Happy New Year!

Jaxon originally asked to have a party for New Year's Eve.  We were going to let him until he was invited to LCC's youth event.  I was all about having a big ole blow out.....but the thought of not having to start the year off cleaning up after 20+ kids sounded even better!  

We had 2 rounds of fun on New Years Eve.  The Phillips fam came over early and hung out then later the Turmennes came over while the big boys were at church.  We had a great night hanging out with our friends!  As you can see, Joss was the only one who wasn't awake to ring in the New Year!  

2014 has been fantabulous.  I can't believe it is over!  We did so much this year from plays to baseball to vacations and so on!  I look forward to what 2015 will bring for our family!  

Colossians 3:15-17

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Happy Birthday to us!

Mom and I always go shopping on my birthday!  I know many people say, "why don't you sleep in?  Get breakfast in bed?"  Well,  I certainly could....BUT I enjoy shopping with mom.  Plus, while I'm gone, Daddy-O and the kids clean up the mess from Christmas day.  It's a win-win situation people!  

Aww, I got a puppy for my birthday!  Meet Bella!  And yes, I knew I was getting her ;)

Daddy-O had a laid back birthday as well.  We were able to get out for a little while that evening.  Unfortunately the circumstances weren't the best but we made the most of it!  We got yummy take out (Nana and Poppi's treat) and took it home and hung out with the fam!

We are so blessed!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Family is so important.  We love to be with family all throughout the year but there's just something special about being with family at Christmas time.  In years past it has been rather....stressful to say the least in finding the time (and energy) to get to all the places we need to get and see all the people we need to see.  The past few years have been low key and just....nice.  We spread out the visits or shortened them and it is so nice and much more enjoyable.  

Christmas was so much fun this year.  Each of the kids got some sort of ride on toy.  It's hilarious to watch Joss drive her jeep up and down the road.  The boys ride their skate boards or the Ezy-rollers.  I even got a cruiser!!  Yay me!  Daddy-O got a record player.  I did good with that one ;).  I can't believe 2014 is almost over!  I guess time flies when you're having fun!!

Oh, one more pic I almost forgot to share!  The kids got their Christmas present from my parents a little early this year.  It's something they will be able to enjoy for years to come!

How cool is that?!  As much time as they are spending out there now, I am sure I will have a super hard time getting them inside when the weather is nice!

Christmas activities galore!

December is always full of lots of fun Christmas activities.  I try hard to not over do it so no one gets burned out.  I feel like we had a good balance this year!

Me and my girl before Christmas in the City.

Playing with dolls of course.

Lunch with friends before the show!

We had a fun girl time with some friends.

Love these crazies!  Their bond is so special.

The whole Charis crew!

Charis field trip to the Moravian Tea at Old Salem.

                                                

Joss and the other preschoolers performing at CBS

Sweetness

Gingerbread cookies with Avery

The GMOM ornament exhange

Delivering ornaments to the neighborhoods surrounding church

Charis Christmas Love Feast

The Charis mamas there that day.  And sweet Crosby of course ;)

A fun day at the Phillips Farm....always a treat!

Playing dress up with friends

A little selfie action of course 

And the best big brother of the year award goes to.....

My CBS group had a nice lunch while my wonderful husband watched all the kiddos!

Beautiful!

Christmas card 2014

I almost didn't do cards this year.  I just felt rushed.  Buuuut, I couldn't live with that decision....so what did I do?  I ordered 4 exhausted children to put on their Christmas jammies and smile as if they loved each other..... It worked out... here are a few outtakes....

Just waiting on Jax.......

She's so photogenic when she wants to be!

These 2 lovies

Here they are listening to Daddy-O lecture them.....

I thought this was cute but Daddy-O nixed it real quick. (whatever)

This was one of my favorites.  And I seriously contemplated using it.

And the winner.  Not too shabby given the circumstances. Ha!

LIFE classes showcase

The kids take classes once a week with HPHE.  Some of the classes perform in the showcase at the end of the semester.  It just so happened that each of my kids were in classes that performed.  The boys were in a drama class and Joss took a dance class.  It made for a busy time considering the boys had BCPE going on but we made it work and it proved to be a lot of fun!  

Now don't let this picture fool you......The little princess rocked the stage at rehearsal.  The night of the show she would have no part in it.  She refused to go on stage.  Cried hysterically until they came and got me to get her.... Made my mama heart so sad because I knew she could do it.  There's always next time!

Jax did great as King Richard in Robin Hood.

Camron was an elf and Caden was Prancer in The Littlest Reindeer.  It was adorable.

Best Christmas Pageant Ever

The boys all had roles in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with High Point Community Theatre.  It was an awesome show with a ridiculously amazing cast and crew!  I cannot say enough about them, honestly.  They loved on each other, supported each other, prayed for each other, etc.  The show was great.  Definitely tiresome, but great!

 Some of the cast before a show.

 Boys being boys!

The cast praying before one of the shows.

The director and stage manager......fabulous!!!

Jax made the newspaper!

Some of us went to dinner after the show one night.  It was a hilariously fun time.

One of the scenes ;).

Nana and her girls

A friend of mine has a daughter who gets along SO well with Joss.  Joss calls Lilly her "cousin best friend".  They may as well be cousins!  Nana takes them on "girls days" to do all sorts of fun things.  They recently made Christmas cookies AND Nana took them to Frozen on Ice!  That was such a treat for all 3 of them!  Their relationship is just precious and makes my heart swell to see!

Thanksgiving 2014

We were super sad that Daddy-O had to work this Thanksgiving.  We were very thankful to be able to see our family, though.  We went to Mimi and Grandpa's first and then on to Grandma and Papa's.

The cousins minus a few.

Grandma and Papa with their great-grands.

I love them so much.

I snuck in on these 2.  Anything Joss wants to do, Grandma agrees!

                                        

The men folk

The kid table :)

Wait, how did this pic get in here...oh, that's right...because we went shopping that night!  We might be "cray-cray"!