We had a wonderful Christmas. We stayed in PJ's until lunch enjoying each other's company while playing wii, playing with new gifts, and doing arts and crafts. It was wonderful.
And to top it off, Grandma arrived around noon for a visit. For breakfast we had special sweet buns and ham, egg, cheese english muffins. And for our special dinner, we had a spiral ham, cheese bread, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top, baked beans, homemade cranberry sauce, and salad. Dessert was homemade baklava, one of Daddy's favorites. It was all delicious. We are so grateful to the Lord for His provision for us and His abundant blessings. And more than that, we are so grateful for the birth of His son Jesus, for His life on this earth, and for His death and resurrection, through which we receive the forgiveness of sins and salvation. Praise God that we get to celebrate His Son's birthday each year. I pray that we will celebrate His birthday every day.
Sorry the pictures are out of order. For whatever reason, my computer will not let me cut and paste right now.
Ryan's two favorite presents--The Transformer, Bumblebee, and a hunter who shoots arrows. In this picture they were "fighting", and Bumblebee won.
Of course, Madeline's favorite presents were arts and crafts projects. Here she glues beads onto a clothespin doll.
And the box next to her is a star treasure chest. It is her absolute favorite present. She got to pain the box (inside and outside) and decorate it will beautiful sequins. Her big present from Mommy and Daddy was a "Fur real" kitty cat. The kitty meows, hisses, purrs, and moves around. Though she does like the toy, she often gets annoyed with it's constant meowing. Thus, the kitty has been spending most of its time in the "off" position.
Madeline's other big present was a digital camera. Unfortunately, Mommy did not look closely at the software requirements. . .the software was not compatible with our mac. Thank goodness for returns!
RyRy excitedly opens the Bumblebee Transformer.
Bumblebee and Hunter man in a duel (Hunter man never had a chance).
Ryan is saying "cooooooool" right here. He was so excited when he saw the Hunter man and realized he would soon be shooting "arrows".
Unlike Madeline, Ryan did not need to be taught how to open presents. In fact, as soon as he opened one, he was ready to open another.
Oh my goodness. . .Santa ate almost all the cookie we left for him, he drank all the milk, he opened the letter Madeline left for him, and the reindeer ate all of the carrots!!! While Madeline was fascinated by this, Ryan was ready to tear through some wrapping paper.
What a joyous day!
What has Madeline been doing. . .spending almost everyday with her friend Jessica. The girls love to play together and are very sweet and kind toward each other. And Jessica is also very sweet and tender with Ryan. Both Jessica and Maddie are home schooled, so a late morning or afternoon playdate helps to motivate them to get their school work done.
The above and below pictures are highlights of Matt's December vacation time. He painted a large tarheel on Ry's wall and then imprinted Ry's footprint above his chair molding. Our hope is to imprint all of Ry's friends' feet so that he can have a special memory of all his friends. On Madeline's wall, all of her friends have begun to imprint their hands. Matt has such great ideas!
Uncle Bobby and Daddy lead the pack up one of Jockey Ridge's Dunes. Madeline and Ryan follow behind. These dunes are awesome. This is our second time this year climbing them. It is great fun, even in the cold.
