Merry Christmas!

 We have had a lovely Christmas morning. The boys are happy and are currently playing some monster truck game on the Wii so I have a few spare minutes to put up a few pics before it becomes crazy hectic again.

Fisher celebrated his 7th birthday a couple days ago.  I plan on blogging about that when I have time but I just wanted to say how much we love him.  He is such a sweet, intelligent, creative little boy.  He has grown up so much over the last year.  I can't believe he will be old enough to be baptized next year.  I remember bringing him home on Christmas morning 7 years ago and that experience will forever live on as the best Christmas present ever.   We are so grateful he was born into our family, and while he can be incredibly challenging at times, our family would not be the same without him.  He keeps us on our toes and also keeps us laughing.  We love you Fisherman!

 His brothers adore him.

Yesterday, Fisher sat in front of the computer the entire day, tracking Santa's whereabouts on NORAD.  It was so fun to see him so mesmerized.  When Cooper woke up this morning he asked us if we thought Santa had come- with so much hope and nervousness at the same time.  Having kids around for Christmas makes it so special.  

I have thought a lot about the families who lost their children recently in the Connecticut school shooting.  Fisher is the same age as those children.  As we celebrated his birthday and Christmas, I thought a lot about how they won't have those experiences with those particular children anymore.  The world scares me but I am so glad to have the knowledge I do of a loving Savior.  It anchors my fear in peace instead.  I am grateful to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and to teach my children about His gospel.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas!  We are off to eat breakfast and enjoy the spoils of Christmas morning.

The Elf on the Shelf has had a rough few days

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

For those on fb, this post is nothing new.

 This past weekend we decided to take the boys up to Williamsburg to see Santa at the Yankee Candle Store.  It is an awesome store.  More pics on that once I pull them off my camera.  We waited in line for about 30 mins but the boys were distracted by the fountain, popcorn and fudge store in close proximity to us.  

 Fisher acted like an old pro with Santa. 

 Cooper was so excited but a little nervous, hence his hands.  He was doing this nervous claw thing.

Tucker screamed from the second he started being handed off to Santa and continued for the five minutes they took pictures.

 Every now and then Tucker would take a breath and look up at Santa as if to make sure this wasn't really happening...

 Only to realize that, yes, this was indeed happening.

 Santa was a good sport.

 This was the best Santa set-up I have ever seen.  He took time with each of the kids and there wasn't a rushed feeling.  Santa looked awesome, too.

 Fisher was so excited about the secret Santa told him.  

 He was ready to attack Cooper when he spilled the beans on what Santa told them.

 The secret was that Santa likes chocolate chip cookies.

 Later they tried having Santa pose behind Tucker which turned out kind of creepy but funny.

 There was a short moment where Tucker calmed down for a second.

 Until he felt Santa lurking behind him.

 By this time, everyone in line was laughing.

And that was that.  I highly recommend this store if you are in the Williamsburg area, especially at Christmas.

Decorating for Christmas and other Misc. Ramblings

 O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree...

Let's go back to the beginning, shall we?

We finally upgraded to a larger fake tree this year.  I was almost tempted to go real but then I remembered that I won't be able to keep the tree up as long, I have to remember to water it and I can't keep the lights on 24/7.  Okay, all waking hours.  24/7 is a teeny bit exaggerated.

While I decorated the new tree, the boys fought over ornaments decorated their own little trees.

Tucker stayed up and helped me finish.

He has since torn every ornament, light and ribbon off the tree...multiple times....per day.  

I knew he was going to be like this.  I don't know why I decorated all the way to the bottom.

 I love Christmas when I get to bust out all the poinsettias and lights.  Hi, my name is Meagan and I am addicted to red flowers with white lights.

The stockings were hung by the counter with care...

Fisher was very concerned about us not having a fireplace this year.  I reassured him that Santa would find us.  Just to be safe, we put a "Santa, please stop here" sign out in the front yard.

I remade my ornament wreathe and used my brain this time and didn't use glass ornaments.  Last year, my old one shattered.

The nativities are out.  It is officially Christmastime.

Living in Virginia doesn't feel much like December.  Todd's parka from when we lived in Nebraska is pretty funny to look at sitting in our closet.  I will complain about how some days are cold but I am only cold because I am in flip flops and a vest.  I haven't busted out a coat yet.  We have had wacked out temps lately with it 75 one day and 45 the next.  Mostly it seems to stay in the low 60's.

 Tucker loves being down on the ground with his big brothers.

 I bought Fisher the Magic Tree House series and he has eaten them up.  He has read 25 of the books over the last two weeks.  I love seeing what a little bookworm he is.

 For example, he always has a book in hand.  Even when trying to scoop salsa onto a chip and then put it into his mouth, he refuses to look away from the book.

 He eats with a book at the table.

 He reads to his little brothers.

 I love these moments.

 He races Cooper & Tucker with a book in hand.

 They love doing this.

 Someone always ends up hurt.

 Fisher was student of the week in his class last week.

 I love the things he wrote about himself.

 I love his letter to Santa even more.  My favorite it is the "I love you Santa   By" at the end.

It is so fun when kids understand and truly believe.

There is a reason this is called a wish list.  There is more wishing involved on this list than dreams coming true, I'll tell you that much.  I think Santa can handle the box of candy canes. :)

 I have been trying to do fun little Christmas activites with the boys everyday but it has been hit and miss.  Truthfully, the boys have been stinkers lately and would rather spend all their time FIGHTING.  Constantly.

 The gingerbread house has since lost all of it's decorations.  I think it might have something to do with two little boys who love candy.

As I mentioned in the previous post, it is impossible for me to keep the house clean these days.  Laundry NEVER stops.  I am amazed at the amount of laundry that seems to never disappear.  The only time I can get anything done is at night when everyone goes to sleep.  At 2am I find peace and solace while folding laundry by the light of our old Christmas tree, watching MY shows and drinking sparkling cider.  Ahhhh.....

Cooper has to reign on my parade and drink all of my cider.  This kid is a sucker for anything carbonated.

With all the up and down temps, Cooper and Tucker have both been sick.  Runny noses turn into this EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.  

I dread this time of year for that reason.

We wore blue the other day for National PKU Awareness Day.  We have some friends from Louisville with a little boy who lives with PKU.  You can read about his story here.  Heidi is such an inspiration to me. I struggle getting my boys to eat veggies let alone what she has to do for Owen.  

 I just thought Tucker looked so cute in his little Christmas bottoms that I had to put this picture up. :)

And last, but not least, here is the Christmas card picture you will not be receiving.  Fisher looks psycho, Tucker looks like the spawn of WWE's Undertaker and the only word I can think of to describe Cooper is "pipsqueak."  I don't know if I am going to get around to Christmas cards this year.  We'll see.