Christmas in Arkansas, Part 1

Every year, Hudson reads the story of Christ's birth to the kids on Christmas Eve.  It's so important for all of us to remember the reason we celebrate this special day!

Olivia was so excited about her DSi

Christmas would not be complete for a six year old boy without a lightsaber!

Sweet Abbott with her presents from Santa Claus.

Thanks Emmy and Adam!

Abigail wasn't sure where to start.

 

 

This photo makes me smile.

And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10 And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

Luke 2: 8-14

Someone is 18 months old!

It's hard to believe our sweet girl is 18 months old!

Given the FREEZING weather, I thought this picture was appropriate.  Abigail was all bundled up for our visit to Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs, AR on New Year's Eve.

So what is Abigail up to at 18 months old?

She weighs 23lbs and is 29 1/2 inches tall.

She loves looking at books and watching Barney.

She gets so excited about going upstairs to play in the toy room with her brother and sister.

Her favorite song is "If You're Happy and You Know It".

Her favorite food is Macaroni and Cheese.

She loves her crib and sleeps 11-12 hrs a night.

Abigail is very social, as long as you keep your distance, she has smiles to go 'round for everyone.

We love you Abigail!!

Christmas in Georgia

We celebrated Christmas a couple of days early with my family in Georgia. The kids had a lot of fun and we all enjoyed visiting with each other. After a meal of lasagna, we dug into the presents.

I have no idea what Olivia is doing in the back, maybe she's anticipating a game of "Where's Waldo?".

 His favorite.

 

 

Maxwell's Party

Maxwell had his final day of school before Christmas break today. His class had a day full of fun. In the morning they went around to the second grade classes that were hosting themed activities. His favorite class that he went to was the Polar Express...he enjoyed hot chocolate, received a punched ticket and was given a bell. After lunch he had his class Christmas Holiday Party. I was busy helping with the activities and didn't get a ton of pictures, but we had a lot of fun. The kids started out with a book swap, Maxwell took his time picking out his, I told him to go for the one with the good looking wrapping paper! ;)

 

 Maxwell patiently waiting his turn.

Abigail behaved so well...might have been the Cheese-Its...she was busy cramming them in her mouth!

Olivia's Christmas Party is tomorrow and that will wrap up school for a while, YAY! We'll be spending the next couple of days finishing up shopping and making some yummy treats.  After talking to some friends, I was convinced I was the only person on the planet that has not finished Christmas shopping.  However while driving to dinner tonight (some yummy Thai with some fun friends) I came upon some major traffic that was pointed in the direction of the mall...it's good to know I'm not the only procrastinator.  :)

Our church, New Hope Baptist, performed their annual Living Christmas Tree. After several months of practice, Olivia and Maxwell were so excited to finally perform the songs they had worked so hard to learn. It was a long week of 8 performances but it was completely worth it to celebrate Jesus' birth! Below is a clip of the first song the children's choir performed, "Follow the Star". Maxwell is quite the performer!

Olivia was very excited to have a speaking solo this year, she performed it the first four shows. We think she did wonderfully!

I cut that video short so I could take this cutie pie picture; Olivia looks so young to me for some reason...her sweet little round face.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture of Maxwell in his biblical costume during the performance, so here's one I took while he tried it on.  Sweet little boy.

The Living Christmas Tree show was absolutely amazing! Regrettably, Hudson and I were not Joseph and Mary again this year, they had a couple of age-appropriate teenagers instead. I guess we were deemed too old! The entire show focused on our Savior and the finale really brought the house down. There was everything from angels to wise men to kings and a sweet baby portraying Jesus. And how could I forget the real live camel!? I cannot wait til next year!

Edited to Add:  One of Olivia's favorite songs of the Tree:

Thanksgiving Day we packed up and headed down to Warner Robins to celebrate the holiday with family.  The kids were really looking forward to getting down there to play with their cousins and have some fun!  And they weren't disappointed, after enjoying a delicious meal, cousin Katie hooked Olivia and Maxwell up with some yummy smores.

 

My BIL, Les, fried a turkey for us to enjoy and oh. my. goodness.  It was the BEST turkey EVER!  There's no better way to cook a bird!

 

Mom with her grandchildren

  

Abigail kept herself entertained with my sister's candles.

 

Poor Maxwell, not a very gender balanced group.

 

Time to Catch Up

I'm so far behind, so now, it's time to catch up.  We had a wonderful time at our church's Trunk or Treat despite the misting rain.  It was a lot of fun and a great time of fellowship with our friends, and our class won 1st place for our "trunk" (which really wasn't a trunk).  We had a 50's themed diner and handed out mini ice cream cones, the kids loved this!

Maxwell recently finished up his first (and possibly last) year of football.  Our boy was not lovin' the sweating, he didn't complain during practice or a game but leading up to it, he showed no love for his head sweating under the helmet.  After witnessing some of the coaches on other teams and their behavior, I feel so blessed that Maxwell had the coaches he had, they were all so patient and really uplifting.

(Please excuse his hair, he had been running around and playing with about 18 other 6 yr olds.)

Although Maxwell had a good time, he was thrilled to hear that our church offers Upward Football in the fall that does not require helmets!

Some recent Sunday pictures
 

I had completely forgotten how difficult it is to get a good picture of a very busy one year old.