christmas morning 2011

Christmas morning greeted our family with a nice----on time, wake time. I loove that our kids sleep until 7:30 on Christmas morning. No 5 am wake times in our house, yet! I was a happy mommy that I squeezed in my morning shower before the video camera had time to capture my bed head look. Landon had to tip toe in and wake Miller up with a jolly old "Merry Christmas" & a ho.ho.ho to finally get the ball rolling. As soon as he remembered what day it was, we could hardly keep him contained upstairs. The video was all cued up and I just had enough time to tame Eliza Kate's hair for such a joyous occasion. Oh the magic of Christmas morning....

Stocking time on the stairs is always a treat. I didn't grow up with this tradition of Santa filling up stockings with goodies. My mom was a wrapping queen and preferred every small trinket to be wrapped up under the tree.This is a tradition that we've carried through from Landon's side & I just love the thrill of stocking filling. This was a small task that I handed over to Santa Landon this year, and it was so nice to check this off my to-do list.

 Miller's stocking was filled with little odds and ends...mostly fun little conversation pieces. Underwear, Francesco from CARS II, gummy bugs, etc. I had to walk Eliza Kate's stocking to her to get her interested. I opened up all the goodies inside to perk her interest. Daddy picked out some cutey bracelets that she tried on right away. She half smiled. All the hustle and bustle first thing in the morning threw her off a bit!

Miller's face & reaction  to the gifts was priceless. Santa leaves his gifts upwrapped at our house...another Fokens tradition. The wrapped packages beneath the tree are from family members. Miller was thrilled with his new Transformer & Trio construction blocks. Luckily, we received his Santa DVD in the "St. Nick" of time. At the last minute, we SANTA ran out and scrambled for a Transformer toy that Miller requested on Santa's lap. Landon spent a good hour and a half following the instruction guide to figure out Miller's complicated new toy. It was a fun challenge & gave daddy something fun to put together.

 Miller made sure to let us know that he heard a "clatter" on the roof the night before. We all chuckled at his use of words. I love that he applied his new little vocabulary word from The Night Before Christmas in context. We enjoy hearing Poppy read this to us on our recordable Hallmark Christmas book from last year

Believe it or not,  Miller loves opening clothes and jammies. He was thrilled with his new racecar PJ's from mom and dad. He told us, " I always knew you would get me these". Really? As he was shaking boxes a few weeks back, he did comment that he thought there were jammies in his box. Hmm...I hope no one was spying on me as I wrapped up the special surprises.

I'll never forget the smile with cutesy dimples on this little mommy's face when she saw her Bitty Baby proudly sitting atop her new highchair. Eliza Kate just new this gift was especially for her. Santa decked Bitty Baby with all kinds of darling extras. Eliza Kate could not stop beaming with excitement. We finally picked a toy that she was visibly pleased with. A special "Dolliday" just for EK!

Miller took a seat to rest for a minute from the perch of the kiddos new craft table. I know he will love handwriting practice from a desk just his size. Eliza Kate needed a coloring station just her size too. Thank you Omi and Papa for this wonderful gift.

Eliza Kate knew just what to do with Bitty's pint sized baby bottle. She put on baby's new bib and begin giving Bitty her morning bottle. With a swig or two of her own, she was enjoying this new mommy chore. She loved putting her new snack food tray on bitty's chair. It was so entertaining to watch her finally interact with her doll.  I  Santa had just as much fun at the American Girl store picking it all out and waiting in a wrap around the store line to please my little girl on Christmas.

A tea set and a high chair...what's a girly left to want in life? Miller and EK loved serving me tea from the pink and purple plastic tea service set. This replaces the fancy china set in her room that is already chipped from playtime. Hooray for plastic! Oh, I can't wait for real tea party with my daughter.

Mario Kart was a Christmas morning surprise.I went back and forth with this gift. We don't want him spending hours on video games. but I think with lots of monitoring it will be a great game to enjoy as a family. Miller is somewhat shielded from toy commercials on TV as we watch  mostly PBS that he completely misses out on what to ask for. I still love that he has no expectations for gifts yet. I pray that this innocence lasts a few more years and we don't hear any "gimme, gimme" attitude in his vocabulary. When he opened this gift, he immediately recognized Mario but had no clue what to do with the box as there was nothing to build or interact with. He was blown away with the ability to drive the steering wheel and play a Wii game.

I needed to pop a motion sickness pill watching our little racecar driver navigate the course. He was turning all around &crashing right and left. Of course, all the crashing caused him to laugh uncontrollably with joy. With time, I'm sure he'll learn the wheel. I was happy that the set was a hit with our boy!

I got my Christmas squeezies in with my own special Christmas package with red bow on top before her morning snooze. Family time IS a wonderful Christmas gift. All of our gifting was exhausting to sweet thing. We put her down just in time for a Christmas breakfast of Pandulce.

When little sister was in her crib, Miller had his own little fun with Bitty. He said he was the daddy feeding Bitty tea on her tray. I love that Miller comments from time to time that all he wants to be when he grows up is a daddy.... The highest compliment Miller could afford to Landon for sure. He's really identifying with the male roll, minus playing with dolls and serving tea...ha! We joke that he's got his roles all confused as he thinks all daddys cook dinner at night. He often comments late afternoon, "What's daddy cooking for dinner tonight?", lol!  I just pray that we're setting him up to be one fabulous future daddy who feeds his babies!!:)

Over and out, these two enjoyed some walkie talkie chat time. Miller was learning all the lingo and phrases to go along with his new toy. We've already had a blast giving the other end to Miller's friend Grant across the street. These two call eachother from the front window waving wildly with silly messages. They enjoyed their own version of cell phones to communicate with. If only texting was an option...
More Christmas merriment to come...stay tuned!

"SANTA baby"

In keeping with our Christmas tradition, Landon's poem for 2011:

Santa baby, slip a high chair under the tree for me,

For my American Girl

“It’s for my baby” and hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, a complicated Transformer toy, yellow

for such a NICE little calm fell-ow

Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Think of all the fun I've missed

Think of all those days that I had no gifts

This day it would taste oh so good

To treat myself to some high calorie food

Boo doo bee doo

Santa honey, I wanna mansion and really that's

Not a lot

I’ve been an angel all year

Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

 

Santa cutie, one more thing I really do need, from CARS

Francesco beneath the stars

Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Come and trim my Christmas tree



With some yum yums from the aisle of candy


I really do believe in you


Let's see if you believe in me


Boo doo bee doo

Santa baby, mom forgot to mention new underoos

I’d like to wish you a warm thank you


Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

the night before christmas

The day finally came...the night before Christmas...the highly anticipated eve before the 25th.

Omi and Papa drove into town on Christmas Eve day. The kids always are bouncing off the walls anticipating their arrival in the driveway. It's always meaningful to merge family traditions between both sides and create our own at the same time. Omi and Papa are always so thoughtful to let the kids open a stocking stuffer gift on Christmas Eve when we're together. Miller tore right into his. It was a throw back toy, a Lite Brite. What a fun,creative gift that held Miller's attention. Here's to hoping I can keep track on all the pegs before they land in my vacuum cleaner!

Our girly girl accessorized herself with a new sparkly purse. She knew just what it was for. She's really into all things fancy so far. I was checking it out as the perfect clutch to hold my lipstick and phone. We aren't quite at the age where we can share accessories yet. And, if I decide to, you might just have to stage a purse intervention on me:)

 We got all dolled up in our Christmas best for the candlelight service at the church I grew up in. It's a tradition in my family to go to the Johnson's Ferry afternoon service as we've done for some 20 years. I absolutely love this tradition, singing traditional Christmas hymns, soaking in good teaching , communion, and singing "Silent Night" as a family to candlelight. It's what helps me appreciate Christmas in its fullest. This year we broke tradition and skipped our beloved after party. The drive was going to be too taxing on getting the little munchkins to bed on time.

 We came back home for a traditional , relaxed Fokens' family Christmas Eve dinner.  The house was cozy with lots of love from Omi and Papa & good cooking. Enchiladas & Tamales are what Landon grew accustomed  to on the night before Christmas. It's special to recreate the magic in our home too. Our little darlin' had a big time munching on chips and going back for more of course.This handsome boy will pose picture perfect with hands properly folded for me. It's getting his baby sister to sit next to him that is the challenge these days.

At this point in the evening, you could feel the electricity in the air. Four years old is a magical age to enjoy Christmas. Someone special was about to make an appearance. So with a hug and a Christmas Eve smooch,  we sent these dear ones to bed. The kiddos got all suited up in their festive PJ's ( ma and pa in their winter caps)  to settle in for a LONG winter's nap.
It's the night before Christmas.....

oh the anticipation

Having a whole week off of school before Christmas Day is a glorious gift. We've been playing & keeping busy on our Christmas countdown. With two more days to go.... the day before Christmas Eve, we met up with some friends at Catch Air to blow off some anxious Christmas excitement. We had a fa la la la la la la la la fun time!

Miller showed us his dancing skills on the dance floor. Out of nowhere the fun jumpy atmosphere turned into a preshooler's dance club. The bass was kicking and the lights were flashing.  The dance floor had a cool light up feature as you stepped on each square. Miller showed me moves that I didn't know he had. He was rocking out to "I Like to Move It Move It"!

Sweet sugarplumb wanted to "lide" -slide the majority of her time. Up and down is the name of her game! She did love the treehouse and sliding down a two story slide on mommy's lap. I had just as much fun as she did!

Jack and Miller hit the gym to melt off a few extra pounds from all those extra Christmas cookies. That's what preschool boys do on their Christmas vacation, right?

Eliza Kate hung with mommy on the twirling plastic tops. There was so much to entertain her!

We cleaned and prepped the house for Omi and Papa's stay. Miller is brimming over the top with anticipation for their visit. As you can see, he helped daddy fix a drawer that got off track in the kitchen. His safety goggles and screw driver helped him get the job done.

Then, we rolled out the dough to bake Santa's reindeer cookies. I took a few shortcuts this year and bought Pillsbury premade dough. We picked out our cookie recipe and just went with it in a pinch.

I had wonderful help with baker man & baker girl rolling out the dough and powdering the roller. That was Miller's favorite job. He had flour flying everywhere in that kitchen. I'm glad I waited to mop until after our cookie baking.

I kept reminding myself to let him get messy. "Don't worry about the flour." "Remain calm." "Laugh and enjoy". That was my mental rehearsal as my clean kitchen turned into a  white dust cloud. I will miss these days! 

Can you see his sugar high anticipation? This silly expression has made an appearance daily on our countdown to Christmas. He is just about to explode with merry measure!

We powdered our noses to remember the dust cloud. It gave the impression that we'd been slaving in the kitchen for hours with our homemade dough..ha!

Ta-da! A plate of reindeer cookies all decorated and ready for Santa's visit. Oh the anticipation!

thinking about mary

I love pondering a different aspect of the Christmas story each year. Thinking about each character's role and what they were feeling. This year there was just something about young Mary that's struck a chord with me.

Then I read this today...“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19

When the angel Gabriel came to tell Mary that she would carry God’s son in her belly, he had four bits of news to tell her. 1) The Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would give birth to God’s son 2) She was to name the baby Jesus. 3) He would rule a kingdom that would never end. 4) Her previously barren (old) relative, Elizabeth, was six months pregnant

Mary had to have a lot of FAITH to believe what God was saying through the angel. The Scripture says she “got ready and hurried” to a town called Judea, where Elizabeth lived. Don’t you know she prayed as she walked the whole journey? It would have taken a lot of prayer on my part to get there if I was Mary. God surely didn't owe her any solid proof that what he said would come to pass, but I love how she went to speak with Elizabeth first. I'm sure she was hoping for a little female reassurance. That's what I would have wanted anyway.

When Mary finally reached Elizabeth’s house we know that the sound of Mary’s voice caused Elizabeth’s baby, John the Baptist to leap within her womb. Elizabeth told her, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?…Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord said to her will be accomplished. Mary BELIEVED.
I just love this part of the story. I love it when God knocks our socks off with confirmation and timely encouragement from other believers. I'm sure she needed it. She was pregnant and not married at 14. The one provable fact sent through Gabriel in Mary's world was true. How exciting!\

I'm really loving our advent tree this season. Miller AND mommy are learning many new and wonderful things together. Our lesson today was "Mary is Chosen". It fit right in with just what I was pondering in my heart...the story of Jesus' birth. Just like Mary, I'm doing a lot of heart thinking....

christmas on peachtree

Woo Hoo for Christmas Vacation!  We are in the spirit of things at our house. Each year is more & more magical with Miller man. He is super pumped about two weeks with no school and a relaxed routine. Mommy gets a break from my little tutoring job for a few weeks and Landon has a more relaxed schedule working from home. We're all on vacation mode, and it's so needed for our family. We loaded up the sleigh van this morning for some Christmas vacation fun. We wanted to check out a new family activity, Christmas on Peachtree in downtown. As you can see, Miller had "snow" much fun dancing in the snowflake fog in front of the Children's Hospital Trees of Hope. It looks like this will be the only Christmas snow dance he'll be doing this year. No white Christmas is the forecast for this year. Miller's friend Parker had a very special tree decorated in his honor for everyone to enjoy. We loved that proceeds for this event went towards helping children like our buddy Parker.

The interactive train village captured Miller's interest. With the push of a button, he could control different lights and vehicles in the village. Eliza Kate loved watching this from the view Grandmama's hip.

Every event is better if you get carted around on your Grandmama's hip!

Miller hopped on the "snowmobiles" for some snow scooting fun. Of course Landon talked his way into the rink. He loves to play like a kid & we love him for that. Miller has no idea just how lucky he is to have such a playful , fun-loving daddy. One day he'll realize the gift of having a dad that acts like a kid....or he'll just be so embarrassed..HA!

I had to laugh that Landon looked like Billy Madison trying to squeeze his large body into a kid's racer.

Even Eliza Kate noticed that something looked way out of place on the snowmobiles. We kept laughing together and calling Landon "funny daddy".

This girl surely loves her daddy. It was his name that she called first on to rescue her from Santa's lap. She's a daddy's girl if I've ever seen one.

Miller and Landon went off to participate in a snowball shootout with snowball launchers. They sported their winter safety goggles for a little friendly competition. Eliza Kate and I threw our own snowballs outside the net while we watched our men compete. Miller loved having happy trigger control.

The object of the game was to shoot the snowballs inside a moving target pocket. It looked challenging from outside the net.

We ran into our new friends, the Graaffs while we were playing. They hopped on the choo choo ride with us . The track scene looked like a winter wonderland adventure. Nothing fancy, it just looped around the tracks a few times while we enjoyed all the props and snowmen.

Miss Paisley was more adventurous than Eliza Kate. I think we maxed out our girly's patience for trying new things after pushing her to sit on Santa's lap. She's done with the unfamiliar for a little while. Poor girly has to recover from such an emotionally exhausting week full of new experiences. There is only so much overstimulation that her system can take in!

Everyone followed the conductor's lead with reindeer faces on the choo choo express. It was so cute to watch. Nothing brings out the kid in you like riding on a small ride with your knees up to your chest.

Poppy and Miller spent an extended time at the train village together Grandparent dates are so meaningful to us! We love sharing in these activities with our whole family.

Climbing a glacier in  winter crocs probably isn't the best idea. Fortunately, Poppy was a wonderful spotter ensuring Miller man made it to the top.  No safety harness for our mountaineer. I was surprised he wanted to go to the top.

I guess showing off for a cute girl  in her Santa dress is great incentive to show off your mad climbing skills. It probably would have damaged his developing little ego to be shown up by a girl...in a dress no less!

Snuggling up with my girly.  She's a great little companion. EK missed the first part of her afternoon nap while we were playing away.

We loved the watching the traditional carolers by the Coke Christmas trees. The kiddos chased dancing snowflakes on the ground to the music. Running circles around the stage was a big hit.They were having a ball. Eliza Kate entertained us with her swinging moves back and forth to the beat. It's just too much cuteness to take in!

 

Enjoying the gift of togetherness on our Christmas break. Feeling blessed to share in it all with the ones I love most. The Christmas countdown is on!