The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Well, Lofton, Levi, and Mimi Mimi got up bright and early to a white Christmas at 6:00 am, which is the time we told Lofton he could get up. (I wonder how long he sat in his room looking at the clock and waiting for it to say 6:00?!) Phillip, Pop Pop, and I crawled out of bed shortly after. Lofton patiently waited on Landon; we let him open a few of the gifts from Mimi and Pop Pop while he waited. Finally, at 7:30 I let him wake Landon up. I heard him go in their room and tell Landon that Santa had been here. They ran in and started opening right away. Santa brought lots of great stuff. Some of their favorites are Mario and Luigi remote control cars, a guitar, Mario vs. Donkey kong DS game, Bowser and Waluigi toys. Are you seeing a theme here? They got lots of Mario and Luigi stuff for Christmas including Mario blankets and Mario vs. Bowser DS game from Nana, and Mario sheets and snuggies from Mimi and Pop Pop. Oh, and I got some of my faves- a Michael Jackson ornament that plays "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" and the Michael Jackson Wii game!

After the gift opening, we sat down to our traditional cinnammon roll and chocolate milk Christmas breakfast and then just relaxed and played with all of our loot. It was so nice just hanging out all together; I didn't even touch any of the mess! (In fact, we are still swimming in some of it)

At 3:30 we went to Aunt He He and Chad's for round 2. The boys had a blast playing with Hayden, Jared, and Abbey. It was nice spending time and sitting down to yet another great meal all together. The boys got more great stuff including coon skin hats, a hunting Wii game, Mario Smash Brothers, remote control truck, and Spy Gear. Christmas came and went so quickly this year and wore the boys out; they fell asleep on the way home.

Twas The Night Before Christmas

I love Christmas Eve, but somehow it went by really quickly this year. However, we squeezed in our traditions- cookie making, reindeer dust, opening a few gifts, reading Twas the Night Before Christmas, and a terrific Christmas Eve meal. Mimi and Pop Pop came and brought lots of presents, and we somehow held the boys off from opening them all. And, Phillip and I gave the boys a gift from us; Landon was quite pleased with his Star Wars Pjs, and Lofton was less than thrilled, but they did love the Super Mario figures pack.

I wasn't sure I was going to get the cookies for Santa made but the boys convinced me to do it. I wish we would've recorded the ordeal. Lofton and Landon got a little crazy with the flour, and when I informed them that Santa might not want to eat them, Landon said, "Oh, he's fat; he'll eat them!" Landon too ate one, and Landon snuck a drink of Santa's milk.

When we opened the door to go outside to put out the reindeer dust, we were shocked to see that it was snowing. Then we came in to track Santa online and when I told the boys he was close, they ran to the bedroom and jumped in bed. Wish we had a good excuse like that every night!

Christmas Take 2

Uncle Charles, Aunt Jennifer, and the girls are in town this week, so we celebrated Christmas with them on Sunday. Nana, Aunt Ashley, and Hayden came too. Lofton kept asking me all day Saturday and Sunday morning when they'd be here; I thought he was just excited about presents, but the minute Charles walked in, he grabbed his football and asked Charles to play. He was just excited to see his uncle. However, once the presents were under the tree, he couldn't wait for that, but he was forced to wait until half time of the game. Uncle Charles and Aunt Jennifer got the boys an electric Mario cart race car track. The boys and Phillip and I all love playing it. They also got some new DS games. They had fun spending the day with their cousins and meeting their new cousin, baby Moira.

Run, Run, Rudolph...

Because Lofton is now hunting! Every since Uncle Charles bought Lofton his hunting & fishing license when he was two, Phillip has wanted to take Lofton hunting. Well, the time finally came this past Saturday. Phillip informed Lofton the night before that they were going the next day and that they were leaving early, so Lofton immediately ran to get ready for bed. He was so excited and so sweet; he didn't want to upset Landon, so he kept saying he was tired from his class Christmas party and needed to go to bed, and then he'd wink at me! Phillip, Lofton, and David left bright & early at 4am to head to Lebanon to Uncle Paul's farm. They hunted until about 11:30; Phillip said Lofton loved every minute of it and that he was so good. They didn't kill anything but Lofton said "it was still fun sitting in the woods."

What getting up early to hunt does to old folks!


It didn't slow down Lofton.

Christmas Doesn't Come Once a Year in This House!

We kicked off our Christmas celebrations Wednesday night with our Nana. Nana is going to Florida for Christmas because her sister is having surgery, so Nana came up Wednesday the day before she was leaving so she could give the boys their gifts. Now, Nana's plans have changed and she is staying a few extra days, so we'll get to celebrate with her again on Sunday when we have Christmas number 2 with Uncle Charles, Aunt Jennifer, and the girls.

The boys loved opening and receiving gifts, and I am glad it came early, too because their new things have kept them occupied this week. As you can tell from the pictures, Lofton was very pleased with one of his gifts- a Karate outfit. Every since I took him to see Karate Kid, he has been wanting to take Karate. Nana also got him the Karate Kid movie. Landon got one of his favorites a Luigi DS game. Nana knows both boys because she topped off all of their gifts with Coke and M&Ms. Lofton has been asking Santa for coke for a few years now. Levi just enjoyed all of the action, and by action I mean speed opening from Lofton; it could be a sport for him.

Thanks, Nana for everything. We are glad we get to see you again tomorrow.

Smores Roasting Over an Open Fire...

This week I bought stuff for smores as a way to persuade Phillip to light a fire, which he hadn't done in two years. In fact, when he lit it, Lofton said, "I've always wondered what that did." Anyways, the boys had so much fun roasting marshmallows in the fire place, and I enjoyed eating them.

Mom of the Year

Yeah, I am giving myself a pat on the back because I took the boys to play in the snow/20 degree weather yesterday while Levi and Phillip took a nap. In Phillip's defense, he'd been sick the night before, so I couldn't disappoint the boys. They couldn't wait to go out, so despite my reluctantness, I bundled everyone up, which took over 20 minutes, and we headed out. Surprisingly enough, I didn't get too cold; in fact, I lasted the longest. We cheated a little though. We drove the car to the sled spot and left it running with the heater blaring. So, when we finished sledding (which was so much fun), we jumped in a warm car and got a renewed spirit, so we played a little longer when we got home. Of course, all in all we were only out about 30 minutes or so, but it was 30 minutes more than I thought I'd last!

My Santa Babies

Lofton Marshall 12/04

Landon Phillip 12/07

Levi Roger 12/10

I just posted Levi's pic with Santa, and I couldn't help but pull out the others. Each of my sweet boys wore the same reindeer sweater to have their pics made with Santa for the first time. Levi was wanting his bottle, which is why he isn't happy.