Christmas Morning

After driving around to see the Christmas lights and coming home from Ashland,

we had our traditional Sunday evening with Joe & JJ. 

Sonic and game night...well more recently added the game night...

but this particular night, I finished wrapping presents! 

Monday, on Christmas eve, we went to the candlelit Christmas Eve Service, 

and later we watched A Christmas Story and played Apples to Apples with the J's. 

That evening, after saying Good-bye to Buddy Dude the elf 

(he goes back to the North pole you know, and comes back next Thanksgiving)

 I had just sat down with Case to read him a bedtime story, 

when all of a sudden we heard jingle bells. 

His eyebrows went sky high, his eyes were as big as saucers. 

His jaw dropped, and with a hint of nervousness, started screaming, 

"AHH!!! He's here! I have to get in bed Mommy! I have to GO!" 

I could not help from laughing, as I tucked him in! 

"Okay Mommy, Good night!"

We prayed the fastest prayer I've ever prayed as he nodded along with me, urging me to finish 

as fast as I could. 

"Okay, Case stay in bed, and go to sleep or he won't stop here!"

"Okay, Mommy! I not go ANYWHERE, I stay right here! Night!" 

Oh I love the magic of Christmas.

 

And finally, it was Christmas morning. 

This year (probably the only year this will EVER happen, ever) our boys slept past 8:00am! 

I woke up around 7:30am, got a shower, started a pot of coffee, turned on the Christmas lights, and quickly wrapped another Christmas presents of Matt's that I had forgotten was still in my truck! 

I was just turning the corner near the stairs when I spotted Case, 

complete with bed head, rubbing his eyes. 

"Good morning, Case! Do you want to see if Santa came?" 

"Ughhhnnn." 

(Which is "Leave me Alone" in grumpy. I am fluent in grumpy four year old) 

The grumpy boy went away as fast as he came though, 

as his little mind remembered the excitement that awaited him down the stairs. 

Matt rolled out of bed, and we scooped Rhetter's out of his crib. 

I had already set up the video camera downstairs, so we all made our way down the stairs together. 

 ...and let the ripping of wrapping paper begin! 

Daddy got an indoor remote control helicopter, all of us are obsessed with it! It's so fun! 

Later, after everything was revealed, the boys didn't waste any time actually playing with their favorites. 

Our morning was spent playing play dough, and feeding dinosaurs pop-tarts. 

...Mommy played with her camera, and Daddy played with his new helicopter.

Our cup runneth over. 

Love our sweet babies, 

the innocence and magic of these first years of Christmas, 

and most of all

for the ultimate gift, 

the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

A 4 Year Olds Christmas List

 This year Case kept it simple once again, 

 

1) A BIG race car

2) Candy

3) An airplane because his was broken. 

 

I asked him what he though Rhett wanted, and he said, 

Hmmm, maybe a new choo choo train or a dinosaur. 

 

Sweet boys.    

Christmas in Ashland

This year was a little different all around. 

We headed down Saturday morning and ended up celebrating that afternoon, 

instead of the usual waking up, eating breakfast in pajamas and then opening presents...

and the most different, was that Roger's daughters and families weren't able to make the trip this time.

With both of the families living in the Carolinas, new babies, job requirements and job changes, it was just proving to be too difficult to work it out. 

Of course we understood, but were just so so sad, and missed them so so much! 

Definitely wasn't the same without them. Not to mention we still haven't met sweet Audrey Hope! 

Can NOT WAIT to meet her this summer!

Along with the other little lady joining our family, Chloe, due in about 6 weeks! Ah! So exciting!

The idea about celebrating and opening presents Saturday early afternoon, 

instead of Sunday morning  (the day we were leaving) worked out really well though, 

especially for our boys. 

So we arrived, unpacked a little bit, Mamaw and Papaw came over and we began! 

Well my turn came around, and I open up this medium size box...

and.

it.

was.

a.

Canon Rebel t3i. 

Oh.

My.

Word. 

I was speechless! All I could say was, 

"Oh my God, I mean gosh!" 

"No!"

"YOU!"

"You are so sneaky!"

"No!!"

"Matthew Vernon!"

Eeeeeeee!!! 

I can't even describe how excited and happy and ecstatic and shocked I was! 

I have been stealing Sally's camera every time they are in for a special occasion so I can take better pictures, always complain about my little point and shoots, have been craving a NICE camera for years...and now I have one! 

Sooooo happy, hubby did good. He did SO good! 

Sally had the battery already charged for me. Turns out, Sally picked the camera up from Matt the day they were in town a few weeks ago. Sneaky sneaky! 

So let the picture taking craziness begin! 

Warning now, there will be a ridiculous abundance of picture taking in my future!

So here it goes...I was definitely a little camera happy! :) 

  

Case & Rhett were obsessed with their new airplane that they could build and take apart! 

LOVE my new necklace, a cross and two pendents with C & R on them for my babies!

Painted an ornament for Sally & Roger. :) 

...

 The other hit for Christmas was the new John Deer Tractor from Mamaw & Papaw! 

Another reason opening Saturday was nice, because it has to charge over night!

Daddy put it together, so Sunday morning they could actually ride it! 

 The boys LOVED all of their goodies, as did Mommy & Daddy! 

...

The next morning, at 10:30am to be exact, the John Deer was fully charged. 

Here they are running out to ride it for the first time...

 Oh my word, they had a BLAST. 

They were so cute about taking turns, every second lap or so Case would say "Okay, let's switch!" 

Rhett can't reach the pedal yet, so Case has to push it down for him, as Rhett attempted to steer. 

Daddy got lots of exercise walking around with them,

 making sure they didn't run into any mailboxes or trucks!

They were in little boy heaven! 

Then it was inside to play one of Case's new games, and a nap for Rhetter. :)

 (Mamaw & Papaw were headed out to Texas for the winter the following day!)

...

 As the day wrapped up, we packed up around 4 so we could head back just in time for it to get dark 

so we could drive through Southern Lights and then on to the fire station.

We arrived to the Horse Park right around 5:45, which was PERFECT. 

There was a little bit of a line before us, but moved at a steady pace. 

I don't have any pictures, we let the boys sit in our laps, and Rhett was one wiggly little worm! 

Case was in complete awe, Rhett was more excited about the freedom of being out of his car seat! 

When we left, the lines coming in were unbelievable!

Definitely made ourselves a mental note to arrive at around the same time next year! 

We didn't go inside this year, as the boys were pretty worn out from the trip, 

and Case already met Santa, one of the most important things. ;) 

 

After the horse park, we stopped at the Fire Station before heading on home. 

It's so neat, they have a radio station set up, and the lights flash and move along with the music. 

Case was so into it, and Rhett was really into his new movie, Bugs Life. ;)

(Thanks Aunt Kelli & Uncle Chris!) 

 Shew!

What a busy weekend. 

2 rounds of Christmas, and one more to go! 

Love this time of year.

Christmas with Uncle Ryan & Aunt Va!

Well this year, Ryan and VA are living in Florida! 

Wonder if they could be considered professional students yet? 

Hee! 

They flew in early afternoon, and everyone headed to our house around 5. 

When everyone showed up, I was still making brownies, as I realized when I started making them I was out of flour AND sugar, and Matt wasn't home yet. 

Spinach dip was baking, and chili was warming back up as Matt had made it all the night before. 

So everyone was munching on the spinach dip, 

when my nephew was making fun of one of my previous years sets of brownies - 

the Spoon Brownie year. (Yup, you guessed it the only way you could eat them was with a spoon- and they came from a BOX...oops!) I was teasing back when...

"AHHH!!! MY BROWNIES!!!" 

Totally forgot about them in the oven. 

I quickly looked at the time, seeing that it had already gone off without me hearing it, which meant who knows how long they had been done??

So this year instead of spoon brownies, they were a little crumbly. 

Maybe next year I'll get them right?! 

I swear I'm better when I'm not under pressure. :) 

So besides the brownie mishap, we had so much fun. 

The ladies stayed in the kitchen talking while the boys watched football. 

Then it was present time! 

Virginia made our boys t-shirts with their initials and capes sewn onto the back. 

Oh my goodness, SO cute and the boys LOVED them! 

They spent the rest of the evening running around the house yelling, 

"SUPER CASE! SUPER RHETT!" 

Like I say every single year, the time spent with all of us in one house was nowhere near long enough. 

Especially since right now we only see my big brother and Virginia once a year. 

So we soak it in, and look forward to when we see them again! 

SNOW

We woke up to snow! 

We were having Uncle Ryan & Aunt Virginia, 

along with the rest of my immediate family over for dinner that night. 

So, being in the Christmas spirit, we were all so excited to wake up to snow! 

The first thing Case said was, 

"I wanna go outside and play!" 

Matt headed off to work, and as I was getting the boys together to go eat breakfast, 

I promised Case that he would be able to play outside later. 

I needed to clean since we were having company over that evening, so as soon as I put Rhett down for a nap, 

I let Case bundle up so he could play on the back deck - as Mommy vacuumed. 

Win - win.

I didn't get much vacuuming done while he was out there though, 

he was cracking me up so much I had to take a million pictures!

Surprise surprise right??

Besides I figured it wouldn't last all that long anyway. 

He did last a little longer than I thought though...I think he's going to love cold weather and snow as much as his Daddy does.

It was also Nanny's birthday, so while we were outside we gave her a call to say, "Happy Birthday!"

About 10 minutes later, I knew he was finished when he said, 

"MOMMY! I AM COLD!" 

Case's Preschool Party!

I was really looking forward to Case's preschool Christmas party, 

and even more excited when I found out that Daddy was going to be able to come too! 

My friend Kelli graciously watched the Rhetter man for us, 

preschool parties can get pretty chaotic if you can imagine. ;) 

I could hardly keep up with Rhett during the Halloween party, 

so it was nice to actually be able to sit down! 

They sang their Christmas songs on stage down the hall first, 

they were all so shy and precious! 

Case has been singing the songs non stop while we were in the car, 

I was surprised how reserved he was when it came time to sing them in front of an audience! 

After the adorable songs, 

it was back to the classroom for snacks, cookie making...

and meeting...

SANTA! 

 Ohh my goodness, the three and four year old classes were so precious! 

   Some were a little nervous around the guy in the big red suit, 

but most of them went right up on his lap to reveal their Christmas wish lists. 

Including our Case. 

His whole little face LIT up, and he couldn't hold back the smiles 

as he marched right up and sat on his lap. 

Case told Santa he wanted a BIG race car, then Santa reminded him not to forget 

to leave out cookies & milk for him. 

Case made sure we heard that part, reminded us of that for days after. ;)

 After meeting Santa, they did their book exchange. So sweet. 

Daddy left right after Santa, but we got the priceless pictures of Case with Santa, 

that we had been craving. 

So stinkin' cute!