After Christmas Gifts

My mom collects really great toys for her grandkids. She's kind of into it. Well, from time to time she will decide she has too many toys or found a better one of the same type or something. Because of this, my kids have been the beneficiaries of many great toys. Yesterday my dad drove down to my house and brought my girls a wooden kitchen set that Grammy decided she didn't want to keep space for anymore. Eliza and Sadie played with it the rest of the day and again all morning today. They were cute wearing the aprons that another Grandma made them for Christmas and playing kitchen. As you may see in the photos, the kitchen was set up in my hallway for about 24 hours until I figured out where I was going to put it.

Sadie found a toy mushroom and decided to pretend it was a pacifier and that she is a baby.

Christmas Eve Fun

Our family had a little Christmas Eve celebration. It was so much fun! A few friends came over with their families. My sister, Molly and her son, Wyatt also came. All the kids ran around and played. It was a pajama party for the kiddies. I know Eliza and Sadie had so much fun playing with their friends and staying up WAY past their bedtimes. (They usually go to bed at 7:30 but tonight, not until 10:30). Even though they were tired, they weren't cranky at all. They must have been full of Christmas cheer. They did go right to bed with no problems tonight.

Santa stopped by the party. Santa is very busy tonight but he loves parties so he dropped by. He rang the doorbell and all the kids came running. Santa said, "Ho Ho Ho. Merry Christmas." Eliza exclaims, "Santa!.....pause.....(giggles)..DADDY!" Darn! We hoped we could fool her. She thought it was so funny that Daddy dressed up like Santa. (Okay, so really Santa was too busy tonight to stop by our party but a great looking replacement helped out). After the party, Eliza says to David, "Daddy, you were silly dressed like Santa. I saw your eyes."

Sadie on the other hand, really thought she met Santa. She was cautious at first to go sit on his lap. Once she got on though, she talked and talked to him. She told him about her family and that she'd been good this year. She said she wanted toys for Christmas.

Having a house full of happy kids on Christmas Eve is the best!

Bench Press Babies

This little montage is dedicated to your favorite work out trainer and mine, cfs from The Lowest Rated Blog.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Orchestrated Argument

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

For the last couple of weeks Eliza and Sadie have had a little game going between them. They will orchestrate an argument. This morning Eliza actually let me put pig tails in her hair. She left them in for about fifteen whole minutes. I knew it wouldn't last so I got the camera out to take some pictures of her. Well, during this time the girls decided to have one of their orchestrated arguments so I was able to capture it on camera. It makes me smile every time. These girls are too funny.

Christmas Family Home Evening

Tonight we had a fun Family Home Evening.
David asked the girls, "Whose birth are we remembering at Christmas?"
Eliza (age 3) answered, "Baby Jesus."
David asks, "And who is Jesus?"
Sadie (age 2) cheerfully exclaims, "SANTA!"

David takes the opportunity to explain that Jesus is Heavenly Father's Son. He presented a simplified version of the Plan of Salvation to the kids. He explained that Heavenly Father sent us to earth to get a body but He wants us to live with him again. We all do things that are bad, which keeps us from living with Heavenly Father again. Jesus never did anything bad. He was always kind and he taught us how to live and be happy. Jesus made it possible for us to be able to live with Heavenly Father again.

David then used his college education teaching skills to test the girl's listening comprehension skills. He asks, "So why is Jesus so special?"
Sadie happily declares, "PRESENTS!"

David prompts her a little..."But we give presents like the wise men brought presents to Jesus, right?"
Sadie sincerely responds, "Yes... presents for the Christmas tree."

Then I used the Fisher Price Little People Nativity set to tell a brief account of the birth of Jesus. I explained that Christmas is the special day that we spend remembering that Jesus was born and being thankful for all He has done for us. Then just to seal my point with something fun, I invited the girls to say Happy Birthday to Jesus and blow out the scented Christmas candles I had burning. Ooooh.. they loved that.

Then , I question them, "So...Whose birthday do we remember on Christmas?"

"Baby Jesus", came the reply! Hooray! We are not complete failures as parents!

Funny Video

I saw this on Paul's blog, Blogway Boys. I hope I am not in trouble for stealing it...Paul always says something when Hubby posts my time consuming Montages on his blog. :) Thanks, Paul...This is Hilarious! Its just the kind of humor I enjoy!