Like everyone else, we spent the last three weeks celebrating Christmas. There were lots of fun memories this year. And LOTS of pictures! It was impossible to decide which ones to post to the blog . . . they're all so cute . . . so I decided to make a video instead.Pop and Mimi came for a visit the week before Christmas . . . and they pretty much brought Christmas with them! They gave Mason a new bike and Hannah Kate a Barbie trike. They also gave Hannah Kate a dress up box filled with lots of fun. And there were presents from MeMama, Uncle Rob and Aunt Kristi and Aunt Gail, too.
Mason was a wise man in our church's Christmas program. Actually, he almost ended up as an angel. He's very much into super-heroes these days. When Mrs. Carol was asking the children which nativity character they'd like to be, Mason told her he wanted to be Superman. He wanted to wear his cape. So I had a little chat with him . . . asked him if he saw Superman in his Bible when baby Jesus was born. No, he didn't. So I tried to explain to him that his options were pretty limited and did not include Superman, Spiderman or Batman. So then Mrs. Carol told him he should be an angel . . . since he wanted to fly and all . . . and he could wear angel wings. Now, I completely understand that angels are gender neutral. And the two named angels in the Bible, Michael and Gabriel, have names that are mostly associated with the male gender. HOWEVER. In most nativities, you see sweet little angel girls . . . not angel boys. So in my most convincing tone possible, I told Mason that he should be a wise man . . . I mean, who doesn't want to be a king?!? He reluctantly agreed. So as the evening approached, I began talking to Mason about his role as one of the wise men . . . and that's when he told me he wanted to be a shepherd! I told him he could be a shepherd next year. So then we got him dressed in his wise man outfit, which just so happened to be the one Seth wore when he was a little boy. Let's just say Mason still isn't that impressed with the wise men!
One evening Mason, Hannah Kate and I went Christmas caroling with Abbie's church. We visited many of the shut-ins in our community. I really think that was my favorite time this holiday season.
And then the big day came . . . lots of gifts and food and family. Be sure to click on the "play" button below to see our pictures!
My plan was to let the kids play outside most of the time and then come inside for presents and cake. After all, it's not like it really gets very cold in Louisiana. I mean, I remember Christmases during the past few years that were warm enough for shorts. Besides, it NEVER snows in south Louisiana. But it decided to snow the night before the party! It barely stuck, but it was enough to make a big, fat mess, along with all of the non-stop rain we've been having. I figured out a couple of days before the party that we probably wouldn't be able to go outside like I planned. And then I REALLY started getting nervous. That meant we would be inside. What in the world would we do?!? I'd never planned party games for birthday parties in the past, and I really didn't want to go there. After all, something would happen, and it wouldn't go like it was "supposed to." Or the kids would hate it. I mean, REALLY. Where do I come up with this stuff?!? It's a party for a TWO YEAR OLD. And kids really are quite easy to please.
I printed some ladybug coloring pages from the internet for the children to color. I found some ladybug stickers that they could decorate their coloring pages with.
And I cut a ladybug and some spots out of posterboard for "The Ladybug Lost Her Spots" (you know, an adaptation of pin-the-tail-in-the-donkey). It really was a lot fun watching the kids play this game. Abbie tried to pin her spot to Cole's forehead! I'm not so sure the ladybug found very many of her spots either!
Instead of a cake, I decided to have cupcakes. They were topped with red icing, and I put black M&Ms on the tops of them so they looked like ladybugs all over the table.
Gavin kept going over to the table and snatching the M&Ms off the cupcakes so he could eat them!
I stuck a couple of candles in one of the cupcakes so Hannah Kate could blow them out. She knew exactly what to do and was so cute blowing out her candles. And, yes, I was very disappointed when the pictures of her blowing out her candles were fuzzy. I mean, that was one of the cutest moments of the whole thing! But . . . I need to let it go. I'm sure they have a support group or some kind of program for folks like me. Anyway. 
Another favorite of mine was the treat for the children. Usually I fill a pinata with candy, and they whack it until it breaks. Then they gather up as much candy as they can and take it home with them. I decided not to do that this time. Instead, I ordered LIVE ladybugs off the internet! I got a bag of 1,500. This is what they looked like when they came.
