Tonight Mama Judy watched the kiddos so that Jake and I could have a date night to celebrate his birthday (which is tomorrow). We have been long overdue for a date night, so this was perfect. We wandered around TSC and Academy just for the fun of it, made a quick trip into Old Navy and Target, and then headed to Nashville for some food. We went to Rudie’s…it is delicious, never disappoints! Then we headed to Five Daughters to pick up some breakfast in the morning, and went to The Soda Parlor for dessert. 🙂 We ended the night by wandering around Home Depot, then headed home to hang out together on the couch. Great night with my gorgeous husband :).
Christmas was good. The kids are at good ages. They were SUPER excited for Christmas this year, especially Jack. The anticipation was fun….but, let’s keep it real-it also brought out his most annoying side! 🙂
Christmas is a VERY busy two days for us. It is a blessing to have all of our family super close by….but it means holidays are jam-packed.
We started Christmas Eve morning at Mama Judy’s with Jake’s family. Yummy breakfast/brunch and present opening in our pajamas. Poor Carley had her wisdom teeth out just a few days before, so she wasn’t feeling the best.
After the festivities there, we headed to Nana’s for the afternoon/evening. We hung out with everybody. Kiddos watched a movie. Some of us took a walk (to help justify ALL the Christmas goodies we were consuming-hah!).
Nana had 1 Christmas wish: to get ALL of us in a picture. It has been a very, very, very long time since we have all been under one roof at the same time. It has been even longer since we had had a family picture- since before Pop died! So we made it happen. Justin and Kelsey got there right before dark, and we hustled everyone outside and in front of my tripod. And, miracle of miracles, it only took three takes, and we had a picture that everyone is actually looking, no one is throwing a fit, and no one is running away!!
After the picture taking, we decided to do things out of order: we let the kiddos open presents before we got dinner ready. We thought we’d be able to enjoy our dinner more if the presents came first, and that was exactly right! Much more relaxing. 🙂
And this is what it looks like to try to get picture of tired/sugared up/very excited kiddos-LOL-
That’s the best we could do-HA!
Christmas morning we woke the kiddos up about 6:30 (we’ve ALWAYS had to wake our kiddos up-too much excitement on Christmas Eve) to do presents with our family before heading to my Mom and Dad’s house.
We have a small Christmas, but our kiddos love it. They always get one big present and stocking stuffers (and their stockings are always their favorite!). This year Josie’s big present was a roll up keyboard-she was so excited! Jack’s big present was the new Pokemon game for the Switch. He got right down to playing. 🙂 They each always get a book-this year Jack got the “Indescribable” devotional book, and Josie got a Mommy and Me journal, so we can write back and forth to each other. Another present for both of them was a few days of “unlimited” screen time while we are on break. 🙂 They were so excited about that, too…..but they haven’t taken full advantage of it like I thought they might-they’ve been too busy playing with other things- which I’m secretly glad of. 🙂
After hanging out a bit we got dressed, the kids sang “Happy Birthday” to Jesus (our tradition), and then we headed to Grammy and Pappy’s. First up was our big breakfast with all of Daddy’s family- about 35 people!
After everybody left, we had Christmas with just my family- Mom, Dad, and my brother and sister and their families.
The kiddos got roller blades from Grammy and Pappy, which have proved to be the favorite presents of Christmas this year. They spent over 2 hours that day outside, trying to figure out the roller blading. Â There were LOTS of falls, but they got pretty good before it go dark, and have definitely perfected it over the past few days- they have rollerbladed for HOURS every day since!
After leaving there, we went back to Mama Judy’s to have dinner with Mama Judy and Jennie. She always fixes yummy potato soup and chili, and we all just come whenever we can at some point during the day.
It is always low-key, which is good, because at that point we are always all super tired. 🙂 It is a busy, but good, two days of Christmas!
Today is Christmas Eve, but Jake and I received the best gift a week ago. Our sweet Josie girl decided to accept Jesus as her Savior. This is something she has been wrestling with for a long time, and we have talked about a lot, but she just wasn’t quite ready. Last Monday during our Jesse Tree Advent devotional, she decided it was time. She was ready. She didn’t want to go a minute longer without making that important decision. Jake helped her pray, and our sweet girl also became our sister in Christ. It was a precious moment for all of us.
We all three met with our pastor on Wednesday, and she will be baptized in January.
Today my friend Lindsey and I had our annual Christmas Break girls’ day. It was great. We went to Wild Cow for lunch and then walked over to Ugly Mugs and Five Daughters for coffee and a donut. DELICIOUSNESS.
After eating all the things, we headed to Dirt Cheap for some shopping. That place is a lot of fun if you’re willing to dig :). Fun day with a good friend :).
We had a fun weekend, full of family and lots of outside time.
Yesterday Jake’s aunt and uncle came up from Savannah for a Christmas lunch with the whole family. Before lunch, Jake and the kids and I took Roy to see the farm. We even hiked down to the bottom. It was a beautiful day.
Last night was my nephews’ birthday party. They were turning 5 and 3.
Today after church we went back over to the farm and Liz and the kids met us to hike. We hiked back down to the bottoms and started marking a walking trail that we’re going to clear. Jack almost gave us a heart attack at one point, because he climbed 60 ft up the bluff before anyone realized it! He made it down safely, though, and we made it VERY clear that he shouldn’t do that again! It was another beautiful day, and a great day to be hiking.
Gotta take advantage of these pretty days while we can, before winter really sets in.
I’ve been reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to the kiddos for the better part of this year, and we finally finished it tonight! This fulfills the “a book with over 500 pages” check off my reading list!
My husband is the best fryer. I like when we collaborate on dinners-he fries the meat, I fry the okra. 🙂 YUM. Plus, garden food for the win!
