More holiday fun

Well we are chugging right along on our train of good cheer. First off, mom took matters into her own hands and attempted to adorn our house with lights. Now I know why Mark didn't want to do it (it's not much fun), but the excitement the kids show every time we come home after sundown and the lights are on (thanks to the handy timer/outlet mommy bought) is well worth it.

(I took this picture with the help of my new tripod that I got for my birthday!)

Despite this face:

Taylor is filled with the holiday spirit. (This is what happens when you dare snap one more than the agreed upon pictures.)

Taylor has been entertaining us with Christmas 'shows' after dinner. They mainly consist of her singing Christmas carols and the occasional instrument thrown in for good measure. Charlie joins in, too.

Both kids got to experience the Polar Express at their schools this week. It was a surprise for both and a big hit. Charlie even thanked God that night for the fun he had at school and for the hot chocolate.

Finally, Taylor had her last dance class of the year today. Here's a little dance they've been working on. (If you are getting this as an email, you'll have to visit my actual blog to see the video.)

Christmas Cookies

Today was a great day. My mom had the Wells kids for the weekend (so Chad and Jessica can have some much needed alone time) and we decided to switch it up a bit. So I brought Grace home with me and left Charlie at Grandma's to play with Jacob. This left me with the perfect opportunity to decorate some christmas cookies with the girls.

This year was so much easier than years passed. The girls decided that Grace would icing the cookies (a task only I could do until this year) and Taylor would adorn them with sprinkles and other glittery goodness.

They made a great team!

Gotta love the icing on the nose.

After we finished the cookies the girls played for a while in the loft. I'm not sure exactly what they were doing, but I know it involved crayons, pens, papers, scissors, and strangely, various sizes of tubberware containers.

Finally we went back to Grandma's house for a pizza dinner.

The boys proudly showed me Grandma's new tree topper. Yes, it's a beer stein hat.

The kids stayed segregated after dinner. The boys wrestled with Mark while the girls disappeared upstairs with Grandma.

Addison just watched everyone. I remember Morgan being the same way last Christmas- content to just be surrounded by action. And with five other kids, there's no shortage of that!

I liked the socks Grandma put on her. I guess she was tired of those tiny baby socks falling off of her constantly. These babies aren't going anywhere!

Finally, we enjoyed the fruits of our labor by sampling some of the girls cookies. Even Morgan tried a bite or two from her generous cousins.

They were a big hit!

All in all, a great day! I just hope Jessica and Chad had an equally fun time!

December ramblings

Well, christmas time is here!! We've begun our baking, crafting, shopping, and caroling. But before all of that came the decorating. Despite Charlie's "pretty please" Mark did not feel inspired to put any lights up outside. But that didn't stop us from decking the halls of our home.

We even had some new additions this year like our mistletoe, displayed prominently in the walkway of the kitchen where mom can grab kisses from her four favorite people.

I always try to get my tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving so I can start admiring it as soon as possible. This year, my wonderful mother-in-law did all the leg work of putting up the tree and lights while I was working my mom's craft show. It was a great treat to be able to skip all the boring parts and go straight to decorating it when I got home.

When it was time to get our pictures taken, the kids excitedly pointed out all the christmas lights they spotted on the way. (This is actually what prompted Charlie's unsuccessful 'pretty please'.) The kids did a great job with Jen (my new favorite photographer). Yours should be arriving in your mailbox soon!

Morgan has been busy exploring the home.

She loves our Little People Nativity set and likes to take Mary, Joseph and the rest of the gang on adventures throughout the house.

She's also quite fond of all our singing Christmas characters. It seems like just yesterday, Charlie was clutching that Frosty and nodding his head to the music.

She's been pretty good at with the Christmas tree, leaving the ornaments alone and just looking from a very short distance. She did seize the opportunity when Mom was busy taking pictures to lick one of the light bulbs.

As mentioned, we've also been baking and crafting.

The cousins have joined in on the fun. The boys made this gingerbread train with Grandma while the girls crafted this gingerbread house entirely on their own.

The nutcrackers have been a big hit this year. The kids already knew what they were and Charlie asked if we could crack some nuts with it. I explained that they were really just decorations and not strong enough to crack nuts. So he brilliantly suggested we try crackers instead. So of course we did! We've learned that goldfish crackers work the best (thanks for the idea, Dad). So behold, our Cracker Crackers!

Mom took a break from all the excitement at home to help run the Secret Santa Shop at Taylor's school. Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Jessica were in charge of the whole thing and it turned out fabulous!

The kids really enjoyed being able to shop for their families.

I know this post was long. I've been reading a wonderful blog called Enjoying the Small Things (thanks for the link, Aunt Julie!) and it's inspired me to take some more photos and be a bit more descriptive with my accounts of the Williams Family adventures. So now to get back to making more magical memories to put in here: