Day 19

Short entry for today . . . no advent photo. It was a busy day!!

So for your viewing pleasure tonight, guess who loves Jello??

Put more here, please!

What do you mean I ate it all??

MMMM!!!!

 I love jello!!

Day 18

No Advent photo today . . .couldn't think of anything for "mercy." Oh well - tomorrow's word is patience and I should have no problem with that one! :)

The boys woke up again around 5 AM. This morning though, they were in the best mood! We came out and watched some Mickey Mouse while they had a cup of milk. By 6:30 though, they were ready for breakfast! Lucy got up around that time and so everyone ate, got dressed and then I took Lucy to school. After dropping her off, I headed out to finish the last of my Christmas shopping. I. Am. Done. If there was something someone wanted that they haven't mentioned, well, it's too late now! :)

I brought breakfast home (2nd breakfast for the little guys!) and the boys chowed down on some hashbrowns before taking a nap. They woke up just in time to go get Lucy - I wish they had slept a little longer because boy, were they grumpy!! Of course, after we came home and had some lunch, all seemed to be better. While the boys at lunch, Lucy entertained us with her homemade Nativity set from school.

Alex enjoyed listening :)

I tried to add this video I took of Lucy telling the Christmas story with her nativity. Unfortunately, for some reason blogger doesn't want to have anything to do with videos tonight. I put it on my facebook page though, if you want to check it out there. ;)

Lucy went to go take a nap and then the boys and I played for a little while. I tried to get them to take an afternoon nap, but after an hour of listening to them laugh and giggle and throw their toys back and forth between cribs, I just gave up. They came out with me and we had fun playing.

The cutest elf ever . . .look at that twinkle in his eye!

I snapped this right before Charlie tackled me ;)

He thought it was the biggest deal to be able to sit up on the fireplace!

I told them that Santa was coming down the chimney. Charlie is excited and Alex is beating on the fireplace doors. 

It got quiet and I looked over and found them reading to each other.

Seriously, he is the cutest elf ever!!

As the afternoon progressed, they tired of playing in the den, so we wandered into the living room to see Christmas decorations. 

Charlie kept bringing different pieces from the nativity to show me.

They played like this for only about 5 seconds before they started to pull things apart and throw them. But for those five seconds, aren't they cute??

Before dinner time, we ran laps up and down the hall. As you can tell, Charlie really enjoyed that!

By 5:00, the boys were screaming for dinner. After that we immediately put them in their PJs and tried to keep them awake until at least 6 PM. After a LONG hour, they headed to bed. It was a good day overall though. :) Tomorrow is the last day of school for Lucy and me before Christmas break. We are looking forward to a fun filled week ahead!!

Day 17

Yes, I know I already posted this picture, but today's Advent word was "Free." And the first thing that came to mind, was this! :)

Today was a busy day. The boys decided that they wanted to get up early again. I finally got out of bed and got them around 5:15. They had already been awake though for at least 30 minutes, laughing and talking and playing in their beds. Charlie and I took Lucy to school and then went and ran errands. We had breakfast with a friend of mine from high school, picked up the dry cleaning, picked up some things at Hobby Lobby, made a return to Walmart and then back to get Lucy from school. After lunch, everyone settled down for a nap and then Lucy and I ran to the grocery store. Once we got back, we played for a litle while until it was that crazy time of day when we have dinner/bath/bed routine.

I don't have any new pictures tonight . . .these are ones I stole off of Michael's phone so they will have to do for this evening. I'll be more creative tomorrow!

Not the best picture in the world, but Charlie cracks me up walking around with his hand on his hip!

These pictures are courtesy of Pappy, from when the kids spent the night with them on Friday.

Just in case you weren't sure from the other pictures that Alex loved his cupcake. . . 

This one was taken at lunch the other Sunday . . . you can tell how tired the boys are after a full day of church!

Day 16

The Advent word for today was Strength/Strong. I thought and thought and kept coming back to this:

My brother is an incredibly strong man. I'm proud of him for all he's dealt with in his life and what he's overcome. He's a very talented actor, great at his job, doing awesome in grad school, not to mention a super fun uncle for my three. There is no doubt in my mind that he can do anything he decides he wants to do and I'm thankful every day to have him in my life. :) Love him so much!!

Today's Christmas photos are courtesy of the Target $1 bin. Lucy saw these headbands and we thought they would be fun. . . .

Of course, getting a picture of all three of them together wasn't happening! The boys kept taking their headbands off and then would hand it back and want you to put it back on . . only to take it back off again! They have been cranky little things the past couple of days. Some moments they are fine and then back to fit pitching. Of course, if you look at the drool on their shirts, one would only assume that they were teething! Hopefully that's all it is.

Day 15

Advent Photo Day 15: Rejoice. I was rejoicing this afternoon when I was able to get the boys to finally take a nap. They decided at 4 this morning that they were ready to start the day. I don't think they realized what a busy morning lay ahead!! They were exhausted!!

After breakfast at Union, a service at Union, Love Feast service at Concord, and the Christmas cantata at Sharon UMC, I'm exhausted! Tonight's photos are of the boys annual Christmas picture with the Christmas stuffed animals. I knew it wasn't going to be an easy one, but here's what we've got!

4 months old

16 months old :)

Day 14

We got home today in time to take the kids to the birthday party for Jesus at Concord UMC. I was worried about how the kids would act since we had to wake them up to take them, but they did a good job. I wish there had been better attendance, but the weather was horrible, so I can't blame people for not coming out. We had a good time though with everyone there and it was a wonderful celebration.

We started off by coloring Christmas cards for baby Jesus

Alex even "colored" too :)

Then we sang some Christmas songs . . .Charlie was fascinated by the guitar.

We played a few games and then told the Christmas story.

And then it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and enjoy cupcakes!(Also, this is my Advent Photo for day 14 - the word was "Gather" so I thought this was appropriate!)

Mrs. Helen has kids with food allergies so she is so conscious of making sure there is food for all the children. Her cupcakes were vegan so that there would be no milk products - yay! The boys could have cupcakes too! They started off cautiously.

Lucy, of course, never misses a chance to eat something sweet! (No doubt she is my child!)

I wasn't sure if the boys would eat their cupcakes or not . . .but then, this happened . . . 

These boys chowed down and ate the whole thing!!

Alex held up his plate and said "Ah doh!" (All done!)

A good time was had all around! We came home and the kids played while Michael ran to see a sick church member. We watched Christmas movies while we played - How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Rudolph. All of a sudden, Charlie started pitching a fit in his angry voice. I thought maybe someone had taken a toy of his but, no. He had pulled his arm out of his sleeve and couldn't figure out how to get it back. :)

(Don't worry - after I laughed and took pictures, I fixed his shirt so he could be happy again!)