Christmas Eve/ Christmas morning

I know, I know!! What in the world took her so long to post her Christmas pictures? I have no idea. But here they are now!

Andy and I

Our Family ~ Christmas Eve 2008

Seeing the presents for the first time

So excited about her horse and carriage!
James and all his gifts

Ooh, A box...

Samantha's popper

The Piggy Bank and The Box

What kinds of toys do kids need? Simple ones. My kids find the greatest joy in the simplest of toys. Just recently we had some wonderful toys handed down to us from another family. One of the toys that was handed down was a piggy bank. It has large plastic coins, and it counts them as you put them in the slot. Then you can open the piggy, retrieve the coins, and start again! Sounds simple, right? Samantha loves it! It has quickly become a favorite toy, and I could swear she's beginning to count with it. She's at least trying to sound out the numbers...even if they do sound like, "uh, oo, ee."

James, however, is my box boy. It's not that he doesn't love his toys....he does....but add a box into the mix and suddenly all of his toys are better if they're IN the box. We got this box with our new printer for Christmas. So, we let James play with it for a couple days. No need to hurry throwing such things away....I let him draw on it, watch movies in it, hide in it....hours of fun disguised as a cardboard box.

Daddy helps me put in the coins.

"Hey look, it actually went in"

"I'm going to get this"

Hiding in the box

Watching movies in the box

(and if you're wondering what he's watching...it's the behind the scenes recording of the voices for one of his cartoon movies...what can I say? He is his father's child.)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I'm trying out some new backgrounds for my blogger, and then I'll have up some new posts! Come back soon!!

Christmas Dress

I took these of Samantha today. This is her Christmas dress that my mom and I found at a killer after Christmas sale. I think she looks adorable in it!

O Christmas Tree

My cousin Brett requested to see pictures of my Christmas tree and here it is! I took this shot without the flash b/c it was the only way to capture the pretty sparkly lights.

Also, a picture of my mantle b/c I thought it turned out well this year. I did add bows around the hurricanes with ornaments after this picture, so use your imagination ;0).

And this is one of just a few Christmas shots I was able to get of Samantha. (James did not want his picture taken). We're going through a phase where she will not look at the camera! But I thought this shot was cute none-the-less.

Thanks to our troops!!

Be warned...this will make you cry!




Thanks to all of our troops! Thanks for serving and protecting our country! We are praying for you! Merry Christmas!

Having fun outside

We decided to go out this week and have some fun in the yard. James doesn't need much to keep him entertained outside....we have a nice hill out back, so he grabbed his baseball and was ready to go toss it and then chase it down the hill. (Who says we need big expensive toys, right? The cheap little ones seem to remain the favorites!) We had a really great time, and got some nice pictures too!