Christmas fun

Thursday night we told the girls we had a surprise for them.  So after baths they got their jammies on and we headed to Santa Land!  Kagen guessed where we were going before we got there! Ha! 

 

 

Friday night Lisa hosted a painting party.  We had so much fun laughing and painting!  I stayed out way too late, but it was worth it! 

 

Saturday morning Shana hosted a Happy Birthday Jesus party.  I love that she has these parties.  It helps remind the kids why we celebrate Christmas.  They go to birthday parties all the time, so this is a great way to help them "get" it.







After the party we met up with some friends for lunch then went to the Christmas tree farm.  They were wanting some family photos taken.  Kagen was in heaven hanging out with her boys.




Hayride fun!







Afterwards, I dropped Lex and Kalli off at home so me and Kagen could go to Tyler.  I wanted to take her shopping for a gift to give Kalli and I really just wanted to spend some time with her.  We had so much fun!  Our first stop was Starbucks, of course!  She begged to go to the mall, but after seeing the parking lot I decided I would keep my sanity and go to Target!  We drove around and looked at Christmas lights before we met back up with Lex, Kalli, Bill Bill and GiGi for dinner. 

Sunshine and the zoo

This morning we had breakfast with Ziggy and talked about grace.  We talked about our sins and how Jesus died in place of us so that our sins would be forgiven.  Kagen is really starting to ask questions and I love it!!

 

We had some crazy beautiful weather today... So we took the opportunity to visit the Zoo.  The girls were SO HAPPY!  They wanted to stay with the goats the whole time! 

 

Kagen is obsessed with climbing things!  Everything!  Drives me nuts, but I'm trying to slow down and let her have a little fun...





We grabbed a snack and sat to watch the giraffes, elephants and zebras.  There was maybe 10 other cars today so the zoo was a ghost town.  It was awesome. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

It's here!  It's here!!  I LOVE Christmastime!  Can you tell?  Ha!  I have some of the best memories that revolve around Christmas.  I love getting together with our family.  Looking at Christmas lights.  Talking about the birth of Jesus with the girls.  The smells and decorations!!  Everything!

This year Lex and I decided not to buy the girls tons of gifts.  We also have gone back and fourth with the whole Santa thing.  I think we may let the big guy hang around for a while though.  I remember the joy I had waking up on Christmas morning and the excitement of seeing Santa.  With that being said, I don't want our girls to grow up thinking that's what it's all about.  We are going to focus on the true meaning of Christmas as well as giving more to others and doing more as a family.

Friday our elf, Ziggy, arrived.  He brought pizza, presents and a note from Santa.  I found a GREAT letter from this blog.  I love her take on Christmas and Santa!!  We are not doing the naughty or nice thing.  I am not telling the girls to be good so Santa will bring you gifts...  I want them to learn that making good choices and obeying is what God wants, not a way to get presents.  Our elf will also not be flying to the north pole every night to report if the girls have been good or bad.  Instead he will wake up at night and do some sneaky things.  Some things he will do won't be so bad and others will give us a chance to explain grace to him while learning how God shows us grace.

We will be reading from the Bible every night, learning about the birth of Jesus and why we celebrate.   Kagen is now at the age where she understands and I want her to grow closer to the Lord, as well as our family as a whole.  We've let ourselves get busy and have lost track of time and spending time with each other.  Now we are making it a priority!! 

Saturday we took the girls to see Frozen.  It was SO good!!  Both girls did great too!  I couldn't believe Kalli sat still so long!  After the movie we took them to Chick-fil-a.  Kagen requested it, of course!   We did a little shopping before heading back home.  That evening we planned to go to Santaland with Bill Bill and GiGi, until we saw the line!  Oh wow!  We turned around and went to Mineola to look at their displays downtown.  The girls loved it!

 

 

Sunday Ziggy rode with us to church. 

Sunday afternoon Lex went hunting with a friend.  When he got home, the girls just stared at him.  Ha!  Kalli wasn't sure about Daddy having that stuff on his face! 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!