Caroling

This year, Gavin's class sang, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" for the annual ECDC Christmas Caroling.

Enjoy!!!

My Birthday

I know you've all been dying to know about my birthday. Goodness knows Gavin was dying for some birthday cake (or cupcake in this case). We had a nice dinner at Anamia's and dessert at home.

Not only was Gavin happy to help me with the birthday candle, but he is a great little helper with the gifts.

Big smile for the camera . . .

Gavin and I look at the card he got me.

And, Gavin is a great little scarf model.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning, Dave and I heard voices around 6:30. In just a moment, we heard Gavin's voice over the monitor. Dave went up and picked him up to bring him downstairs to see what Santa had left. Gavin immediately honed in on the yo-yo on top of his workbench. Jonas thought the workbench was cool and then he spotted his Angry Birds.
Next the boys opened their stockings to see what treats Jolly Old Saint Nick had left for them.

Then, Gavin got the bright idea that the birdhouse on his workbench would be just perfect as a home for the Angry Birds.

After stockings, we moved on to gift opening. Once I began to put gifts under the tree, Gavin wanted some gifts for his small tree. I gave him a few small packages to place under the tree, telling him to whom each gift belonged. After a few minutes, he looked at me sadly saying, "I don't have any presents." I found a gift for him to put under his tree, showing him the "G" for Gavin. On Christmas morning, when we told the boys that it was time to open gifts, Gavin promptly went to his tree, picked up his gift, looked at me and said, "Can I open it now?" Over the past several days, I had had to tell him he couldn't open the gift until Christmas.

Gavin loved his bowling set from Jonas.

And, the Cars Lego set from Jonas was a hit, too.

The boys each had a big box from GrandBob and Grandma.

Mason enjoyed opening his package of treats. We just have to ensure that Mason gets all of them; Gavin has a tendency to claim Mason's toys for himself. (The boy sleeps with two stuffed animals, a cow and a sheep, purchased at PetSmart for Mason that G promptly claimed as his own in the parking lot.)

Gavin got a cool Lightening McQueen scooter and helmet from Daddy and Mama.

Below, Jonas is opening one of the small gifts that Gavin had for him under the little tree.

The boys did a great job sharing the workbench.

Grandma and Granddaddy sent Gavin this great excavator. Gavin shared the digger with Jonas, too. We are proud of how well the boys shared over the course of the week.

The boys had a great time playing with their Caterpiller heavy equipment. Bob and Judy got one for each of the boys. An excavator for Jonas and a bulldozer for Gavin. Uncle Matthew & Hayden sent Gavin an excavator and dump truck. Thankfully, since the excavator was a big hit with the boys.

It was great watching the boys open their gifts and enjoy playing with each one. The adults barely got to open gifts; we were busy servicing toys for the boys. We may have to work on that next time.

Snuggling with GrandBob and Grandma

Jonas and Gavin had a good time snuggling with GrandBob.

And, snuggling is always fun with Grandma Judy.

Christmas Eve

One of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions is Judy's delicious seafood chowder. Judy and Bob made a trip to Central Market for the seafood, then made the soup. It was a delightful bowl of yumminess; there was none left. So tasty!

Prior to dinner, we went to Christmas Eve services at church. We opted for the family friendly service this year. Gavin stayed with us instead of going to the nursery. Each child was given a baggie of finger puppets to use throughout the service, and instead of candles, we had glow sticks. I missed the candles, but it was nice to have Gavin with us.

Cookies for Santa

On Christmas Eve, we baked cookies for Santa. Gavin and Jonas were so excited. When I asked Gavin if he was ready to bake cookies, he exclaimed, "First you roll the dough. Then you cut it."Thankfully, I had the dough rolled out, cookie cutters out, and two stations ready to go for Santa's little bakers.

Grandma and I did the best we could to keep up with the little boys.

The bell was the cookie cutter of choice for Jonas, while Gavin liked the gingerbread man the best.

I can't wait until next time.

North Pole Express

The family all made it in on Wednesday, so that we could ride the North Pole Express out of Grapevine. Jonas was very excited about the train ride, asking his mom each day if that was the day that he could ride the train to see Santa. Not wanting to fall to same fate, Gavin didn't learn about the train ride until the morning of the event.

First, we were entertained by a show.
And, there was some waiting for the show to start.

Then we got to walk outside the board the North Pole Express. There were snowflakes swirling through the air as we walked to board the train.

"All aboard," calls the conductor.

Jonas and Gavin were so excited. As we walked from the car earlier, both boys were being carried by their dads. Dave said that Gavin noticably tensed up when he caught sight of the train.

Gavin was so excited to get to hold his ticket.

The "gangsta" little boy look: we're too cool for this train ride. Yo, Santa!

Dave swapped seats with Jonas, who kept coming over to see his Dad and Mom.

Whew, a big yawn. It was way past bedtime; our train was supposed to leave at 8:30; it was closer to 9. It was 9:50 when we got back to the car to head home.

Ohhhhh. Santa is coming!

Cheese.

Jolly Old Saint Nick poses with the boys.

Sweet smile on a sweet boy.