Christmas Day

We went to the Christmas Eve church service, then it was too dark to do our outside Christmas gifts so we saved them for Christmas morning. Nate and Kate opted for bigger gifts this year so Paw-Paw and Lady and Oma and Opa did a Christmas collaboration for the kids' gifts. Paw-Paw and Lady took the kids for a walk so that when they got back they had their surprises waiting for them.

Safe to say, the bounce castle was a huge hit.
These kids were all smiles after they got this gift.
Kathryn loved her little pink house too.
The neighbor kids are probably going to flock to the house on the corner now!
Jessica enjoyed the gifts just as much as Nate and Kate.
Jessica's daddy is always flipping and flinging her around.
All that bouncing wore Kathryn out.
Caged animals.
Pile on.
What a fun Christmas!
Nathan is already asking to invite his friends over to play with his new stuff.
Who needs a door when you can just climb over the wall?
Giving Mace some Christmas cheer.
She's proof you don't have to be nice to get Christmas gifts. Bossiest little girl ever.

It's so funny watching Nathan try to be polite when he's repeatedly asked if Santa is going to bring him lots of stuff. He looks for a moment then politely says, "Yes. I think so." Then he looks at me every time. I don't think he's ever believed in Santa, but then again why should he when he has grandparents!

I wonder what the neighbors think about our Christmas decorations! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Eve

We were lucky enough to have the entire Haggerty clan at our house again this year for Christmas. We started celebrating on Christmas Eve. As usual, Paw-Paw and Lady at the kids table.
There's the official turkey smoker. We all loved our Thanksgiving meal so much that we decided to just do a repeat meal.
Kathryn likes to lick the mashed potatoes off the beaters.
Baby Allison enjoying her first Christmas meal.I was feeling festive so I mixed and matched the red and green.
Nathan started the Christmas season off by explaining to Paw-Paw that Santa Claus isn't real. Only real people give gifts. He certainly proved his point by showing that you don't have to believe in Santa Claus to get lots of cool gifts.

Nate, Kate and Jess were all grabbing at gifts and ripping them open as fast as they could.
Nathan doesn't even care if he's the recipient of the gifts. He not only opened his gifts, but he opened most of Kathryn's and a few of Jessica's, as well.
Kathryn tried out the tree swing immediately.
A big one.
Kathryn got some new furniture for when she entertains her brother and cousins.
She had one rule, no one else gets to sit in the chair with the ottoman.
Mace isn't forgotten at Christmas either.
I had a feeling this was going to happen when I bought the remote controlled helicopter for Nate. Steve hasn't left it alone since Nate opened it. He aggravated Mace with it by having it hover over his head.
Allison and Lady enjoyed spending time with each other while the rest of the kids were digging into what seemed like an endless supply of gifts.
Nate and Kate got me a new camera so I can take more pictures of them all day long.
Once everything was open I took the scooter out to give it a try.

Then of course Kathryn wanted to.
And of course, Steve wanted to give it a try then.
Steve showed off his pilot skills to the kids.

That was all of Christmas Eve. More Christmas celebrating continued on Christmas morning.

A Warm Weather Winter

Nothing says Christmas is around the corner like dressing your kids up in shorts and t-shirts and heading to the playground.

Ahhh, gotta love December in Florida!

Future Embarrassment

I'm saving this one for Nathan's sweet 16.

Pensacola Playdate

Last Friday the kids and I took a day trip to Pensacola for a visit with the JAJAs and Lady. It was the usual... playground, Jessica and Kathryn fighting, Kathryn loving on Allison. Same ol', same ol'.
There was only one baby swing, but we made do with what we had...
It was a bit too close for comfort for Kathryn so she got off and pushed Jessica.
This picture cracks me up how she's just dangling in the seat.
Then of course Uncle Joe pushed Nathan with the "rocket booster."
Flying high.
Uncle Joe said, "Uh-oh, two women in the cockpit. This can't be good."
These kids take their playground time seriously.
When Kathryn looked at Jessica's blog she saw her new pink car. Kathryn pointed and immediately said, "I want to ride." I knew this was going to happen when we got there...

Blog Ration Warning

There are whole bunch of new posts down below. I'm giving them to you all at once. This is supposed to last you for the rest of the week. It's up to you to ration them out however you feel is necessary to get you through the week. If you choose to read them all in one sitting, then that's your choice. No blog nagging until at least the middle of next week!

Any guesses who this message is directed to?!?!

First Best Friend

Nate has become best buds with a little boy in his class, Wyatt. They hang out together at school and he even comes to our house to play. Wyatt is Nate's first real friend that he's chosen on his own to hang out with. Usually his friends are just kids of mine and Steve's friends. Nate and Wyatt played together yesterday after Paw-Paw left. I got some cute pictures and videos.
We walked down to the marina to play around some.
What did we used to do before we had a marina to hang out at? Life must have been boring.
They took turns slinging and spinning each other around in the swing.
Then they started a leaf fight on the way back home.

This makes me laugh hearing Nate tell him there was a stick in his pile.