Christmas 2016~ Part 1

Christmas 2016 was a whirlwind of fun! It's possible mama is still in recovery mode. Our Christmas was exciting, busy, and really special. We had the best time with our families and absolutely loved all of the celebrations we enjoyed. Here's my annual recap...

Part 1~

We always kick off Christmas with Terrell's side of the family on the 23rd, or Christmas Eve Eve as we like to call it. =) These cousins had tons of fun together!

We went over to Nana's and Pops' house Friday afternoon after Layton's nap and spent the whole evening there. The cousins played and then we ate our traditional Christmas Eve Eve meal of lasagna, salad, and garlic bread plus dessert. It's one of my favorite meals Terrell's mom makes. #deliciousness #weatesooogoodthisChristmas

After supper the kiddos were given instructions to head upstairs with their moms and get changed into new pjs and to remain in their respective rooms until they heard a knock at the door. The anticipation was great for my 3! Once they heard the knock at the door they ran downstairs and got to listen to Nana read a story about the birth of Jesus. This is a sweet (and entertaining) tradition every single year. =)

After the story the grands all went on a scavenger hunt with clues in search of pieces/characters to complete a nativity scene. They had so much fun on their hunt! And once all the pieces had been found they worked together to complete the scene. 

Since Nana and Pops gave big gifts this year to the grandkids that couldn't be wrapped, they only had 1 small gift to open at our family Christmas celebration. It was special gift handmade by Pops. So before opening their gift they all got in a picture with him. =)

He made each one of the grands a wooden, puzzle piece nativity scene! When you remove the pieces they can stand up in front of the stable to make a nativity scene but when it's time to put it up they fit back inside the stable like a puzzle. Each piece is initialed for each kid so they won't get mixed up. I know they will always love this special gift and that they will display it somewhere in their own homes one day at Christmas. 

Stair step cousins! Even though it was a little different not having lots of presents to open at Nana's and Pops' they had such a fun time celebrating Christmas with everyone.

After getting home and finally getting everyone in bed after a terrible meltdown by our littlest, we all crashed. And then we woke up to Christmas Eve and got ready for breakfast!

Before heading back over to Terrell's parents' house for our annual Christmas Eve breakfast we opened the last door on our Advent calendar and found Baby Jesus inside. The Greatest Gift.

Garrison read the verse for us and it was the perfect way to help us slow down and truly remember and give thanks for the Gift we've been given in Jesus.

Once we made our way across town it was time for breakfast! My side of the family is always invited to breakfast and it's just a special way to start off our Christmas Eve with both of our families together. Piper was our pre-meal entertainment and the cuteness was overflowing!

And my boys have become a little obsessed with picking Piper up now. #gracious #holdingmybreatheverytime #BECAREFUL

We had the BEST breakfast and such a great time together. This year Terrell's parents went with a waffle bar (YUM), plus grits, eggs, bacon, sausage, and hashbrown casserole. They did an amazing job! Everything was so good we were totally stuffed afterwards. Nobody needed lunch on Christmas Eve!!

The entire Selph fam!

The entire Garrison fam!

In the midst of our picture taking we were about to get a picture of our family of 5 when Frankie handed Piper to Terrell... so we took a picture with our 6th little member.... and Layton was done and Austin was in a TOTAL daze. Hahahaha! This picture makes me laugh! Garrison is still ever photogenic and Terrell and I were cracking up. #mysquintyeyes Oh memories. PS... A Party of 6 sure looks tempting.... and a little crazy! =)

And this is the best we could do. Clearly Austin was out of it. Ha!

We had an amazing 1st half of Christmas! I tried to be really intentional about enjoying it and soaking it up. My babies are growing fast and I had more than one moment of feeling pretty emotional over my blessings and the speed of time. So thankful for the fun we enjoyed and the memories we made! (And a place to document it all!!)

Christmas 2016~ Part 2 is coming up! 

Christmas Week Favorites!

Before kicking off our Christmas festivities with family today, I'm going to do a quick recap of my Christmas week faves. It's been so fun counting down and enjoying this week before Christmas to the fullest. The boys have absolutely loved being together. They've played together really well and the fighting and bickering have actually been kept to a minimum. We've had a moment or two of getting in trouble, meltdowns, brawls, and mama having to yell (keeping it real), but overall those moments have been few and far between. YAAAY!!!!

Here's a look at my favorite happenings from Christmas Week...

*Last Friday the big boys had a half day of school and everyone in the school (our Primary School is only grades PreK-2nd) gathered in the gym for a sing-along and "pajama jam". It turned out to be a huge hit!! 

Anna sent me pictures of the boys and they had a GREAT time. They even got to hear some teachers sing Go Tell it on the Mountain (which is one of their favorite songs) and O Come All Ye Faithful. Love our school. =)

*Austin's teacher sent me this picture of him and some friends enjoying a little treat before the end of the day. #ohmy 

*I picked up an extra little man from school on Friday for a play date! The boys had so much fun having Garrison's best bud over. I think they all had a blast. 

*Friday night we went out to eat and ran into Santa! 

*Our Advent devotion time has been pretty sweet. Sometimes trying but mostly sweet. =) We have figured out that it goes way more smoothly when I read it to them during a meal time or right before bed when we're all settled and Layton can have his own votion as he calls it (which is a book to hold onto and "read" while he listens). My favorite has been the questions and discussions we've had. We may do a different, shorter one next Christmas, but in the future I definitely think we'll come back to this one. (Unwrapping the Greatest Gift) 

*Saturday night we hosted our Sunday School Christmas Party! Terrell and I are pretty sure this was our first ever couples and adult only party to host. Everything turned out perfect and it was so much fun!!

*We did appetizers and sweets again this year and had the BEST food! This type of food is just my favorite. Sooo good. This was the appetizer table...

*And this was the dessert table! We even had a couple or two come in late and add to the feast. Everything was DELISH and we had the best time. We have a special class full of couples we love and we spent the entire evening laughing, talking, and eating. It was a huge success and Terrell and I both enjoyed it so much. Huge thanks to Papa and Granna for keeping all the grands on Saturday night so their daughters and sons-in-law could enjoy the party!!

*On Sunday night Garrison lost another front tooth! His smile is my favorite. =)

*I mentioned that the boys have been playing really well together this week which means their imaginations are in full swing. My favorite. They called me into the kitchen a few days ago to show me their guards... who were protecting the palace of superheros. #therealdeal #boymom

*We've enjoyed quite a few Christmas movies lately and one of our favorites was Santa Claus 1. Such a sweet night with my guys.

*And every single movie, every single time, this one ends up in my lap. So glad he still fits and still wants to sit with me!

*Yesterday was a busy one for us! I was in charge of keeping the boys away from the house all morning so a secret Christmas present could be assembled in our backyard. Mission accomplished! We started the day with haircuts, then time at Granna's working on Nativity puzzles and a little help with baking before topping off our morning at Chick fil A with lunch and play time. 

*When we got home the boys were surprised to find Nana and Pops here waiting on them... with their early Christmas present! They opened cards with a picture inside of a trampoline. 

*After opening their cards and being a little confused Pops told them to come look out the window. They were soo surprised and excited!! I can't believe we pulled it off!

*Terrell and his dad spent the whole morning assembling this Christmas present. And we have 3 super happy little boys over here. =) They've always mentioned wanting a trampoline off and on for years but we either didn't have room or were renting or were just undecided. Until now. 

*It even came with a velcro basketball goal that they LOVE. I know they're going to enjoy this gift for years. Since Nana and Pops couldn't fit it under the tree and we wanted the gift to be assembled when they "opened" it, our only option was yesterday and it worked out perfect. Yay!!

Today we're kicking off our family Christmas! We are all super excited about all the festivities coming up that start today!!

Praying you enjoy your time with family celebrating the greatest Gift ever given. From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!! 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt!

Last night the Selph fam enjoyed a favorite Christmas tradition... our Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt! It was a fun evening once again and this year the kids even asked about it last week and wanted to know if we were going to do it! I smiled big as I replied well of course we are! Terrell told them they made my Christmas. Hahaha! 

(The early years of this tradition were a little dicey with crying babies or toddlers and little people who weren't impressed with my idea. Ha! So them asking about it this year and showing a lot of excitement was pretty special. We've come a long way since my little idea of this tradition was born. =))

We start with an early bath time and an earlier supper before getting the boys in some Christmas pjs. Then we make pictures in front of the tree!

A look back at our very first year of the tradition back in 2011. Austin was huge. Ha! 

2012

2013

2014

2015

And now back to the present. =) Three excited boys!

After pictures we load up with a bowl of snacks, a blanket, and our bingo sheets, pencils, and clipboards. This year we forgot flashlights so we drove around with our inside lights on most of the evening. 

The boys had from the time we left our house until the time we got into town to eat their snacks. 

These cards were leftover from last year but next year I'm going to print new cards in color. You don't have to do BINGO... you can do a checklist sheet or just a variety of pictures you're trying to find, etc. 

 

Once we got into our little downtown, Terrell parked and I took up the snack bowls and passed out the clipboards and pencils. Then the BINGO quest and scavenger hunt began. =) 

We don't really do down, across, diagonal, we just go for the black out. This year was tough! We found several right away but then had a hard time finding our last few. 

The boys loved the search though! Layton scribbled all over his little sheet and kept saying, I found Ho Ho! Or I found the Christmas tree! I FOUND THE CANDY CANE!! Haha! He was just looking at his sheet but it still counted. =)

Layton eventually got tired and a little ill and the big boys got tired too, so after driving ALL OVER our small town we finished up the hunt back in our own neighborhood and found a few more items to mark off our sheets. Granna's and Papa's house is our fave!

The only items we couldn't find were bells, a polar bear, and the word Noel. So we'll be on the hunt for those things this week when we're out and about. It was a fun night for the whole fam! 

As the boys grow we may have to make the hunt more challenging or attempt it on foot or throw in some twists, but as long as they still enjoy it we're going to keep it up. And even if they outgrow it one day, we'll probably still do it. =) Growing up we used to call this FFF.... Forced Family Fun! And a little FFF never hurt anyone. It's actually good for you!! Haha!

We're enjoying our Christmas Break lots at our house and my boys are counting down something serious. Happy Tuesday before Christmas!