a live christmas night

It has become a tradition for all of our family to come over to our house for snacks and left overs on Christmas night.

One of the new Wii games usually gets busted out.  The first year it was Tiger Woods Golf, two years ago it was Rock Band,  this year it was Just Dance 2...



Even Owen thinks he can play.

We all have laughed until our stomachs hurt playing/watching this game.  I was undefeated until Maddie and Olivia came on the scene [in my defense...they have owned the game for 6 months, so they have practiced]!  If you haven't played, you should.  It is hysterical and quite a workout.  My arms are still sore and hopefully I burned off some of those extra holiday calories dancing around the den like a fool!

Debbie, Stacey, David and Tina somehow quietly rounded up all the kids and headed upstairs.  Apparently Debbie has been planning a surprise for awhile [and she finally had enough kids to pull it off].

After a quick [and only] rehearsal and a costume fitting, we caught a glimpse of the crew desending from above...



The children took their places in the manger as Aunt Stacey read the story of Jesus's birth from Grandmother Cooper's bible...



Isn't it the most beautiful, angelic live nativity scene you have ever seen?



Callen, Olivia and Mary Reese as angels, Banks as Joseph, Baby Leo as Baby Jesus, Maddie as Mary and Carter as wiseman #1.  Not pictured:  Owen as Wiseman #2...



He bailed before reaching the manger...



We are still short a wiseman and we aren't sure who is going to play baby Jesus next year.  I guess Leo can move up to a wiseman next year to complete them.  Now who is going to have the baby Jesus?  Not it!

christmas morning bingo

After we all warmed up from our playing in the snow, we braved the snowy streets and headed out to Popsy and Gigi's for a late Christmas Morning Brunch and our annual game of Bingo.

Mary Reese was thrilled to have her very own baby doll to play with...



Cousin Leo loves her!  I am not sure he has the same feelings for Owen...



But Owen adores him.  He walks around the house talking about him all the time.  His face lights up when he sees him coming in the room!

After our traditional Christmas Morning breakfast, we play for bingo prizes instead of exchanging gifts.  This year we were thrown a twist...



We had to "make our own" bingo cards.  The cards were blank and we had to pick our own numbers!  Once you bingo, you get to pick a prize from the table...



The ladders are definitely the most popular first pick.  We scored the last one available...the small green one.  Maybe next year we will finally win a multi ladder.

After bingo, my clan headed home to join Santa...



...in a long winter's nap!  We had some more festivities planned for that night.

a merry white christmas morning

We packed a lot into our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations!  We started out the festivities with a Christmas Eve Brunch with Jody's parents and Grandmother.  We enjoyed a Guest Room Strata [a bacon, sausage, egg and cheese casserole] and my version of TPW's cinnamon rolls [I used this recipe for the rolls and the icing recipe from this one]...



After our delicious & delightful brunch, the kids dove into the presents...



Owen was really into opening his presents this year...



It was precious to see the pure joy in his face after opening one.

The kids enjoyed all their new toys the rest of the afternoon while Jody and I got organized for Christmas Eve Dinner.

After a wonderful service at church, we enjoyed a fabulous meal with our families...



We had Standing Rib Roast [using this recipe], Mac & Cheese [using this recipe], Corn Pudding [using his recipe], Green Bean Bundles, Candied Carrots [using this recipe] and Strawberry Pretzel Salad.

After stuffing ourselves with dinner, we all managed to find a little room for dessert...



We had a wide variety...Red Velvet Cupcakes, Carmel Cake and Banana Pudding.

About 9:00, we were all sitting around enjoying our family time when we heard some bells off in the distance.  Could they be from his sleigh?



Banks and Mary Reese thought so.  They said their good-byes to Dasher Minty...



...and bolted to their beds with lightening speed [Owen had already been sugged in his bed for over an hour] and we didn't hear from them until 5:00 am.

Banks ran into our room [with Mary Reese in tow] announcing that Santa indeed came and that it was snowing outside.  Jody and I told them that had to wait until Owen was up [and dismissed the whole snow comment].  Owen stirred about 45 minutes later and it was non-stop for the rest of the day...



They were all excited they stayed on the Nice List long enough for Santa to drop off some surprises!

Mary Reese was thrilled to spot a note from Santa.  It said that Rudolph loved his carrot and that the Red Velvet Cupcakes she left were his favorite...



[She fixed him a plate and a glass of milk all by herself.]  He even took a cupcake back to Mrs. Claus!

Owen was so excited to see more wrapped gifts to dig into.




It didn't take them long to figure out whose stack was whose...



The big gift of the morning was the iPad for the family to share.  Banks and Mary Reese were excited about their new Wii and DS games.  Owen was so excited when he unwrapped some Vroom Vrooms...



He could wait to get his little hands on them...



While the wrapping paper was flying, this was falling...



This was taken from our front door at 7:00 am on Christmas Morning.

While the kids played with all their new prizes, the snow continued to fall.  By 8:00 am our house looked like this...



The kids walked outside to check it out...



...and to throw a few snowballs...



We weren't really dressed appropriately, so we quickly headed inside to thaw out.

We soon realized that we were in for more than a "dusting"!  By 9:30 am, our front yard looked like a winter wonderland...



We bundled up and headed out for round 2...



We rolled down the hill...



..,made a beautiful snow angel...





...threw some more snowballs...



...and made a baby snowman...



We looked on the roof and discovered...



...what we think may have been tracks from Santa's sleigh!  We also found 2 bells in the yard [and another one once the snow melted].

We played as long as our fingers and toes would allow!  It was so much fun to watch them play in the snow on Christmas Morning!  I am not sure we will ever have another one as magical!

christmas crafting

We got home Tuesday from our grand little vacation and hit the ground running.  Wednesday we made 3 recipes of salt dough ornaments [2 plain and 1 cinnamon].  After we mixed up 4c. flour, 1 c. salt and 1½ c. water with the bread hook of my mixer...



...we rolled it out.  It was definitely a group effort.

Then we dug out all our Christmas cookie cutters and put them to good use...



[Before baking, I used a straw for the bigger ornaments and a bamboo skewer for the baby ornaments to poke a hole in the top]

Next we baked them for 2 hours in a 200° oven....



[above are our Cinnamon Salt Dough ornaments - we decreased the flour to 2 cups and added 5 T. of cinnamon and a little nutmeg]

After the 2 hours bake, we turned the oven off and let them sit in the oven for an additional hour.

Then we gathered up all our paints and paint pens and went to town...



Even Jody channeled his creative side and decorated a few.

After the paint dried, I sprayed them with a clear coat...



We picked out a few special ones for gifts for everyone in the family.  We sprinkled them around our gingerbread house creations for a festive tablescape...



...and we strung a few on ribbons and created a garland for our fireplace...



We had a blast with this super easy craft project!  They can't wait until next year for another round!

christmas gift

Merry White Christmas from our family to yours...

I can't ever remember a Christmas with this much snow.  It is absolutely beautiful!  A true Christmas gift.

a grand Christmas vacation

We just returned from a little mini Christmas vacation to the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama.  Jody needed to spread some Christmas cheer to one of his customers, so the whole family loaded up for a quick get-away.

We always have a fabulous time there, but this was our first Christmas visit.  The entire resort was decorated beautifully!  In the Grand Dining Room there was even a gingerbread replicate of the resort...

We all enjoyed looking at all the tiny details they put into it and trying to find our room.

The weather was beautiful and we spent most of our time exploring the resort and all it had to offer during this time of year.  Our room was located in the Spa Building overlooking the lagoon. 

Each morning we strolled around the lagoon on our way to the main building.  There were so many great spots for photo ops...



I wish this had been my Christmas card but it was too late [the cards went out last week].  Owen was ticked because I took away his pink Princess sippy cup for the picture.  [Don't ask...it was the only sippy cup I could find the morning we left.  Everyone called him a girl the entire trip because of it.]  He never quite recovered!

After our stroll, we made our way to the front desk for bags of duck food.  Then headed back to the lagoon to find some friends...



Banks and Owen loved feeding them.  If you look closely, you can see Mary Reese hidden behind the stroller.  She was terrified of them.  They were friendly ducks and ate right out of our hands.

Owen made fast friends with them.  He tried to speak their language...



Quack!

Then he got brave and started petting them...



He talked about the DUCKS the rest of the trip.  Good thing we had a birds-eye view of them from our balcony.

After feeding the ducks, we headed to the lobby in hopes to hit story time.  We must have spend too much time feeding the ducks, because we missed the story.  I tried to get a group picture in front of the lobby Christmas tree...



Owen refused to stand near the other two.  When they moved to be by him, he ran!  Oh well, maybe next year.

I did manage to get this cute one of Banks and Mary Reese...



The tree was spectacular. 

We borrowed board games from the front desk.  Banks and Mary Reese opted for the dominos...



I tried to teach them mexican train dominos...they got the basic concept but I think there was a little cheating on both parties.  Owen just thought he was playing.  As long as he had a few dominos, he was good to go.

We spent some time at the craft station making a little jingle jewerly...



It makes me sad that Banks is too old to make a bracelet for himself.  However, he isn't too old to make one for his mommy [which makes me happy].

We wondered to the fishing pier and found some baited cane poles...



We didn't catch anything but it was fun trying!

Banks and Jody didn't get to join us on our beach trip this summer.  Banks opted to stay home and play on a Rookie Baseball team.  So he wanted to dip his toes in the sand and his hands in the ocean...



Maybe next summer they can join us for at least part of the trip!

We explored the Chef's Herb Garden...



It was neat to see broccoli, carrots, herbs and all the varieties of lettuce growing.  I could have made a fabulous salad if I didn't think I would get caught!

We spent some time at the croquet court...



Owen cracks me up.  He thinks he is as big as the rest of the bunch and can hang pretty well with them.

We tried our hand at some good old fashioned horseshoes...



...and ping pong...



Not to mention the hours we spent on the putting green.

Each afternoon at 4:00, we made our way here...



to see them fire off this baby...



They do a parade from the lobby, around the grounds to the cannon [complete with American flag and drums].  They honor the vets, give a brief history of the resort grounds and then...



READY, AIM, FIRE

After the cannon firing, we made our way back to the lobby for afternoon tea [coffee & hot chocolate] and cookies...



It is so fun to visit with all the other guest.  It just adds to the old-fashioned feel of the resort.

Each afternoon, we witnessed the most beautiful susets over the bay...



...in front of the most fabulous fire pits. 

Of course we had some fabulous meals!  One night, Daddy treated us to a delightful meal at Felix's Fish Camp. One day, we ventured into Gulf Shores one day for a meal at Lulu's [we never go during the summer because I refuse to wait that long to eat].  We even hit our favorite Davenport's Pizza for a late lunch on the way home.

It was a wonderful holiday get-away and [hopefully] so many memories for these three monkeys angels...

I love getting to experience things through their eyes!

I think we were all kind of ready to get home and into our beds with our own pillows.  I know Owen was [his "bedroom" was a portable crib in the bathroom so our later night tv watching didn't disturb him].

We did find a nice surprise when we got home...

Dasher Minty brought us back some treats from the North Pole.  [I swear we saw him on the Today Show while we were gone.]