New Year's Eve

 

We had a fun New Years Eve.  We went over to our friends', the Donahues, for a traditional New Years dinner.  (Black eyed peas, collard greens, etc.)  The group was made up of the girls in my Bible study/girls group and our families.  All together, we have 13 kids (and more on the way!) It was a really good time of fellowship with our sweet friends.  I can't believe it will be 2014.  Time is going way too fast!  Happy New Year!

Buddies

Nolan's "birthday buddy" came over for dinner tonight.  Nolan is going to have a little brother or sister in a few weeks.  From the looks of this picture, I don't know that he's so sure about this whole "sibling" thing.  HAHA!

Daddy's Buddy

Bike Ride

The girls are loving their new bikes!

Merry Christmas!

 

Christmas 2013 was great!  We opened presents this morning and before she even opened any of her own presents, Molly wanted to give Nana a Bible cover that she has picked out with Aunt Marie at Thanksgiving.  So sweet!  The girls got bikes which they have been riding in the house all day.  They went outside but it was so cold--they only lasted about 5 minutes.  They also got new Bibles and they were very excited about using them to read tonight.  Molly is learning the books of the Bible in her Sunday School class so she likes looking up the stories.  She didn't want any books tonight--just Bible stories.  I think Rayna's favorite present was her new flashlight.  I think all of us have spent time in the dark bathroom with Rayna today playing with her flashlight.  Aaron was a lot of fun this year.  He had fun opening his presents and liked his new toys.  We are starting to actually get a collection of "boy" toys.  Nana made a yummy lunch and our traditional Happy Birthday, Jesus cake.  When I told the girls we were going to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, they started singing the "Happy Birthday, Jesus" song they learned at church.  So sweet!  

Happy Birthday, Jesus,
I'm so glad it's Christmas.
All the tinsel and lights and
The presents are nice
But the real gift is You.

Happy Birthday, Jesus,
I'm so glad it's Christmas.
All the carols and bells make
The holidays swell
And it's all about You.

Happy Birthday, Jesus; Jesus, I love You.

Merry Christmas to all.  And to all a goodnight! 

Look who lost her tooth!

On Christmas Eve!  Santa and the Tooth Fairy are going to be meeting at the Hines' house tonight!

Christmas Eve

 We had such a fun Christmas Eve!  We had lots of visitors and the kids got lots of presents.  We got to see Caleb and Aimee today which is always such a treat.  They are growing up so fast!  The girls made their yearly gingerbread men with Nana and delivered them to some of the neighbors.  Such a sweet Christmas Eve.

Santa Who?  These are MY cookies!

Santa's Helper

Christmas Fun

Aunt Marie is in town until Christmas.  We LOVE having Aunt Marie here!  The kids have been having a good time playing with Aunt Marie and playing on their new tablets every chance they get.  Today we went to a cookie party with the Joyners and the Tysons.  I had them in their cute little matching Christmas shirts but we hadn't been at the Joyners for five minutes before all the girls were princesses.  Figures!  The kids had so much fun making and decorating cookies.  It was such a fun day.  We are ready for Christmas!  

Christmas (and plumbing!) with Grandma and Grandpa

 Grandma and Bapa came for the day today and brought presents for the kids.  The girls got tablets which made Molly's year.  She's been asking for a tablet and she's been on it nonstop.  I told Grandma we are going to have to add "tablet time" to our list of "screen time"--otherwise I will never be able to pry that girl off of the thing!  Grandma also brought some of her old school stuff that we can possibly use for homeschool.  And (believe it or not!) a pair of Daddy's old mittens.  How cute are they?! 

Poor Daddy and Bapa spent the whole day working on plumbing.  We are so thankful for their plumbing skills!  :-)

I know I say this all the time, but I am so incredibly thankful for my in-laws.  We just couldn't ask for a better family.  <3 br="">

Tea Parties

For the last year, Molly has been going to monthly tea parties.  My friend Alicia has been hosting these tea parties for our "big" girls.  The girls are learning about manners and having good character through stories and Bible verses.  I take Molly and I love the one-on-one time I've gotten so spend with her at the tea parties.  This weekend we had the last of the monthly tea parties and Alicia thought it would be fun to take the girls out to a restaurant.  Of course they loved it and I loved having a date night with my big girl!

Happy 8th Birthday in Heaven

I can't believe this is the eighth birthday we have spent without our boy. We miss you so much, Zeke. Happy birthday, sweet boy.

Christmas Program

 The kids had their Christmas program at church this Sunday.  Unfortunately, someone got a hold of my camera and deleted the pictures of Molly in her angel costume and Rayna in her sheep costume.  I'll see if I can get my hands on someone else's pictures from this morning.  In the meantime, I do have these pictures of my Christmas cuties!