Christmas with Nana and PawPaw...

That night we went to dinner at my Mom and Dads.To say dinner was good would be untrue , it was FABULOUS! Mom bought the best ribeyes and shrimp at Central Market and grilled them to perfection.It was so good and I ate every bit of it!
After dinner came all the presents.The kids were for sure spoiled and they loved every minute of it.Austin was in awe of this carnival duck shooting game.Mom got all 3 a new John Deere battery powered Gator to share, along with shirts and they were way cool riding around the yard.
After the presents Nana took them for a ride around her neighborhood and looked at lights.We spotted 4 deer and after that the kids were only interested in looking for deer , Shawn was proud!
When we got home that night it took me 2.5 hours to put away all their gifts from that day.It was a wonderful Christmas and now I am ready to rest!

Goulding Christmas

We had Christmas lunch over at Erica and Jeremy's and it was great.She had a wonderful pasta bar for us.Everything was delicious and Connie's chocolate cake was AWESOME!
The kids could not wait for us all to get done eating . you would think they were being tortured the way they carried on about opening presents!
When it was time we piled their presents in front of them and on the count of 3 each kids starting ripping into the paper.It was crazy but very fun!
I am not entirely sure what each kids got but they all seemed pretty happy that's for sure.
We all played with the new toys and got to visit awhile before heading off to Cleburne for a quick visit with Grandma.We only got to stay about 45min before leaving for Nana's but the kids all wished her a Merry Christmas.Uncle Rick entertained the kids in the yard with the wagon and they had a blast , we had a good laugh too!

Christmas Morning....

We had to wake the kids up at 8am to get started so we could make it to other families on time.
When they were awake enough to understand that Santa had been to their house,they ran out of the room!I made them all sleep in my room the night before so no one got a sneak peek before I knew it!
They were so excited to see their skateboards! Of course Gage's is a tiny one that we got because he had to have exactly what the big kids got.They have been asking Santa for those boards for over 6 months now.
Then we moved onto their stocking.I really think I didn't need to buy anything else because they were more excited over their stocking stuffers!
We finally got all the gifts unwrapped and had a little bit of time to play before we rushed off to start our busy day.

Christmas Eve.....

Christmas Eve afternoon we headed to Cleburne and brought Grandma lunch.We got to visit for awhile and the kids had a blast running around the yard.
We ran a few errands then headed home for our first ever Christmas Eve alone.
After dinner we got dressed and went to our church for the candlelight service.I was so looking forward to starting this tradition for my family..Well....Never goes as planned...They became EXTREMELY restless during the ceremony and Shawn ended up taking Alex (the ballerina in the aisle) and Gage to the truck.Austin stayed with me and even got to have a lit candle to hold and he thought that was "awesome".
After church we all got in our jammies and we let the kids each open 1 gift.My Mom always let me open 1 gift on Christmas Eve so I thought I would carry on that tradition.
The boys opened their light sabers and Alex got her Animal Planet Series DVD.My girl LOVES animal based shows and just about anything from National Geographic.
While the boys play fought with their light sabers , Alex and Shawn watched one part of her new DVDs.Before bed they all enjoyed hot coco with Shawn.
Gage didn't make it past that ,so the twins prepared Santa's milk and cookies.After they laid it all out and Alex put the picture she drew for Santa out,I read Twas The Night Before Christmas,then it was off to bed!Of course they did not go to sleep till 11:30 so Mama Claus got a late start on all the prep work.It was all worth it!

Early Tuesday morning Grandpa Goulding passed away.He is already very sorely missed.
He was a great man with a big heart.He was always genuinely glad to see you and was known to give very long and hard hugs! Every time it was always the same .."Hello Darlin" followed by an enormous hug and kiss.Little things like that are already missed.
Keep Shawn and his family in your prayers please.

Church Pageant....

Sunday night was the kids play at Church.We were all super excited about them being in their first Christmas pageant at Church!
They looked so adorable in their angel and wise men costumes. Alex did a fabulous job at singing the parts that she knew and the boys were wonderful bringing their gifts as the Wise men.
Taryn and I served cake and punch following the pageant and got a chance to visit with friends.
As I was cleaning up I over heard a lady telling someone that the angels were so cute but the one little angel missing her front tooth was just adorable! Yes , at that moment I was just beaming with pride because I knew who that "missing a tooth girl" was!
It was a wonderful experience in the midst of all the sadness right now.
Shawn's grandfather is dying and we all had the terrible task of saying good-bye to him last night.
In a time of sadness for our family this play was a welcome bit of joy for just a bit.

Trouble Makers!

This is Austins friend Jake......He is the one Austin is ALWAYS getting in trouble with at school.
Notice they thought the bells looked better on their foreheads..They would shake their heads and when it would jingle they would crack up! BOYS...

Busy Day!!

We started Thursday with the twins school field trip to the Omni to see The Polar Express.
When we arrived at school the kids all had hot chocolate and donuts before loading up to take the trip.
The movie of course is fabulous but it was so cool to see it at the Omni! All the kids were so cute in their jammies..
When we got them all back to school we had their Christmas party where we did a few crafts and a book exchange game.Needless to say the kids had a blast at school on Thursday!
That night we all went to see Kyler in his school Christmas program.We actually knew a few more kids there because of AYA and through church.
Kyler was so cute on stage and did a terrific job singing and doing his hand motions.
After wards we all went to dinner to celebrate his performance.
The kids and I were whipped by the time we crawled into bed last night!

Library Party...

This morning we went to the Library's story time Christmas party..Mrs.Susan read a few books about Christmas then we ate cookies she had baked for the kids.
At the end the kids went up front and each had a present under the tree. They were so excited! The Librarian had them sing Jingle Bells in the middle of the Library! I am sure some people were not too pleased..HA!
They each received coloring books and crayons..
I just really enjoy our little Library,it's very small but very personal..Sometimes it may only be us and on a "busy" story time it may be 6 of us!

School Play....

Tonight we had the great pleasure to go see the twins in their very first school production.
The theme was ,It's Christmas Charlie Brown.
All the girls dressed like Snoopy and the boys Austin's age were Linus with the famous blue blankey used as a Shepard's head dress.
Apparently during rehearsals ALL 96 kids wanted to use the microphone , so the wonderful school director let each one say their name into it on their way to the stage tonight.That was funny!
I was really proud that both of the kids followed through with it.
The program was mostly singing with just a little speaking by the kindergartners.
Alex sang and swayed along for the most part but Austin just stood there with his hands in his pockets.Occasionally he would jab his buddy from class when he wasn't looking! Those two have actually been separated a number of times by the teacher this year for goofing off with each other.After he gets off the stage tonight I saw one reason he may not have been singing....Yep , he had been wearing those Halloween vampire teeth the entire time! You gotta love it! Shawn says he is just like him when he was little..
At the end of the program the kids sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.I will admit it , I cried a little bit.I know I am a softy but seeing those little faces and hearing that sweet innocent sound of kids signing choked me up a little.
We took the kids to Chik Fil A for dinner and a little playtime to celebrate after wards..
It was an awesome night with my family...

Wise Men and an Angel...

After church Sunday the kids had their dress rehearsal for the upcoming Christmas Pageant at church..
They looked so cute in their costumes! I am really looking forward to the show.

Busy Saturday!

Saturday was filled with lots of fun things.We started with Brianna's dance performance at lunch.It was held in our towns square at the annual Christmas Festival.She did a great job and we were all very proud of her.The kids were so cute after her dance with all the compliments to her.
After nap time Alex , Mandy and I played beauty shop and got all glamoured up for their dance performance that evening.
The girls both danced at the Burleson Christmas Parade this year.
They did a great job and they looked so cute up there on stage in their Santa hats! It takes a lot for a little girl to have the confidence to get up there in front of all those people.I truly appreciate all the family and friends who boosted her confidence by congratulating her on her performance and told her how great she did,it really made her night.
After all the dances we put all the kids in the Kyles truck to watch the parade.All 7 kids told every float Merry Christmas as they went by! It was really fun to see them so excited.After Santa lit the tree we knew the wait would be long to talk to him so we headed back to our town square to catch Santa.We got there right in time because Santa was getting up from his chair to leave.All the kids started running and yelling "Santa Wait"and they did a great job too because he stopped and happily sat back down to listen to their wants for this Christmas..Mandy and Gage though were still having no part of him.Next year..Maybe..
After an eventful day everyone came over and we played air hockey while the kids played the Wii..The boys had a blast playing each other at the baseball game.
All the kids had so much fun that we ended up having a "Super Slumber Party" , yep all 6!
It was crazy but lots of fun..Getting breakfast and milk on the table in the morning was a chore!
It was an awesome Saturday filled with family and friends , we had tons of fun!

Makeover By Alex...

Thank God it's washable!

Gingerbread Trees!

I think they ate more icing than the trees got on them!

Early Christmas....

This year for our family present Nana and Paw Paw bought us an air hockey table!
Shawn and I had been wanting to get one so we can use our "formal living" for a game room.This present has jump started our project!
The kids have had such a blast playing and they are really getting good at it too.
Last night our friends came over and we had fun breaking the table in.
This is a great gift that our whole family can enjoy together..Thanks Nana and Paw Paw!

Disney On Ice....

WOW! This was so awesome! I really think Mom and I had just as much fun as the kids!
Saturday we took the kids to the show and it was great.Our seats were FABULOUS! We were 5 rows back from the ice in the center rink side..So close that we were freezing from the ice!Those seats were worth every bit of the money we paid for them. Not to mention we were by the entrance so we were in and out of the convention center without one problem.
Of course we paid $60 for cheap souvenirs but the kids were so happy and so excited.
Alex was dancing and would hold up her light every time something cool happened! Gage was really mesmerized by the whole show.He would stand there and just stare in a trance.
It was an awesome thing to do and I am thankful we got to take the kids this year.Definitely worth every penny!

Thanksgiving...

We had a wonderful turkey day this year.
W started with lunch at my Dads side of the family.
This was the first holiday since Pop died and his absence was most definitely felt.It is always a strange feeling when the holidays come around and the people who are supposed to be there are suddenly no longer there.
Despite the sadness we had a very lovely lunch.My Dads sister out did herself and it was absolutely perfect.
The kids were in heaven playing with the girls and jumping on the trampoline..
For dinner we went to Papa and Grans and had a great time.
Dinner was awesome and we all really enjoyed visiting while the kids tore through the house playing.
When it was time to go they were SOOO not ready! The twins asked for a sleepover and Papa and Gran happily agreed.
Gage was not happy about them staying but he was not ready to let go of me either so he came home with us.
We had the great pleasure of having 2 delicious meals and a lot of good quality time with our families.I am thankful this year for that opportunity and the health of my family...