Wonderful White Christmas

I have many, many blog posts to be done, but for now, I will just post about today. Sometime soon I hope to post about the kids Christmas parties at school, our time with relatives, and our Christmas Day. For now, suffice to say it has all been so wonderful. Below are some pictures from today of the kids enjoying the snow that has fallen over the past couple of days. Not just the kids, but Tanner, too! :) All of us enjoyed the snow.
Santa Claus brought Tanner to join our family. Oh what fun we've all had with Tanner, our new 12 week old Cockapoo! Mackenzie has bonded with Tanner and takes care of him just like a good little momma. She thinks of his every need and obviously loves him. She is so proud of him and wants to show him off to everyone. She spent some time on the phone today calling people just to tell them about Tanner! A proud little girl.

And Josiah, well he loves to play with Tanner...and Tanner loves to play and run from Josiah! They do make a funny pair playing together. Both kids are very good with Tanner. Tanner obviously loves them both.

Tanner in the snow. What an amazing past couple of days! More to come about the past week and a half as I find time to do more posts. For now, at least this post provides some pictures for those of you requesting them! :) Love you all.

Christmas 2009 Summary

I have a lot of cute pictures, but for the sake of time and attempting to get caught up on blogging there will be no pictures in this post. To summarize our Christmas, which was wonderful but hectic, I should go back to the last week of school in mid-December. Josiah was in his first "school" program with his MDO class. The children stood at the front of the classroom and sang a few songs, which were great. The program was well done and adorable, and I have the video to prove it....just don't have the time to post it-Ha. Then, later that same day, Thursday, December 17th, Mackenzie had her class party. Thanks to the Mease's for keeping Josiah that afternoon so that I could participate in Mackenzie's class party and mini program as well. After enjoying the parties and programs, we had our own family Christmas here at home, just the four of us. Santa came to visit the next night, so when we woke up Saturday morning, December 19, we all four enjoyed seeing what he left for the children. By noon we were packed and loaded in the van and on our way to Arkansas. Thus begins the whirlwind of activity and travel...

Our first stop was at David's parents house on Saturday night. Monday morning we headed to my mom and Mark's house. David and I enjoyed a movie date, just the two of us while my mom and Mark kept the kids. Thanks, Mom! We spent Wednesday in the rehab area of the hospital, having Christmas with David's Grandma Watson. Zac, Zearl, and Betty were all at the hospital that day, too. After an enjoyable day with Grandma, we headed to Evan and Mia's house (my brother and sister-in-law) for the night Wednesday. Thursday we celebrated Christmas at my Grannie and Papa New's house and back to Evan and Mia's for the night. Friday we celebrated at Granny Long's house, then headed to my dad and Lisa's for the next two nights. By Sunday morning we were in route home. By Monday evening we arrived home, having had a wonderful time but totally exhausted!

In summary, we had 8 Christmas celebrations, one here at home and the rest at different locations in Arkansas. The kids opened 5 different stockings; David and I enjoyed 4 ourselves! I can truly say we are extremely blessed and very thankful. Our time with family was treasured, even though it was hurried! It is a blessing for our children to have 4 Great Grandparents still living who love them dearly. I am thankful for each visit with those Grandparents. I really did get some neat pics, but those will have to wait until another day!

So, if you're a family member reading this post, please consider yourself thanked for your incredible generosity. Know that your gifts were appreciated and are being enjoyed. Merry Christmas! We love you.

Got It!

We discovered that a $1 bribe per child makes a huge difference in what they are willing to do (dress up) and how they go about doing it (with a smile and giggly!)!!! The above picture is the one I ordered for our Christmas cards. I pick them up on Friday...and hopefully get them mailed shortly thereafter!
I love this picture of the two kids, in matching outfits, in front of our Christmas tree. Aaaahhh, that's the coordinated look I wanted!

Another cute pic of Josiah and Mackenzie together. Robee even made the picture. Ha.

A rare picture of David and me together! The kids really are pretty good with the camera. ;)

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!!!

My Sweet Kids

On Monday morning while I was helping Mackenzie get up, dressed, and ready for school, Josiah came up the stairs with a half opened package from under our Christmas tree. He had spent several days asking to open that one package early. I kept telling him that we should wait until closer to Christmas. I guess he just couldn't wait any longer, but in the middle of opening the present (without permission) he decided maybe he should ask! So, in the dark of the early morning, Josiah came upstairs with the half opened package to ask if he was allowed to open it now. Ha! I asked him if he had already started opening it, to which he replied an honest, "yes." Then I asked him if the package was to him. He said with excitement, "It says, To Josiah From Mackenzie!" I told him since it was from Mackenzie, he needed to go ask her if he could open it early. "Hooray!" he yelled as he ran passed me and into Mackenzie's room. He used his best manners and sweetest voice to ask permission from Mackenzie, who was even more excited than he was! She answered yes and watched eagerly with a huge smile on her face while he opened his package. He tore the paper off and then took the lid off of the shoe box. Peering down inside he saw a toy gun with a target. He was thrilled and she was so pleased! As I watched from the other side of the room, I could not have been a prouder Momma! Josiah belted out a huge, "Thanks, Kenzie!" and Mackenzie just beamed.

Josiah is one of the few people that Mackenzie asked to buy a Christmas present for this year. She even used her own money. I took her to the Dollar Tree, as she requested, and she found the perfect toy gun gift for Josiah. I was quite impressed that she was able to pick a gift for him that HE would like, instead of what she liked! I didn't even have to guide her towards any item; she picked completely by herself. Once home from the Dollar Tree, she just could not wait to get his present wrapped and under our tree. She hand wrote the "To Josiah From Mackenzie" all by herself. She was proud of the gift she gave, and he was delighted to receive it. Out of all the packages under the tree, he has not asked to open ANY of the others. The only one he was interested in was the one from his sister. How funny and how precious!

I pray that the kids are able to learn the true joy found in giving. I believe Mackenzie felt that joy while watching Josiah open his package in those early morning hours. I pray that they learn the art of giving and an attitude of gratitude.

Merry Christmas

Since we are heading to Arkansas tomorrow morning, Santa Claus came a day early! The kids were obviously excited as they ran into the living room to see what Santa left this morning. I've mentioned before that Mackenzie asked Santa for a Barbie Bike, Care Bear Cub, and Medical Plastic Earrings; Josiah asked for a Cars Bike, Cars Scooter, and a Skate Board. I am so very thankful to be able to say that they were both delighted with what Santa brought today!
Mackenzie's inspecting the loot on her side of the Christmas tree. She picked each item up, including a princess sheet set and pajamas, one by one and narrated happily as she exclaimed over each item with the same level of intensity as the item before it! Her gratitude was obvious.

Josiah, with his bed head, went about his morning quietly with an occasional "wow" or "that's cool" comment here and there. He was enthralled with each item, too; however, I wasn't sure he would ever get off the bike and scooter long enough to even see his other items! At the kids request, Santa left two presents for each of them wrapped and under the tree.

Josiah, after eventually dismounting the bike, did spend a great deal of time with the Matchbox space shuttle rig set. He had not seen it before and seemed to enjoy the surprise. The kid loves space ships.

Mackenzie cuddling with her two new care bear cubs, or carabeara cubs, as she calls them! She was so sweet in asking Santa for these. She told him that it did not matter which tummy symbol or which color the care bear was...just any little care bear cub would be fine! She was excited to find two of them wrapped up from Santa this morning.

Josiah checking out his stocking.

Mackenzie, stunned over the hair barrets in her stocking. They happened to be just like some she put in a Christmas Shoe Box for Operation Christmas Child. She oohed and aahed over those barrets, but in the end she managed to pack them for the child whose entire Christmas would be arriving in a shoe box. She was quick to comment, "that box isn't very big if that's all they're getting, Momma." Very cool that it sank in and very cool that she got some, too! :)

(BTW, I found out via email yesterday that our boxes went to Madagascar! I had no idea they could use the barcoded label I printed online from Samaritan's Purse to track the location of the boxes!)

Well, this post is mainly for my own records, but I do want to take advantage the fact that someone might be reading all this to say, Merry Christmas Everyone! Take time among the festivities to thank our Lord for the birth of Jesus...the whole reason we celebrate! What an amazing moment. God being born as a human baby. All for us and our salvation. Wow. I cannot imagine a life without the knowledge and hope that comes with knowing Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour. I hope and pray that you know Him, too. His birth is truly something to celebrate. Merry Christmas!!!

Mackenzie's First Christmas Program

In spite of an ice storm in Arkansas this past Monday night, Nona & Mzee managed to travel (yes, they were determined!) here in time for Mackenzie's first school program this past Tuesday. Mackenzie did not know they were coming in time for her program, so she was thrilled to see them in the audience after sitting down on stage! David and I were on the front row, right in front of her; Nona and Mzee were holding Josiah right behind us. We were all easy to spot from where Mackenzie sat! And, yes, we had the video camera rolling. :)
Here is Mackenzie, following Emma, into the auditorium.

From left to right: T.J., Emily, Mackenzie, and Emma.

Most of Mackenzie's four year old class on stage. (They were on the far right with the three's in the middle and the other four year old class on the left.)

Mackenzie sitting perfectly still singing with all her might!

T.J. sat with that glare on his face the whole time! He did not sing at all; it really was hilarious.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

T.J., Emily, and Mackenzie

A proud, pleased Mackenzie to see her little contingency front and center with cameras rolling! :)

As soon as the program was over and the children starting filing back to their classrooms, Josiah asked to go up on stage to join Mackenzie. He was so excited to be near her, and she was happy to have him there!