Christmas Morning

So here are the boys coming out Christmas morning to see if Santa came and if they had made it on the Nice list!  Thankfully as you know they made it.

 

It's always fun seeing their faces and hearing the excitement. Yeah! AND you get to hear how happy I am...hahahaha!  Mean mom!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve and all was quiet, not even a creature was stirring...

OK that is a lie...Frank and I were up but we are allowed to be! HA!  We watched our movie Christmas Vacation and waited for the boys to go to bed, OK fall asleep.  We waited...and waited......and waited...and then waited some more. Checked and then waited some more...it was a game of waiting this year!

Here is our tree and Santa hasn't come yet...

Could it be? Nah! I didn't think the kids would have made the nice list...Seriously?  OK, well Santa knows best right?

Charlie even made the list!  Whew!  He needed a new dog toy and a bed!  Good job Charlie!

Santa left this for Eli...very cool!

Dru really wanted Santa to bring him a remote controlled Lightening McQueen...Dru must have been really good.

Ian was left Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2012 this year

Among other things that Lee asked for, he also asked for a bike and got a really cool one!  Black and green with a new helmet!  Way to go Lee!

The cookies (4) and a glass of Egg Nog and Chocolate milk...Santa had some help with the cookies but he was on his own with the dairy beverages.

PROOF!! Santa really came AND the reindeer food was GONE!

Awww the magic...sigh until the drama of it all next year!

Mickey and Minnie

Eli and I have matching pj's so to speak and I thought it would be fun and cut to get our pictures taken together.  He mostly put up with it...such a trooper!

Won't you please give mommy a kiss? Pretty please!?!

Oh thanks Eli! What a lover you are!

Our sorta matching pj's...that's as much as he put up with me.  Still a cute picture

I hope you guys have a wonderfull and Merry Christmas!

(Isn't he too cute?)

Christmas Eve Tradition

It's Pj time!  Woohoo!  Which really means that it's close to bed time AND that's a sign that Christmas is seriously around the corner! The boys are beside themselves with excitement and I'm ready for them to be in bed! Don't get me wrong I love them but man what a day!  Normally we are somewhere for a few hours and this year we weren't...those few hours we are gone is a nice distraction for those boys (and the parents!).

Here Eli is showing what pj's he got from us...goofy boy!

Ian and Lee...one of the good ones!

Dru and Eli...could they possibly be any cuter?

Joy and laughter

Merry Christmas from Charlie and his boys

Ian.  (he's not done growing...that's the scary part!)

Lee. He's not wearing lipstick...he keeps licking his lips and won't stop...But look at that genuine smile he gave me! 

Dru.  As I write this I have lost count how many times he has gotten up to go potty and to say Merry Christmas mom and dad...I have run out of fingers and toes.  Again, he's lucky he sounds and looks cute...seriously though...it's getting terribly old!

Eli.  He is SO excited this year!  Frank and I both think this is the year he'll remember Christmas..his first Christmas memory.  As Eli would say 'Merry Missmass'

Frank and his Christmas pj's.  He picked out pj's this year and did a much better job than I did last year!  I bass the baton on to you Frank!  Handsome looking fellow!

Frank and the boys

Me and my boys

Me and my Christmas pj's.  I really like these pj's..Christmas Minnie Mouse pj's.  AND they have pink on them...they look so girlie and lovely! Frank did a good job.

Frank and I. 

Vacation!!!

Merry Last Day of School!

Charlie's Tree

Charlie is hiding under my tree...he's so goofy!  The funny thing is I've seen Chopper do the same thing, and they have both been under it.  I'm trying to figure out why.  What is so intriguing about it?  It must be the Christmas lights.  I have to say though, that Charlie has never done this before, totally new!

Charlie all snuggled up on the tree skirt and nestled with a head rest on a branch...

He made me smile today

Perspective

I was going through my pictures looking for something that spoke to me.  This picture did, well actually tonight flowers/landscape was were I was drawn.  There is just something about this picture...pure...white...I don't know.

Enjoy

Nativity Scene

Today was a big day in our house! We had the Sunday School Christmas pageant and 3 of my boys were in the play and I was so excited for it!  Ian was a Narrator, Lee was a Shepard and Dru was a sheep.

Here is Ian with the other Narrator.  Ian did a great job reading in front of everyone, I was so proud of him.  When I was his age all I could do was blush an incredible red and look around with the 'deer in the headlight look'...it hasn't been until this year that I've worked on speaking in front of people...it's only slightly easier as an adult.  Ian is amazing!

Lee was a great Shepard...he stood and sang well!  Way to go Lee! Each year he gets better!

A little silliness is always in order from Lee!

The group of kids in the play.  These guys worked so hard to learn the songs and lines, their work paid off in a big way and I hope they are all very proud of themselves. 

The play was wonderful and written so good, it came from the hymn called 'The Friendly Beasts'.  I had never heard of this song before until now...how could I have not ever heard of it?? It's so wonderful!

Here is the cherry on the top!  Dru sang his solo and it was just as wonderful and magical as the first time!  Enjoy his singing!!

These words are what Dru sang at his solo:

“I,” said the sheep with curly horn,

“I gave Him my wool for His blanket warm,

He wore my coat on Christmas morn;

I,” said the sheep with curly horn

Santa Came to Town!

Every year we have a Paulson Christmas Party and every year Santa makes an appearance.  This year would be no different.  So as we all were finishing dinner guess who walked in!! 

If you guessed Santa...well you would be correct!  Oh the kids were atwitter with excitment (I think some of the parents were too...ok maybe just me)

Lee sat on Santa's lap AND I didn't ask him to or beg...he did it all by himself and he even gave a smile!  Who IS this kid???  Christmas miracles DO happen!

 Eli sat with Santa too!!  I couldn't believe it...he just got right up there when his name was called...again whose kids are these???  Darn it he's cute!

Ian...I think this year he's looking for answers and he's unsure of what he thinks of this Santa business.  With that being said...he certainly didn't waste ANY time getting to Santa's lap OR telling Santa what he would like for Christmas...please! HA! This kid...he's making my life rough right now!  Grrr!

Dru and Santa...He couldn't be any cuter!  Dru that is ;)  HAHAHA!

Santa asked the kids to sing 'Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer' with him...and sing they did!

I love this picture...the Greats sat on Santa's lap tonight!  You are NEVER too old for Santa...THERE is magic in Christmas!

I had a good time tonight and enjoyed visiting as much as I could...hard to really visit with children everywhere...time for that I suppose?  Anyway...Merry Christmas!

Preschool

The preschool my boys attend do a Christmas play every year, which I love.  What's not to love about little kids doing a play??  Anyway, Dru had his play on Thursday and it was wonderful!  He played the sheep and doesn't he look handsome!?!

He sang so well!  The play is based off an old hymn called "The Friendly Beasts"...which I LOVE!  I had never heard of it before until a friend and teacher at the preschool wrote a play around the song.  Wonderful!!

Tomorrow all my boys are in the play through church (same play by the same friend/teacher), anyway on Friday they had practice.  It went well.  Now in this play Dru still plays the sheep and he has a solo and I have been encouraging and begging him to sing his solo and he promised he would on that day. 
Let me just say, that yes I'm his mother and I'm biased, but that boy sang his heart out and it was beautiful! It made me cry...my baby sang for me! :)

So tomorrow Ian is a Narrator and Lee is a Shepard and Dru is playing a sheep with a solo...I hope he sings and doesn't freak out, which means I'm going to try and be as up front as I can!  Since I have to be there so early it shouldn't be a problem.  I'm also kinda excited because I'm in the Bell Choir so I'll be with Ian playing bells while the children walk in for the play.  Ian is unsure about me being there as am I...I am NOT musically inclined...and I can butcher it pretty well!

Good luck to me tomorrow! OH and my boys ! h

hehehehe

Monday Night Football

Seahawks did good tonight!  Here are some fans from this morning :)

On another note, I discovered this afternoon a new way to kill myself.  For whatever reason (well that's not true, I do know why however I'm not ready to reveal why...I'm still working myself up to saying it out loud to other people than the 2 trusted souls who I've told) I decided I would go run laps in my backyard.  Never mind that it was cold, the ground was still covered in frost AND that my backyard is full of holes for a klutz to hurt herself with. Or that it was so slick out there it's a wonder I didn't slip and fall and sprain the tendon on my knee (that's another story from long ago).  I'm the one who can find potholes and twist/roll my ankle to depths that would make me cry! (seriously...of 4 tendons in my ankle I've torn 3 of them...'special') I didn't find one of those today, what I did find was that I found a new way to smother myself.  I managed 8 laps around my backyard before I decided I couldn't breathe!  It was so cold out and my chest hurt...I'm sure there's an art form to this running that I'm unaware of.  Bet is has something to do with breathing in through your nose and possibly out...

My chest is still recovering from today...although I only made 8 laps of running I did walk the rest of the way for 35 minutes...so maybe I'll make 9 laps tomorrow and walk the rest...everything crossed here!

Where's The Mistletoe?

Well here we go.  As I've said before it takes me a LONG time to get into this thing they call Christmas Spirit.  Or it to find me.  I don't like putting decorations up or the tree...mostly the kids won't leave it alone...so I suppose that's normal. So with the encouragment from Nikki...I just bit the bullet and together Frank and I got it done.  We decided on a day and went for it...folks today was that day.

So I got the decorations and tree and went to work.  Frank got home from work and it was just in time to turn the lights on and start the ornament hanging.  Even for me there are some things we all have to be here for.  So here they are waiting for me to figure out what goes on the tree and where all the ornaments are.  Just for the record...my tree got put up about 12 days earlier than our normal...by my calculations.  You just have no idea just how big of a dea that is for this house...okay, okay..just me.

Since Eli is still so little he doesn't have nearly as many ornaments as the rest of them.  To be fair when it was Lee and Ian I tried to by them and us an new ornament a year...at some point when Lee was little that all stopped...very sad.  So for now, here are Eli's ornaments...he loves these ones and he's constantly touching and moving them...he's gonna drive me crazy!  And because my parents are coming to our house this year...my tree stays up a lot long than I had thought about.  Christmas night or the day after Christmas is just SO appealing!

Well there she is, all done up and purrty!  All the boys have their handmade ornaments up there and ones that were given to them.  I also put up my ornaments up there from when I was a kid...those are WAY up top, away from little hands.  As much as I love little hands...well you understand.  I'm ready for a new tree topper, we've had that old girl for 11 years now and she's falling apart.  I want another angel topper...

Ok, I'll give you that this is a good picture, even if Ian and Lee are milking the picture.  That little one is pretty cute.

Some old couple...name and orgin unknown.

Kidding!

Frank and I...we are blocking the tree but you get the idea...Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas and where's the Mistletoe? 

Traditions...every family or person has them...good ones, weird ones (to outsiders), ones that make you go hmmmm...  Well we have a tradition (I know surprised right) of when we put our tree up we get pizza (we tried to change it up last year...sorta went ok...) and I make the kids hot chocolate and we watch the Polar Express.  The kids watch it while Frank and I snooze...normally.

I know bad picture of Eli but there they are watching the Polar Express...job well done today boys!

*On a side note...ok well maybe two notes: 1. I only yelled once (that I heard myself yell) that I was cancelling Christmas all together and 2. I am ready to take the tree down already (that's in case you didn't figure that from earlier).