Christmas in Diamondhead

Over New Year's we went to visit my parents and celebrated Christmas with them and my brother and his family. We had 6 adults and 6 children in the same house (abby is the oldest of the children!) It was a lot of fun and everyone was so happy to see other that they all got along really well!

Here are 5 of the 6 monkeys!

Jon Wesley (3) Kayla (6) Abby (6) Nathan (2) Jacob (4)

Abby and Kayla got pretty bracelets from Nana and Pappa!

Uncle Jason and JW playing with Nathan

Nathan "getting" Pappa!

Nana and the two "babies"

Valerie and Peyton (my brother's wife and youngest daughter she is 7 months old)

Jacob and Peyton (he loved holding her and making her smile!)

bedtime snuggles!

Abby and Jacob had so much fun with their cousins! We wish they didn't live SO far away!!

Christmas with Mimi and Gramps!

Christmas afternoon we headed to Olive Branch to spend some time with Mimi and Gramps! Abby's present from them was an American Girl Doll and she was thrilled with her!Abby and I spent several months reading 3 of the American Girl series- we read Kit, Felicity, and Kirsten. There were things she loved about each girl, but in the end, she settled on Kit!

He still gets pretty overwhelmed opening presents. Doesn't really know what to think about all this!

Jacob got a drum set and was one happy imagination mover!

Nathan needed his turn to be a drummer boy!

Nathan snuggling with Mimi!!

Here's Nathan telling me that he's going to give Mimi ALL his kisses! This is one of his favorite games to play with me and Mimi!

love me some Christmas pj's!

Yummy new recipe!

Last night was one of the most wonderful dinners we have had in a long time! Not even because of what we had (which was yummy and I'm about to give you the recipe) but because all 3 of my children ate and not one of them complained or used the words "disgusting or no way!" (bet you can't guess which one of mine uses the words disgusting and no way!) Anyway, it's called Barbecued Pork Quesadillas and it's from the December 2009 Southern Living.

Here's what you need:
1 lb chopped barbeque pork (without sauce) I used one tenderloin and cooked it in the crockpot for about 7 hours so it would be tender
1 cup barbeque sauce
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
fajita size flour tortillas
1 pkg. shredded mexican cheese
toppings: sour cream, salsa, bbq sauce

1. cook your pork(or pick up some from your favorite bbq restaraunt!)
2. Mix the pork, sauce, and cilantro. (for my kids I left some of the meat plain w/out the sauce or cilantro)
3. place one tortilla on griddle/skillet cover w/ approx 1/4 cup cheese and 1/3 cup of meat- cover with another tortilla and cook until cheese melts!!

I served with corn on cob and chips w/ queso! Let me know if you try it what you think!

Christmas morning

After reading the Christmas story upstairs in our bed, we always head down and first thing we put baby Jesus in the manger at our nativity and sing happy birthday. It is amazing how excited our kids get about this year after year. And it is precious to watch them. Blowing out the candles on our "birthday cake" This year we were headed to Mimi and Gramps later on Christmas Day so we didn't make the traditional cake. Instead, I made monkey bread, and we ate it for breakfast AND used it as our cake!

Abby's new bike! She was VERY SURPRISED and excited to receive this!

Abby's silly bands- we could have just given her these and she would have been THRILLED! This is her first package of them and she is most excited!

Nathan and his train table (he's still trying to figure all of this out!)

Jacob on his new plasma car (we don't require the safety goggles, he just takes after his father!)

playing legos!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas! More to come from our trips to Mimi and Gramps' and to Nana and Pappa's!

1st grade Christmas program

it's time for me to play some major catch up!! This is from Abby's 1st grade Christmas program, back on December 4! She was a shepherd and sang Away in a Manger, the second verse, with two other little girls. It was a precious, precious portrayal of the Christmas story.Abby, Ansley, and Adrienne singing!
Joshua and his speaking part

Emma Grace singing (she was the Big Star)

Abby and Emma Grace

Abby, Emma Grace, and Victoria

some of Abby's friends from her class

Abby and Daddy

Me and Abby

Our sweet little shepherd girl, minus her headpiece!