Christmas 2014

We spent Christmas 2014 in Birmingham; just our "little" family of 6! It was a nice calm and quiet holiday...at least as much as you can get with 4 kids!

On Christmas Eve we went to church at 3pm. We got to see our neighbor sing during the service which was a special treat for all of us. Carson kept waving to him and asking questions such as, "Why isn't he waving back?", "Where is he going?" and "Can we play with boys after church?"

All dressed for church

On Christmas Eve we made a nice dinner. We tried making something new; a prosciutto wrapped bone-in pork roast. We served it with roasted brussel sprouts, sautéed leeks and apples and a candied pecan and pear salad. YUM!


And after everyone was asleep SANTA came!

He left our stockings by the chimney.

And our gifts under the family tree

The kids were up SUPER EARLY....but we didn't let them come down until almost 6:30! We opened stockings, made breakfast and then moved onto gifts.

Christmas jammies from Grammie 

And of our some Christmas Morning Chaos!!

Sparkle Box Update

This holiday season our family started the tradition of The Sparkle Box. 

You can read about it HERE.

On Christmas Night  at dinner we opened our Sparkle Box. We read each thing that we did this month and we talked about how each was important and how it impacted others and us. It really was a special time and I think the kids "got it" and enjoyed it. They commented on how much we were able to do for others.

Here is what was in our Sparkle Box:

(At least what I can remember...I should have saved the papers because my memory isn't what it used to be :) )

* Donated coats and gloves to the needy

* Rang Bell for Salvation Army

* Bought Christmas gifts for local family in need

* Made and delivered gifts to neighbors

* Paid for someone else at the post office

* Made Christmas Cards and hygiene kits for the homeless

* Made Christmas cards for prisoners

Christmas Bucket List Update

The Christmas Season has come and gone once again...amazing how fast a month goes by!

This month has been filled with a lot of LOVE, LAUGHTER and JOY in our house!!

We were able to accomplish ALMOST everything on our Christmas bucket list (we didn't make it to The Nutcracker) and even more!!

Some FUN bucket list photos...

Baking Cookies

And icing them

The finished products

Meeka and Carson's gingerbread houses

Logan and Melina's gingerbread houses

Oak Mountain Festival of Lights

And over break we have done some extra things too...just for FUN!

We went to the McWane Center and saw their Winter Wonderland display. The kids got to Zip line, Ride the Train and just play and explore!

And after Christmas we took a SURPRISE overnight trip to Atlanta! 

We visited the World of Coca-Cola

And we went to Medieval Times

the kids LOVED that! And what a better night out to dinner for parents when you don't have to worry about your kids being loud or eating with their hands!