Our First Oklahoma Christmas

And I hope there are many more to come. But this year was our first Christmas in Oklahoma at my parents house. We had a lot of fun and I loved being able to spend the nights there. I always loved going to my grandparents house in Granbury for the holidays. We all (meaning my family, my aunt and uncle and my cousins) would stay at my grandparents house. And it was the best. I loved being with everyone all the time - night and day. So I was so excited to spend the night with my now "extended" family at my parents house. We had lots of fun, ate lots of food, and made some new memories. It was wonderful!

The Christmas tree with all the presents. One of my favorite things of the Christmas holidays is seeing all the pretty presents under the tree. And amazingly, the kids left them alone - for the most part! :)

Our Christmas "morning" which was actually the 30th. It didn't matter what day it was. It was so fun to see the kids excitement with it all. I mean, just look at Reagan's face. So fun.

And then there was Lindsey. She's not excited is she?

And then the lull brought about Reagan getting a bit sleepy. Even with all the new presents she got so tired. After this was an early lunch and naptime for both her and Andrew.

My parents got around 14 inches of snow on Christmas Eve. There was still plenty of snow once we got there. Robert even got to workout on vacation by shoveling my parents driveway. The grandkids had fun going out in the snow, building small snowmen, and tromping through the snow making deep footprints.

Reagan was happy staying on the porch watching the others play though.

A trip to Edmond means a visit to Pops. We went for dinner one night and now we can honestly say, go for breakfast instead. While dinner was good, breakfast is so good there. We highly recommend Pops.

My parents just bought this tent for the kids to play in at their house. But I do believe that my mom spent just as much time in there as the kids did.

To fill some of the time while we were visiting, my mom and I came up with the idea to make bird feeders out of toilet paper rolls, peanut butter, and bird seed. It was fun to let her be the one to have the mess at her house. Here is Lindsey making her bird feeder.

And Andrew really wanted to taste it so that is what he did. I don't think that bird seed is poisonous to humans but I'm not too sure about how good it tastes either.

And Reagan got a bit messy with hers. She just grabbed the roll and the peanut butter oozed through her fingers. What fun!

Then we all went outside to hang the feeders on the trees for the birds. Hopefully they found the food.

Daddy helped Reagan with hers. Look at the pretty red berries on the trees. There were a couple of cardinals that would come by to eat some. It was such a pretty scene with the snow, trees, berries, and the cardinals.

We had such a great time. Loved it all. And I look forward to all of us getting together again soon.

Christmas in Louisiana

Like I said in my last post, we drove to Louisiana the day after Christmas. It was fun (the time there, not the drive). We spent most of the time at Robert's cousin, Chris', house. We had a lot of good times and big laughs.

The group that stayed at this house included eight adults and five children five and under. There really was never a dull moment. And the funniest part was when we had put the babies to sleep. We would hear one cry out and all look at each other trying to figure out whose baby it was. It didn't just happen once. It happened every time.

Reagan longing to go play with the big kids outside. Yes, we didn't eventually go - once we got bundled up in coats.

Lindsey concentrating very hard on sidewalk chalk.

Lindsey and Brielle. I love these side by side pictures. You can see how very different they are. Short/tall. Dark/light. So fun!

Reagan with her cousin, Ethan. He was born towards the end of June. So he and Reagan are about four weeks apart too. Brennen was also there (another cousin). He is just six days older than Reagan. It was soooo much fun to see all the cousins with each other.

Reagan loved playing basketball. Actually all the kids did. The older girls even got several rounds of Horse/Pig/Elephant in while the biggest boys were watching football.

See, she loved it.

Another cute shot of Brielle and Lindsey. Brielle with her daddy's boots on and Lindsey with Chris's boots.

We had a fun few days all together. I wish we could do it more often. Love you guys!

Next up is the Lindsey family Christmas in Oklahoma at my parents house. Stay tuned.

Blasingame Christmas 2009

Our Christmas was (and is usually) spread out over about a week. I love doing it that way. It is more relaxed. The girls enjoy the time with each family. And basically, I love Christmas. Well, the day after Christmas, this year, was spent with the Blasingame's. We were planning on leaving to go to Louisiana that day also so everyone came to our house for presents and breakfast. It turned out great.

Reagan and her new big-girl backpack she takes to school. She loves to carry it all by herself.

Robert a little worried with his gift from me and Barbara. Always funny because he forgets year to year that we do this each Christmas.

Manny enjoying his gift from us - the ear warmers (apparently it gets really cold up in Boston!) And Arthemon enjoying trying out our new video camera from Robert's work.

Lindsey LOVES her new Sleeping Beauty vanity. Barbara and Manny stayed up Thanksgiving Night to go to ToysRUs to get it on Black Friday. Crazy people! But Lindsey is so grateful.

Before we jumped in the cars to head to Louisiana, we had to take a picture of the great snowman Robert and Lindsey made. And yes, his eyes are Reese' Peanut Butter Cups. His mouth is made of Hershey Kisses. And his nose is not a carrot. Haha - it's what we had. :)We had a great, long day. The girls were good in the car which made me extremely happy. It's great to get new toys and books and then quickly get in the car with them all. Lots of new things to discover. I recommend it to all those out there with little ones.

Here's What You Have Been Waiting For

Things have slowed down just a little bit so I thought that I would get caught up on my blogging before things get crazy busy again. Seems like the last pictures I posted were from Christmas Eve so Christmas morning seems like the next place to go.

Lindsey was excited to see the note that Santa left for her and Reagan. She wanted to read it before even looking at the presents and stockings.

Reagan was a bit more interested in the Santa head left over from Santa. He also left cookie crumbs. I love her face in the picture. She is thinking, "Do I get the leftovers?"

Reagan's gift from Santa - one of those bead roller coasters. She loves it.

Lindsey's gift from Santa was pink luggage - but with a surprise Tiana doll inside.

She was also very excited to get the nail polish that she asked for.

In Reagan's stocking were new sippy cups. She likes them. Can you tell?

Reagan's gift from Lindsey was a Magna Doodle. She plays with it just about every time we are in the car.

Lindsey also loved her new jewelry box from Reagan. She had a lot of fun filling up the drawers with her jewelry. And then switching it all up again.

Reagan got pajamas from us. Doesn't she look happy? Maybe she isn't the pajama fan that her sister and I are.

Lindsey was pretty excited about her new movie, too. She got Night at the Museum - Battle of the Smithsonian.

And the mess. Why is it that anything fun makes big messes that aren't so much fun to clean up?

I'll try and get some more pictures uploaded later. Either today or tomorrow. I've got lots to do.

The Sweet By and By

Written by Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck, The Sweet By and By is a great story of family relationships. Jade is a girl with a past. And in that past, her mother, Beryl, doesn't have much of a role. But Jade's upcoming wedding causes both women to look at and talk about the past. Beryl was a hippie chick and more interested in what her love (at the moment) was doing rather than the upbringing of her children. Jade grew up without a mother, for the most part, and is trying to forget the past and move on with the love of her life, Max.

The story goes back and forth between the past and the present as Jade tries to put the past behind her. Several times during the book, you wonder how she could have turned out so well with her mother not in her life. But she had great relationships with her grandparents and also friends in college along with another very important relationship that she wasn't even sure existed.

I would encourage you to read The Sweet By and By if they are looking for a "real" storyline. I enjoyed getting to know the characters. They are people that live in the real world. That fact made the book more enjoyable for me to read.

Merry Christmas to All -

And to all a good night!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Well, I have a few minutes and wanted to add a few more thoughts and pictures to the blog.

First of all, yes, we do have a tree and it does finally have ornaments and a star on top. We had the tree up for about a week before putting anything on it. But now it is all done.

Here is the "putting the star on top with Daddy's help" picture from this year.

Last year's picture.And 2007. I love that Lindsey is wearing her crown.This morning we had a surprise when we woke up. Reagan missed out on the snow earlier this month so I wanted to be sure and get her outside this time. Looks like she is enjoying it, huh?

This video is taken with our new toy. We got a Flip Video Camera from Robert's work Christmas party. We haven't used it much so sorry it is shaky, especially at the end. I was trying to do both video and our still camera at the same time. Didn't work too well.

I like how you can hear Robert talk to Reagan and see her shake her head yes and no.

Reagan looked a bit happier once she got inside.

We have already had a fun break from the daily routine. And are looking forward to spending lots time with our extended families coming up. Hope you all are staying warm and dry. Have a wonderful Christmas!