Christmas 2013

A recap of our Christmas ... in photos:

Christmas Eve Day Tradition - decorating our gingerbread cookies for our gingerbread cookie breakfast Christmas morning (Nora's first time decorating cookies ... her face says it all) ...

Christmas Eve with my side of the family ...

Christmas Morning ...

Christmas Day with Jason's family (unfortunately by the time we tried to take a cousins photo, our girls were D.O.N.E.) ... Christmas is also Jason's birthday ... this was his first "real" 39th birthday ... not to be confused with next year's birthday which may be the first anniversary of his 39th birthday!

And, that was Christmas 2013!

Joy to the World

Joy to the World, the Lord Has Come!

Celebrating His Love, The Lilyquist Family

2013

Fast forward ...

During birthday week this week we have been looking at photos from when Lydia was just a babe ...

Fast forward four years, and we have this ... so blessed.

Yes, Samuel is wearing a cummerbund (and doesn't Lydia's dress match so perfectl along with Nora's sweet dress - both of which were hand-me-downs that we are loving)!  Samuel's 3rd grade class had the privilege of singing with the high school for the Christmas concert last weekend at the Weill Center.  Jack also got to do this three years ago.  So neat.

Two Peas in a Pod {more hand-me-downs}

Perhaps I should just do a whole series on hand-me-downs since I seem to have many posts about them!  Lydia discovered this shirt in what is left of the boys too small box ... and, she was quite excited to find out that Samuel had Jack's and it still just fits!  Nothing like being matchy-matchy with your big brother!  These two three make me smile!

December 2013

Samuel - 9

Lydia - Nearly 4

(And, Nora 2 1/2 ... she is our photo bomber!)

December 2007

Samuel - 3

Jack - 6**

 

**Yes, Jack is wearing the same shirt at 6 that Samuel is wearing at 9 ... Jack did wear the shirt a few years ... sadly, Samuel outgrew his ... thankfully they have a little sister who has an affection for their hand-me-downs.

The Circle Top {or, the tree skirt ... it's all about perspective}

It is tradition that we wait until after Samuel and Lydia's birthday party to put up our Christmas tree.  So, this past weekend, after the party was done and cleaned up, we did just that.  It was late Sunday afternoon when we had the tree up, lights on and ornaments in process ... and, the boys were getting all loopy and needed to burn energy ... and, the girls were content to continue "rearranging" "my" ornaments.

Well, at one point of said loopiness of the boys, this is how Jack gets my attention:

Yes, that is a tree skirt.  And, this would have been quite enough entertainment in itself without the commentary that came with it - "Look Mom, it's the new circle top from Justice, it's all the rage."

So many things to say about this comment ... let's just start here, why does my 12-year old son know what a circle top is?  And, why does he know that this would be something purchased at Justice?  Too much attention to girls.  We're in trouble.

O' Christmas Tree

Not a Christmas season goes by that I don't refer to my husband as Clark Griswold.  This season will be no exception.  This weekend we, perhaps, started a new tradition that I'm quite sure the Griswolds would be proud of.
 
We do not have any great tradition around getting our Christmas tree every year.  My uncle and cousin are both Christmas tree "farmers" and thus we were pretty loyal in going to their tree lots to buy our tree every year until a few years ago when we started getting a little lazy and started just stopping by Home Depot and buying our tree there (nice trees but not necessarily the photo op tradition that I would love).  Years ago, when it was just Jason, Jack and I, we even tried to go cut down our tree, but I was, let's just say, a little too particular.
 
This weekend we found ourselves bundling up and heading out for a family walk.  I carried Nora in the carrier and pushed Lydia in the stroller.  The boys scootered, and Jason walked the dog ... and, he pulled an empty wagon.  We live approximately one mile from our small-town grocery store.  At said grocery store, my cousin has a small tree lot.  Yes, we walked to the tree lot, picked a "perfect" tree and headed back home with tree in tow.  Ha!  We got a few honks and lots of smiles. 
 
Jack, seeing as he is the "coolest" of the bunch had a few comments about being a bit embarrassed, but he was a trooper (and secretly, I think he enjoyed the trek to our tree this year).

This is the one!

 

 All loaded up and ready to trek home.

Love this new tradition that we may have inadvertently started!

Little Miss slept through most of this adventure.

My sweet vantage point of Nora in the carrier. 

Is It Just Me?

Or, does anyone else get a little giddy when Starbucks rolls out the holiday cups and flavors?

Mmmm ... Caramel Brulee Latte ... thank you, Starbucks for my birthday treat (it's even sweeter when it's free!).

Fresh Footprints ...

 In the Morning Snow ...

All Bundled Up with Places to Go ...

Hoping that It Snows and Snows ...

Building a Snowman with a Carrot Charcoal Nose ...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 

Merry Christmas from our home to yours.

Glory to the Newborn King!

It's Beginning to Look ...

I may bite my tongue later, but it would be nice to say that it's beginning to look a lot like a WHITE Christmas.  But, so far only rain.  That, however, did not hinder a weekend of Christmas tradition ...

1.  The annual women's luncheon at church where Nikki and I turned a vision into a stunning table (I know, I'm bias, but the table was beautiful!).  The morning was enjoyed with some of the sweet ladies in my life (for more information and photos, see Nikki's blog here).

2.  Pepper McTwist (aka, our Elf on the Shelf) is back and up to mischief.

3.  A fun night with sweet friends including going to a nearby Living Nativity.  I didn't get any photos of this, because, well, the weather was a bit miserable.  We were all bundled up, sitting on hay bales, under blankets and umbrellas, watching the story of Mary and Joseph unfold before our eyes.  The children did wonderful, not one complaint.  And, we couldn't help but reflect on the fact that although we were sitting in the rain watching, Mary and Joseph had less than ideal circumstances surrounding their His story.  Really?  Baby Jesus?  In a feeding trough.  Amazing ... truly amazing.

4.  To cap things off, the annual Cocoa & Carols service at church.

Ah, a tradition and blessing filled weekend ...

Merry Christmas!