to get together Sunday to celebrate with the Edwards.  I got a few pics of the girls opening their gifts, but they all turned out in a chaotic blur--but here are all of the cousins together!

Korley, Lindsay, Adrienne, Bailey, Landry

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I wish you a wonderful 2011!

Twas the (Several Days) Before Christmas

I'm squeezing in one more post before the whirlwind of Christmas comes blowing in tomorrow!

A couple of weekends ago, Jeff and I went all by our very own selves to Las Vegas!  It was a quickly planned trip, but I'm so glad we went!  Sure, with it being smack dab in the middle of gearing up for the Christmas holiday, it wasn't the most convenient of time, but once I was there, it was really relaxing and a great getaway!  Special thanks to Jeff's parents for keeping the girls for us!  They were troopers in getting the girls to and from school and all that entails for a couple of days!

We stayed at The Venetian--which I LOVE and is my favorite place to stay, but we walked around and looked at a lot of the other casino's Christmas decorations.  As usual, the Bellagio went above and beyond decking out their atrium in Christmas decorations!

And, of course, we watched the Bellagio's fountain display.  So pretty!

And, even prettier at night!

As soon as we hopped off the plane in Dallas, we rushed to get back home to make it in time for Korley's Christmas play which was on Tuesday, Dec. 14.  Her class portrayed the Nativity and she was an angel {angel--remember this is pretend ;) }  I had a really bad angle when they were on stage and my pictures weren't great, but here she is shortly after the play.   Mercy, this child is cute!

Thursday, Dec 16 was Korley's class Christmas party.  In the haste of trying to get to her party on time, I forgot my camera but had my phone and this is the only picture I took.  :(  Here she is decorating a cookie!

Friday, Dec. 17 was Landry's party.  I was in charge of Landry's party and I had major anxiety about it.  Did we plan too much?  Not enough?  Is the game too hard?  Too easy?  You get the idea.  Fortunately, it turned out really great!  There was the right amount of game time, craft time, and snack time!  

The kids played a relay game where they put on reindeer hooves (socks), then had to smear Vaseline on their nose, then had to get a red pom-pom to stick to their nose while they ran to the other side of the room to pick up a piece of candy with their hoof and then run back.  The kids loved this game!

Then, we made reindeer magnets with their pictures inside.  I love a craft that has a picture or a handprint or some other sort of keepsake!

That evening, we joined the rest of the town of Aledo at Cowboys Stadium for the 4A state championship game.  Aledo won!!  Second year in a row to win state!

The following day--Saturday, Dec. 18, was my sister, Lindsay's, grad school graduation from TCU!  She would never boast about this, but I will--she graduated with a 3.9 GPA, Summa Cum Laude!  We're really proud of her and we had a fun day celebrating her accomplishments!

After the graduation ceremony, she tossed her graduation cap in exchange for a purple tiara for graduation dinner at our house.  

Yesterday, I met up with the kids at Six Flags with our friends, the Andersons.  It was a great day to go to Six Flags!  The weather was cold but not too cold, and it wasn't very crowded at all!  

Jake and Korley had a great time together riding most everything they were big enough to ride! 

And, Landry and Luke had a great time together, too.  They're the best of Six Flags buddies! :)

Merry Christmas to you all!  

 

Toofies

With Stevie (our elf) coming and going to the North Pole every night and the girls losing a combined 3 teeth the past few days, it's like a magical revolving door in the middle of the night around here!  

Korley lost her second tooth!

And, Landry just lost her 15th!  

Christmas Tour

I love love LOVE having my house decorated for Christmas.  

I hate hate HATE the process of dragging everything out of the garage and the marital discord that putting together our Christmas tree causes (FIVE. YEARS. IN. A. ROW!), but in the end, I love having it all out and decorated!

We've had our Christmas decorations out since the second week of November.  I know.  But, it was the only weekend we had to work on it-- and really, it takes so long to get everything out, you might as well enjoy it as long as possible.  And, you know what else?  Despite the popular belief that putting out Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving is like writing off Thanksgiving--I don't see it that way.  If anything, while the rest of you are experiencing marital friction the weekend after Thanksgiving, I'm blissfully thankful that we're fully decorated.  

Anyway, here's a little tour of our Christmas spirit--

The main "formal" Christmas tree.....We bought this tree 5 years ago from Costco.  It's a 9' pre-lit tree that has held up amazingly well.  It's been from McKinney to Lubbock to Aledo.  Every year, Jeff and I hold our breath while we plug this baby in just knowing that some huge section of the tree's lights won't be working.  So far, we've been lucky.  However, there are small sections of the tree that have started to go out.  But, since this is the 6th year we've used this tree, I'd say that's a pretty good run!

We have the tree up against the big windows in our living room and I love the reflection of it at night.

This is the mantle and bookcases (and tv) area of the living room.  

Everything seemed so dark when I got stuff on the bookshelves, so I lined the back of the bookshelves with really expensive silk Italian fabric.  Just kidding--I lined the back of the bookshelves with Target-bought wrapping paper.

These bookshelves have the girls' Santa pictures.

The Little People nativity set is a new addition this year.  I just think it is so dang cute!

The stocking holders still have older pictures of the girls in the frames.  I think about changing them every year, but I kind of like pulling them out of the storage box each year and remember how young my babies were when I first got these.  (Kind of how the stocking my sister gets every year is her "baby's first Christmas" one!)  :)

8-month-old Korley

(almost) 5-year-old Landry

This bookshelf has our past Christmas cards and a few random other things.....

...like this picture of Korley when she was sleeping in Heavenly peace.  

This little penguin a new addition to the decorations this year, too.  I think penguins are so stinkin' cute and when I saw this little guy at Home Goods, I couldn't pass him up!  

I have a BIG painting on one of my living room walls that's colors pretty much clash with my Christmas decor.  So, I wrapped it (in the same fancy Italian silk) and added one of my all-time favorite photos of Landry.  I got the photo blown up to a 16X20 for really cheap at Wal-Mart.  Pretty cheap and easy regular-to-Christmas decoration.  {side note--I realize it still needs *something* else--like a ribbon border around the photo or something.  but, it's a start!}

Here's a closer look at the photo.  So sweet!  

On my console table, I have my Willow Tree nativity set.

And, I still have a headless wise man.  

 My dining room got a transformation this year, too, thanks to my mom!!  Jeff and I were in Lubbock a few weeks ago and we came home to the holiday table set.

I've always loved the Lenox "Chirp" pattern, and as an early Christmas present, my mom got me several of the Chirp holiday pieces.  I love them--I think they're SO pretty!  

And, aren't these little bird napkin rings just so cute?!

This is the "kid tree" in the play room.  It's actually a 7 foot tree despite the fact that it looks 18 inches in this picture.  This is our "fun" tree that has multi-colored lights and all of our family ornaments--from when I was a baby until the newest ornaments of this year--on it.  This tree is the most fun to decorate because there are a lot of history and memories in many of the ornaments.  Also because the kids like to help with this tree.  Although, after they're tucked in bed, I go and do a little rearranging.....

.....because most of the branches look like this!

And, last but not least, here's a picture of the front of our house with the Christmas lights on.  This is the first year we've ever done exterior lights!  I wish they had photographed better because they really are pretty in person!