Christmas Take 2

We celebrated Christmas with the McConnell family on Sunday at our house. It is kinda nice dragging Christmas out over several days because it just prolongs the holiday. There is so much anticipation for Christmas, you hate to have it over in one day. Lofton was also pleasantly surprised when he woke up Sunday morning and I told him that after church he would get to open more presents. Uncle Charles, Aunt Jennifer, Maggie, McKenna, and Aunt April came over around 1:00 for round one of gifts. Nana got Lofton a remote control helicopter that was a hit with everyone; Lofton barely got a chance to play with it, and she got him a Wii game and some binoculars. She got Landon a Cars tent, some monster trucks, and a truck set. The kids all had a good time playing with each others presents. Maggie loved playing trucks with Lofton; however, I don't think I ever saw the boys pick up a doll. Landon may have ridden McKenna's Tinkerbell bike, though.

Everyone else came over around 4:00 for dinner and round two of gifts. Grandfather got both boys remote control trucks. Both are different, but both remotes work both trucks, which is causing some confusion. They got a lot of other great gifts such as a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, a fishing Wii game with fishing rod remote, a turkey call, and some more binocluars- now there are two pair and there will be no fighting.

It was so fun to be with everyone. The kids all had a great time playing together. We really all should get together more often.

Christmas 09

I was pleasantly surprised when no one woke up before 7:00am on Christmas morning. Well, Lofton woke up at 4:00am, but went right back to sleep, so as long as I didn't have to get up; it doesn't really count. Lofton couldn't wait to tear into his gifts, and Landon isn't much of a morning person, so it took him a minute. It wasn't until he saw his boxing gloves that he decided to get off of my lap and unwrap.

The boys must have definetely been on the good list because they hit the mother load. Lofton got two DS games and a Wii game, a light saber, a pinball machine, boxing gloves, and more. Landon got a Mickey Mouse game, boxing gloves, a Tag Junior reading system, Crayola color me a song, several other games, and more.

It was a relaxing Christmas. We all just sat around and enjoyed being together. We played with all of our loot, and we all took naps (even me!) I never take naps! The boys (my dad, Phillip, and my brother) went to the Titans game, and my mom, the boys, and I stayed home to play.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

I have always loved Christmas Eve more than Christmas; I don't know if it is because there is still the anticipation of Christmas or if it is all the baking. My parents came on Christmas Eve, and Lofton and Landon immediately wanted to open their gifts. Lofton had asked for a DS, and he was sure Pop Pop and Mimi would get him what he wanted. So, when it was time to open their gifts, he first opened a DS game. Then, he tore into the others, and when he was finished, he asked, "Is this all of the gifts?" He obviously hadn't opened a DS, and it is because dad had put his DS in the garage with Landon's jeep. So, after waiting on Landon to open his gifts, we took the boys outside for one more. Both were thrilled, and both wanted to start playing. So, Lofton ran in to bury his head in the DS, and Landon bundled up to take a ride. Landon did convince Lofton to first go for a ride.

After gifts and dinner, we made cookies for Santa and reindeer dust! Landon said if anyone ate a cookie that they'd be on the naughty list because the cookies were for Santa.

Then, we headed to bed and read a few Christmas stories. The boys slept in the same room because Uncle Dustin was in Lofton's. They thought it was pretty cool. After a little while, I snuck in to take their picture, but I think Lofton was still awake; it looked that way in the pic. However, they eventually sacked out. Lofton did wake up at 4:00, but I convinced him that Santa probably hadn't come yet, and we all went back to bed until 7:00.

Can't Wait Another Minute

Lofton kept asking me when he could give Landon the Christmas present that he had picked out for him. We usually let them open their gifts to each other on Christmas Eve, but with my parents coming on Christmas Eve, I knew they'd be plenty occupied as Lofton would have his face buried in his DS. So, I caved and let them open their gifts to each other on Tuesday night.

Lofton had picked out a Diego toy for Landon, and Landon chose a green Transformer for Lofton. Both were pleased with their gifts, and we all played Diego all evening.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

We took the boys on Monday to see the reindeer at Indian Lake. I thought they would really love it, but they are more like their momma than I knew. By the time we walked from the car to the reindeer, they were freezing (as was I), and they took one look at the reindeer, and Lofton said, "I'm freezing." Landon said, "Let's go inside." Well, so much for what I thought would be a lot of fun for them. On the bright side, we did get a little last minute shopping done.

ICE!

We went to the Charlie Brown ICE with Grandfather and the rest of the family on Tuesday night. It was a lot of fun despite all of the cold; surprisingly enough Lofton and I (yes, I did) lasted the longest. Of course, I didn't have much of a choice; Phillip had taken Lofton out, and I was left waiting in line for the slides with Lofton. Lofton would have stayed in longer had I not told him that it was time to leave because everyone else was waiting on us.

After ICE, we all went to The Aquarium for dinner. It was really nice to spend time with everyone.

Landon's Christmas Party

Landon's class Christmas party was yesterday. His class enjoyed a breakfast together, and Lofton and Landon really enjoyed all of the sweets- cinnamon rolls, donuts, and chocolate milk. However, Lofton actually asked for some water after his first donut. Then Landon's class sang a few Christmas songs for us, and Landon surprised me when he went up with his class to sing. It was a precious program. After a few songs, Landon wanted Lofton to come up and help him, and it was too cute watching Lofton walk around and hold hands with Landon.

After the program, it was gift time. Luckily, Landon just ripped his present open and then jumped up and down and hugged it! His teacher Ms. Jo Jo also got the children some Santa lanterns, which he loves! Thanks, Ms. Jo Jo for the great party!

Our Greatest Gifts

Every good and perfect gift comes from above. James 1:17

Lofton is 5 and 1/2

It is so hard to believe that Lofton turned 5 and 1/2 on the 19th. Lofton is such a sweet, kind hearted little boy. We are blessed to be his parents.

~Lofton is the best big brother, and he is constantly talking about "how cute" he thinks Landon is and how much he loves Landon.
~Lofton loves playing video games, and he is so good at them.
~Lofton, like his daddy, loves to watch Man vs. Food as well as about anything on the History or National Geographic Channel. He recently asked to stay up while I put Landon to bed so he could watch a documentary show on a giant squid. So, I set the timer, and the next morning, he was so upset that he hadn't got to see how much it weighed.
~Lofton loves to talk about God, and he knows a lot about the Bible. He floored me on Sunday when he kept raising his hand in children's church to answer questions. He was so confident, and I was so proud of him because he was in a class with older kids, and I was proud of him because he knew the answers.
~He does all he can to please me and to make me happy.
~I love to sit and read to him. He asks lots of questions. We are currently reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and he is so concerned that the Herdmans are such mean kids.
~Lofton can start the car by himself, and he loves it when I give him the keys and let him do it.
~Lofton loves babies. He is so sweet to them; he likes to make them laugh.
~Lofton thinks his daddy can do anything!
~Lofton is so competitive, and though he is getting older, he still hates to loose!
~Lofton has figured out how Landon ticks, and Lofton does a great job of helping me convince Landon to do things. Just the other day, I was having a hard time getting Landon to put on his shirt, and the wise Lofton looked at Landon and said, "That's a cool shirt Landon, can I wear it?" And, just like that, Landon put it on, and Lofton actually winked at me. Of course, Lofton also helps me get Landon ready for bed at night by making a contest out of it to see who (Lofton or Landon) can get their pjs on first. When Lofton wins, he is big enough to let Landon think he won, but when Lofton actually looses, the competitive nature comes out and he struggles with it.
~Lofton is smart, and he has best memory. He doesn't forget a thing!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Lofton. We love you!

Lofton's Christmas Party

On Friday, I went to Lofton's Christmas party. His class sang some Christmas songs, and Lofton did a great job. It is amazing what a difference a year makes. He stood up there and sang every line and did everything he was supposed to do, which is a big improvement from his first class program a few years ago when he stood on stage and stomped his feet or last year when he kept pulling at his shirt. He did a great job, and he really sang out; he wasn't a bit shy.

After the program, we went to the cafeteria for breakfast. He fixed his own plate like such a big boy, and then he found us both a seat. I really enjoyed eating with him, and it made me so appreciative of the fact that he goes to daycare in the same building that I work in. I have had to work for almost every class party, but since I am down the hall, I have always had the good fortune of sneaking away for awhile to attend, and I have had the better fortune of having bosses who want me to spend special times with my children; Dr. Jones even offered to watch my students so I could go.

After breakfast, it was gift time. Each child was told to bring in a wrapped gift that he or she would want to receive themselves. Lofton chose a Bakugan, and when we were wrapping it, he was adamant that he would keep it. I explained the situation, and then we had a discussion on proper gift opening ettiquette. I walked away from the discussion confident that he would say thank you for whatever he opened. However, right before gift opening time, Lofton told me that he and his friend Jackson were going to trade gifts because both had brought a Bakugan. I realized that this could be bad, and I quickly told him that it didn't necessarily work that way, and that he might not get Jackson's gift. And, as fate would have it, he didn't. As the boy who did get Jackson's gift started to open it, the tears started to come. However, I was pleased to see him put his head down and fight hard to hold them back especially since another boy had just been taken out because he was displeased with the gift exchanging. I caught Lofton's eye and mouthed to him that I was proud of him and that he was doing great. Well, I guess since I was sympathizing with him, he broke down and started crying out loud; though, he was still trying really hard to control himself.

Then, his number was called, and Mrs. Terrie put a present down in front of him. He looked at her and said, "No, thank you!" Again, I was pleased with his manners but still a little embarrassed. However, I put myself in his shoes and walked over to him and explained again to him that he needed to open the gift that he received, put a smile on his face, and say thank you or we could give the gift to another child or Landon. Well, that did it; he opened it, and if I'd have had a video camera, I could be $10,000 richer. Lofton is always wanting to do something funny on camera so we can win America's Funniest Home Videos, and he had just done it, but I didn't have my camera. As he opened the gift, his demeanor totally changed, and he began jumping up and down when he opened a Transformer!

So, needless to say, we have had the discussion again about how to react when receiving gifts, and I can only hope that he does better the second time around!

Growing Up

The Griffins came over for dinner on Thursday, and the kids exchanged Christmas presents. We had them open the gifts youngest to oldest; Gabe of course went first, and the Landon, Jude, Lofton, and Ella. Watching them wait their turn just made me realize how quickly time goes. I can vividly remember Ella's first Christmas before I even had children, and now what seems like no time, I have two children to celebrate with, and Amy has three.

Hearing Ella announce that she was SEVEN and would go last made me question where the time goes, but seeing Gabe sitting at the table eating dinner by himself floored me. It is amazing how quickly children grow up. I couldn't believe that the "baby" who was just sitting in the booster feeding himself a bottle a month or so ago is now sitting at the table with the other kids drinking from a sippy cup!

Duck, Duck, Goose- A Hands On Sport!

Both Lofton and Landon love board games, but we've played every one we own at least a thousand times, so on Tuesday after playing our games three or four times, I decided to come up with some other games to play. We played hot potato, red light green light, Momma Says, and Duck Duck Goose. Well, Landon doesn't stop until he tackles you to the ground. We kept telling him that all he had to do was tag us, but he felt he needed to completely stop us, and he did.

Nerf Beware!

Last Christmas, our friend Nick got a Nerf steering wheel remote for the Wii. He had had it for about a day when Landon picked it up and took a bite out of it. So, we of course bought Nick a new one, and he gave us his old one with the bite mark. Since then (a year ago), Landon has bit all of the foam off of it.

Then the other day we were playing hot potato with a Nerf type ball, and Landon caught the ball and took a big bite out of it. He then proceeded to take a few more bites, so being a blogger, I couldn't help but take a few pics before I scolded him.

A Personal Visit From Santa Himself!

Last night, our neighbor Todd Greene dressed up as Santa and sat outside from 5:30 until 8:30 passing out candy canes to the kids. And, Lofton thought he was in hog heaven because he got an up close and personal hour visit with Santa. Also, since we know Todd (Lofton never figured out that it was Todd), it seemed so real since Todd knows all about Lofton and could talk to him on such a personal level. Lofton asked him all kinds of questions, and I had one particular question. I asked, "So, you are going to be out here until 8:30, huh?"

Santa responded , "Yes, Mrs. Clause (aka his wife Mia) gets me into all kinds of trouble." Well, Lofton thought that was too funny and told Phillip the minute we walked in the door.

The night wasn't over with one visit; we walked across the street four times to see Santa. Lofton couldn't stand the fact that Santa was right across the street. Landon didn't go over until the fourth time when we convinced him that Presley was outside and that Santa wanted to hear him sing "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" and that Santa would give him a candy cane. As I've said before, Landon will do anything for candy, and he loves Presley, so he agreed. He didn't agree to sit on Santa's lap though, so I now have mine and his 3rd picture with Santa; I'll have to get Mrs. Clause to email it to me.

A Treeriffic Christmas Party

We had our children's Christmas party at church on Sunday, which Becky and I helped plan. The theme was a Treeriffic party; when the kids arrived I read The Legend of the Three Trees and then we trimmed a few trees (kids). We then ate and had pics with Santa, played games, and made some ornaments. It was a fun night.

Landon wasn't thrilled about sitting on Santa's lap, so I sat on Santa's lap with Landon. Lofton, of course, was thrilled to see Santa and to date, we've seen Santa four times, and Landon has cried everytime. However, last night at Bass Pro Shop, Santa lured (no fishing pun intended) Landon in with a candy cane. Landon stood beside him and took the bait (there I go again) and the elves snapped a picture.

It's in Their Genes

Grandfather came over to watch the Titans game with us last Sunday. He is a Titans fan through and through along with Phillip, Uncle Charles, and the rest of hte family. The boys love the Titans too, and on the way to church on Sunday, Landon put on his Titans stocking cap (or tobbogan as we call it in West Virginia) and said, "GO Tites" as he calls them.