Pretend Christmas Morning, Part 1

Since we had travel plans for December 25th, we decided to try to give the kids their "Christmas Day Experience" before we left town, so we planned a fake Christmas Eve and Christmas morning for December 18th and 19th.  Friday after gymnastics we gathered to enjoy gumbo and Jesus's birthday cake.  Normally Mawmaw and Pawpaw spend the night with us on Christmas Eve, but this year Mawmaw was not finished packing for our trip and we were flying out on Saturday, so they did not get to have a sleepover with us.  They were back at our house bright and early Saturday morning to hear the Christmas story and open gifts...  

Damon usually reads the Christmas story to us from Luke, but this year Cille memorized that passage with her class at school, so she recited it for us.  Watch it here.  

The kids were all excited.  I am not sure why Watts had a pool noodle...

Corinne's favorite thing to do is to pretend to talk on the phone.  She will pretend that any object she can get her hands on is a phone.  On fake Christmas morning she finally got to play with the real thing...

We started opening gifts by opening things Stella bought for us at the school store.  The idea of the school store is to teach the kids about saving and budgeting.  I am not sure that Stella effectively learned these lessons, since she came back to me asking for more money after her first shopping trip...

She bought a Santa hat for Watts...not sure why since we are anti-Santa...

Stella wrapped all these gifts herself...

She bought Corinne a very appropriate and useful Elmo teether...

She got Cille a sassy feather boa which fit her personality perfectly.  I also like how I am posing with Cille in the corner of this picture.   I guess we know where that sass comes from...

Stella got me this beautiful wall hanging...

There was nothing at the store that she thought was right for Damon, so she made him a paper cutout that said F-A-M-I-L-Y on one side and had the names of all our family members on the other side.  He loved it!

Time for gold gifts from Mom and Dad!

Cille got the Barbie Pop-Up Camper!  I knew one day our family would own an RV!

More fake Christmas fun to come!  Stay tuned!

Newsies!

It is no secret that our family LOVES musical theater.  We love to watch it and we love to participate in it when we can.  If I had to pick a favorite show for each of us, I would say Damon's is 42nd Street, mine is Guys and Dolls, Stella's is Les Miserables or Phantom, and Cille's is Matilda or Fancy Nancy.  Without a doubt, Watts's favorite musical is Newsies, and lucky for us, their tour made a stop in New Orleans at the Saenger Theatre...

We all enjoyed the show so much.  Watts probably enjoyed it most.  We got lots of compliments on his behavior as a theatergoer, but both Damon and I were nervous that he might start dancing in the aisles because he was so into what was happening on stage.  He was even singing along; it was precious.  He will always be my king of New York.  

The Christmas Tree Farm, Part 2

Who knew you could have this much fun with an old pool slide and some hay?

 Sheer happiness...

 Watts was seriously belly laughing...

 Even Corinne had a great time toddling around in the sand in her hand-me-down Guillory jacket...

 The kids also had on their holiday themed shirts, but only Stella's and Watts's were visible...

 We totally need a tire swing...

Thanks again to the Gersch family for another delightful visit to their farm.  We can't wait to visit Yawn Station again next year.  Even if you are planning to put up a fake tree due to allergies, you should plan a trip to Yawn Station and buy a wreath to gift or something.  It truly is an idyllic family outing.