The Gift

It's so easy to get caught up in the craziness of Christmas and forget the reason we are celebrating. I'm not one to get on a soap box but as a mother I want most of all for my children to understand fully what this season is all about. I want my kids to celebrate the birth of our Savior and King and rejoice in the gift of everlasting life that was given to us. I will admit that when I became a mother I more deeply understood that gift. To love your child the way a mother does is beyond words. I didn't know that I could love someone to the core of my being like I do those precious babies. And to know that our Savior loves them even more is incomprehensible. We have been given the ultimate gift.. a precious, innocent baby was sent to save us all. HE was tested, ridiculed, beaten and then crucified for us. I think of Mary watching her sweet baby grow and what HE went through during HIS life and then ultimately watching her son crucified. It's unimaginable what was given for us, sinners. I pray that my children will understand and appreciate the depths of this gift.

Every Christmas I think back to the day my babies were born. Each were such an amazing gift from God!

Jackson

Anderson

Chandler

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

Christmas Card Chaos!

We had a wild time trying to get pictures made for a Christmas card this year. I attempted 3 separate times to get a good shot of the kids all together but it just wasn't going to happen. So I decided to opt for a good picture of each of them SEPARATELY. It's much easier to get a sweet smile from one at a time than try to get all three little ones looking and smiling all at once...that certainly would be a Christmas miracle ;) The top three pics are the ones I put on a card. The bottom ones are the out-takes. They are too funny....





Sweet little faces.....

And the not so sweet......

Christmas memories!!

Family Traditions

If you know me very well you know I LOVE family traditions! I added another tradition this year for our family ..decorating gingerbread houses! The boys had a blast! I bought the mini gingerbread houses which I won't do again because they are a little too small. It was messy but so much fun. The only problem was they wanted to eat them when we were finished. I let them lick some icing off a spoon so that satisfied them ;) I can't wait for Christmas eve when we make and decorate cookies for Santa's stop at our house!!

They did a great job decorating!

Anderson's gingerbread houses

Jackson's gingerbread houses

Boo-boo Baby

Poor baby Chandler had to go to the ER last Monday. She fell and hit her head on a table and cut her eye open. She didn't have to have stitches, just glue. She was such a great baby during it all too. She is fine and her eye couldn't look better. She was able to get tons of spoiling this week with her Mamie and Pawpa down for a couple days and then all weekend from mommy and daddy while the boys were gone to my parents. Patrick took us girls out both Friday and Saturday on a date so we enjoyed some special time together! She looked so cute in her hat Saturday night I couldn't help but take tons of pictures!! (and yes, she kept the hat on the whole time)

She loves her daddy!

This picture was kind of dark but she just looked cute anyway!

She is such a sweet girl!

Loving the Christmas sucker :)

What a week!!

Wow, did we ever have a wild week. I'm glad it's over and we are starting fresh and new today. Jackson had a very big week last week. He has been talking about going to work with his daddy for a while and finally went out with him last Monday. He was SO excited. He put his "business clothes" on as he likes to call them and headed out to a few offices with dad then lunch with just the two of them. It was wonderful they had the opportunity to spend some special time together. Jackson also had his first Christmas program at school. His class did so good! It was one of many bittersweet moments I'm sure I will have in life. I was so proud to see him on stage singing but I just couldn't believe he was old enough to be doing that! I remember everything about his very first Christmas like it was yesterday and now he is in a Christmas program?!?!? How did that happen. What a sweet boy.

Business man...headed out to sell teeth, tee-hee.

Sister wishing Jack a good day!

Anderson saying bye to dad and jack

1st Christmas program. They are so cute!!

Jackson and his classmates and their sweet teachers!

Surprise, surprise!!

It has been party central in my life the past two months! I recently planned my sweet sister in law Kim's 4oth surprise birthday party! I wasn't sure my brother and I would pull it off but we did. Kim was completely shocked when she walked into a room full of people who love her shouting SURPRISE! It was great. It was a such a special night for a very special person:)

We had to have a big cake for all the candles :)

Kim was surrounded by tons of family and friends to help celebrate!

I loved the banner, tee-hee....

Chandler wanted to help Aunt Kim blow out the candles.

She got a lot of nice gifts and some hilarious gag gifts.

A thankful heart

Jackson and Anderson both had Thanksgiving feasts at their school this year. I got to enjoy story time and crafts with Jackson then I ran down the hall to Anderson's class to share some Thanksgiving snacks with him. We have been truly blessed for the wonderful school the boys go to and their sweet teachers. We are very thankful for them and all they do!

Jackson and his classmates during story time.

Jack really enjoyed his turkey hat :)

I love this picture of all their little hands praying. Precious!

Anderson's Thanksgiving feast

Of course Chandler enjoyed the feast too!!

Homecoming

We had a wonderful time at my niece Kaitlyn's first Homecoming this weekend. It has been so fun for me to go shopping for dresses with her and getting her hair and make-up done. She has grown up so quickly and is a great girl. She looked beautiful!! The highlight of Homecoming was Kaitlyn being crowned Jr. High Princess!

This weekend was also quite a blast from the past for me too. My niece now goes to my old high school. I've only been back a couple times since I graduated and it's funny how it doesn't seem like that long ago I was in Homecoming there. Needless to say I felt very old, whew. I did see some old friends and their kiddos which was fun but I will admit I wouldn't go back to high school if you paid me, tee-hee!!!

2009 Homecoming Court

Kaitlyn looked amazing!!!!

Being crowned princess!

She got her braces off just a few days before Homecoming. She looks so much older now.

Kaitlyn and her escort Skylar.

Katie bug with mom and dad.

Kircher crew with the princess!

My girls!

Kaitlyn with her grandparents.

Field Trip Day!

Anderson's MDO class went on a field trip today to the Belgian Horse Farm. It was a beautiful day to be out and Anderson loved every minute of it! The kids fed the horses and some fiesty little goats. Then they were off to pick out a pumpkin and a carriage ride around the grounds. We had a great time and I was able to take a lot of pictures! (I did get a little snap happy, sorry!)

Anderson was a little iffy at first. The horses were really big.

He ended up feeding one with a little help.

So excited!!

The goats were hilarious and Anderson went right up and fed them.

Miss priss even checked them out.

Anderson's sweet friend Mollie. They love each other!

On the carriage ride.