Christmas Eve at Alice's

My family's tradition for Christmas Eve has always been to go to a party at cousin Alice's house. This year was no different. In this picture Grace was teasing her Papaw by pointing at him and saying, "You Pap?"
The kids LOVE their Uncle Brian! They wanted him to go downstairs with them while they ate.
My little Christmas angel enjoyed some fruit and crackers.
Next, the kids opened some gifts from Santa's elves.
Gabriel got a Flicker flashlight. Flicker is the name of the Handy Manny character that is a flashlight.
Gabriel also got a Cars character car, and Grace got a My Little Pony.
Karen (Scott's Karen) received the traditional hat.

Uncle Mark's Christmas Eve

I didn't get many pictures at Uncle Mark's house. It was nice to see Robin and Amber and hear how things have been for them lately. The kids, especially Grace, paraded around the house being super-cute.
Gabriel and Gramma had a very serious conversation about what Santa would be bringing. Gabriel asked Gramma what Santa would bring HER. He's so thoughtful!

Party Wear

I had to take a picture of my kiddos before we left for our Christmas Eve parties because they looked so darn cute. And you know how it is with kids, once they're dressed and ready to go, it's only a matter of moments before the cuteness is ruined by something. Here they are clean and pressed.

High Heel Shoes

I was in the kitchen this evening when Dan yelled, "Get the camera and come here quick!"
This is what I saw. Miss Gracie was dressed in her high heels, purse, and Santa hat.
After a trip or two around the house, she decided that putting her pants back on might be a good idea.
Who says heels aren't for every day wear?

Being Silly

My pretty girl and me
Muscle Gabe
Peek-a-Boo
Funny Faces

Thank you, Mrs. Staci!

Mrs. Staci gave us a family gift today. Needless to say, the kids and I broke into it on the way home. From the looks of the kids faces, can you guess what it was? Yes, home made cookies and fudge, along with some other goodies.

Test, Test . . . .

These are the first pictures taken with my new camera. I love it!
Grace was a little angry to be going from a warm bath to a cold hallway to get her lotion and pj's.
What a lap full of lovin'!
"Night-Night, Mom!"
"Take my picture, Mommy! Cheeeeeeeese! Now let me see it!"

Christmas with Uncle Ed & Aunt Stacey

Uncle Ed and Aunt Stacey came down from Indy yesterday so that we could celebrate Christmas with them. They will be spending Christmas in Michigan with Stacey's family this year. Stacey played Santa and handed out gifts.
Gabriel and Grace were very excited about opening gifts.
Grace's OCD kicked in while she was opening gifts. She had to throw each piece of wrapping paper away before pulling off the next piece. Then she went around the room and cleaned up other people's wrapping paper.
Erin and Brian brought their baby, Streaker, to celebrate Christmas too.
Gabriel tried to help Stacey with handing out gifts.
Grace got a book about HER from Uncle Ed and Aunt Stacey. She LOVES books, and she especially loves this one.
Gabriel got a book about himself solving a mystery with Scooby-Doo.
When unwrapping gifts was over, Gabriel, Grace, and Erin decided to wrap Uncle Brian.
Before our Christmas celebration ended, we watched a DVD created by Uncle Jim and Linda. Grace narrated the entire DVD for us. It was hysterical listening to her; we wished we'd gotten that on video. Thanks, Uncle Jim and Linda. We love our DVD!

Thank you, Santa!

My busted camera. Notice that the lens is open and halfway out, but the camera is turned off.
Merry Christmas to me!! Thank you, Santa! I love it!

Lausman Christmas

We went to Dan's mom's family Christmas party last night at his cousin Rhonda's house. Grace chose not to take a nap yesterday, and this party didn't start until 7 PM. So she got to have a private party at Grandma and Papaw's house last night. Gabriel was one of two kids at the party, and he was an awesome kid last night! He was so awesome that Santa left a truck at Rhonda's house for him.
Gabriel had to go tell Daddy and Aunt Bonnie all about his new truck.
Jake got a gift too . . . a glow worm.
Rhonda invited Gabriel to play the piano. Wow, thanks, Rhonda! LOL
Here are the rest of the aunts (and cousin Ruth): Aunt Pat, Aunt Carol, and Aunt Barbara.
The adults had a dirty Santa gift exchange. Roger got a cookie plate and cookie mix! Wow, Roger, just what you've always wanted!
Dan showed Rob some brotherly love.
Rob, to Gabe, "Here, Buddy, hold my beer."
Uncle Rob and Cousin Mark kept Gabriel well entertained with a good deal of teasing.

The pictures end here because my camera died. No, the battery didn't die, the camera died. Notice how the pictures have gotten progressively more blurry? That's because my camera was on its last legs. It hasn't been right since it was "repaired" this summer. I guess the lesson learned is skip repairing a busted camera and just replace it. Maybe Santa will get me an early Christmas gift??

Peek-A-Boo Girl

Baking Cookies

Daddy baked cookies tonight to take to work later this week.
The kids were so excited to "help" him.
They made a lot of excited raucous and ate plenty of ingredient samples.
I'm sure Daddy was relieved when I took them upstairs for baths so he could finish baking in peace.

Celebrating Uncle Brian's Birthday

After having dinner, we went back to Uncle Brian and Erin's house so Uncle Brian could open his birthday gifts and have cake. I mean, what's a birthday without cake, right?
Every time we mentioned Uncle Brian's birthday, Grace asked if she could blow out his candles. I guess the answer is YES.
Gabriel had to give it a try too.
Mmmm . . . ice cream cake
Grace had a little difficulty getting the cake on the fork, so Papaw helped her out.
In the end, she ended up eating her cake with her fingers.
Uncle Brian has a pet turtle. Grace thought he was pretty cool.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Brian!

Lemons

Uncle Brian's birthday was last week, so Sunday we went out to eat to celebrate. Gabriel and Grace decided to eat lemons to pass the time while we waited for our food.
Grace immediately spit it out. She only wanted it because Gabriel had asked for it.
Gabriel bit into his lemon slice again and again. Each time he would pucker, laugh at himself, then do it again.
His puckers were so funny, and he truly couldn't stop them. But he kept going back for more too. Crazy kid!!

"Ready Go, Mommy!"

Grace and I were getting ready to go shopping this morning. After putting her jacket on she disappeared into the living room. A minute later she came running back and said, "Ready go, Mommy! Got my backpack!" She is so funny! We love her to pieces!

A Little Christmas Cheer

The Bowers came over last night for dinner. The kids exchanged gifts, played, and had a great time together. Not to mention, that it was nice for the adults to have a chance to catch up.
The kids were thrilled to get a chance to open Christmas presents. Gabriel got a remote control monster truck.
Landon got a travel Aquadoodle pad.


Grace's Little People house was quite a challenge to open.
Do you see Gabriel's face? He truly was that excited about his remote control car.
Grace wasn't satisfied with opening one gift. She helped Melissa open her gift too.
I love how Landon and Grace AND Landon and Gabriel played together. Every time the kids see other, they've grown up a little, and it shows in their play.
After opening gifts, we all had dessert. The Bowers brought snowman cupcakes for the kids and Carmel Dutch Apple Pie for the adults. SO yummy!!!

Bower family --- Thanks for the gifts, dessert, and great company!

Bridgepoint Breakfast with Santa

Dan and I took the kids to school this morning to have their picture taken with Santa Claus again.
Last night when Gabriel was asked by Santa what he wanted for Christmas, Gabriel said Lightning McQueen cars and a candy cane.
Well, Santa delivered on the candy cane part this morning. The kids were thrilled.
There were coloring sheets and crayons on the cafeteria tables. The kids were so content to sit and color.
They both looked SO big to me, sitting at the cafeteria tables coloring with the school kids.
I'm really not ready for my babies to grow up this quickly.

Greentree Mall Santa

We went to the mall last night to pick up a few last minute gifts, and there was no line to see Santa. So even though we were not prepared to see Santa and take pictures, we did. Yes, Gabriel's hair is the usual mess. We have Santa pictures though, and it wasn't stressful. Yea!!