I'm (not) Dreaming of a White Christmas

BUT WE GOT ONE ANYWAY!!!

Well. We knew the snow was coming. And by the time we loaded up the car to head to the airport on Christmas afternoon, it was snowing pretty hard. But we were hopeful. Didn't work. We were at Bush and Preston when we got the text that our flight had been cancelled. I was so devastated that we weren't going to make it to my parents...because it was SNOWING. In Dallas. In December. On the ONE DAY we were traveling. (Sigh.)

At least we weren't already at the airport with our bags checked, right? So, we turned around to head home. Lucas cried the whole way because he was sad that he couldn't "go to the airport and go on a plane and go to north car-wo-li-na and see Mimi and Papa". We managed to rebook a flight for Thursday and headed home to get in comfy clothes and watch a movie. (Cars 2...you never would have guessed, right?!?) We also had NO FOOD AT ALL at the house and the grocery stores were closed, so dinner was a crazy eating adventure.

This morning we got up and decided to take the kids outside. We ended up with about 3 inches in the yard. Lucas thought is was too cold (wind chills were in the single digits) and went right back in. She thought it was fun until she touched the snow. Here's hoping the next snow day comes on a day we are able to stay home and enjoy it!

P.S. Can we talk about how Shea smiles for all her pictures now?? Such a ham!

Christmas Morning

Santa made it through the crazy rain and hail to bring some great presents to our family this year. Phil and I had big plans to get up before the kids, have our coffee and get organized, but the huge thunder woke Lucas up at 5:30, so he was awake in our bed long before the sun rose. Oh well!  Early Santa for everyone!

Here is what Lucas received (Cars, anyone)?

His BIG Santa gift was a Piston Cup raceway that we were so excited for him to receive since all he does is race his cars on imaginary tracks. Once Mr. and Mrs. Claus were putting it together, however, they discovered that the elves had given them a WRONG PIECE!  So...luckily, Mrs. Claus had purchased an extra Cars set (on the right) thinking she would save it for birthday. Whew! Crisis averted.

Lucas was soooo excited about his toys and all his new cars. He got all the bad guys, and the oil rig from Cars 2.

It some some major convincing to get him to even look in his stocking instead of playing with the cars, but he was most excited by the little bag of pennies inside. He immediately got out his piggy bank to put his money in.

Shea got some super Santa gifts, too!

She played all morning with her mailbox and balls and REALLY loved eating the wrapping paper.

Mommy and Daddy had great stockings, too :)  We all enjoyed opening our presents. Mommy got photography lessons, some new clothes, and beautiful Christmas ornaments. Daddy got a golf club, a badminton set, new jammies, and an ice cream maker.  Shea got new books and a bear just like Lucas's. Lucas got books, a drill play set, and a car carrier for the plane.

Miracle of miracles!  I even got my family to sit together on the couch (in the pj pants I made everyone) and take a picture. I AM BLESSED.

Cheers and Christmas blessings from our family to yours!

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve was very low key this year. We hung out at the house and played with the kids for most of the day. Then, we bundled everyone up and headed to P.F. Changs for dinner. (We did this last year, and it was GREAT). This year, however, the service was SO. SLOW. So slow, in fact, that we missed church. Grrr...Christmas Eve service is my FAVORITE!!! Oh well. Jesus knows our intentions, right?

After heading back home from dinner, we decided that hot chocolate was in order.  Lucas helped.

Shea sat by the tree in her Christmas leggings looking cute :)

Then, we let each kid open one gift. Lucas got a new truck named Chet Boxcar and spent the rest of the evening playing with his and calling him "Chep. Box. CAR.":

Shea got a new baby Bible:

Then, mommy got her Christmas wish of getting both kids to sit in front of the tree in their homemadematching pajamas and let her take pictures. (Happy mommy moment).

Ok...photography nerd moment. At this point, I started trying a new technique  had read about for shooting Christmas tree lights. What a difference it makes!  I in IN LOVE with these photos below.

Gingerbread Houses

When Lucas and I were at Target earlier this month, Lucas spotted a Gingerbread house kit that he decided looked fun. I thought it might be a fun (but messy) activity for us all to do for Christmas, so I happily complied. It was SO HARD to wait until Daddy was home from work, so when the day finally arrived, Little Man was very excited. The kit was cool because it had several tiny houses and we each got to do one.

Phil and I did the icing and Lucas a very into putting he candy decorations on all by himself. He did a great job (and managed to ingest plenty of sugar along the way!).  Here is his finished product:

And Phil's:

And mine:

I love fun family Christmas activities like this and can't wait to have four of us making messes together next year. (Or maybe six if my parents are here, too!)