Family....

...is what makes Christmas so special!!!

Some highlights from Christmas morning:



I created a 100 page book for the kids this year with Shutterfly. Inside the book are photos and captions from our homeschool experience. Our classroom, all about the kids, field trips we've taken with our homeschool group and as a family, educational vacations, and a variety of photos of the kids working in school at their desks, with experiments, crafting and more! It took me quite a while to get all the photos together (over 600 of them!) but it was well worth the effort!!! This book will be a treasure for years to come. Here they are looking at it.


Lionel loves anything to do with World War 2, so what better gift than a pair of aviator goggles!?! He looked just like the flying ace...in pajamas! hee hee


Here he is with some of his WW2 prints. He got a few of these, some great vintage WW2 planes fabric for new curtains and an awesome balsa wood WW2 plane...the Messerschmitt. Believe me, he was one very happy camper!!


He also loves educational shows, so he got the Discovery Shark Week DVD set, and a few great DVD's from the History Channel!


Samantha finally made it into Sweet-Pea's American Girl doll collection (...and then there were 8!!!) Knowing that Samantha would be retiring this year, we had no choice but to purchase this one if we were going to help make Sweet-Pea's collection complete. We knew we were going to get her an American Girl doll for Christmas, but we weren't sure which one. Sweet-Pea simply loves Samantha, so it was the perfect choice anyhow!!


These are the priceless reactions we aim for on Christmas morning!!! Thanks for obliging me Sweet-Pea!!! There were several of these looks from both kids, but this was the best one captured on 'film'. (Is that politically correct to say now that our photos are all digital?? There IS no film!)


One of Sweet-Pea's favorite gifts were the American Girl skates. This was the first thing she wrote down on her Christmas list, so when she opened them she was thrilled!!!!


Two of my favorite photos, hands down!! (No, they were NOT staged either!)





Cody was not left out! He enjoyed a stocking full of fun gifts too! He got several different kind of treats, 2 stuffed toys, a chew toy and this big enormous bone! It didn't take him long to claim it as his, and his alone!!!


Dinner was great! We had Edward's family over, so it was a nice crowd. It really stinks that the kids have no cousins around, so they don't have other kids to play with, but I suppose they are used to it by now. They love their grandparents & aunts/uncles who live nearby, so they at least get to spend time with family.


I do hope your Christmas was wonderful, and that you were able to make memories with your family and friends that will last a lifetime!!