Christmas at Meme & Pops' house!

Last weekend we took off for Meme & Pops' house to have an early Christmas with them & the rest of Darren's side of the family. We had a fun time hanging out together! We took the kids to see Aunt K-K (Darren's twin sister) & then we saw Yogi Bear in 3D. Saturday night we opened gifts & then ate dinner & drove around to look at Christmas lights. We all had a fun time!!

Grace & Pops!


Us with Aunt K-K!

Gift time!

Toy Story 3 Memory!!

Wasting no time!

I love her expression...you can see it through the opening in the scarf!

Just what she's always wanted...a DQ Blizzard maker!!

He LOVES this hat!!

She was tired of me taking pics. Can you tell?!

So excited to build stuff!!

Yay!! More stuff to build!!

Lots-O'-Huggin Bear!!!

Alphie the Robot!

University of Houston fleece blanket!

Mommy & Daddy's turn to open gifts!

Checking out Alphie!!

Nederland Christmas Parade

This year we have been to not one, not two, but THREE Christmas Parades!! This last one we went to was in Nederland & it was a night time parade which meant lot's of lights!! We packed a picnic supper & ate it in the back of the car while we waited for the parade to start. The kids had a great time & snagged lot's of candy!!

Silly...

Not so patiently waiting!!

Here comes the parade...

Twirlers!!

NHS Band!

Dance Team!

Big Ned!!!

Luke's favorite float!!

SpongeBob & The Grinch!!

Slug Bug!!

Mr. & Mrs. Santa Cow!

Luke loved this school bus!

Nothin' like a tractor with lights!

The Papa John's lady was tossin' pizza dough!

The Big Man in Red Himself!!

One happy camper already chompin' down on some gum!

One silly camper!!

More & More Shenanigans with ol' Samuel!

Okay, I admit I have had a little bit of fun with Samuel the Elf this year. Last year I remember Darren & I trying to come up with new places to move him each night before we would go to sleep. It seemed like another tedious task for the Holiday Season. This year I decided I would keep track of him not only to share with others, but to remind myself of some of the different things I did so I can try them again next year!

Here's some of the fun that Samuel has had in the last few weeks...

Samuel showed up at Nana & Papa's house! The kids were SO shocked!! :)

Samuel had been on top of the refrigerator & fell off! We put marshmallows next to him hoping they would give him the magic needed to move again (while we weren't watching of course!) since he can't be touched!!

Samuel & Frosty are old pals! Oh, look, Samuel left the kids a note!!

Just watching what's gonna on...

Peek-a-boo...I see you!

Not the most comfortable spot...

Just hanging around...

We had gone to Meme & Pops' house & look who we found as soon as we got home!

Samuel better not knock down our tree!

This has been the favorite of the kids so far! Samuel has gone Texas on us! :)

It has been fun to see Grace & Luke's reactions to his different hiding spots. I think that has been my favorite part by far!

We've a few more days left with Samuel & I wonder what kind of mischief we'll find him getting into next!

The Daily Shenanigans of Samuel the Elf

Every year around Thanksgiving Samuel the Elf (our version of Elf on the Shelf) visits our home! He has been spending the holidays with us for 3 years now & we LOVE him! He is a mischievous little elf & sometimes we find him in some funny places! I decided to keep track of Samuel's shenanigans!!

Here he is just hanging out...

Early Christmas from Grace!

This week Grace's school is hosting Santa's Secret Workshop. You can send money in an envelope & show who she can buy for & how much she can spend on each person. I remember doing this in elementary school so I was excited for her to be able to participate as well. She was so excited when she got in the car that afternoon! I wondered how long she would be able to hold on to her presents before she broke down & gave them to us! As soon as she got in the car she began telling me all about the gifts & how many things she got each of us. Then she asked if she had to wait until Christmas morning to give us our gifts. I told her it was completely up to her. She said OK. As soon as she got home she ran off to her room to go through her goodies. She asked me for gifts bags, tissue paper & gift tags so that she could wrap them all up. She was so funny because by this time I already knew what she had gotten for everyone else & I knew (without her even realizing she told me) that I had gotten some sort of ornament & some type of jewelry!! The anticipation was hard for her!!


It wasn't long before she was giving out the first gift!! She gave Toby his gift first...he got a new rope toy! She was so excited that he ran off with it to play!!

The next gift was given to Luke. He had just woken up from his nap & she wasted no time! He was excited even though you can't tell in all of the pics!

He really was happy despite the way he looks here...

She waited to give mine & Darren's gifts to us until he got home from work. She made him give me one of my gifts & then scripted him on how to act & what to do! Hilarious!! Now, I must tell you that she went to school with $20... She got 7 gifts in all & came home with .15 cents! (That info will help you on the monetary value of each gift!) My first gift was a pair of diamond earrings!! I wanted to cry...not because "oh man, I'm really going to have to wear these things" but because my 6 year old little girl remembered that I have always wanted a pair of diamond earrings & she saw them & knew that it was the perfect gift for me! You could see the emotion in her eyes...they danced with pride, but had that "I hope she likes them" look deep within. I couldn't have been happier...seriously! I immediately put them on & she beamed! I will wear them often & will keep them forever simply because it was the first time Grace picked out a gift for me all by herself. My next gift was a snowman ornament that said "Mom" on it. It will go on my tree year after year!!

Darren was next on the gift parade! He received the same snowman ornament only his said "Dad" on it (obviously)!! :) She prefaced it with "I know you are probably jealous that Mommy got a snowman ornament so I got you one, too! :) It was greatness!! She then gave him his next gift which was a blinking snowman jingle bell necklace!! That is definitely better than a blinking snowman jingle bell tie for sure!! She helped him open it & try it on, but then it wasn't long before she was asking to borrow it!! :) That girl makes me smile!!

So, our plain ol' evening was turned into a special gift giving time in which our Gracie girl showed off her buying skills & presented us with things that she specifically picked out for us! Not once did she get sad that there wasn't anyone giving her a gift. She experienced true giving & it was fun to see just how happy it made her! We'll treasure our new gifts for many years to come!!