Christmas Day

After celebrating with Jarrad and Megan on Christmas morning, we headed over to Boompaw & Nawnaw’s house to celebrate Christmas with them.  Nick, Michelle & Parker were there as well as Leigh Ann, Eddy & Jackson.  We were sad that Stacy & Bryan couldn’t be there – they were definitely missed by Megan and me. 

The house was very busy with two infants and a six-year old girl who just had to bring her babies (Reagan, Rachael, Sarah & Travis).  Boompaw looked very comfortable in his recliner with his boys.  Parker (left, 5 weeks) and Jackson (right, 3 months) were right at home in his arms too. 

Around noon, Meg was in the kitchen with Boompaw and she saw Santa and Mrs. Claus pull up in the driveway.  She immediately started screaming and yelling and ran straight for the front door.  I love her enthusiasm, it’s contagious!  Meg is so thoughtful that she even thanked Santa for her gifts at the house earlier that morning.  I love this girl of mine! 

***Santa & Meg***

***Mommy, Santa, Meg & Daddy***

***Boompaw, Santa, Megan & Nawnaw***

***Boompaw, Jackson, Santa, Megan, Parker & Nawnaw***

***Parker, Santa, Jackson & Megan***

***Beautiful Megan***

Amazing Christmas morning

Christmas morning was so wonderful this year.  I woke up earlier than the family to get ready for the big day.  I was able to snap a few pictures of Santa’s delivery.   The only other members of the family that were up with me were Dixie and Gunner.  I was able to snap a few pictures of the pups before the rest of the house got moving. 

I finally woke Meg up around 7:45 to get Christmas morning started.  Meg wasn’t hard to get out of bed after I told her that Santa had made a visit to the house.  Jarrad on the other hand wasn’t so easy to get moving.  Meg and I headed into the living room before Jarrad.

Meg’s face says it all.  It was exactly what she had asked for and was so excited.  She was so happy to see the new additions to her growing American Girl family.  This year, Santa delivered the Itty Bitty Twins.  Meg named the twins Travis and Sarah. 

After playing with the twins for a little while, we got out the stockings and then opened presents.  More than anything, I love watching Meg open gifts.  Her face says it all when she’s peeking into a package. 

***Meg with her stocking goodies***

***Meg loves this shirt***

***Meg’s gift from Daddy – a lefty glove***

***Meg brought Reagan and Rachael into the living room to enjoy Christmas morning***

***Meg and Daddy – Christmas morning 2010***

***Meg and Mommy – Christmas morning 2010***

After we opened presents and got ready, we headed over to Boompaw & Nawnaw’s house to celebrate Christmas with them.  I will post about our great day over there soon. 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we spent the evening with Nina in Dallas.  Meg, Jarrad and I got to Nina’s house around 5:30.  Meg was very happy to see Nina, Auntie Lee Lee, Uncle Eddy and Jackson.  Unc, Aunt Michelle and Parker got to the house a little later in the evening.   

Meg and I had baked Christmas cookies the night before, so they were ready for decorating.  We all decorated a few cookies and ate a few too.  Right as we were finishing up cookie decorating, Nina’s power went out.  Thankfully she has a gas stove, so we were still able to cook what we needed.  The power was probably off for over an hour.  As we were sitting at the table, enjoying the meal, the power came back on. Nina is a candle burner, so we had plenty of light. 

After dinner, we exchanged Christmas presents.  Meg got lots of great stuff this year, including a cook book, apron, Juicy crayons and a box full of money.  It was a great Christmas Eve.

***Parker Ramsey***

***Jackson Bradley***

Helping Hand

When Jarrad asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year, I knew the exact answer.  I wanted a pair of boots.  So, on Sunday Jarrad took me to Cavendars Boot City to shop around.  As luck would have it, I found the perfect pair. 

Jarrad wouldn’t let me have them until Christmas.  While Jarrad and Meg were busy wrapping my boots, I snapped a few pictures of them working together to get my gift ready to put under the tree. 

It was the sweetest thing to watch Meg helping Jarrad.  She would help hold the paper and pass him the tape.  These two can get a lot accomplished when they work together. 

I can’t wait to see what’s wrapped under the tree for me this year!

You Tube

Megan loves to watch the classic cartoons on You Tube.  She curls up with daddy’s laptop and will keep herself entertained.  This has worked in my favor since our TV in the living room is broken. 

What, you didn’t know the TV in the living room is broken?  It’s been broken since the first week of November.  Jarrad and I can’t make a decision on whether or not we should fix it or buy a new one.  So, since no decision has been made, there is no TV in the living room.  It’s not as bad as you would imagine. 

For starters, I don’t have to listen to Sponge Bob anymore.  I also don’t have to ask Megan to turn the volume down, or change the channel (there are certain shows she’s not allowed to watch) or turn the volume way down after she’s going to bed. 

However, there are some drawbacks!  I’m having to watch TV with commercials!  I know, I know – how horrible, TV with commercials.  Do you know it takes me a full two hours to watch the Biggest Loser now; I can usually watch it in about 1.5 hours.  Also, there are a few shows I watch on DVR that I don’t even know what channels they are on, what time or night.  And, actually I don’t even know the names of all the shows. 

Luckily for me, I’m not a big TV watcher, so I’m not horribly upset about the TV in the living room being broken.  I’m actually enjoying all the time that Meg and I are spending together at night.  We are playing more board games, card games and reading together.

I know that in the very near future that Meg will rather go to her room to watch TV than play a game with me, so I’m soaking these moments like there’s no tomorrow! 

Sunday night, I was able to capture these pictures of Meg watching you tube cartoons.  Meg was eating a snack that is why Dixie is sitting so attentively at the chair.  Dixie stayed close until Meg finished her snack.  

 

Presents under the tree

I had been waiting to find a new job before I started my Christmas shopping this year.  I didn’t want to over do it if we were going to be a single-income family for the holidays.  So, last Friday night, Meg spent the night and Saturday with Boompaw and Nawnaw so I could finish up. 

I was able to get gifts for Meg’s classmates.  I wrapped them on Friday night and put them under Meg’s Christmas tree in her room.  She was very happy when she got home on Saturday afternoon.

I was also able to finish up Christmas shopping for Jarrad’s side of the family.  I also got Meg a few items for under the tree, although I’m counting on Santa to deliver the big stuff.  Saturday afternoon, Meg and I spent the day wrapping the gifts and putting them under the tree.  I love the look of the tree with gifts under it. 

I still need to get Jarrad a few gifts for under the tree, but he won’t give me any ideas…guess I’ll just have to come up with some ideas on my own.  I’m sure it won’t be too hard.  Meg also wants to get daddy a few gifts, so shopping for Jarrad is on our weekend to do list. 

Buddy is back

Last year, we started a new family tradition – Elf on the Shelf.  Our elf’s name is Buddy and he returned this year when Meg and I got home from San Antonio.  He was waiting for Megan in her bedroom.  She was so happy to see him. 

He is hiding in very interesting places this year – I’m taking pictures of him daily and will post all of his special spots from this year. 

A beautiful day with Nawnaw

While the boys are away, the girls will play.  When Jarrad and Boompaw go to the canyon, Meg and I always plan something fun with Nawnaw.  Last year, we saw 101 Dalmatians at DSM,  we had brunch with Santa at the club, and we went to the Big 12 championship game between Texas & Nebraska. 

This year wasn’t any different.  Meg and I spent the entire weekend at Nawnaw’s this year.  Friday after I got off from work, I picked Megan up and we headed over to Nawnaw’s house.  Friday night, we went to dinner at Chic-Fil-A and then hung out at the house.  Meg was exhausted from our first week with a new schedule, so I wasn’t surprised when she fell asleep in Boompaw’s chair. 

Saturday morning, Nawnaw had something she had to do, so Meg and I rant a few errands, then met her in Irving at the car wash.  From the car wash, we headed out to the Dallas Arboretum. 

Of course, I was happy when Nawnaw asked us to go out there.  I needed to get my Christmas card picture taken.  Meg was a trooper and never complained once when I asked her to sit still for a picture.  Here are a few shots that I was able to capture – unedited. 

After we spent the afternoon at the Arboretum, we headed to dinner at On The Border to celebrate Nawnaw’s birthday (it was Saturday).   After dinner, we headed back to Nawnaw’s to hang out for the rest of the night.

Sunday morning, we got up and had breakfast.  After breakfast, we took Max and Maddie for a walk at the park.  Sunday afternoon, we had tickets to see Rudolph at Casa Manana. 

After a wonderful weekend with Nawnaw, it was time to say goodbye and get ready for the boys to return from the Canyon.