TLEB in Texas: January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Christmas with the Neighbors

We are good friends with two of our neighbors, they each have 2 children so there are 6 kiddos in our little group. We decided to have the kids exchange names instead of buying for everyone. I invited everyone over to decorate cookies and then exchange the presents.

I filled bags with frosting and added my decorating tips so the kids could try out some new techniques.

Bridget likes to be well accessorized while working!

The kids were very hard at work on all their cookies.

Bridget got Ben's name - she's helping him open.

Elizabeth got her present from Brady.

Emma was extremely excited with the present we got her! :)

All the kids are busy checking out their presents. I think they loved having secret Santas.

The next morning the elf stole a cookie! :) He must have thought they looked good!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning! Here's the tree with all the presents.

The kids are waiting at the top of the steps for the ok to come downstairs.

Santa left a letter for the kids that Elizabeth is reading. Ben is busy checking out his stocking.

First up, the stockings!

Next, the presents.

The kids both got roller skates-they skated all over the house.

Ben and Grandpa had a fun time playing games together.

We had a wonderful Christmas and the kids were very spoiled! :)

Elizabeth got her ears pierced months ago - and they got infected and we had to remove them. During Christmas break Elizabeth decided that she wanted to get them re-pierced.

Phew-that's over with! She was so excited to get them pierced again, she loves them!

During New Years we invited our family and a couple of neighbors over to celebrate with us. After lots of playing the kids settled down to watch a movie,

and the adults settled down to play some games! It was a low key evening and so much fun!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Christmas Eve

The night before Christmas Eve we took the Minivan Express to see Christmas lights! (I totally got this idea from pinterest) The kids got ready for bed as usual but when they pulled down their covers they found a ticket to the minivan express! We headed down to the car where they found popcorn and hot chocolate all ready for them. We headed out to see Christmas lights with all of our snacks.

(I have a lot of cute Christmas cups, but none with lids!)

This house reminded us of the Griswalds - they strung their lights up and down the entire house!

After church on Christmas Eve we always head over to Tom's parent's house. I had to take a picture of the three matching guys. Tom, his dad, and his brother, Mark.

The grandkids.

Tom's parents - I thought this was such a good picture of the two of them.

Elizabeth got a pillow pet from her cousins, she was very happy about it!

So did Ben!

More presents.

Elizabeth and her cousin Sarah.

Sarah, Tom, Victoria, and Mark. All the grays - I guess it was the popular color this year!

The kids were being so wild with a pillow pet fight!

A big pillow pet from cousin Dan.

Grandma H. with the kids and the presents they gave them.

My gift for the kids was matching jammies that I made. I love how on my side of the family we have the kids all match, but it's a lot harder with this many kids in this many sizes so I decided to make them pj's. I bought them all white t-shirts and did the freezer paper stencil for the snowman faces. I made the pants out of red flannel. It took some time, but I love how they all match.

Ben and Amelia looked so cute cuddling together.

Last, but not least, my kids opened our families big present from G&G - a basketball hoop! Both of the kids are in basketball this season so we needed one of these to practice with! We use it all the time. We had a great Christmas Eve.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa B's

Our first Christmas.

We had Christmas a week early with my side of the family because Jessica and Ryan were going to be in KS for Christmas.

We arrived at G&G's house in the morning for a snowball breakfast (powdered donuts). We were having brunch in a couple of hours but there's nothing like sugar donuts to get the kids really wound up before opening presents!

The tree filled with packages.

We always start with the stockings first.

Showing off the goodies.

Ben was stacking his pile of presents.

Elizabeth by her pile!

Elizabeth got a new dress to dress up with. Little did she know it was for Disney later in January!

Scooby doo stuff!! My kids love that show!

Elizabeth was so excited, she got the Elizabeth doll from American Girl.

Elizabeth was extremely spoiled this year, she also got a Nook! My parents decided to get the kids a nook the year they could read well. That would be this year for Elizabeth! She loves to read, so this was a great present for her. We had a wonderful early holiday!