Another year over... A new one just begun...

Last, but certainly not least, 

we had our Christmas celebration with Pappy and Nana!

The kids were pampered with tons of gifts!  

Lots of art supplies and crafts to do, 

projects and games, and

trucks galore! 

It was a crazy few minutes of flying wrapping paper! 

Though we hated that Daddy had the flu, 

this Christmas was one of the most relaxing we've had in a long time.  

It really helped to spread out our visits with family, and we didn't have to rush and could visit with everyone!  

This was a bonus day at Pappy's!  We got to celebrate Christmas

and New Year's Eve!  

What a fantastic way to ring in the new year! 

A Late Christmas

 Now that Daddy is feeling better, 

we can celebrate Christmas (again!).  

Dinner and festivities at Mamaw & Papaw's was fun, as always! 

Santa had some little helpers this year!

Santa had lots of presents for us!

A noisy truck and twin baby dolls...

Looks like Santa earned those hugs this year!

He must have said something funny to Harlan...

It was a fun Christmas get-together! 

Little Man

Harlan has had many haircuts by now...

but this is the first time he has sat in the chair all by himself like a big kid!

I always try to count my many blessings, 

and the fact that Harlan has always done excellent during his haircuts. 

He sits just a s still, follows the directions of "look up" or "look that way".  

He sometimes plays shy, or sometimes I find him flirting with the hair dresser. 

This time he gladly climbed up on the chair

and when asked to hold the spray bottle, 

he was pleased as punch!

Another good haircut for the books!

Pictures with Santa

 Our pictures with Santa finally arrived!

And they are quite typical, I must say.  I love the grumpy looks the kids have. 

They weren't quite sure of Mr. Clause, but there were no tears, just some extra tight holding onto Momma.  

Santa wasn't deterred by the less-than-warm welcome...

He smiled for a picture and each kiddo got a small toy just for visiting!

Early Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas

Santa came by our house last night!

The little ones were so excited to see their gifts under the tree! 

They loved having a big bean bag chair!

Santa also brought play rugs for each of them to put in their rooms, 

an ice cream shop for Wavy and a Cars rug for Harlan.

Stockings were emptied, 

new socks were quickly discarded, 

candy was devoured.  

Check this out!  

Trying out my bean bag.

We spent a relaxing Christmas morning at home. 

I made breakfast and we enjoyed playing with new toys and opening everything. 

It's Traditional

 It's Christmas Eve and we have many a tradition for this night.

(I love traditions.)

We usually open at least one gift from mom and dad

on Christmas Eve, and its always the same, 

a new pair of jammies!

We know that Ella will be returning to the North Pole

until next year, so we always say our goodbyes on this night.

Unfortunately, daddy has been really, really sick with the flu for the past couple of days. 

So to avoid any germs, me and the kids are camping out in the living room!

We snuggled down on a pallet and watched

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, our most recent favorite Christmas movie.  

We shared a big bowl of popcorn and tried to fall asleep so Santa could come by!

Maybe sleeping in the living room will become a new tradition!

Celebrating Christmas

It's Christmas Eve at last!

Our first trip of the busy holiday is to 

Baby Gail's house for the Dudgeon family Christmas!

We dearly love visiting with our family. 

We don't have many opportunities to visit with everyone

and its so nice to see everyone.  

The little kids were so excited!

We exchanged many gifts, 

and many hugs as well!

I don't think Aunt Bonnie knew ahead of time

how perfect her gift was for Waverly and Harlan. 

They love pillows and blankets!  

As soon as they opened them, they were laying down and covering up!

(Thanks Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Paul and Heather!)

As always, there was a ton of wrapping paper to wade through!

The kids have really gotten the hang of gift-opening, 

making this year super fun!

We are so thankful to our family and friends for sharing the Christmas season with us.

Thank you everyone, for the gifts and the great memories of a wonderful Christmas.

The Sneaky Elf

Ella the elf has been keeping herself busy!

She's always up to something, that sneaky elf.  

She has done a great job this year of encouraging good behavior.  

We will all be sad when she returns to the North Pole in just a few more days, 

but we know she will come back home next year!

Letters to Santa

Dear Santa, 

I'm glad Christmas is near, 

I've been spreading holiday cheer. 

Please remember, I'm only 2 years old. 

I've been a good boy, or so I've been told. 

If I could request one special gift, 

It would be something great,

catch my drift? 

A truck, a plane, a car!

Maybe I'm just wishing on a star. 

A ball, some rocks or any kind of toy, 

Something so I can be a noisy little boy!

If that is too much to ask, 

its okay to just bring cash!

Love, 

Harlan

Dear Santa, 

I will not take for granted, the many gifts I may receive,

but instead, I'll be thankful this Christmas Eve. 

There are many presents I would like, 

but don't worry, I already have a bike. 

Instead I ask for something I want and something I need, 

Something to wear and something to read. 

A baby doll to snuggle

or a teddy bear to cuddle.

But most of all what I want this year, 

are not lots of toys, my dear. 

But a Christmas full of joy and laughter,

that we'll remember happily ever after!

Love, Waverly

Every year, our hometown paper has a special section

for all of the letters to Santa.  Since the kiddos are still too little to write their own 

letters, I help them out a bit and I always write a poem.  

It always turns out well, but it gets trickier each year to finish my rhymes.  

It wont be long until they are big enough to write their own letters to Santa!

Ain't no sunshine

Who says you can't have fun on a rainy day?

It's not stopping these two!

They'll just take the 4x4 for a little muddin'!

Dancing makes me smile

We always look forward to Thursday nights

because that means we go to dance class!

While Wavy has fun in class with her friends, 

Harlan and I play in the waiting area.  

He likes to look out the window, 

check out the many dance trophies, 

and hide around the corner.  

We always have a good time peeking through the window

to see Sissy dancing!

Baking with Baby Gail

Its tradition that we always have a day with Baby Gail

just to bake Christmas goodies. 

This year the kids got to make rice krispy treats and 

then decorate them with cookie cutters and sprinkles!

The sprinkles were a big hit!

While the kids were busy, 

mom and I made pb balls, pb fudge, truffles

and pb rolls.  

We want to make sure everyone gains all that holiday weight 

we'd rather avoid!  ha!

Snuggly Snorers

Harlan digs being 2!

Since Harlan's favorite things are bull dozers, 

backhoes, dump trucks and loaders, 

his birthday party was all about construction!

He was so excited to see his cake!

Harlan opened his big gift from mommy and daddy first...

After he saw such a big semi-truck (just like daddy's!)

he was only interested in playing!

He loved all of his presents, though it took him a little bit to remember about opening more!

I always try to make birthday parties special and fun!

For Harlan's party, I made a sandbox with small construction toys for the kids to play with. 

The kids had a ball and the adults were all shocked at the mess (or at least shocked that I permitted this much sand inside my house! Ha!).  

Harlan decided to get out his new toys and really wreck some havoc.  

(You get by with quite a bit when you are as cute as he is.... well, and when its your birthday.)

Happy birthday, baby boy! 

This is my right foot, hahaha-haha

Tonight was a special night at dance

because the parents were allowed to come in the dance room and observe. 

This momma was super excited!

Waverly did an excellent job 

and I was very impressed!

She mimicked the teacher, Ms. Kayla, and did every

exercise and step that she was supposed to.

She even waited patiently with the other girls

while they took turns practicing their pointy toes.

This picture (below) is of my favorite dance!

The song is called "This is my right foot" and its adorable when they 

do the laughs!

We are very excited for the next parent night, 

and of course we can't wait for the recital in May!

Conspiracy Theory

I have suspicions that the kids know that I am pleased

when they are being nice and holding hands in the car... 

I think they do this on purpose to suck up before being rotten.  

(It usually works!)

Lights under Louisville

Have you ever heard of Lights under Louisville? 

It is truly spectacular! 

In Louisville, there is a mega cavern underground. 

It stretches out 17 miles under the city streets!

For the Christmas season, there are over 2,000,000 lights on display.  

Intrigued, this year, for the first time ever, we 

loaded up in the car and drove through the caves to see the lights. 

We were amazed!

First, we unhooked seat belts and the kiddos got to ride up front with us.  

Even though its the middle of December, the cave was nice and just warm enough that we were comfortable to cruise through with the windows down. 

Christmas music plays is turned up and everyone is dancing and singing along in their cars, 

self included.

The light displays are so cool! 

So many of the exhibits imply movement, like the tank above shoots the bullets, 

which the lights blink off and on so that it appears to be soaring through the air. 

Both kids were so pleased to find their favorite characters, 

including Peter Pan, Cinderella, and Santa, of course!

The whole trip only takes about 30 minutes, 

but we had so much fun, we turned around and drove through a second time!

I hope we make this a family tradition. 

It'd be nice to go every year!

(I'm just glad I don't have to pay all of that electric bill!)