Christmas with the Schnacks

I can't believe Christmas is over! The kids were so fun this year. Especially Gavin. The magic of Christmas is so awesome through a 4-year-old's eyes. He was so concerned that Santa was not going to be able to come to our house because we didn't have any snow for his sleigh to land in. Greg convinced him, however, that the elves put tires on the sleigh to land in places that don't have snow. Once that was straight, I've never seen a child want to go to bed so fast in my life! We were out looking at Christmas lights after Christmas Eve mass, and he kept saying he wanted to go home and get "all nestled in my bed so Santa can come." (We've read The Night Before Christmas several times this season)! We got home, and he didn't even want a bed time story. No time for that. Must go to bed. So cute!

Greg took a couple of days off before Christmas, so we were able to enjoy some fun family time. We went to Natchez, MS to look at some of the old Antebellum homes, do some shopping, and look at lights. We also took the kids to Canton, MS where they have a Victorian Christmas celebration every year. Lots of lights and fun activities for the kids. We had a great time. I am so blessed to have such a great family!

Some of the beautiful homes in Natchez:

I didn't get a very good picture of this one. Too bad, because it was beautiful! And it cost $5 just to drive by and see it!

Being silly at dinner in Natchez! We ate at a place called Biscuits and Blues. Best. Biscuits. Ever.

Christmas in Canton:

Our attempt at a self-portrait after Christmas Eve mass!

Take, I don't know...12? Thanks for ruining this one Greg!

Santa came!!

Our traditional Christmas morning monkey bread!



Look what Santa brought!!!



Lots of Mickey and Minnie for Miss Lexi!

Santa brought Lexi some My Little Pony. Mommy had these when she was little!

Taking pictures with his new camera!

What a mess!!!

Putting together his Lego semi-truck with Daddy.

Our Christmas reindeer!

Our matching Santa PJ's!

 

Our friends the Crain's came over Christmas afternoon. Presley and Gavin enjoyed playing the Mario Kart Wii game that Santa brought!



Merry Christmas!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! We have been crazy busy around here. We are sad that we won't be able to make it home for Christmas this year, but I have to admit it's kind of nice too. We have been enjoying decorating the house and establishing some of our very own traditions.  One of them being The Elf on the Shelf. For those of you that don't know about the Elf, he is sent from Santa to watch the kids, then he flies back to the North Pole each night to report to Santa if the kids have been naughty or nice that day. He is found in a new spot each morning when he returns.  The kids get to name their Elf, and they can talk to him, but Santa instructed the Elf that he can only listen, not talk back. Also, we cannot touch the Elf, because his magic powers might go away. Our Elf made his first appearance right after Thanksgiving, and Gavin was completely enchanted by the idea right from the start. He named our Elf "Package." (We're still not over the whole UPS man thing). Gavin wakes up each morning searching for Package, and tells him "Good morning" when he finds him. If he starts to act up, all I have to do is mention that Package is watching and he straightens right up. I love Package! Lexi is too young to get the concept, of course, but don't worry; Gavin is quick to tell Package when she is being naughty!

We had our holiday pictures taken at Portrait Innovations again this year. I think they turned out pretty well considering everybody was sick! I almost canceled our appointment due to snot, but thought we'd see how it went. Here are the results!

Here are some I doctored to Photoshop:

And here are some everyday poses we also had done:

A Very Merry Christmas and Love to all!!

Twinkle, Twinkle

Miss Lexi is 18 months! I can't hardly believe it. She weighs in at 27 pounds, 5 ounces, and is over 2 feet tall. She is in the 90th percentile for weight, and 95th for height. She towers over other babies her age! The doctor was asking the typical developmental questions, and when he asked if she was talking, I laughed and said, "Oh yeah! The girl will say any word you ask her to, she sings songs, and talks in sentences!" He said studies have shown that little girls with big brothers tend to talk sooner; however, little boys with big sisters tend to be delayed in the speech department. Why? Because they can't get a word in edgewise! So true!

Lexi LOVES to sing. Her favorites are: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, The Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Old MacDonald, the Mickey Mouse song, Pat-a-Cake, and If You're Happy and You Know It. She loves to watch Mickey Mouse Club House on TV, and also recently started to love Elmo. She's never watched Sesame Street, but has a couple of books with him in them. She started to recognize him in other places and would point him out and say "Elmo" in they cutest little voice ever. This made me remember that I had a Tickle Me Elmo (circa 1995!) around somewhere, so I dug him out and introduced him to Lexi. Since then, she has been dragging him around everywhere and even sleeping with him. It's a little freaky when I wake up in the middle of the night to "Hahahaha, that tickles!" over the monitor! It doesn't seem to bother her though!

I will leave you with a video of her singing some of her songs. She can do them even better than what I captured, but I can never seem to get it on video! She'll get distracted, drowned out by Gavin, or just plain won't be in the mood. So I had to settle with this one, but I don't think you'll be too disappointed.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Commenting

So, I've heard that a couple of you have had trouble commenting on my posts. I changed some settings, and you shouldn't have a problem anymore. In the "Comment As" drop down menu choose "Name/URL" and you should be able to type your name in. Or choose "Anonymous" and type your name within the message. Comment away!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween to all! We have so much candy here, we could all be on a sugar high for months. We went to a Trunk or Treat at the park on Thursday night, Trick-or-Treating at a retirement home with our MOMS Club on Friday, and of course real Trick-or-Treating last night (they changed Halloween to Saturday here, I guess having it on Sunday would be sac-religious or something)! While we didn't need all the candy, I just couldn't resist the opportunity to dress the kids up in their cute little costumes. Gavin just LOVES being the "package man," and I have to admit his costume was pretty unique. I transformed a box into his trick-or-treat bag, and that really topped off his costume! He got so many comments on his outfit, although when people referred to him as a UPS man, he had no idea who they were talking about. He is simply a "package man," and that is that.

I just had to have Lexi be a cowgirl since she loves her boots and horses so much. And her little "YEEEE-HAW" is just as cute as can be. She also loves Tigger, so I had her wear Gavin's old costume a couple of times too. She likes to get our Tigger toy out and bounce with him...so sweet.

While Gavin has got this getting candy thing down pat, Lexi was a little overwhelmed. She buried her head in either my shoulder or Greg's most of the time. Gavin went right up to even the creepy houses (a couple of houses in our neighborhood go all out decorating). We went trick-or-treating with our neighbors Will and Molly (both very close in age to Gavin and Lexi), and Gavin's bestie Presley, and her brother Kason also joined us.

Lexi at a MOMS Club Pot Luck. Ride 'em Cowgirl!



Our MOMS Club friends before Trick-or Treating at a Retirement Home; our service project for the month of October. Lexi as Tigger here!




Ready to go Trick-or-Treating!




Cutest UPS man and Strawberry Shortcake you'll ever see!




Lexi and Kason...Kason is trying to give Lexi kisses!




Lexi and Molly...Lexi is being shy.




Gavin and Will having a blast!




These two were cracking me up! They were so loud and obnoxious, we were joking that they were acting like a couple of drunk college buddies!




Hanky in his Halloween costume!



Lexi scooping out her pumpkin.

Gavin getting ready to carve his first pumpkin!



Gavin's pumpkin is the smiley face..he did a lot of it himself with the help of Daddy! Lexi's is the kitty-cat, she did a good job, huh?  I think we know which one is Greg's, and mine is supposed to be an owl sitting on a tree branch, but I messed up on his eyes!