Addendum to "Christmas 2013"

Jen has been handling the blogging lately but there were a few more pictures I wanted to post from the Harris's Christmas season.

Scarlett is totally stoked to see Santa!  Obviously Desmond is as well.

TC = Too cute.

Desmond is working the Christmas sweater.

Scarlett getting in some quality Aunt Beanie time.

If it has wheels Desmond is all about it.

This is a valuable skill, Scarlett, I highly recommend you keep working with Aunt Pooh to perfect it.

Here's a 4 Generation picture with Scarlett, Jen, Nana, and Granny.
We were going to do just the girls, but Desmond insisted on sitting in Nana's lap.

Who's afraid of a little line?  Especially on the first Brown Thursday.

Santa was nice enough to take some time out from his toy making schedule, take some pictures, and sing some songs.

All that fun comes with some travel.  We stopped in Mandeville, Louisiana for Jen to reminisce and let the kiddos have a break.

I look like I've been driving all night and smell like sunflower seeds.  Jen still looks fantastic.

I got rid of the sunflower seed taste with my first Po Boy on the balcony of Rips on the Lake overlooking the causeway.

You can see the causeway crossing the lake on the right.
It was so clear we could see the buildings of New Orleans thirty miles away.

Taking a moment.

We went and saw the million plus Zoo Lights.

I'm not sure if this was the 7th or 8th time Scarlett watched Frozen . . . 

Jen takes her tree selection very seriously.  The young ones are learning the sacred art.

So far Des is loving it.

Proud parent moment #1:  somehow we got out of the house without Scarlett's coat liner.
Um, time to go thaw her out . . . now!

We decided to have some of our friends over for graham cracker houses this year!
We prepped little ones for the kids.  This was Jen and my house creation this year.

We had a lot of fun.  Lots of Christmas creativity.

The Elder's architecture was awesome.  You might say it was inspired.

Somehow Desmond managed to pump his body full of sugar.

a LOT of sugar...

Proud parent moment #2:  Our fun night continued much longer than we had anticipated as we got up with Desmond every hour to run around the house and burn off more energy . . . the word "wired" comes to mind.

Once we took it down, this is how the playhouse looked for its Georgia to Texas trip.
I may have had some doubts about it going back together right.

The kids could not wait for us to finish! Literally.

They, of course, were an invaluable help in the construction.

This gives a sense of the action!

The seesaw is Scarlett's go to item, but Desmond snuck in for a run.

I'm thinking he likes it.

All that hard work--totally worth it!

Christmas 2013 - Part 2

 Scarlett had a very good time making cookies for Santa with Nana and me.  They did turn out pretty amazing.  She took her part of the decorating very seriously and did a really great job!

This is what it looked like Christmas morning before the kids came down.

And here's what it looked like as the kids got busy opening and inspecting presents.  Scarlett was pretty disappointed because she specifically asked Santa 3 different times for a pink choo-choo train with batteries and he brought her a purple one (it looks pink to me, but WHATEVER!)  You can see it in this picture below by her foot.  Back me up people, is that a pink or purple train!?  I mean its at least pinkish.

Desmond was much easier to please, he loved ALL of his gifts.

 In fact, he even loved Scarlett's presents.  I think he thought this crib was his.

He enjoys riding and having Scarlett's dolls ride on this little rocking horse my dad gave him.  This horse plays the most will-get-caught-in-your-head-forever tune about a rocking rider pony.  I wish I had a recording and could play it for you all.

Scarlett got this cute little Waldorf doll from Santa.  It's possible I love it more than she does.

She also got this cute little My Cuddle Monkey, which we all think is adorable and fun.  However, the missionaries came over on Christmas day to call home and they said she's creepy and too real. She'll do things like turn her head and look right at you, plus she can move her lips and blow kisses.  She is pretty realistic but that's why she's so fun!  Scarlett sure loves her anyway.  She named her Annie.

One of my favorite things for this Christmas, is Scarlett is beginning to understand a little bit more about the true meaning behind Christmas.  Her favorite Christmas book to read each night was the story of Baby Jesus and she watched the Nativity put out by our church at least a half a dozen times.  I enjoy watching her grow in her understanding and knowledge!  

Well, that was our awesome Christmas.  We hope yours was fabulous, too and filled with lots of love and laughter!

Happy New Year!  We are SO ready to make 2014 our best year yet!

Christmas 2013 - Part 1

I haven't blogged in forever and I find that I kind of miss it.  This Christmas, my mom and Jerry came and visited us.  They brought with them something pretty exciting for the kids!

Their neighbors were wanting to get rid of it and Jerry said we would love it (which we do!)  So, when we were visiting my mom for Thanksgiving we disassembled it.  (I'm using the term "we" very loosely here.)  Then, they brought it with them at Christmas and they reassembled it and made some improvements.  They replaced the whole roof and the floor up in the clubhouse and we repainted the whole thing.  I can actually include myself in that "we" because I did some serious painting on this thing!

Here's a very bad midway picture!  My mom may have a better shot, but this is the only one I have of the in-between process.

Here is what it looked like when my mom and Jerry left.

Here's what it looks like now!

I just realized the angle I took these pictures, you can't even tell that we finished painting the roof!  Oh, well, just know that the roof is now completely painted.  The only thing left to paint is the inside of the clubhouse, which we'll get to…someday.