Getting Ready for CHRISTmas!

  The older the kids get, the more exciting and just fun CHRISTmas time is for our family. I love how Tyler and I have started traditions with Tenlee and now she remembers them and is telling Kooper those little things. There are several things we did last year that she has remembered and is asking to do again. 

  This year Tenlee was old enough to do Operation Christmas Child. She chose to buy for a girl age 5-7 and picked out everything on her own. She had so much fun shopping for her and as we were putting everything in the box, Tenlee said "I can't wait to see her smile when she opens this!" It just melts my heart to see my daughter get excited about seeing someone else smile about some small gifts she picked out. This is definitely a tradition that we will be doing each year and adding the boys as they get older.

One tradition that we started when Tenlee was born was buying each one a new ornament each year to add to the tree. I think it would be neat to give them 18 ornaments when they graduate. Each one will be such a special memory and something they can pass down to their own kids someday. 

 

Sending her letter to Santa...she is asking for a treehouse with squirrels
and a tinkerbell outfit with wings so she can fly to heaven and see Jesus.

We took the kiddos to the Windmill Museum in Kendallville to see Santa and to see all of the pretty lights they decorate with. It was a great night to walk around outside with all 3 and see all of the decorations, and of course they loved Santa.

 A tradition we started last year was doing a gingerbread house with my mom, Tenlee and I. This year we did one again and had so much fun! The kids love Charlie Brown so I was excited that I was able to find one at our local grocery (and on sale:).

The kiddos were in our church CHRISTmas program this year. Tenlee was supposed to be an angel in the program but ended up getting bronchitis so she stayed home with my mom. Kooper sang "Away In The Manger" with the big kids and he was also a grandchild during the reading of the birth of Christ. Tucker was baby Jesus, and he did just perfect...no fussing at all!

All dressed and ready to go to church