deer woods with poppy

The day after Christmas, Ryder and Poppy loaded up in the truck and headed off to the farm.  I was a bit sad...but just glad they didn't leave on Christmas Day!  I knew they were gonna have a bigg'ole time together though, and they always come back with stories to tell!

Of course they had to make a stop at Mack's!  Santa didn't know that R needed and adult size hat...because the kid's hats were too small for his biggo dome! ;)

Ready to go!  

While they were away, I snuck in some time at the coffee shop with mom!   (The latte art is an ELEPHANT, not something else ;))

They saw a lot of deer, but no "shooters"--Poppy said R does great in the stand, even though he may get tired here an there!  

I wrapped things up with She Reads Truth's "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him" series, which was such a blessing!  The Truth never disappoints.  [Their LENT Study Packs are on sale for pre-order NOW--you better get them before they are GONE!]

Even thought Christmas was over...I hung up some fun lights in R's room.  I also found him a new bedspread at TJ Maxx of course that goes GREAT with the route I am taking with his room.  & notice the dream catcher hanging from the fan that he got for Christmas!  LOVE it! 

I think that FINALLY wraps up December!  I sure hope so! 

post-christmas, christmas break stuff!

Christmas Break was such an enjoyable time I got to spend with my little guy!  I'm thankful for every crazy minute I get to spend with him!

Lovin' his new Duck Dynasty shaving kit!

He saw Uncle G wearing his towel like this...and wanted to copy!  :P

Signing thank you notes!

One has been my love for years, one is my new love.  

This boy is CRAZY about Legos!!

I'm such a mean ole mama...I make him go to the coffee shop, and drink hot chocolate and hang out with KeeKee and Poppy! 

We made a trip to Nana's to help take down her Christmas tree and R got some one-on-one time with cousin Aiden!  

The boys even helped Papaw pile up some firewood!  They loved it!  

Nana gave me these paper-mache Santas and when we got home we realized they were YOGA Santas!!  HAHA! 

Big helpers!

Christmas Day 2014

Better late than never right!? ;)

"A toy garbage truck, Skye from Paw Patrol and camo boots"--Santa delivered!

We love shopping for KeeKee's stocking!  R helped me pick some things out for her!  

R seriously gets SO hot when he sleeps...we were staying with my parents on Christmas Eve and when I went to wake him up on Christmas morning and I saw sweat puddles on his arm!  I couldn't even believe it!  His lil body is just a little furnace when he sleeps!!   

For someone born on 09.09.09 a baseball cap with the #9 on it is necessary!  

Wadders to go ducky hunting with Poppy!

R got this alligator for Uncle G...and he even wrapped it himself.  Alligators will always make us think of G since he got a gator tag and killed one a couple years ago.

New necklace from Naynee's "friends"!  He loves it!

R had seen some of the Home Alone movies, but not all of them.  I was happy to introduce him to the others!  

Christmas morning!  He has always been so sweet & patient!

We had a great morning with lots of surprises, and some...not so much!  But good family time, and then we cleaned up and picked up (slowly, but surely) and got busy making lunch!  Ms. Barbara came over and ate with us.  We later made our way to Poppy's game room where we all enjoyed a little nap!

I feel extremely blessed to get to celebrate the birth of Jesus another year with the ones so dear to me!

christmas eve 2014

There's one place I've been on Christmas Eve night growing up, and it's Nana and Papaw's house.  I haven't known anything different.  I've gone from being the only grandchild there, to being the oldest grandchild of 11 there, to being a mom there.  

Some of the traditions we carry on there include eating appetizers while we visit and catch up, and then eatting chili for "dinner"---if our bellies are feeling up to it!  Another tradition is decorating Nana's sugar cookies with homemade frosting.  We have gone from using only the most basic colors, to using every color under the sun, which has been so much fun!  I've never been one to eat sugar cookies or really getting into decorating them, but I'll decorate a few just for traditions sake!  Ryder has gotten to partake in the event over the years as well which has been fun to watch!  He would still much rather like the spoon than anything else! :P

Some people go ALL our with their decorating...but I am not one of them!  =)  But I love those that are!

Picture of us by the tree!  Ryder was in a cute sweater and jeans, but to be honest, that's just not "him".  He is much more "himself" when he is in a hoodie and sweats, so I switched him into those mid-evening and I'm so glad I did.  As a parent, there are somethings you just have to "let go" on--whether it's letting go for your child's sake, or for your own expectation's sake.  And this time...I had to let go for my own sake, and I'm perfectly okay with that.   

Here we are in front of the tree in 2012!

After the sugar cookies are all decorated and we've eaten dinner...we all sit down and read The Christmas Story.  Papaw used to read it straight out of the Bible until Naynee found this book and gifted it to him 22 years ago.  I think it's neat that we've used this same book for 22 years!  

At one time, there were a lot of little grand kids that would all pile up in Papaw's lap with him while he read it.  We have since all gotten a little bit too big, and it's been up to Ryder to fulfill that role for the past 5 years!  

 Here they are in 2011...

 ...and 2012

...and 2013.  I love looking back at old pictures of the same thing!  It's crazy how things change in a year, but my how so many things can stay the same!

We are so thankful that we get to spend this special time with family every year...and that nothing comes in between it!  We stayed there later this year than we ever have before, but we had a complete blast!  Santa was just a lil tired from staying up so late! ;)