The Aftermath

After a wonderful holiday, this was the aftermath :-) Nearly a week later I am still cleaning the house!

More Christmas Festivities

On the 26th we celebrated Christmas with Mom and Dad. We had a great time! I thought that our dinner turned out well (Dad blogged about that) - Steven made his special cajun corn dish, and I made fettucine alfredo as I have every year since Steven and I started dating 15 Christmases ago. Madeline really appreciated Mom & Dad's gift. She had deducted what it was earlier in the month by strategically feeling the package and reading through the wrapping paper :-) We missed having the Team with us - we'll be glad when they are here next year - but a good time was had by all. The old Mammo liked her crocs quite a bit, I was happy with myself for getting those :-)

Madeline and Melanie

Madeline and Melanie have become fast friends... as you can see since Christmas they do everything together! They have had so much fun playing with all of Madeline's toys, and Melanie has bonded with the large family of Webkinz who live here in our home. I believe that she is quite comfortable here, and fits in just fine!

Christmas Day 2008

Christmas 2008 was fun in our house! We didn't go ANYWHERE, which was completely wonderful. We had fun playing with our presents, and Madeline had a classic kid Christmas with fun toys, candy and complete overload. She got a Littlest Pet shop comforter and sheets which she liked a lot, and her My Twinn Doll named Melanie, who will be subject of her own later post. We are so thankful for all of the blessings we have, and were glad to spend a day together enjoying them. Johnny and Jeanine stopped by and had fun getting down on the floor and playing with Madeline's toys. I hope that we made a good memory for Madeline's future - I know that one day when she is an adult I'll look back on this Christmas and smile :-)

Christmas Eve 2008

We spent Christmas Eve with Steven's side of the family and had a ton of fun making fun of each other and laughing as usual. We had some great food, and a lot of it! I wish I had a picture of the dessert bar - Bridget in particular made about 400,000 different types of cookies and goodies. A great time was had by all!

Christmas 2008

I am a bit behind on my intended blogging, so bear with me as I catch up!



On Christmas Eve, Madeline and I read the Nativity story, then we put together a paper Nativity scene. It really was a meaningful moment for us. After we put it together we had fun making a video of Madeline telling the story and singing Christmas carols - fun times!

Merry Christmas!

This is my favorite all time television moment. May you all have a blessed and wonderful Christmas, and may we all remember why we celebrate this day!

Christmas Time

Yesterday we had a good day. First we did our baking - this is Madeline decorating the cookies. Then we went out for pizza at a local pizza place, then drove around and looked at Christmas lights. Finally we went by the local Baptist Church, which was having a living nativity. They had a huge camel, who made us all laugh. I wish I had a picture of that, but it was dark and kinda raining, so there is no photo, just fun memories.



Madeline just keeps growing! She had her Christmas play last Thursday night at school, and this picture was taken just before in her new Christmas dress. The dress had to "not look like a baby dress", luckily she liked this one :-)

First Snowfall of the Season

We had our first real snowfall of the season last night - and I took a couple of pictures at about 6:00 this morning (a little dark outside). You get a bonus and you get to experience the joy of our Christmas lights as well :-) The kids had the day off, which Madeline thoroughly enjoyed. She came running in yelling "there's snow, there's snow" NO SCHOOL! Some childhood experiences are universal....

The Lights Are Up

I have finally gotten into the spirit this week-end. The gifts have been purchased, the tree is up, and the lights are on the house. Those things didn't have me in the spirit. What finally did it is a conversation with my daughter about Christmas. She said we all need to remember that Jesus is the reason we are celebrating. We need to remember to thank God for all of the gifts we have been given. Today, I was reminded to be thankful for the house that I was able to put the lights on, for the love my family gives me, and most of all for the greatest gift ever given.




And, yes, those are ornaments on the tree outside. It's our Charlie Brown Tree, and Madeline thought the ornaments would make it stand a little taller. They actually look pretty good!