A Visit With Great Grandpa & Grandma Stevens

Our family went to visit my grandparents today...I'm a really bad grandchild, as this was Luke's first time meeting them!!! My grandma is far too kind to me, she said it is because I am so busy! I am sure that in his 17 month life, I probably had 3 hours to donate!!! The kids had fun, I was a bit worried that we were running grandma and grandpa ragged, but they claim that all was well! Thank you for a great visit! We love you lots!! (Don't you love Luke's reaction to the photo!?)

Mr. Clean (times two)

Ahhh, my boys working in harmony to clean mommy's house with their new toys from Santa!! We went out and bought another vacuum tonight after our visit with the grandparents!!

Happy Birthday Aunt April

Today was my sister April's 28th birthday. Both of my sisters came over for a visit this afternoon. All the cousins played well together, and we had some time to catch up!!!

Our Christmas Day Parties

Christmas Morning

We read from the Bible in Luke, the story of Jesus' birth

Then, we checked to see that Santa had indeed eaten his cookies and milk and the reindeer ate the carrots!!!

Santa SHOULD have brought 3 of these as it caused EXTREME tantrums!!! Oops! Santa knows better now!!

Jake and Luke's train table...a big hit!!

We saved baby Emma for last...Anna was soooooo excited!!!!

Of any of my three children, I expected Luke to be the last one up!! In fact, he was the FIRST! 6:10am Luke was up and crying! I tried to keep him in our bed...not a chance...do you think he KNEW it was Christmas morning!? Jake was next at 6:25am, we was a little groggy at first, but then was a bit excited. We couldn't wait anymore, so sent Jake down to wake Anna up at 6:35 ish. Her initial comment when she got to the stairs was, "Mommy, it's still night time! I need to go back to sleep!!" After a tiny bit of convincing up the stairs they flew and the joy began!
We started by reading the Bible, the story of the birth of Jesus Christ in Luke. It was so awesome to see both the big kids on their tummys, with daddy reading the bible!! Next, we investigated...Santa had indeed ate the snacks we left him. Then it was stocking time, and then of course present time. Well, we (I mean Santa) brought ONE vacuum for the THREE children to share, thought it would be o.k. Santa was SOOOOO wrong on that assessment! Within about 30 seconds of opening it the boys were screeching and whaling for who would get the vacuum! In the end, we sent Jake to his room to regroup and hid the vacuum until all the presents were opened!! They had a great time! It was quite comical watching them not know which toy to play with!

The tree is ready for the morning!!

We just finished getting everything out for the kids and took a photo, there is one present not shown, A GIANT train table for Jake and Luke. We put it completely together and have a large comforter covering it, sitting just off to the side of the tree. We are both pretty positive that Jake is going to FLIP OUT!!! Merry Christmas to ALL and to all a GOOD NIGHT!! God Bless!!

The Eve of Christmas...

I worked last night, so slept a little bit this morning. Then Mike put the kids to bed and we wrapped all their presents. Once they were up from their naps we were off to two Christmas parties. All dressed up, aren't they cute!?

Anna's Pre-K Christmas Party

TaDa!!! A snowman ornament for the Christmas tree!!

Playing a game of putting the cotton balls into the stockings...I don't know, that's just what Anna tells me!!!

Coloring with a friend.

Anna was super excited to see me at her school party, almost to the point that she had a hard time concentrating on listening to her teacher. I didn't get many photos because I was there to help with the party, but the kids had a great time. They did a book exchange first, which was a lot of fun to help with!! Then they did "station rotation" to each activity (which was awesome to see how the class is run when parents aren't there...the kids know when the bell rings; they move to the next station). Anna was sad to realize that she wouldn't see Mrs. Estefan for a couple weeks, hopefully we can continue encouraging her to learn while on break.

We Got Hair Cuts!!

The kids had their 6 week hair cuts today. I decided I had better start scheduling them for every 5 weeks...the boys looked like monkies!! Anna had over 4 inches cut off today. The photos don't show it well, but it is amazingly shorter!! Just on Monday she had hair that was practically touching her bum!! Now it is just below the shoulder blades!! She had to pose to show everyone!!

A Happy Boy Again!

Luke is fully recovered from his little surgery this morning. All went well, he woke up a little whiny, but has been happy and playful since! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!!

Joyland Christmas...Anna's Church Program

Anna's church program was tonight. We were nervous about this one as Anna was ill the day before with some form of a stomach virus! The theme was Joyland Christmas...all about sharing with those in need during the Christmas season...and also remembering that the true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our King, Jesus Christ!
The program was a little too long for most of the little kids, they all started straying off the stage to their parents, or the music directors (Anna's choice). All in all it was a good program!! Thank you to everyone who came to cheer Anna on!!!

The Baby Parade and the 2's & 3's

Our final baby parade!!

As I was introducing Lucas, he decided to grab the microphone and help out!

Mrs. Karen told us that Jacob was very awe struck by all the lights and activity in the church. He just quietly stared at everything!!



The 2's and 3's sang their traditional Away in a Manger and Christmas Bells...what that really translates to is the teachers sang, while all the kids looked out at the crowd finding their families!!!
On a side note, be in prayer for Luke as he has surgery tomorrow to place tubes in his ears. Thank you!!!!

Jolly Ol' Saint Nick....

Jake spotted Santa, and is watching him in amazement!

Huh? Who is this guy???

I want outta here!!!!



All was well when we got in line to see Santa. The kids didn't actually figure it out for about 10 minutes...then we finally told them that was what we were doing. My interpretation: Anna, "I want Baby Emma, except you don't have to call her Baby Emma, you can name her whatever you want to!" Jake, "I want Thomas!!!", Luke, "I WANT MY MOMMY!!!!!"
Enjoy! We sure did!! Oh, and because we are so eager for punishment, we took them all to Brann's Steakhouse for dinner afterwards!!

Snow Play

I am a little slow at getting the kids out in the snow for the first time!! They loved it! Luke kept falling, which made him done much quicker than the older two kids. Our friends posted photos on their blog and stated that it took 15 minutes to get ready and 5 minutes to come back in...that is so true!! Actually, Anna stayed outside for about 20 minutes, Jake wanted to come in after 10 minutes and Luke was the 5 minute one!! Ahhhh, snow...I'm ready for it to leave!!!

A Message.....

Anna's School Christmas Program

Before the Program with her flower from Grandma Grover.

Getting all situated on the risers with her class.

Looking for us in the crowd. We were WAY up in the balcony.

Singing "Polar Puppy" (a favorite in our house because of the "ruff")

All the Pre-K and Kindergarten children (WOW!!)

Anna had a wonderful time at her program. At the beginning you could see she was a little stressed about the fact that she couldn't find us in the large, over packed crowd. Her teacher tried to help her find us with no success. The kids sang 4 songs: Polar Puppy (the kids get to say "ruff" several times in the song), Jesus Our Brother, a song Anna can't remember right now (sorry), and Jingle Bells.
On a Luke note: he is scheduled to get ear tubes on Monday the 17th at 7:30am. Please pray that his ears heal before then as he is still miserable..although nothing like he was. The specialist said that they looked pretty bad, and could have done surgery this next Monday, but that is Anna's half birthday at school so she is in charge of birthday snacks, and I am, for the only time this year, volunteering to help set up the Santa gift shop. Thank you for all of the prayers thus far!!