Willis get together

My mom loves to have family get togethers so usually right around Christmas along with everything else going on we try and get both sides of our family together.  First was my mom's side.   We had a mexican fiesta night with most of the family there.

Mom and her sister

Playing pictionary

Shalee and Trevor enjoying some M&M's

All the little cousins

My cousin Charleen and her family

My cousin Cindy and her family

The 3 1st cousins

Trevor started playing a little game with Brittany and Josh by covering them with all the pillows.  Here's Trevor seeing where they are.  It was so cute

Crazy Trevor

Trevor is definitely one of those kids that just makes you laugh.  Lately he is getting into dressing himself so one day he comes out of his room like this

Shorts inside out on his head

I then told him it was on wrong, he tried again.  Shorts inside out, both legs in one hole, shirt inside out and backwards.  Yeah, that's my little stylist.

He's also loving the bubble wrap.  Santa probably could just give him some for Christmas and he would be happy.

Here's Trevor's favorite place to hang out.

Pinterest Fun

Not sure what I ever did before Pinterest.  Oh yeah, more time off of the computer, had to come up with creative ideas on my own, had ideas (recipes & crafts, etc) printed out everywhere.  Pinterest is GREAT!!!  I remember thinking before I got hooked "how in the world are people hooked on this" - well now I know.

Anyway, I was very thankful for Pinterest this Christmas because it helped give me ideas for teacher gifts.  Here's what I worked on for them.  I had 7 of them to do between school and church.
These are hot chocolate, marshmallows & crushed peppermint.  I was pretty happy with how they turned out.

This was Ms. Cicero and Ms. Hodges' gifts (Brody's teachers at school).  There was a monogrammed towel and baked goodies.

I really enjoyed getting these gifts together, however Jason said he thought I spent more time on the teacher gifts then I did on his.

Here's another idea I got off Pinterest.  I literally did this in about 10 minutes one day when I got home from work.  We get so many picture Christmas cards and I love them, however I never really knew what to do with them so I could see them all.  I hung 2 ribbons on our pantry door and taped the cards to it.  I LOVE how it turned out and the kids enjoy seeing all the people they know.

Our little Joseph

About 2 months ago, Ms. Cicero passed out parts for the Christmas play.  Her class was acting out the Nativity Scene and Brody was assigned Joseph.  She needed someone who could stand up there the longest and she felt Brody was the one.  No pressure right?   No lines just stand there and not act up!!

Here's our little Joseph all ready for the play

He and Mary, Ansley Johnson  (her dad and I graduated from high school together) came out with the 2 year old class as they were shepherds and then headed to the back to wait for their class to come back out

Thankfully, I knew someone on the front row who let me squeeze in to take pictures.  When Brody's class came out they were dressed as wise men, donkeys and presents.  They sang a couple of songs and quoted John 3:16.

Poor mom had Trevor to deal with.  He just couldn't stay still.

All of the classes came out at the end and sang a song or 2.

Nini and Papa with Joseph

They did so great and I was one proud mom

Brody's Christmas party

Nothing like finding out the day before that Brody's school party is the next day.  That's what happens when he's been out 2 or 3 days the week before - we didn't get the memo.  Oh well, thankfully I only had to bring 2 liters and that I have a job that allows me to be flexibile with my schedule.

The kids had worked so hard to get the room just perfect for the party and they were all pretty excited - maybe it was all of the sugar they were to soon eat.  Lots of parents were there ready to party with their kids.

Brody & Cody

Getting his present from Ms. Cicero

Brody & Nick

Brody & Ms. Cicero - she is one of the sweetest teachers and loves her students.

Ms. Cicero had all of the kids say their Bible verse that they would be sharing at the play that night.  She wanted to make sure we knew they knew in case they got nervous that night and didn't say it.

A wet game

Dec 11 was a Jaguar home game.  Well, it was kind of a dreary and cold day.  There was a chance of rain so I had pretty much made up my mind that I wasn't going to go.  However, after church we ran into Stephanie and Adam.  Stephanie and I kept going back and forth on what we were going to do.  We ended up talking ourselves into going to the game - what good wives we are.  We were just praying it wouldn't rain.

Since there were a lot of empty seats we were able to sit right behind Steph & Adam.  We didn't have to break out the ponchos until about half way through the 3rd quarter.  Stephanie was really hoping it wouldn't rain since she didn't come too prepared but thankful Adam brought something for her - she's in there somewhere.

Here we all are enjoying the rainy game.

Upwards 1st practice

Brody will be playing Upwards basketball this upcoming year at our church.  This is where kids from age 5 to 5th grade have the opportunity to play basketball or cheer.  The purpose of Upwards is to provide a fun and safe environment for kids to play basketball.  At the young ages, score isn't kept - it's about allowing everyone to play.  There is also a devotion so the kids and parents can learn about God's love for them.  We usually have over 100 kids playing and Jason has helped coach since our church started hosting Upwards about 8 years ago.  He has coached  3rd grade, 7 & 8th grade, and now he is coaching 5 year olds - yeah what a difference this year will be.

A few weeks ago, they had their first practice.  Brody was so excited and ready.

There are 5 kids on the team - 4 boys and 1 girl.  He had a lot of fun, however, I think it may be easier for Jason if Brody was on a different team.  You know your kids perform better for someone else than you.  Oh well, we will see how these 8 weeks go.

 

Taking a break and listening to Coach Brown tell about David and Goliath.

Back to some drills