Tower

The Wednesday before Moms Christmas she called me and said Jeremy's kid and Tyson and his boys were over there and really wanted to build the tower of presents.  So I loaded up my presents and took the boys over there to help too.

The tower was big, as always.  The big boys are starting to be too big for it but the little ones still love it.  Simple fun at Grandma's house getting them excited for what's ahead.

Grandma attempted to play duck duck goose with the little ones.  They ended up doing their own rendition of it, but it entertained them all the same.  Haha.

Chase's Program

My handsome little boy all ready for his program!  What a stud!  He knew it too.  : )

Family pictures and Christmas cards of families that attend the school.

Josh went in and got us seats while I delievered Chase to his classroom.  He had to show off his duds to Mrs. Hughes.  : )  She thought he was cute too, of course!

He did SOOO great!  I sat up front and got a video of his performance.  When the kids first came in he didn't see any of us so he looked unsure..but as soon as he spotted Mama he lit up and smiled and shook his head yes at me.  : )  He had a bashful sweet smile on his face while he was singing..and did all the cute little hand motions too.

Milo was a brat and Josh had to take him in the hall at one point but luckily after Colista got some pictures for us (thank you btw!) she went out there and rescued him so he could come back in and watch the rest.  I knew Milo would be a stinker.  2:00 in the afternoon is nap time..

During the last song this little girl started grabbing his tie and being squirmy and totally distracting him.  I was annoyed!  BUT...he wasn't mean to her or anything, so that was good!  Haha.

He got to sit with us for the rest of the program after they were done.  He went and gave Grandma Kelley a big squeeze right away.

..and then he sat on Aunt Taylors lap most of the rest of the time.  He does love his Aunt Taylor!

I didn't know Santa was going to be coming...but he did!

This was Chase right after he saw him come in.  He was giddy and excited!  : )  (look at his little hands - love it!)  He truly believes and I LOVE THAT!

When it was finally our turn Milo was interested in the bag of goodies and Chase wouldn't even go near him.  In line waiting our turn Chase was acting like he was going to sit on his lap but once we got up there he was too scared.  This was our first Santa experience and it went about as good as I figured it would.

So proud of our little man!  He did great!  I can't explain how special this day was to me.  The one and only first program my little guy will ever have.  I am looking forward to getting to watch him again and again in the years to come.  Love you Chasey Bug!!!

Baking Day

Christmas aprons!  Still love mine!  Pretty sure I'll still be wearing it when I'm 92.  ..and yes, I WILL live to be older than 92! : )

Owen asked Grandma if he could come crash the baking day party.  He was welcome, of course!  He was quite the good little helper too!

I went over and made a few goodies and then had Josh bring the boys over for a while.  They gave Grandma some Christmas towels that said "cookies are better with Grandma" and some cute Christmas spatulas.

Josh went home to put together the grill that we got Mom and Dad for Christmas.

The boys stayed and "helped" me for a while...

but really they were more interested in wrestling!  Haha.

Eden got to come join us for a while.

She really was interested in helping us too!  She was so cute!

Tyson was in and out a few times.  Him and Owen put the hot chocolate mix that Grandma, Liam and Owen made into some jars.  Everyone took one home.  Doesn't taste too bad!

We had lots of our traditional treats.

These little lemon tarts were my new addition this year - and they were a GOOD one!  I love them!  I am making them again for Kelley Christmas on New Years day.  Yummy!

Chase went back home with Josh when he came back to get Milo so he could give him a nap.  Chase and him played games for a while and then I got a text from "Chase" that said "Mom, I want to come to Grandma's now".  : )  So he came back over (in his Batman jams at 2pm..haha) and taste tested all of our goodies.  He was a fan of the Christmas crack that Colista makes.  He knows what is good!

We ended the day with 19 different kinds of goodies and only 1 flop that had to hit the trash can!  Pretty good!  ..and we weren't even there until bedtime this year either!  We managed to leave Mom with a fairly clean kitchen and everything!  Even though it was sunny and warm outside and NOT Christmas feeling at all - It was still a fun and relaxing day!  (what is with the weather this year anyways?!)

Fam Date

We took a little family date to finish up our Christmas shopping.  We weren't going to have an opportunity for a date night anytime soon so we decided to make the best of a family date instead.  We had lunch at Gators.  I had been wanting cauliflower and buffalo strips.

They gave the boys crayons and paper.  I had drawn a Christmas tree and a present on Chases.  He made a guy and put his hand on the present.  He was it was him opening it.  : )  This kid has got a great imagination!

They finally got a new gator.  It's a little bitty guy.  Boys got a kick out of it.  They were well behaved and we had some yummy food.  Win, win!  Totally hit the spot!

Dress Rehearsal

Sts. Peter and Paul had a dress rehearsal for the Christmas program on the Friday before.  Chase didn't have school that day so he wasn't required to be there.  I was on the fence about whether to take him or not for the longest time.  I fretted over it, like seriously bad.  But I finally thought about it with a clear mind and decided that knowing my little man and knowing how he likes to know what to expect - I decided it would probably be a good thing for him to have a practice run.  He was looking rather studly in his hooded flannel that day, wasn't he?!  ; )

He did so amazing.  I couldn't stop smiling the whole time.  Seeing him sing with his cute bashful little smile just made me melt.  So proud!  He even clapped for himself after the songs.  : )  Precious!  I don't feel like I can describe in words how I felt.  So awesome!

Josh stayed home with Milo while I took Chase - so it was a little Mommy and Chase outing.  (I love those!)  I guess SPPS invites the public grade school to come watch the dress rehearsal every year.  So Cullen, Owen, Asher and Liam all got to see Chase perform.  Very cool!

I was/am so proud of him!  We bought a video camera to have for these types of things, and I am so glad I did because I want to watch it over and over and over again forever.  First of many performances that this Mama gets to enjoy.  : )

Public Program

Liam, Asher and Owen had their Christmas program out at the Jr. High.  I didn't know if I was going or not until the last minute.  Josh stayed home with the boys and just I went out.  He didn't feel like wresting Milo and I didn't argue about it.  I kind of loved being by myself anyways.  I got to have Harley and Eden on my lap off and on the whole time, and I loved that!  Harley actually reached for me right away when I got there.  : )  Made my night!

Joni Wilson announced that this would be her last elementary school program as she is retiring after this year.  Brought tears to my eyes for some reason.  She is really good at what she does and she has been there a long time.  I will be really curious to see what the program is like next year without her there.

Jeremy and Colista were in the holiday spirit for the occasion.  Haha!

Asher didn't like his shirt but I thought he looked handsome and did a good job singing.  He definitely didn't look this excited during the performance though.  Haha.

Owen did a great job too!  I was really nervous on my way out there as to where we would sit and what not and if it would all be awkward.  We did still sit by Vanessa and her sister - but it wasn't awkward like I thought it'd be.  It was all fine.  I think I having broke the ice with her in the very beginning and telling her my feelings has helped her not have a cold shoulder towards me.  I don't know.  I am just glad everyone was/is able to be adults in public.

Liam looked awesome in his 'old man' sweater.  See that boy behind him??  He is a friend of Asher and Owens I think..and I swear he looks like Asher.  No relation, nothing.  Josh thinks they look a lot alike too.  Crazy!  

Mommy/Daughter Day

Josh was home on a Wednesday. Mom and I talked on the phone and she hinted that she wanted me to go shopping with her.  I had shopped the day before and literally had nothing I needed to buy.  But I figured since Josh was home maybe I could go spend the day with her anyways.  Her and I NEVER do that anymore.  He said he didn't mind so I went for it.  We went to Pancheros for lunch and grabbed Sassy Strawberry on our way out of town.  She had never been to either place so I thought those would be fun (and yummy) places for her to try.  It was a much needed day!  I think she enjoyed it, and so did I.  Felt good to laugh and be together without kiddos underfoot.

5 Little Monkeys

With Chase after bath time we go into his room and he gets on his bed so we can put lotion on and get dressed.  He ALWAYS jumps around like a monkey while I'm trying to get him lotioned up...and I almost ALWAYS do "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed".  Well I was doing it and for the first time ever he finished the sentences for me.  He's got it down now! It made me giddy!  So cute!  After we were done with it he started bouncing around again and started making monkey noises.  Haha!  Guess he was really being a monkey.  ; )  He thought of that one all on his own!  Love it!

Jammie Day

Chase's class got to have a pajama day at school.  They did a scrip card contest and whichever class sold the most that week got to have a jammie day, and preschool won!  He was beyond thrilled about it.  (I was excited for him too)  He talked about it the whole weekend before and we counted down the days on our fingers.  : ) He loved it!

He was excited of course to show off his new Batman jammies.  We grabbed him a new pair at Walmart the day before because all of his that we had were short sleeved and I thought he might have been cold.  He could've used another pair anyways so no biggy.  What fun this was for these little ones!  He should get to do it again during Catholic Schools Week if they still have that as one of the days.  Yay!

The Polar Express

Oh how I love watching the Polar Express for the first time around Christmas!  I always put it away with the Christmas stuff so we only watch it at Christmas time.  That way it is more special.

This was Milo's first ever successful selfie.  And it is SO cute!  : )

We popped some Mallow Magic popcorn for the occasion.  That is a special treat popcorn to us.  We don't have it all the time.

Chase is starting to really remember things.  He remembered the movie from last year.  He has been talking randomly about other things that are surprising me that he remembers too.  He is growing up!

Milo gets really into movies.  This was his reaction to the choo choo.  Haha!  I love it! Pretty sure he didn't remember the movie from last year..

This right here - my Mommy snuggles - is what I live for.  I will so miss them when they are grown.  Lucky for me though Chase is 4 and he still snuggles too so we are doing good.  : )

Everyone sat still and was fully engrossed in The Polar Express the whole time, as usual.  One of my favorite Christmas time traditions that we have made our own around here.