Mississippi SNOW (part 2)

Yesterday's snow was MUCH better for playing in.

Wet and heavy, but powdery enough to be soft.

Perfect.

 

Isaac thought it was fun to catch it as it fell (a completely new experience).  In his hands and his mouth...

The beginning of her snowmonsterman:

They had to recruit Daddy to lift the parts onto this guy-

(I claimed darkness last night, and told them to ask JD in the morning... I might be a weenie.)

Cate gave up on her huge snowman, and settled for a more manageable size.  :)

Bandit sits on these (DRY, SUNNY) steps all day long and looks in the back door.  He wants to be an indoor cat SO bad.  He will not win that battle.

Ty's face has "little brother" written all over it:

Isaac learned quickly to save the good snowballs until you're up close.  Ha!

And they BOTH learned that Sister Will Get Her Revenge!

One of the Revenged-Upon was a baby about it:  :)

 

 

(Still being a big baby.)

 

These huge guys lasted exactly 2 1/2 hours before they melted enough to fall over.

 

Not gonna lie- I like that kind of snow.  This muddy mess will be gone, and it will be green again before we know it.  Mississippi is good that way. 

Mississippi SNOW (part 1)

(This was last week.)

It was just a powdery dusting of snow, but in Mississippi that means NO SCHOOL!

And none of us mind that!  :)

Even Indy, the Snow Dog likes a good snow day.

Of course, if the snow's no good, there are always icicles to play with!

Can you see their Icicle Castle?  Ha!

Christmas Morning!

I've talked about how we handle Christmas before.  I won't get into all of that again. 

From Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve the kids take turns opening a Christmas book every night (ones we already own).  It is such a great build-up to Christmas.  A fun tradition we have been doing now for years.  This year we added a wrapped Bible to open first and read on Christmas morning. 

We also started another tradition this year- the kids had to gather a big bag full of toys to put under the tree on Christmas Eve night for Santa to "Pass On" before he would leave gifts for them.  (Yes.  Of course they know the truth, but it is so fun to pretend!)

We also do the 4-gift thing, although it's not as structured as some people (such as the want-need-wear-read system).  JD and I get them 3 gifts, and they pick one out for one another.  With stockings, we believe this is PLENTY of presents!

Cookies for Santa

It was a messy affair.

And they turned out... well... very decorated.

Isaac's monster-man was my favorite:

Santa politely took a bite of each, and left a thank-you note.

Ha!

 

Mema's House

We love you, Mema!

Christmas in Batesville

We love all of the versions of Annie.  The new one was great.  Halle said her favorite thing (besides the songs) was that Miss Hannigan turned out to be not AS bad at the end.  Ha! 

We got to be at Parker's official/friends birthday party.  Isaac was pretty fearless and determined to master the slides this time.  :)

Parker and Ty aged about 20 years while we were there:

The girls' puppet-babies were a big hit:

Kristi and Josh and their family recently moved in right across the street from JD's parents, which is AWESOME.  We get to see them a lot more, and the kids (well, all of us!) loved getting to hang out at their house!

One evening was spent  making pizzas and playing!

Nerf gun shooting range!

Parker and Ty spent a TON of time playing one on one:

We LOVE these boys:

(Caleb, Jake, and Parker)

Christmas Baking with Aunt Kathryn

They spent the afternoon with Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Scott, and came back with a pan full of a Parker family specialty- Carmelettas... YUM.  :)

Thanks, Kathryn and Scott!  The girls loved spending time with you!