Christmas 2008 Part 2

We left Nana & Pawpaw's & headed to Gram Gram & Papa G's house. It was a busy & exciting week. All of the "Bradshaw kids" were home for Christmas for longer than 24 hours. It had been quite a few years since that had happened. We had a lot of fun along with the usual travel illness & bumps on the head. We got there on Sat. night & by Sunday afternoon Cole had pink eye & a nice size knot on his forehead. Gotta love traveling....

They just couldn't be serious for a nice photo. Not even for a couple of seconds!

Gram Gram reading to ALL of her grandkids!

Cole's awesome photography take 1.

Cole's awesome photography take 2.

He has such a gift with the camera!

Aunt Cristina, Uncle Daniel, & Ben got Savannah this neat tent for her birthday. Doesn't Papa G look good in pink!

He used to be wrapped around my little finger....

Gram Gram took her turn in the tent too!

All of the grandkids riding on Papa G's back.

Cristina's face says it all - we were afraid that they would break his back!

And nobody even fell off!

Cole's awesome photography take 3. This is Cole's favorite Christmas toy at Gram Gram's house. It plays "Jingle Bells".

Great Uncle Chris & cousin Taylor with Cole, Ben, & Savannah

Playing the "Jingle Bells" AGAIN!

Snacking on Snickerdoodles & milk on Christmas Eve

Leaving Snickerdoodles & milk for Santa

Papa G & Gram Gram with the kiddos on Christmas Eve

Santa Claus came to town!

Santa brought Cole a firetruck & a full fireman's suit.

Santa brought Savannah an easel with all of the art supplies she could think of and a Minnie Mouse dress.

Santa brought Ben a kitchen.

Check out the fireman!

Definately the cutest Minnie Mouse I have ever seen!

Cousins sharing a moment with Gram Gram's old fashioned sugar cookies. Yummy!

Ellen came to play!

Poppi with all of the grandkids in town!

top row - Cristina, Daniel, Poppi, Matt, me

big bottom row - Forrest, Dalton, Rachel, Taylor

little bottom row - Savannah, Ben, Cole

She just couldn't take any more....

Hanging out with Papa G.

Artists hard at work.

"I can spell my name!"

These are the letters that came with one of Cole's Christmas gifts.

We had such a nice week. By the time the week came to a close, it was definately time to get the kids back home & on a schedule, but we wouldn't trade a minute of the chaos for anything.

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2008 Part 1

We left home on the Friday night before Christmas at 7:00 p.m. Way too late to leave, but it took me that long to get everything done & together to travel. We stopped at Nana & Pawpaw's to spend the night & have some Christmas time with them. Of course it was late when we got in, but that didn't make the kids sleep in the next morning. After breakfast & showers we opened gifts.

Cole's favorite was his racetrack.

Cole likes to help others open their gifts.

Daddy & Pawpaw working hard on putting the racetrack together.

Pawpaw was such a good sport!

I don't think I will exchange this one.

Savannah had so much fun playing with Nana's broom!

Finally! Success!

Can you see the excitement on that face?

Whose racetrack is this anyway?

Savannah helping Daddy make chicken enchiladas!

Nana & Cole decorating cookies!

A three year old with a can of sprinkles = Dangerous

Gotta love those smiling faces!

"Nana I think we need more sprinkles!"

The cookie artists hard at work!

No sooner were they iced & sprinkled than Savannah was popping them in her mouth. Nana couldn't keep up production fast enough for this cookie monster.

A happy bunch!

We had a great time with Nana & Pawpaw for Christmas. It was just too short of a trip!

A Taste of Christmas Spirit

My dad, aka Papa G & Granddaddy, HATES to have his hair touched by anything other than his comb & his hands. Over the years it has become a practice to try to mess with Daddy's hair & then run as if your life depended on it. What a beautiful change a granddaughter can make...hehehe! We love you Dad!!

Most of December 2008...

As is true for most families, December was a very busy month for us! I am guilty of "over committing" our time, which is both fun & stressful. We managed to have a few Kodak moments along the way.

As we enter 2009 Matt & I feel truly blessed to have children who love each other so much. This picture can not even come close to capturing the sweetness this moment held between Cole & Savannah and the joy it brought to Matt & me.

Our first Friday Family Game Night. I hope to make this more of a habit in 2009. We had lots of fund playing Chutes & Ladders.

Look at those fierce competitors!

Cole won!

Those faces say it all! Matt & I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the Grinch ice sculpture display. It really was a truly amazing sight, but the kids were not quite as impressed as we were. It was miserably cold (six-nine degrees F) and I suppose the Grinch can appear a little scary.

We found someone kind enough to take a family photo for us. This was the only part of the whole thing that Cole liked. "The part where they had their hands up." - at the end of the story!

Goofing off at home on our snow day!

My little purple princess!

Gotta love this face!

"Mommy! It is too bright out here!"

The snow melted rather quickly, so we went Christmas shopping...right after we documented that there really was snow!

After about 6 months of trying to plan a time to get together, we finally were able to have an Allen/Miller/Moss dinner night. The kids had a great time playing. I am not sure who enjoyed the play-doh more....Cole & Clark or Matt & Jeremy...

mmmmmm....looks like it was really Jaxon who loved it the most! Yummy play-doh!

We attended our first ever Breakfast with Santa. Santa's workshop was full of activities to enjoy. Cole & Savannah each created a winter scene with stickers and a couple of ornaments.

I am so glad to have several Cole & Savannah creations on our Christmas tree now!

The big moment finally arrived to sit with Santa & Mrs. Claus. At that moment Cole & Savannah decided Mommy & Daddy should join in the fun too!

Cole took a picture of Savannah...

...and then one of himself. He found the zoom button after he took this picture. It was a little too close!

Finally asleep...but something's not quite right here...

Though quite busy, pre Christmas 2008 holds alot of dear memories that we will treasure.

Cole & Savannah funnies

Cole's Funny

After bath tonight we were on the phone with Uncle B. Savannah was telling him that she was putting on her chapstick. B asked me if I had read Mindy's blog entry that tells what Hannah calls chapstick (which is "crap-tick" if you are not going to click on the link & read it yourself). Anyway, I said "yes isn't that hilarious", and Matt says "what does she call it?" So since we are talking in front of the kids I say "C-R-A-P-T-I-C-K". This is the conversation that followed:

Cole: No Hannah doesn't.
Mommy: Yes she does.
Cole: No she doesn't.
Mommy: Yes she does. That's silly isn't it Cole.
Cole: (Laughing) It is silly. I call it C-M-O-H!

(I am still laughing!!!!)

Savannah's funny

Last week on our road trip we stopped at McDonald's on the way out of town. Cole & Savannah each got a happy meal that had a zebra toy in it from the Madagascar movie (i think). Anyway, the zebra says two things:

"Holla at ya' boys" and "You guys are crazy"

As I was buckling up Savannah when I picked them up from school yesterday, the zebra started "talking" (it does this whenever it gets slightly bumped, you can imagine how much I love this happy meal toy).

When Savannah heard the zebra she said:

"Crazy boys!"

Sometimes I think God blessed us with children just so we could laugh!

p.s. Mom - please forgive me for typing the word "crap" two, I mean three times!