and it's over...

did y'all know it was christmas yesterday??  the tree is back in the attic.  the mantle is clear.  and except for a dancing, solar christmas penguin that i overlooked and the cd still in my car, you can't even tell that it was christmas yesterday in my house.  (and if you were wondering....that makes me very, very happy!)  however....along with the goodies that we all received, we have plenty of pictures to document that a good time was had by all!

we started out last weekend in jackson with the henson clan.  all of these cousins have a great time together even though honey and g were in need of some xanax and wine by the time we left.

on christmas eve back at our place, we made santa some marshmallow pops.  he gets tired of cookies, right??  we also made some for all of our neighbors.  unfortunately, only two of the neighbors were home, so we had more than our share of marshmallow pops!!

later that night after church and supper, the little people got to open one present from us.  they were all so not thrilled because "uhhhhhhhhh....we know it's just pajamas.  it's always pajamas."  next year i'm wrapping up underwear.  or a piece of bread.  something to throw them off!!

they were a tad bit more excited the next morning as they waited to come down the stairs!

we proceeded to fill up on a gigantic breakfast before heading back to open gifts from each other!

this was the first year that each kid was responsible for shopping for every other family member.  i took each one shopping alone so they could pick out what they thought each person would like.  it was fun to see them think about their brothers and what they thought each one would like.  and it was more fun to watch them give their gifts.  reed was very confident in his gift shopping skills.  "you're gonna love it!!!" was what he said as he handed his presents out!  but apparently everybody has good shopping skills because everybody loved it all!

"you're gonna love it, daddy!"

we spent the afternoon making glow in the dark slime...

playing outside...

and william had to fight his daddy for control of his remote control helicopter! next year, i'm getting chase a helicopter.

and of course, several hours were spent playing legos.  i don't know what i'm going to do the day that legos go out of style over here!

note:  if you can't find grandma, go upstairs and check the bunk bed.

it was a fun christmas...

but, i'd be lying if i said i wasn't happy to hear maroon 5 and luke bryan back on the radio when i start my car rather than jingle bells and let it snow.  don't even get me started on "santa, baby."  hello to the new year!!

angels

the last week of school of this semester, we finished up with two different christmas plays.  both william and wes were angels.  william was an angel in the angel choir for his play.  he sang and danced his little angel heart out!

with his other angel friends….bounds and stuart.

wes' class recited and acted out luke 2.  he was the angel of the lord.  he recited his part perfectly, and he was super excited about being able to wield a sword!  ha!

even the angel of the lord has to take a break before a big production!

he even sang!!  he's a multi-talented angel.  :)

these two angels didn't have a play, but they did party it up in their classroom!

and now, we are going to try to survive christmas break!  with all of the legos headed our way, that should be a fairly easy task!

happenings

1.  last week, we headed to memphis for a field trip.  reed's class went to the enchanted forest at the pink palace.  i think the highlights for him were playing with an airplane in the gift shop and riding the escalators.  ha!!

all that excitement wore these two buddies out, and they crashed on the way home!  this is reed's best friend at school, haddon.

2.  we came home that night and froze at our christmas parade.  it was a big deal this year because the budweiser clydesdales were here.  i didn't get a good picture of them because i assumed they would be at the very end as the big finale, so i wasn't ready when they showed up as the third thing in the parade!    they were pretty cool, however!

the boy section was excited, and they didn't stay seated on this curb for long!

3.  we had our church christmas program on wednesday night.  this is one of my favorite services of the year as we celebrate jesus' birthday.  i took a picture before we left, and you can tell by looking at it exactly why i had three different pictures on my christmas card this year.  that little one makes it impossible to take a picture of all 3!

4.  mississippi state came to tupelo to play a basketball game one night.  we couldn't pass up that opportunity.  it was the first time that i have seen us play this year, and y'all….we are not good.  it's tough when your team is bad.  and we are bad.  but the friends and the cotton candy were really good!

5.  william made a gingerbread house stacked some crackers and ate a bunch of candy on one of the last days of school before christmas break.  it nearly drove my OCD self over the edge!!

one more day of school full of parties and the christmas break can officially begin!

it's kind of like hoosiers…only not

our 2nd and 3rd grade boys at church formed a basketball team this year, and they are showing those other churches in town how it's done.  ya know….as well as a bunch of 2nd and 3rd graders can!  ha.  it's funny to watch certain aspects of the game click with different kids.  they will play a whole game, and with about 3 minutes left in the game a light will come on like, "ohhhhhhhhh….that's what i'm supposed to do!"

william is loving it.  we play on 10 foot goals, and in case you didn't know….that's a long shot for a little person!  nonetheless, we are scoring and winning some games.  i don't think william has the genes to grow up as a short person, so we are trying to focus on rebounding!  it should be a fun rest of the season!

and of course, there are plenty of little brothers running around, too!  one day soon, they will get their turn!

go lawndale!

decorated

the day after thanksgiving, we did what everybody else (who waits until after thanksgiving) does the day after thanksgiving….put up christmas decorations.  i use the term decorations loosely because while some people's halls are decked, we have a tree.  well a tree, a mantle, and a few nativity scenes.  but wes henson thinks it's the best thing ever, and he, of course, has drawn several christmas scenes to tape up on random walls throughout the house.  it gives a fresh, new meaning to "deck the halls."  after we got the tree in place, each kid got to open his ornament for the year.

wes got a mint chocolate chip ice cream eating chipmunk.  if you know him, this is the most appropriate ornament ever!

william got a penguin basketball player.  he has developed a new love this winter, but that's a different post!

reed got dusty crophopper.  it's all we can do to keep it on the tree instead of in his hands flying around the house.

wes has somehow turned into the nativity scene decorator each year, so he took over those duties again.

and when he was done, it looked like all the people and animals were super happy to see baby jesus again this year.  if i was mary, i think i'd have to tell all those visitors to back on up and make sure i passed around the germ x.

this time last year, we also had to go get some stitches, so at least we are ahead in that department this year.  i'm not saying how long that will last, but at least we're all smiles so far!

happy christmas season, y'all!