Christmas Day!!!

Glorious day of peace, love, and new toys.  We try to talk a lot about the true reason for the season, but somehow, the excitement of Santa and his reindeer dominate, especially on Christmas morning.  We had a really great pajama day at home celebrating Christmas with our little family.

Santa brought Beau a John Cena autograph, a new John Cena shirt and DVD. Santa brought Brenley a new Princess Doll, and of course Mom and Dad got them a few other goodies. We played and cleaned and tried to praise His name. We are thankful that we are all healthy and happy this year.  We are blessed we got to visit one family and we looked very forward to seeing another family the following day.

Christmas in McPherson

Wonderful time at Grandma and Grandpa's on Christmas Eve. We had a great soup lunch, enjoyed stockings, then church, and finally home for presents and pie (and some leftover soup!).

It was Will's 1st Christmas. He is 8 months old and so cute!   Here are some pictures of our little cuties and their loot!

And we got to visit Laurie and Seth's new home!  It's awesome.  They are making a really great home for their new babies (two boys!).........which is our next big family affair!  Here is our pretty (and pregnant) sister......she looks beautiful!  And the way Seth likes to put puzzles together........he is set to be a fine Dad!

Brenley's Christmas Program @ NRA

Jingle Bells
Little Drummer Boy
Silent Night
What a performance! Not sure which song we liked better, but our singer belted each one out. Initially she was shy, but her brother was in the front row (no school for him) and he was encouraging her on. Shortly thereafter, she was getting into it.   Again, not great video, but the audio is decent.

Afterward, we went into her room for her gift exchange (a new puppy in a purse) and a story read by a fellow Mom. It was a fun hour spent!

Brenley Singing and my first video attempt

Brenley LOVES to sing all of a sudden.  She has taken an interest in music, as well as wanting to "wiggle, wiggle, wiggle." So we recently bought a very inexpensive small video recorder so I could test and play before we invested in something nicer. Bear with me and the quality, but if the audio works, it's pretty cute.

Brenley's 1st Haircut

So am I considered a bad Mom for not cutting my daughter's hair in 34 months?!?!?!

Well, her hair was so pretty and getting so long, but it was time. Time to cut off those ends and get her a little shape. So the hairdresser cut off maybe an inch to an inch and a half. It's all one length now. And still long, so mama was happy and hopefully it eases up the tangles.

Brenley did so great. She sat so still. Tucked her chin when she needed too. She was a big girl and we were very proud of her!  We ended leaving with a sucker, a certificate, and mama got some locks of hair. Sniff Sniff

The BEFORE PICTURES..........

The cut......tuck your chin down baby.  But wait, Toy Story is on.......I need to watch!

 Ta da!  It's over all done.

And now after her blowout!  Beautiful girl!

YMCA Basketball

Let me brag on my 2nd grade basketball player a little bit...........he is tearing it up on the basketball floor this year.  He has been so much fun to watch!  They can steal the ball this year which has made it a little more interesting. And he's been quick with his hands, aggressive on defense, jumps for rebounds and is shooting well.  He can be a little over aggressive sometimes and has come close to fouling out. But if he wasn't like that, I would really begin to think he wasn't my child - as he mother was famous for fouling out!  ha ha.

Check out the #15 in action

MSE Music Program

Beau rocked his School Music Program - ALL JAZZED UP!  He wouldn't tell us anything about it. All we knew is that he needed to wear a bright shirt and jeans.  We took care of that part and he took care of the rest. Singing and dancing and was even in charge of holding a curtain at one point.

He definitely got his groove on. Very enjoyable evening and kudos to his music teacher who organized that many kids and produced a really great program.