Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Spoils of Christmas

I.C. - A very handsome 9 year old!

C.H. looking at his new book about animals...imagine that!

T.H. gets caught "inspecting" the presents.

L.C. jots down some very important notes on her Magna Doodle!

J.T. patiently waits for Mommy to take the tag off of her sock frog.

Playtime At The Park

C.H. and T.H. looking very handsome!

T.H. has such a beautiful and sweet look on his face...

Are these birds on a wire or children at the park?!?
Kind of hard to tell the difference!

C.H. and T.W. doing some climbing.

T.H., T.W. and C.H. slow down - but only for a moment!

C.H. and I.C. with their cousin E.W.

I.C. is practicing his skills as a bat!

Fun, fun, fun in Janssen Park!

Off they go, hand-in-hand, for more adventure!

Circle of Love

After climbing a ladder and dangling herself over the edge,
Aunt Stacy was able to capture all 9 of the grandkids looking
at the camera for a very special Christmas gift.
This was the finished product that we blew up to an 8x10
and framed for Mimi and Poppy. We had done something
similar for them back when there were only 5 grandkids.
My what a difference 5 years makes!!!
Mimi and Poppy needed a pic for their Christmas cards
and this one turned out really well considering how
many sets of eyes we needed to look at the camera.

Fun With Cousins

Mimi and K.W. getting some snuggle time with C.M.
He seems to be enjoying himself!
E.W. and I.C. - the two oldest cousins and the
ones that started it all for Mimi and Poppy!

T.W. and T.H. look almost innocent in this pic!

L.C. is still for a fleeting moment...

T.H. licking icing off the knife after decorating
some Christmas cookies.

J.T. looking a little sleepy, but always angelic!

L.C. - "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine!"

Christmas in Mena

I.C. and E.W. get a family history lesson from GiGi.
She gave each family a very special book for Christmas
about her life; complete with pictures, dates,
and interesting stories. It's a true treasure!
8 very excited kiddos are ready to open gifts at
Mimi and Poppy's house! Just one pic first!!!

A more controlled pose in front of the tree since
gift opening wasn't until the following morning : )
Where's C.M. in all these pics? Must have been napping!

T.H. and T.W. take a moment during the controlled
chaos (haha!) of gift opening to pose for the camera.

Christmas Day Play

J.T. tries out the really cool tent that Mimi and Poppy
delivered on Christmas morning. It has a tunnel attachment
that they received last Christmas so let the hiding,
crawling, and playing begin!

L.C. has to hold her mouth just right
to squeeze through the opening.

Christmas Morning

Daddy and his boys show off the newest toys that
were delivered by Santa. They are ALL excited about
playing!!! (yes, that includes Daddy!)

Three very happy little boys showing off their color coded
Nintendo DS systems. Mom and Dad made this request to
Santa so there would not be any confustion as to which
DS belonged to which kiddo!

C.H., T.H., and I.C. are excited about building
new Hot Wheels Trick Tracks up and down the hallway
between their bedrooms!

Mommy and all of her "little elves" before they
dove into their presents.

The boys were having as much fun with
J.T. and L.C.'s toys as they were!

Check out all the "assistance" that C.H. and I.C.
are giving the girls in their present opening.

T.H. gets in on the action when he realizes that
the Dora Dollhouse came complete with a van!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Christmas Eve Bunkbeds

The boys came home Christmas Eve and found their
bedroom door all wrapped up and hiding a special gift.
They had to wait until after Christmas Eve Mass and
baths before they could look inside!

The new bunkbeds can sleep 4 regular sized people or
a whole bunch of little boys! They were so surprised
and excited!!!

First Haircuts for the Girls!

J.T. is not too sure about the idea of getting a haircut.

She warmed up to the idea and was all smiles when
Miss Jennifer finished trimming over 2 inches from the back.

L.C. liked "helping" by combing her hair throughout the cut!

Miss Jennifer holds another happy client!
L.C. still has a few curls left after the trim.

After the Cookie Exchange

C.M. didn't get to eat any cookies : (

While the kids were still dress up, we got a cute picture
in front of some of our Christmas decor.

2009 Cookie Exchange

Visiting with Santa at the annual cookie exchange.

A family picture in front of one of the five decorated
trees around the house at the cookie exchange.

I.C. Choir Performance

I.C. is in the school choir and they were asked to perform
Christmas carols in the lobby of Baptist Hospital. So on a
very cold Friday morning we loaded up the girls and
C.M. to go watch the performance.
J.T. and L.C. were almost lulled to sleep by the beautiful music.

J.T. demonstrating what a loving big sister she is!