traditions

i love traditions. i love the stability, the certainty, the warmth, the memories, the strength of traditions... and i'm passing that love of tradition on to my little ones. abbie has so many memories of past christmas events and she wants to do them all! and then jay and kate get right in the thick of it as they all start pleading for all the christmastime fun ~ they want cocoa and popcorn with christmas movies, they want handmade gingerbread houses, they want ornaments to specially selected to represent their year, they want to roll out christmas cookies, they want to hear the christmas story over and over, they want to drive to see all the twinkling lights, they want to sing carols 'til they lose their little voices, they just want to enjoy every moment and soak it all in. and i don't blame them a bit! it's all soooo much fun!

this year was the first that they went shopping for one another... we decided to let them open their presents from one another tonight and they were each so excited! it was so precious to see them proudly present the presents they had selected, bought, wrapped (with 200x the amount of tape that was really needed!), and kept secret for so long. they were properly rewarded after each present with huge hugs, kisses, and love, love, love!

we are blessed beyond measure... what a wonderful season this is! we have so much to celebrate.

lazy days of summer... err, winter

what a fun, lazy day this was! we all slept in. then we ate cereal, clementines, and pie for breakfast. then we went back to sleep (well, half of us!). then we had coloring time. we made the plans for our christmas break, set the family rules for the vacation (we decided everyone earns a bead each time they make another person giggle!!), and everyone got excited and ready for all the extra time together. then we did naps again (the other half of us). then we played with all the puzzles at once... such confusing fun! then we did dinner and more naps (just a couple of us). then we went shopping for our teams christmas parties coming up next week ~ fun surprises! we didn't clean up, we wore pony tails, and we got lots of beauty sleep ~ who could ask for anything more???