Updated Blizzard Photos

See my previous post for updated photos of our recent blizzard...

Merry Christmas!

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year! We stayed at our home, rather than travel to Louisiana, and it was great. We missed our other family members, but loved waking up to our own tree with just the 4 of us. On Christmas Eve, we went to our church service and tried to go to our previous church's service right after, but that didn't go over so well. We ended up having to leave and I bet most of the congregation there was happy since they were so loud and cranky! We went home to prepare for Santa right after... cookies - check, milk - check, carrots for reindeer - check, putting our shoes out - check, Santa pj's on - check, reading of The Night Before Christmas by Daddy - check, sleeping babies - check (after a little while of talking and playing in the cribs). Santa was busy most of the evening, but managed to pull it all off successfully.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun. We had so much to open and everyone was happy with their gifts! As usual, the kids got TONS of stuff and are having a ball playing with it all. Their aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents also sent gifts, which made for a very nice assortment of TOYS. We truly are blessed!

Here's what everyone got:
Daddy: LSU notepad, Saints jersey, DVD, LSU blanket, picnic cooler tote (to share with Mama), zoom lens for our Nikon SLR camera (to share with Mama, too)

Mama: the lens and picnic tote to share, some health food books, pretty peridot (my birthstone) earrings and Irish pendant, and a Roomba (AWESOME robot vacuum)

Drew: LL Bean monogrammed tote, basketball hoop, Plasma car, Lightning McQueen/Cars toys, Toy Story PJ's, Leap Frog Tag Junior player and books, Robots DVD movie, "band in a box" musical instruments, Animal Planet Chimp stuffed animal and DVD, a life-like white tiger cub, a Lightning McQueen ornament, Dr. Seuss LSU t-shirt, Yo Gabba Gabba dance mat

Libby: LL Bean monogrammed tote, Little People house, play microwave, blender, coffee pot, tea set for their play kitchen, wooden play food, Minnie Mouse PJ's, Leap Frog Tag Jr. system and books, Leap Frog DVD, play doctor kit, stuffed pig and If You Give a Pig a Party book, a life-like cheetah cub, an Elmo ornament, Dr. Seuss LSU t-shirt, Yo Gabba Gabba dance mat

I have to say that with all of this (and I'm sure I forgot some), their favorites were the Santa and Cars socks and light-up toothbrushes from their stockings! Guess I shouldn't be upset that they like toothbrushes, right?

Here are some photos:

Getting Ready for Santa!

We had so much fun getting ready for Santa this year! We made sure there were LOTS of cookies for him to eat. Drew and Libby LOVE to help me cook, so I got them these cute chef hats and aprons. They love wearing them! If you like them, too, you can buy them on my Cayenne Paper website!

One Blessed Mother Here

The other night, Drew took out our play nativity set. He asked me who the people were again, so I was going through all of them and here's our conversation...
Me: This is Mary, she is baby Jesus' mama.
Drew looks up at me with a sweet smile, hugged me, then said, "Mama, you my Mary."

Where do they come up with this stuff? It just melts my heart like butter! But as I ponder this comment, I wonder... should I be happy that Drew thinks that I am that pure at heart or worried that he thinks he is baby Jesus? Either way, it's still so cute and one of those moments I won't forget-- you know, because I have this blog to remind me! ;)

Our Visit to See Santa

We ventured out today to the mall to see Santa. We decided to go to another smaller mall since the line can be really long at the mall where we usually shop. This Santa really looked authentic, but he was more of a casual Santa since he didn't wear a coat. We figure he's been so busy at his workshop, so that's why! But what are the odds that we get both of the kids looking at the camera, but Santa isn't?? ;)

It's been difficult for Drew and Libby to understand the concept of Santa bringing toys you ask for or want. We have been asking them, but this is how our conversations go:
"What do you want Santa to bring you?"
Presents.
"What kind of presents?"
Pink (Libby); Toys (Drew)
"What toys do you want?"
Good toys.

See what I mean?
Well, yesterday for the first time, Libby actually replied with "purple castle". Okay, so I don't know where in the world this came from, but luckily the Little People dollhouse Santa is bringing is purple, so that will in fact be a "castle" on Christmas morning! We've sort of brainwashed Drew into wanting a basketball goal since Santa is bringing that, too. But luckily, he's now excited about it. I think they'll be most excited just to rip paper and bows off presents, no matter what they are!

The "Purple Castle":

Drew's basketball goal that we just KNOW he really wants:

Blizzard!

We're officially snowed in here with a storm that is now considered a blizzard, meaning lots of blowing and very low to no visibility. We are not in the worst of it yet and I already measured 12 inches on our deck!





























After 5 hours of shoveling by Darrell: