Christmas Recap

We had such a wonderful Christmas/several days with our families. I cannot possibly talk about

everything nor do you want me to:) so I have chosen several snapshots that wrap up our holiday!

The Carpenter's Christmas Morning

Here are the kids in their Christmas jammies. Lauren wouldn't ever let us get a great picture with her.

His newest thing is to put his hands in mouth when I ask him for a picture....so we get a shot like this...

Love this sweet face

We didn't get the kids much for Christmas this year and it's a good thing because this photo book was the biggest hit with James. He LOVED it and we figured he would because he enjoys looking through his scrapbooks. He asked to read it after opening up each gift and we have read it many, many times since then. The title is Who Loves You James?

We made these cute, little reindeer candy canes for all of James' cousins. He enjoyed making them and passing them out and I'm pretty sure the kids all enjoyed them too!

I finally got him smiling...

Here is the best shot I was able to get of Lauren. I know...terrible isn't it? She was all over the place!!! This is the octopus James picked out all by himself to give Lauren for Christmas. He even helped wrap it and was very proud and excited when she opened it up. She enjoyed it too!

Look at this insane amount of gifts!!! We put several of them away and we will pull them out

when he gets bored....and to think he has a birthday in 3 weeks!!!


This was one of his favorite gifts. It's a firefighter gas mask and he loves it! He got an entire

box of equipment. My favorite thing is when he walks around with this on while carrying his sword. Don't you know...firefighters need a sword to chop down the doors!!!

And this is one of Lauren's favorite gifts. I had never seen it before. It is a caterpillar rocker and it plays music and does shapes and colors when you push its buttons. She loves to sit on things so this was an immediate hit for her.

Another favorite gift for James was his scooter...we have been letting him ride it around the house since it's too cold to go outside. I'm sure he is going to get lots of use out of it this summer!

We have SO much to be grateful for and we really used this Christmas time to reflect on all God has blessed us with this year. We are so thankful for our families and the role they play in our lives!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Didn't see this one coming...

So....to add a little bit of holiday cheer to our family...I arrived to my car last night after

tutoring (like I do every Wednesday night) at the public library in Goshen to this. No, you are not seeing ice on my window like James thought (bless his heart) What you are seeing is my ENTIRE back window smashed out. The "ice" you see is all that was left of it. Someone stole the kids' DVD players and dvds. Somehow they missed the Garmin....Jerks...

Maybe a good Samaritan walked by and spotted them...yeah right? Who didn't see this going on? How exactly does someone smash a window and manage to steal everything inside in the parking lot of a busy public library at key hours?

Unbelievable!!! I know it didn't matter to the thief, but it kills me that they stole the kids' dvd players. I mean come on....And that they left glass covering their seats and all of Lauren's toys.

I hid my purse under the seat, but yes, they found that too. Luckily I had my wallet with me because it had my library card in it....but....I had an envelope with my much of my tutoring cash/Christmas money that I have been saving religiously! :( I don't usually keep in in my purse but had it in there while doing someone Christmas shopping. THIS STINKS!!!! My very hard earned money. I was so irate last night you can't even imagine. I'm usually pretty easy going. I think even the librarians were a bit nervous last night... I was a crazy lady....

We are going to have to replace Lauren's car seat because of the amount of glass that is in it. I'm just not sure we can get it all!!!

Lots of shattered glass....as I was driving it home last night....FREEZING because there was no back window and having everyone staring....I had to listen to glass continue to fall and shift around at every bump I hit....terrible reminder all the way home of the reality of wicked people!

Another look at all of the glass.

So as I worked hard tutoring to make money in these difficult times and give back to kids in our community , someone was stealing everything I have worked so hard far. I understand these are tough times for everyone, but come on folks! It just makes me sick. The insurance will cover everything, including the cash, which is great but our deductible is pretty hefty, so we'll still just about break even....NOT a fun price to pay EVER and for sure not the week before Christmas and a few days before Luke's birthday. And yes, I know it could have been worse and property can be replaced...but....guess what....it still stinks! My heart is heavy today. I was hoping to feel better about it all this morning when I woke up, but that hasn't been the case. I am still very angry and emotional. And guess what I get to do this weekend

while fighting the Christmas shopping madness??? Shop for a new car seat, dvd player, dvds, and purse. You may think fun...but for me...not so much!!! Anyway....MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! oh and don't keep ANYTHING OF VALUE VISIBLE IN YOUR VEHICLES!!! The police officer said they've had several of these break ins and again in daylight in the middle of parking lots. We called the pawn shops and reported the dvd players right away but haven't heard anything. Maybe some little kids will get dvd players with Monsters Inc. and Baby da Vinci....sad, sad, sad...if they only knew...

Oh, and James is very distraught and confused as to why anyone would break our window and take his dvd player and his favorite movie, Monsters' Inc. He keeps saying, "Why'd that man DO that?" and "Well, ask him..." Bless his heart. We also had to explain to him that it didn't happen at our house because he was asking a lot about that too. Oh, the joys of life....

Christmas Spirit...

...is filling our house right now...We went and picked out our Christmas tree on Sunday evening. This is one of my favorite parts about Christmas... picking out the tree. I have been going to get a real tree ever since I was a little girl and have such great memories of finding the "perfect" one and then trying to get it home and set up while making a mess with pine needles and such. It is SO worth it though simply for the smell of fresh pine and sap. I LOVE IT!!!

James enjoyed helping us pick out the tree. He was so excited and kept running up and down the aisles of trees.

My big, burly man getting our tree...hehe...

You can see how pitiful and cold their little faces look and Lauren wouldn't keep her mittens on. I really am a good mom! :)

Our tradition with the kids to to get them a Christmas ornament that represents what their interests are at that time. I couldn't decide between a cow, motorcycle or this John Deere. I went with the John Deere and it was a hit. He loves it! I just got Lauren the Year 2 ornament since

I'm not exactly sure what her interests are yet...food maybe? :)

James putting his personal touch on the tree!

Lauren loved looking at the lights. She hasn't touched everything as much as I though she would but when she has tried to touch the ornaments the Ornament Police (aka James) is there to quickly reprimand her!
James was filled with excitement as we started unpacking the lights and bulbs. We quickly took this bulb away as they are glass! :/

James was fascinated with putting the lights up to his skin and watching it glow. The Finished Tree...it doesn't look as pretty because I took the pic during they day so it was hard to see it all lit up. It's beautiful though. Each morning James rushes out to turn on the Christmas lights.Lauren has a cute little festive shirt she got for her birthday! Even she's in the spirit!

James' version of the Nativity Scene
Here is James' own version of the Nativity. Didn't you know that there were kangaroos as well as elephants and hippos at the birth of Christ? :) So sweet. There's an entire zoo surrounding baby Jesus! Unfortunately baby Jesus didn't rank too high because if you look closely he didn't even make it in the stable. He's on the ground next to the kangaroos. My sweetie and his animals!!!

On Saturday evening we took James to the live Nativity at a local church (minus the safari animals). I have to be honest, we took him mainly to see all of the live animals because he was a bit too young to understand the entire Christmas story, but he keeps telling me he saw baby Jesus. Sweet boy. It was SOOO COLD and SNOWY on Saturday night....if he hadn't been looking forward to going so much I don't think we would have gone. It was worth it though...we saw a big camel, donkeys, goats, sheep, chickens, pigeons, baby llamas, and a cow. James was in heaven!!!! By the end he was crying to go home because it was so cold!!! We all warmed ourselves up with some burgers and fries from McD's! MMMM.......As we continue the business that comes along with this Christmas season, I want to remind James what the importance of this great holiday is...the birth of Christ.