Santa Baby

On Christmas Eve, we put out some mini oreos and milk for Santa to enjoy. We left the half-empty bag out on the counter overnight...
We noticed Q had been quiet for awhile (which is never a good sign with our kids) while we were opening gifts, and this is what I discovered when I went searching for her:

Ho Ho HO!

Quincy will be joining the circus next week as the "bearded baby" act. Get your tickets now!

As you can see, the Play-Dough was also left out on the table. At least she didn't eat any of that!

Yabba Dabba Doooo! Look What Santa Brought for Youuu!

Merry Christmas!

Look out Fred and Barney, Reese and Quincy will now be on the foot-powered motorway as well!

Santa also brought Quincy a new tooth this morning! So she now has 5 teeth to bite me with.

I thought watching Reese open presents last Christmas was so fun...but that was NOTHING compared to this year. The best gift of all was definitely watching the pure joy on these two little faces...and watching how excited Aaron was to play with his new Christmas train set. He had it chuga-chug-chugging around the tree at 6:30 this morning...BEFORE our kids were even awake! I tried to explain that this is probably the last Christmas that our kids won't be waking us up at 5 am wondering if Santa came, so we should sleep in and enjoy it, but... The train has a whistle too.
Everyone was up 30 minutes later and the festivities began!

Uncle Scott and Auntie Kristie provided Our Lady Reese with more ice than she could keep track of. Her Highness put every piece of the jewelry on and fussed over it all day. The necklace and crown even light up!


In addition to the "surprise" Christmas CD, Aaron also got me this beautiful lamp! He picked it out himself and I absolutely LOVE it! It matches my kitchen perfectly!

Thanks for the great gifts everyone! We had a wonderful Christmas!

Reese's Sunny Bono Vest and a Fairy Tale Nativity

Looks like we're so awesome at Rock Band that we're headlining on Kasey and Jimmie's blog...

Check us out!

http://jimmieandkasey.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-ending-to-nativity-story.html

Don't Forget to Kiss the Cook!

I've been lucky enough to have some help with my holiday baking this year...

That's Quincy's boyfriend, Max, in the gingerbread man jammies. Notice he's doing the dishes.

Where Did the Time Go?

We spent 2 hours playing Rock Band at the Meadows tonight. Holy Cow it is fun! I had no idea how bad I am at the whole karaoke thing...this was enlightening. I've always considered myself to be a good singer and was totally surprised at the fact that I was HORRIBLE at the vocals on Rock Band. I guess it's back to singing in the shower. As far as Rock Band and Guitar Hero are concerned, I'll be sticking to the guitar.

I also feel like I should give credit to every drummer out there. Not as easy as it looks! Gives me a whole new appreciation for the talent of the one armed Def Leopard drummer.

Reese "rocked" a few guitar solos tonight and Q clapped along (on beat I might add). We may have a little percussionist in our family. She picked up a drumstick, and after biting it (which she does to EVERYthing) she spun it around in her fingers above her head then threw it in the air. Show off.

Ding-Dong Merrily On High...

Last night we took the girls to downtown Bentonville to see the square all lit up for Christmas. It was beautiful and we all had a really great time. I think Reese was disappointed that Santa wasn't there, but seemed to be ok with his absence when I told her he was busy at the North Pole making toys and getting ready for Christmas. She had to settle for meeting Santa's dog (scroll down 2 posts).



We sang some Christmas carols, (yes even Aaron chimed in on a few....I'm actually quite surprised that the scrooge-side of Aaron has not yet made his appearance this Christmas. He even went to do his holiday shopping today, and there are a whole 3 days left...usually he waits until 5pm Christmas Eve to get me a present. Perhaps all the surplus Christmas cheer in our house has finally chased scrooge away. yay!)

We took a carriage ride, which Reese and Quincy just loved.

Reese admired baby Jesus while we were serenaded by a mediocre accordion player. Silent Night was in a minor key and really sounded more like "I'm Jewish. This is ridiculous. Please Put Me Out of My Misery."
I enjoy caroling, but I kind of know how the guy felt. This brought back many memories of "rent-a-caroler" and going on endless Christmas gigs with the Chamber Singers in High School. Sadly, I will be missing the traditional Lawrence Family Christmas Eve Caroling Trek this year, or as HolleeAnn and I like to call it, The Trail of Tears....where the Lawrences pretty much carol to everyone we know until someone gives my dad some See's Candy to shut us up. Usually we only make it halfway down the block before the neighbors hear us coming and close their blinds and turn out the lights. 2 years ago we had a poll and many of us placed bets to see how long it would take to make my mom cry...which she always does because we are all freezing, complaining and fighting with each other. I do enjoy it a little more now that Kristie is there to ring her bell and Scotty chimes in once in awhile from the back row with his own, made-up (and much funnier) lyrics to the chosen carols. It's really everything that anyone could ever ask for on a Christmas Eve. Remember Mom, all you might be able to hear is fighting, but that just means we're all together!

Here you go accordion man...carol away.

After the lights we went across the street and had peppermint hot cocoa. I was lucky enough to pass under some mistletoe on my way there and snagged myself a kiss!

3 days 'till Christmas! Yahoo!

No Shaking, Poking, or Peeking!

I was singing I Saw Three Ships as I was folding laundry this morning and suddenly Reese perked up and said,

Reese: Mommy Mommy, go tell Daddy, 'thaaaaank you'.
Meg: thank you? for what?
Reese: For the muuuuusic he buyed you for Christmas!

So I guess I'll act surprised when I open Josh Groban's Noel, on Christmas morning from Aaron.