Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Christmas 2013, Part 3

Christmas Eve, Arabelle fell asleep super early, in her clothes that she wore all day. Bo played some and went down pretty early too. He woke up early on Christmas morning whining and crying that his head hurt and he was burning up with a fever. Arabelle followed suit a bit later with the same symptoms + vomiting. Mae also woke with a fever and cold symptoms. So, after getting everyone medicated and calmed down, they were interested in seeing what they got from Santa.

Here are their little piles of gifts with their stockings. They don't get much from Santa....they get a lot from other family members and we don't have a ton of room in the house for a lot of toys! Set the bar low and they won't know the difference. :)

They were excited and ran into the den. 

 One of their favorite things were these little fans I found at Target for cheap. They had little lights on them. Bo carried his around for 3 days straight and ran the batteries out after 1 day.
 Underwear. Always new underwear in the stockings!
 They each got a movie...Peter Pan for Bo and Tangled for Arabelle. They came in handy for the sick day!
Arabelle asked for 'make-up', so she got a little set with blush, eye shadow, and lip stick. 

 Bo had asked for "another Captain America", so he got this Capt. America doll.

They also each got a Lego set. Bo got Lego Duplo (the bigger sized Legos) and Arabelle got the regular ones. Those were another bargain I found just after Thanksgiving!
 Mae played with the paper.
 Arabelle opened Mae's gift.....
 The Little People Nativity Set. I'd been wanting to get it for them for a few years and it finally went on sale (It's usually pretty pricey...like $50+!!!) and I snagged it for $21.50 + $4 shipping!
 The beloved fan.....
 There's a smile!
 Their BIG gift was a trampoline!!! Arabelle didn't want to jump that morning, since she had gotten sick. :(

Bo tried it out for a few jumps. He called it a "jumpoline" for a few days. :)
 We had pancakes and breakfast casserole, then just played and laid around. Bo tried on several pairs of his new underwear and enjoyed his letter fishing game that he had gotten from Papa and Grandma LaVell the day before.
The fan again, and his Capt. America costume from Sambo and Leigh Leigh! 




 And Arabelle just laid around most of the day, between short periods of play.
 I'll go ahead and tell you how it ends....Jared got sick Christmas evening and all 4 of them had, most likely, the flu. We had friends over the Friday before and they all had the flu (one had the flu swab and it was positive) that weekend and beginning of Christmas week, then we were around Jared's family on Christmas Eve and his sister and her kids have it (again, one was swabbed and it was positive). The kids got over it after 4-5 days and Jared is still on day 7 of it. I never took the kids to the Dr., because I knew it was viral, so no medicines to treat it (they weren't sick enough, in my opinion, to give Tamiflu), so we just held on and fought it. Jared went to the Dr. yesterday and was told it was likely the flu, but wasn't swabbed.


So, our Christmas wasn't 'picture perfect' by any means, but it really did help me to focus on the TRUE reason for Christmas, Jesus! 



Monday, December 30, 2013

Christmas 2013, Part 2

Christmas Eve lunch is always with Jared's family and it's always full of fun (and good food!). We had Ranchero's for lunch, visited, played, opened gifts, some napped, some played, all had desserts (I think!)...great afternoon with family!

Jared and Julee Brooke with their baby boys:
 Getting started....I love Arabelle's expression!



 Capt. America!!!!



 Leigh Leigh made all the kids some yummy hot chocolate with marshmallows and candy canes. They loved their treat!




All 6! I still laugh when I look at this one....Gigi didn't want to take the picture and this was her best smile when she was told that she had better smile or she wasn't going to get to have her phone (iPod touch). I guess this was what she could muster up!


We got home that evening and Arabelle said she had a headache, body aches, and spiked a fever. She fell asleep on the couch at 5:30 and that was the beginning of the virus (flu maybe??) that invaded the house for the next week (and counting, since Jared is still sick after seeming well for a day). 

Friday, December 27, 2013

Christmas 2013, part 1

We started our Christmas celebration the Saturday before Christmas in Pineview!

Get ready for a lot of pictures!

 It was warm out, so the kids played outside nearly all day.



 Caleb didn't want his picture taken.....

 Mamaw made some yummy treats!
 And a delicious meal!

 There were some people out riding horses that afternoon. About 50 went by....the kids loved it.


Jacob and Lowndes did a lot of pointing and grunting. :)

 Mae. haha!

 A little rough play!

 The whole gang.
  Arabelle was pumped about her princess DVD!
 Batman house shoes!


 We spent the night and Bo was a little silly before church on Sunday. I've never seen him pull his pants up high and hang over like this. Silly boy!
 Still being silly!



It was a great weekend with family!