Christmas 2012

We had a fabulous Christmas! As has become our annual tradition, we started off Christmas Eve with 4:30 pm mass followed by the appetizer extravaganza at Grandma and Pops' house. We had to rush home to make sure we were in bed before Santa arrived (honestly, they were both stressed about this!)

We made it in plenty of time and Santa brought wrapped gifts for the first time this year. They loved ripping into the presents, and it took more than 2 minutes : ) After a few minutes to enjoy Santa's loot, the whole family arrived for more presents and brunch. We capped off the day with more presents (what else?!) and headed home for a much needed rest!

The boys got tons of great presents, but I would say the biggest hits were the magic kit, football guys and arcade games. Good thing we all had new toys since it SNOWED on Christmas night!

Brunch with Santa

Aunt Christie took the boys to Brunch with Santa at Majestic Grille. They were even able to time it so Aunt Kath could make it too. They ate brunch and visited with Santa and Grizz, then headed over to the Peabody to see the lobby. They loved it, and they got a great video of Santa making the boys promise to be good for the rest of Christmas break. I'm not sure who had more fun - the boys or the aunts!

Christmas, part 1

We have already had a fun Christmas break! We celebrated Oden Christmas at Moz and Gramps' house, made ornaments, played some arcade games and even had our friend Preston come over to play. All this fun and more to come!

Reed's Christmas program

Reed was in the annual St. Louis kindergarten Christmas program tonight. He did an awesome job singing and saying his line. They were so cute and it was adorable!

Alex even had a little fun playing basketball with the siblings before the program started.

Le Bonheur Christmas party

We had a Christmas party today for Le Bonheur patients, employees and families. There were live reindeer, activities and pictures with Santa. We had a great time!

Overnight with Grandma and Pops

Alex and Reed had a great time spending Saturday night with Grandma and Pops. Looks like they played a little piano and built a giant tower!

Reed made a gingerbread house!

First Penance

Alex had his first penance today in preparation for first communion in the spring. They did a neat activity where each child processed into the church with an unlit candle. Once they made their first penance, they lit the candle. It was a cool way to symbolize the forgiveness of sin and the gift of love from God.

Oh, and they looked pretty handsome all dressed up!

Christmas parade

We went to our first official parade! I wasn't sure if the boys would like it or not, but our small town Christmas parade was one of my favorite childhood memories, so we had to try it. We had some pizza at Moz's office (on the parade route) and headed outside with some hot chocolate. And....they loved it! They liked the floats and bands and firetrucks, but both admitted their favorite part was having candy thrown at them and in the street. Fun memories!

Rock 'n Roll Day

Reed is studying the letter R this week at school, so today they celebrated Rock 'n Roll 50s day. He wasn't really sure what the 50s was, but he was excited to use hair gel and get to have root beer floats!

Weekend of lights

We kicked off the Christmas season this weekend!

We put up the tree on Saturday morning and then the boys joined me at a work event for Zoo Lights. They loved the magic show, and we had a great time walking around the zoo at night.

On Sunday, we headed downtown to have cookies with Aunt Christie and see all the downtown Christmas lights and sights. We saw the lights at Court Square, the amazing Christmas decorations at the Peabody, and had an awesome dinner at Flying Fish. We finished up the night with a little singing at the Center for Southern Folklore. Such a great, fun Memphis Christmas night!