Gingerbread Christmas Trees?

I had first bought a Charlie Brown gingerbread house kit, but most of the pieces were broken in it and they wouldn't hold together. Fortunately, I found this tree kit last year (don't worry, I didn't let them eat any of it) tucked back in the pantry. I think it turned out nicely, and was much easier to decorate than the house. The icing was fresh, so they got to swipe a few licks of it!

Christmastime is exhausting!

Drive Donkey or Drive Doggie

I recently had downloaded some music and burned them on a CD, which we have been listening to in the van. One of the songs I downloaded was a Bee Gees song, Jive Talkin'. Sometimes when I am on the computer and reading blogs, I will play music from my downloads, which is what I was doing tonight. So, when this song came on, Henry runs in here where I am and starts singing "Drive Donkey." Sadie quickly corrects her little brother and says, "It is not Drive Donkey! It is Drive Doggie," as she proceeds to laugh at him. Needless to say, Aaron and I got a good laugh tonight. What a crazy bunch of kids I have!

Sammy is now in the double digits!

I can't believe I have a 10 year old! I can't believe it was 10 years ago that I gave birth to this 9 lb. 14 1/2 oz. baby boy! I still remember it vividly, and I hope I always will. Sammy is one amazing little boy, who I know will grow up to be an amazing man that will walk w/ God all the days of his life.

We celebrated his birthday on Thursday and pretty much into the weekend. We had a party on Thursday night w/ my family and then we left for Dallas on Friday to see Aaron's sister and her family. While we were there, we visited the Log Cabin Village in Fort Worth. We had a great time and the weather couldn't have been better. We always take the birthday child to the restaurant the want to go to, and so Samuel chose Red Lobster. I hope it was a birthday that he will remember!

Some pics of the Log Cabin Village:

I think Silas was smitten w/ this little girl.

Sammy and Henry stringing popcorn.

The girls stringing popcorn.

Lizzy is making a tamale.

Sadie making a tamale.

I was showing Silas how to gather eggs. Once he gathered them, he didn't want to let go.

Henry gathering eggs.

Daddy needs to pull down Silas' shirt to cover that big belly of his. Lizzy just loves to have her picture taken.

A decorated cabin for the holidays. They were actually cooking something on the wood stove. It smelled pretty good in there.

I know that look, it means a bad smell it about to overtake us.

The children putting cloves in oranges.

In front of the grist mill. The miller gave each one of the children a bag of corn kernels to plant. I may have corn stalks growing in my yard next year! Won't my neighbors love that!

I wonder what he is thinking?

Fun Day at the Urban's

My friend, Charissa, invited our family and another family over last Thursday for a fun day. We decorated Christmas cookies, made an ornament, and acted out the Christmas story. We all had a great time. Thank you to Charissa for opening your house to us all and to Delahne for coming up w/ the ornament idea. I love the way ours turned out!



Here are some pics of Delahne helping the girls w/ their ornaments:

The finished product! Aren't they cute! The snowmen are the children's fingers.

Here are some of the boys decorating their Christmas cookies:

And, here are some pics of the children acting the Christmas story out. We drew names to see who would play what part:

Charissa read the story out loud while the children acted it out. Sophie stayed on the couch most of the time, because she was scared of the "big dogs."

Liesel was a wise man.

Catherine was the inn keeper.

Samuel Wright was Joseph, Lizzy was Mary, and baby Caleb was of course Jesus.

Here are the goofy shepherds!

Sadie was the angel that appeared to the shepherds.

Silas and Ava were just hanging out doing their own thing. Aren't they adorable!

Day of Giving

Last Saturday, our church had their "Day of Giving." It is an outreach to families who just need a little help during the holidays. The church provided a meal and handed out gifts to children 12 and under. They also bought lots of door prizes to give out to all ages. We were able to bless almost 700 people this year! I took a few pictures, some of little sweet faces, that I wanted to share.

Pastor Barry welcoming everyone.

They filled the gymnasium, not just once, but twice!

One of the sweet faces I was talking about.

Here's another one.

This little guys came right up to me and wanted me to hold him. Look at those cheeks!

I took the three oldest children w/ me to help out. They were in charge of a couple of tables, making sure the people who sat there had plenty to drink, and serving them dessert. This is Sadie w/ one of her friends, Madison.

Sammy taking a break. I didn't get a picture of Lizzy, she was busy cleaning off the tables.

I wonder what this little guy was thinking?

It was great learning experience for the children in how to serve others.

Sammy and Grandpa Carl

Yesterday, Aaron and I went to see his grandpa in AR. Grandpa had fallen and broken his hip and is now in the hospital. My dad had come to get the children the night before to take them to the Christmas parade in Wagoner and then they stayed the night there. So, before they left to go w/ dad, we told them that we planned on going to visit Grandpa in the hospital. Sammy asked if we could pick him up on our way and to that he could go w/ us. He was worried about his great Grandpa and wanted to see how he was doing. I don't know many 9 year old (almost 10 on the 14th) boys who would have been this thoughtful.

Grandpa was doing good and he was certainly glad to see Sammy. We are praying for a speedy recovery for you Grandpa!

We spent Thanksgiving w/ Aaron's family in AR. We had a great time w/ everyone and the food was so good! I am still craving pumpkin pie, which isn't good since I am trying to diet. The kids drew names on Thanksgiving and then we went to Branson on Friday to buy our gifts. We had a party that night, complete w/ roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, a felt board Christmas story given by Meemaw, and exchanging gifts since we all wouldn't be together for Christmas.

Henry and Sadie doing their shopping.

Aunt Sue taking pictures at Macaroni Grill. Aaron didn't get many pictures of Aunt Sue, maybe because she was always taking pictures, too.

Silas smiling at his daddy w/ his mouth full of food.

Eating at Macaroni Grill.

Jackie Lynn opening her earrings.

It was past Silas' bedtime.

Sophie trying on her new wings and crown. She hasn't taken them off since!

Meemaw doing the Christmas story on the felt board.

Marcus and Henry helping Meemaw w/ the story.

Sammy and Lizzy's turn.

Sadie and her cousin Lauren.

Uncle Del, Lauren and Sadie ready to eat Turkey.

Thank you Tina and Eric for putting up w/ all 8 of us for 4 days. We had a great time!