So Much for Christmas Comes Once a Year!

I ended my last post with the quote, "At Christmas play and make good cheer for Christmas comes but once a year." Well, so much for that. I am not sure what I was thinking because we had our third Christmas on Saturday with Phillip's dad, mom, brother, and sisters. It was kind of nice that Christmas is so drawn out for us because there is so much anticipation for the holiday, you hate for it to be over in a day. It was nice being together with everyone for it doesn't happen very often that we all are in the same place at once. The pictures pretty much sum up the night- food, family, presents, and of course, Rock Band. I do have to add that it was pretty funny that our own children kept confusing Jennifer and me. I guess we shouldn't have worn the same color! Next year, I'll have to call her ahead of time.

Merry Christmas

Lofton woke up bright and early on Christmas morning at 7:30am. He was excited, but surprisingly, we got him to crawl in bed and watch a Christmas cartoon with us so Landon could sleep a little longer. His excitement wasn't contained long because at 8:00am, he ran in Landon's room. Landon was less than thrilled, but once he saw his first present- a stuffed dog, he woke up. The boys had a great time ripping open presents, and again, Lofton was done in minutes. Landon savors the time; he was still opening gifts at 9:00am, and it was driving Lofton crazy. The boys received some great things. The hit was their Spiderman Suds Launchers for the bathtub, which they enjoyed, but I didn't. I got drenched. They also both love Lofton's Batman cave. Landon got lots of his favorite- books, and Lofton got a gift card to rent video games, which he loves to do, and Santa even came through and brought him the coke he asked for.

This was the first year that we didn't have family to spend Christmas day with, so we invited the McAfees over for Christmas dinner. Kale Nash and Caleb Walker came over too, and Lofton couldn't have been more thrilled. He is drawn to older boys like a moth to a flame. He just can't get enough. He enjoyed wrestling with them. Everyone enjoyed Rock Band, and as much as I make fun of Phillip, I too joined in and sang the Go Go's "We Got the Beat." It was great spending time with friends.

Thomas Tusser once said, "At Christmas play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year;" the boys wore themselves out playing- they slept in this morning until 9:30 am!

The Night Before Christmas

The boys opening gifts from each other, momma and daddy, and Nan Nan!




The best gifts of all

Making Reindeer Dust

Making Santa's cookies


Reindeer Dust


Cookies for Santa


Watching The Grinch with Daddy

McConnell Family Christmas Party

Phillip's cousin, Leanne, hosted the McConnell family Christmas party on Sunday night. There are a lot of people in Phillip's family, so it was nice to have it at Leanne's beautiful, large home. The McConnell's all know how to cook, so of course, we had an excellent meal. Leanne and her sister Amy had put together several games. Lofton won the first one because the candy cane was under his chair. He also made a pretty good guess at one of the Christmas trivia questions, so Leanne let him win again. He not only enjoyed the group games but Leanne and Kevin have a great game room, and the boys enjoyed airhockey, pool, Wii, and they played Kevin's drums. It was really fun to get together with Phillip's family whom many of them we hadn't seen in a long time. I hope that we don't have to wait until next Christmas to see them all again. Thanks, Leanne for a wonderful night.

McConnell Family Christmas

Predators Game

Grandfather took Lofton to the Predators game on Saturday. As I was getting Lofton ready to go, I asked him what he thought he would get for dinner. He said popcorn and cotton candy, and apparently, he got what he wanted. Charlie said that Lofton summoned the cotton candy guy all by himself. They had a terrific time. Thanks, Charlie for taking Lofton to his first hockey game. (I'll post more pics when I get them.)

Let the Christmas Celebration Begin

Our Christmas celebration began this weekend when Mimi and Pop Pop came down for Christmas #1. Lofton was so excited that he didn't have to wait five more days for presents. As soon as my mom and dad got here, he said, "Mimi, I haven't seen you in a week." Surpisingly, he did not ask for a present right off the bat; he made them play Wii with him. After Landon got up though, he asked for his annual one present that he opens before we actually have our Christmas. Landon and Lofton of course racked up. Lofton was exstatic when he opened his Lego Batman game. He tore through his gifts in a matter of seconds, while Landon opened one, sat down by Santa, and gave Santa a hug. Whenever we have taken him to see Santa, we console his tears by telling him that Santa is going to bring him presents; I guess he thought Santa had come through. The boys got so much; some of the favorites were an Elmo laptop, VSmile WAll-E game, Lego Batman, trucks, Spiderman scooter, and a race track. The most interesting was the Curious George 3in1 soap and shampoo. Not sure what third thing it does.

The hit was Phillip's Rock Band, which he played ALL day on Saturday. Phillip did break from it so he and I could go to dinner and finish our Christmas shopping.

Our weekend quickly ended on Sunday when my parents had to leave early because of bad weather their way. I didn't even get a picture of the boys with my mom and dad; I was waiting for church on Sunday when I had everyone dressed up. Well, we'll get that pic in January when they come back. We may actually head up there to see some snow. Thanks, Mimi and Pop Pop for making our kick off to Christmas so much fun.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas- or Not!

The high on Friday apparently was 72 degrees, and when the rain slacked off, we went outside and took advantage of it. The kids played outside for about three hours. They even enjoyed a popsicle.

Caterpillar's Christmas Party

Lofton had his school Christmas party/program on Friday. The Caterpillars and Honeybees performed ten or so Christmas songs. It was so cute. He sang his heart out, and at one part, the kids were supposed to stomp their feet and he counted out the beats one, two. It was funny. I got to enjoy the program because Ms. Shirley, Landon's teacher, let me drop him off with her.

I did pick Landon up for Lofton's party because Lofton wanted Landon to come. I asked Lofton if he wanted to just spend some time with me, but he insisted that Landon come. Landon is thankful because he so enjoyed the Christmas breakfast, which consisted of watermelon and donuts for him. Lofton got a new book Merry Christmas, Stinky Face, which he let everyone know that we already have. He was first given his own book, and he tried to be sneaky and keep it, but I called him out. I bet he wishes I would have stayed with Ms. Shirley.

Twenty Months Old

It seems like I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with how old Landon is. Everytime someone asks me it seems as if I am a month off. I don't even know where month nineteen went. For the past two months, I have been telling people that he is eighteen months. Well, today he jumped right to twenty months. The saying about the days being long but the years being short is so true.

Anyways, Landon is such a joy. It is funny just how different he is from Lofton. Landon is sweet and lovable just like Lofton, but Lofton was so different at twenty months old. Lofton would sit and watch hours of Blues Clues or Wiggles, and Landon might watch ten minutes or so of Elmo or Curious George. It is so funny how you expose them to the same things but they have different likes. Lofton never cared for Elmo at all, and I've tried to get Landon to watch Blues Clues, and he is uninterested, which is surprising since he LOVES dogs.

Landon is a total book worm. He can't get enough. I think he would let me read to him for hours. In fact, the other day he sat in his room by himself for thirty minutes looking at his books.

Landon is my good sleeper. He tells us when he is sleepy, and he'll ask to be put in his bed. He was such a difficult baby who would rarely nap, but now he takes a good two to three hour nap a day.

He loves school- especially Ms. Shirley, and unlike his brother at this age, Landon doesn't seem to be the least bit bothered when I leave him at school. He does get excited when I pick him up though, and he always greets me with hugs and kisses and then immediately demands a drink. By the way, he talks quite a bit. My most favorite thing to hear him say is balloon. It sounds like blaloon. It is precious.

Anyways, he is such a joy. I can't believe that he will be turning two before I know it- literally.

Special Delivery from the North Pole

Today, the boys got a package from Santa aka Julie. She got the boys an Elf on the Shelf, which I had heard about from Joni's blog but wasn't exactly sure what it was. Well, I have learned that it is the cutest thing ever, and I am so glad that Julie gave us something to help make our Christmas even more magical.

Lofton named our elf Yogurt. Who knows? Today, Quinn was eating a yogurt parfait from McDonalds; I guess that is where our elf's name came from. Anyways, Lofton thinks it is so cool, but he is a little skeptical. He asked a lot of questions about it, but he believes every word. Thanks again, Julie.

What a way to watch a game!

The Titans played Houston on Sunday, and we enjoyed the game where I like to enjoy all winter football games- from the comfort of our warm home. Phillip and the boys enjoyed a picnic lunch in front of the tv. Unfortunately, the Titans lost, but surprisingly, Phillip wasn't as upset as I thought he would be.

My Birthday "Party"

I turned 32 on Wednesday, December 10th. To celebrate, the boys took me to Green Hills for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and pictures with Santa. Lofton was mildly disappointed because he thought we were going to my birthday party, but I couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday than with my family. We all had a lot of fun; even Landon didn't mind Santa pictures too much. As soon as he saw Santa, he screamed "No," but when we sat him on Santa's lap and attempted to get his attention, he quit crying and just stared into the camera. I still need to scan the picture we bought; it is priceless because you can see tears in his eyes, but he is just staring at the photographer with a look of "if I quit crying will you just get this over with?" We attempted to end the night shopping a little, but that didn't last long; we ended up playing in Davis Kidd.

Like Father, Like Son

If you have ever gone out to eat with Phillip, you quickly learned that Phillip reads the entire menu word for word even if we have been to the restaraunt a thousand times, and he usually has something to say about the meal or the server- not always something bad to say but something to say. In fact, once after having Lofton, Phillip and I actually got a night out, and we went to PF Changs. When we got our food, Phillip showed me that there was a hair in his meal. I told him that he better not ruin my first night out in a long time, and surprisingly, he did not say anything. Well, tonight, we were eating dinner at Cracker Barrel, and the server came and asked if we needed anything, and out of nowhere, Lofton said, "This macaroni and cheese is cold." I, the embarrassed one, said, "Oh, Lofton, it's fine," and Phillip reaches over, takes a bite, and says, "Well." So, Lofton received a new order of mac and cheese- surely the lady wouldn't spit in a four year old's meal.

If I wasn't embarrassed enough, when Landon finished eating, he came and sat with me and kept saying, "Snake" and pointing. We looked around and it took us a minute to see that he was referring to the man's beard beside us. It was actually a goatee but on each side the hair was long and curly. I really wanted to take a picture, but Phillip would not give me his phone. Luckily, Lofton never caught on to where the snake was!

Polar Express Party

Kids' reaction to walking in and seeing Santa

Lofton waiting his turn to see Santa



Jude with Santa

Landon opening his book


Sunday was our children's Christmas party at church. Becky and I together with Brandon and Shelby Hill planned a Polar Express party. The kids were told to wear their pjs, so I when I was picking out a pair for Lofton, he informed me that he wasn't wearing them because they "weren't cool ones." So, he ended up wearing a pair of Iron Man pjs. The kids had a good time drinking hot chocolate, listening to Leslie Marberry read The Polar Express, eating pizza and cupcakes, telling Santa what they want, decorating ornaments, and exchanging books. When Lofton sat on Santa's lap to tell him what he wanted, he got nervous. Lofton didn't really know what to say; he told Santa he wanted a dinosaur(first I'd heard) and a bookshelf (we were in the library; he obviously just looked around when Santa asked him what else he wanted.) After his chance, he sat on my lap and said, "I have to sit on his lap again." When it was time to leave, I let him sit on Santa's lap one last time, and after much thought he told Santa he wanted a "dog and a Ben 10 toy." Landon vocally refused to have anything to do with Santa, but Landon loved opening his present. As I was tucking Lofton in last night after the party, he told me that the Santa wasn't the real Santa because "he didn't talk like Santa." I did not notice, but apparently, "Santa" never said, "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

Breakfast at Becky's

The girls plus Jacey and Gabe

The kids minus Ella, Jude, Reesi, Brooks, Jenna, and Audie, (Did I leave anyone out?)