Pics that didn't make the Christmas card...Lucas version

Since digital photography allows you to take as many pictures as you want (no rolls of film to limit you to 24 shots) I usually go a little crazy. This year, I did separate "photo sessions" of each child for our Christmas card and then digitally composed the cards with my digital scrapbooking materials--they were 100% Christymade. Sadly, I took WAAY too many shots and had much difficulty narrowing them down to three. Here are the ones that were still super cute, but didn't make the card cut. (PS--I sent my cards out VERY late...so some people may not have received theirs yet...) Enjoy!

Pics that didn't make the Christmas card...Alex version

Pics that didn't make the Christmas card...Chloe version

A little snippet of Christmas events...

It's been a BUSY few weeks, so since I'm attempting to stay awake until the ball drops I might as well recap some of our Christmas adventures. Lucas got out of school earlier in the month, and on his last day they had the usual holiday party. Lucas is really attached to several of the boys in his classroom--his favorite partner in crime, er...friend, is Preston (middle) and he also enjoys stirring up trouble with Lance. These three amigos drive poor Ms. Engskov and Ms. Henry crazy, so I made sure they got very nice Christmas presents from us ;)
Ms. Henry is a VERY creative teacher--she always makes the classroom shine. For December, she created this Christmas cottage in the corner of the classroom--complete with a snow machine that gently snowed throughout the day, Gingerbread residents, and a mailbox for letters to Santa. She named it "Bruin Cottage" (the school mascot is the Bruin Bears). It was so adorable, so I made sure I got pictures of Lucas hanging out in it.
We also tried to visit Jolly Old Saint Nick this year...we've skipped it for several years since Lucas seemed rather scared of a strange man with a long beard and belly full of jelly, but this year he swore he was ready again. We chose the Arkansas Children's Hospital Breakfast with Santa--which was a nice change of pace for a Saturday morning. Alex was still a bit scared of Santa, so our actual picture wasn't the cutest...I actually liked this picture better--little Alex and Chloe getting ready to see the big man. Afterwards we had pancakes with our friends, wrote letters to Santa, did some arts and crafts, and capped the event off with a visit inside the fire truck--Luc's favorite part of the day. Note to self: next year, skip Santa and go see Santa Paws instead (the Dalmatian at the fire station).
I've already posted about getting our tree from the farm this year, but Lucas was very excited about decorating (and later UNdecorating) the tree this year as well.

To make this year special, I created an advent calendar on our bulletin board--for each day of the month the children got to open an envelope to reveal a special holiday treat. Some of the events included things like decorating the tree, eating a special Santa treat (cookies), reading special holiday books, or attending holiday events--like Junie B Jones Christmas play at the Children's Theater (which was WONDERFUL). Alex was still too young to really get into this tradition, but Lucas LOVED it--waking up each day and immediately wanting to open the envelope and find out what fun adventure we would be having. Defiantly a tradition I intend to continue in future years. Many of the things are tasks we would have done no matter what (like read "Cajun Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve) but this way it made it seem more special through the eyes of a child.

Each year, Lucas and my mother have decorated a gingerbread house--and this year was no exception. I was baking in the kitchen while they tackled this project and it was fun to watch them interact and enjoy crafting together. Lucas was so busy trying to eat the house, I felt sorry for my poor mother who was honestly trying to make it look the best it possibly could. It was one of those pre-packaged store kits, and I think it turned out pretty decent, but I have decided that we are going to make a homemade version next year. I have several recipes I have been collecting for a while, and hopefully by next year I will have had the time to do a test run on them. And I think Lucas is at a good age to be more creative and branch out to experiment with new "building materials".

I've got more adventures to post, but I have to download those pics from my camera, so stay tuned.

Finding a perfect tree

Our outing to the tree farm was very pleasant. We found a pretty tree, cut it quickly, and enjoyed hot chocolate. Sadly, the tree was soon defiled when we covered its beautiful limbs with cartoon character ornaments, but I guess we wouldn't have it any other way. Maybe one day I will have the big beautiful Martha Stewart-esque tree, but for now, ours is a conglomeration of ornaments we have collected with our children and throughout our marriage.

Little Reader

I'm behind in posting again, so I am going to try to play catch up this week. Here is a shot of Lucas while he read his very first book. This was during his birthday weekend in November. My mother was in town and we were sitting at the kitchen table and Lucas brought "Biscuit and the cat" which is a first reader book, into the kitchen and sat down and started reading it. My mom and I both watched (a bit shocked and excited) as he proceeded to read the whole book with almost no help. This was the very first time I felt he was TRULY reading the words and sounding them out (sometimes he knows a book so well he "pretends" to read it when he really is just remembering the words) He went on to read another Biscuit book--one of the more advanced ones directly afterwards, although this one was a higher level, so he needed assistance with several of the harder words. I grabbed my camera and clicked pictures as he read the second book to Nana. It was all very exciting. Since then, he has read sporadically. We practice each night, and he is getting better and better at it. He is still struggling with some sounds, but I see such progress.

Chloe's Baptism

We had Chloe baptized several weeks ago and I am of course just getting around to blogging about it. Chloe wore my baptism gown, my baby bracelet, and we wrapped her in the blanket used for my baptism for the big event, which was sweet--I love using things that have meaning like family heirlooms. She did beautifully--no tears at all during the actual baptism. We took the boys up on stage with us during the actual event and Alex was cute because he muttered "I go home" right as Rev. Greg was placing the water on Chloe's head. Lucas was a little intimidated by standing in front of the whole congregation, so he begged to go sit down (which I eventually let him do). We enjoyed a nice luncheon with friends and family after the big event.

A child's perspective

Lucas: Mommy, the Grinch is under the Christmas Tree. I put him in permanent time out.

Me: Why?

Lucas: Because I am very mad at him. He stole Christmas!!

Ahhh...more fun comments. I have to jot these down while they are fresh. I will love to remind him of all the cute things he says when he is older.

Tailgating

We had our usual tailgating fun this year for the LSU/Arkansas game. Sad that the Tigers couldn't pull off a win, but that didn't affect the pre-game party. It was bigger and better than ever this year. In memory of "JAKAS" ( pronounced "Jackass" and standing for Josh and Ken and Scott...one of my dad's crazyfun Christmas ideas), the Krewe really ramped up the festivities and there were more guests than ever before. I didn't enjoy it as much as I have in the past, though. For one thing--it is a bitch to chase after and worry about three small kids. Next year, we are getting a sitter and mommy is going to party, too. And I really missed my dad during the tailgate. This was always one of his favorite activities of the year, and everywhere I looked I saw things that reminded me of good times and good games with him. My father and I did not always get along or see eye to eye, but LSU tailgating was one area that he bonded with both his children and their spouses and his grandchildren. I imagine he would have approved of all the additions JAKAS made to the event this year. Here's hoping next year we can bring home the boot dad....start talking to God about that one ;)Tons of friends and family stopped by. We were happy to have them...even if they were rooting for the hogs.
Josh being silly wearing a LSU hair extension that he swiped from Jenn.
Mmmmm...cookie cake. Smells way better than corndogs, eh?
Mom joined us for the festivities too. Loved her purple hat!

Luc's Transformer Party

Lucas announced MONTHS ago that he wanted a Transformer themed birthday party; Transformers are his very favorite toy. This was a simple task to accomplish since thanks to the movies, Transformers are all the rage right now. I was able to find tons of cute decorations, including the personalized banner and place mat featured above. We had the party at Rivercity Gymnastics, so I didn't have to do very much...I highly recommend them to LR friends--they took care of everything and I was very impressed with our "hostess" because she remembered all of the party guests names and was very patient with all the children.
Lucas picked out these two shirts to wear specifically because they were (and I quote him here) OPTIMUS PRIME colors--red and blue. How cute!
Scott and Jenn couldn't stay for the whole party, but Lucas made sure to give Scott a high five before he left. Below, party guests. We had a good mix of friends and school classmates.
Here was the table and cake(s). Lucas embarrassed me by announcing to his friends that they could not take home the Transformers on the table--those were HIS. (In his defense, they ARE his--I used them for decoration never dreaming that kids might think they were party favors...but it was still very rude for him to point out!)

Fabulous Five

Lucas turned five in November and we had multiple celebrations. I managed to snap a few photos of him hamming it up on his actual birthday--these shots taken in front of our house this November and the one below taken two years ago when he turned three. He still has the same big grin and mischievous eyes. To me the main difference is that he is a little slimmer in the face and much more sassy these days.
The following pictures are from his actual birth day at home and school. I took iced pumpkin cookies up to his class for snack and Lucas was really excited. But sadly, he refused to eat the cookies...because he no longer likes icing. I guess I should have realized he never eats cupcake icing at other kids parties, and frankly--the non-iced cookies would have been MUCH cheaper. So lesson learned...always ask the kid EXACTLY what he wants and don't try to go overboard. But he was still so excited to have me come up to the school and he enjoyed watching all his friends eat the cookies. He's such a great kiddo. They had made him a special hat for his big day and he loved it so much he wore it all evening and even to bed. So sweet!

Following my families tradition, I made Luc's favorite homemade meal for dinner. He requested mini corn dogs and Sponge Bob soup. I look forward to seeing how his meal request evolves as he grows older....I imagine he won't be asking for cartoon character soup for very long (not only because it's for little kids--it also tastes pretty foul. So do mini corn dogs for that matter...) Hopefully his culinary tastes will expand by next year.

My babies...