christmas favorites.

some highlights from this past christmas…

seeing these precious handmade ornaments year after year.  look at my little buddy!  i think he will look exactly like this to me the day he leaves for college.

and i’m instantly feeling very sad about that very thought.  take it back!  take it back!

a new one to add to the collection this year.  🙂

taking my girls out on a special date to the angel breakfast.

seeing my baby celebrate his first christmas.

by trying to eat the magnet advent pieces every. single. day.

making eight dozen mini sticky pecan buns.  from scratch.

and then driving all over town to deliver them to our friends.  (never mind that it was really late and we came unannounced and we probably freaked all our friends out more than anything else.)

then driving through ‘candy cane lane’ (a neighborhood in our town) to admire all the pretty lights and decorations.

while munching on popcorn laced with m&ms, sipping hot chocolate from thermoses, and listening to christmas tunes on the radio.

that combination (especially the snacks) is something the kids especially look forward to every year.

taking my girl out for a mommy-daughter outing to see the nutcracker.

waking up christmas morning and coming downstairs to find my two little guys like this.

homemade cinnamon rolls!

seeing this face.  (each of the kids got 3-4 presents to open plus their stockings, but piled all together and it looked like quite the mountain!)

finding a surprise present from my little guy.  it was his $2 bill that he got from the tooth fairy.  (he took this pic, too!)

and he was pretty sad when he discovered daddy went and surprised me with a keurig coffee maker AND the box of coffees that he said he wanted to buy for me when he was in college (he hasn’t realized yet that he’ll be broke while in college).  i told him i’d hurry up and drink all the ones daddy bought me so that he could get me the next box once he’s in college.  he seemed okay with that idea.  only…  i’ll have to wait another eleven years before i’ll get more coffee.

this kid.  i really, really, really love this kid.

seeing the kids thank each other for the presents they picked out for each other.

seeing them get exactly what they wanted (and have been waiting for months to get).  in her case, it was a doll bed, closet, and clothes.  she loved.

seeing our girls sing “go, tell it on the mountain” with their sunday school classes on christmas morning.

and our boy sing “hark, the herald angels sing” with his class.

and having our girls finally fit into the christmas dresses i bought them… two years ago.

it was a wonderful christmas season around here.  hope yours was great too.  🙂