A flurry of fun!

Sorry it took me a while, but I am finally getting around to posting pictures from last week! We had so many days of so much fun we are all still recuperating! The kids were so so so excited! I was too, I love the anticipation of Christmas! We started out Christmas Eve with Mike's family. Of course the kids have to do their annual performance! The girls made up a song Celebrate It's Jesus Birthday! :) Cole sang ring the bells like he had in his Christmas program at school. Joey hummed a tune of his own!

Then Christmas morning, Gracie (our early bird) was up before the sun and just had to wake everyone up! Cole came stumbling out of his room and Joey had a few tears before he realized that waking up to Christmas presents is a fun thing! I got all of the kids matching jammies this year. I have always wanted to and never done it before! They looked so cute!

After opening presents at home we headed up to Mimi and Pappy's for some prime rib! The food was amazing as usual! Thanks Mom for all your hard work to make everything so special! We played games and laughed so hard we cried! We have such a great time with our family! Jane and I took the pinochle tourney this year! Even though Mom and Paul insisted we play them again, even after we beat them once! Friday, we went to Granny and Pa's for leftovers! Thanks Granny and Pa! The kids had many late nights but it was all worth it! We are so thankful for the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ!

Isley family brunch and sledding!

Sunday was our annual Isley family brunch. While we were missing a few families we still had a great time visiting with cousins and Aunts and Uncles! The food was great and a good time was had by all! Today we went to a sledding hill not to far from here and had a great time! Mike took his snowboard and we took a few sleds and everyone (except Eli) got in on the action! I even tried snowboarding. I took a few spills and bumped my head pretty hard one time, but that didn't stop me! The kids had so much fun! Cole was our little dare devil! He wanted to go as fast as he could and hit the jump every time! He was a snowball when we were done! Covered in snow from all the wipe outs! Gracie was a little more cautious but had a blast! Joey...well you can see in the video what he thought! Eli got to hang out in the warm car!

An early Christmas

Mimi, Pappy, Nana, Uncle Boog and Uncle Charlie came down tonight to exchange gifts with us. We will also be with them Christmas day, but this gives them a chance to see the kids open their gifts and watch them enjoy them. We had a great time! To start out the night we had dinner, went to Cole's pre-school program "Meet me at the Manger", then came back for desert and gifts. The kids had so much fun! Gracie now thinks she is "Hannah Montana" and Joey is a professional motorcycle rider! Cole is great at maneuvering his little RC car. Eli slept through everything but dinner! Thanks Mom, Dad and Nana for the fun night!

Fun in the snow and a Coleyism

The kids have been having a great time playing out in the snow! Yes Joey's cheeks really are that red after coming in! They had a few friends over yesterday for a snowball fight! While I was lunch the other day I had some buffalo wings and Cole asked if Eli could have any. I said "no they are too spicy and he can't eat big people food yet." Cole said "So why can he drink spicy milk?" I started cracking up. So I guess he thinks when I have chocolate milk Eli does too! I guess he is partly right though isn't he!

Snow Angels

I woke up this morning to the sound of the coat closet opening (it's squeaky) I came out of my room and Gracie and Cole were already in their snow pants pulling on their snow boots! They were so excited for the snow! Gracie plopped down immediately and made a snow angel! They had a snowball fight and then came in to warm up with some hot cocoa! I love the snow!

"Oh Christmas Tree"

We finally did it! We got our tree last night and decorated it. The kids were so so so excited! Me, well I love a decorated Christmas tree, but I sure don't like decorating it. But it's up it's beautiful and the kids had a great time! Eli just sat and watched all the commotion while sucking on his fist! He loves his hands! After we were done I secretly moved a few ornaments around. Gracie put a whole bunch of ornaments in the front of the tree in about a 1 square foot section. When I told her to move some of the ornaments to other parts of the tree she said "but then people won't see them" Why do we decorate the back of a tree? Joey is fascinated by the tree and tries to take ornaments off constantly. I think I will keep the presents hidden until Christmas morning! :)

Yuck Joey!

Joey was, well...you can see for yourself! He thought it was hilarious! Thank goodness for Lysol disinfectant wipes!