Nathan was an angry elf this year. He didn't like the fact that he was no longer the baby and that Esther got the job of putting baby Jesus in the manger. Every picture I took of him this Christmas morning was a scowling picture.
While Esther put Jesus in the manger, Thomas started yelling, "He's finally here!!!"
I am assuming he meant Jesus and not Santa...because that is the kind of mother I am.
This advent was neat for us because the children understood the whole "counting down" thing. Every week, they would talk about how many candles we had lit and how many more we had to light. We did our Jesse tree again, and it was remarkably successful. Studying the lineage of Jesus was inspiring for all of us...even Nate, who requested daily that I "do the Goliath one again".
It was a small gift-giving Christmas this year. Each child received one gift from us and one from Santa. They all picked out books for one another. It was simple and beautiful. Matt and I were so grateful for each and every moment and blessing.
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| The face of content holding the face of "I'm starving! WHY ARE WE WASTING OUR TIME NOT EATING?!" I don't know if that double chin will ever go away. |
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| The children all bought Matt a Christmas Tie Fighter ornament. I've never seen Matt so excited...his smile rivaled our wedding day photos. Hmmmm... |
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| Bean bought the Hot Mess a little stuffed bunny which kept her entertained most of the morning, along with the clementines from her stocking. I don't know what Santa was thinking, giving a 3 month old citrus products. |
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| Stickers. Everyone else's stickers. Nate loves them. Don't take them or he will scream...non-stop...until you give them back...even if it takes 2 hours...imnotkidding. |
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| Santa did Legos this year. It was awesome! |
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| The Hot Mess got all sorts of lovely clothes for Christmas, including bunny Uggs from Uncle Peter and Aunt Emily. The bow on her head is to show that she is a girl, I tell my sons. They don't believe me. (I jacked Matt's new Buffalo Bills coat for this picture.) |
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| The first sleepover is always the scariest, Esther. |
So, we got some snow this vacation. It was amazing and dream-like because we didn't actually have to go anywhere or do anything.
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| Both, Esther. We are Both. |
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| Twins. |
What a beautiful Christmas memory! Yes .... even Nate Screaming!!!!! We will miss that some day....maybe?
ReplyDeleteOh my....I'm in love with this post. It makes me happy! I laughed at just about every picture and every paragraph. I love all of your nicknames for Esther. I'm not sure which one is my favorite so far, but Hot Mess is pretty high up there. I've decided that she is as demanding as you say she is because she knows that is how she is going to get the attention and be in the spotlight....she's a smart cookie.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm cheap and smart too, but it is nicer to say frugal.