the biggest and best birthday of the year!

On Christmas morning both kids woke up and came straight to our room.  When I asked Charli what day it was, she replied "Jesus' birthday".  It melted my hear to think, for at least this year, today was about Jesus birthday and not what Santa brought her.  We went to the living room to check out the scene and Charli was too excited to give Chad and I our gift from her, she didn't want to open her gifts at all...just for us to open ours!  She made a shoebox at school and filled it with great projects she did recently.  These were not things she had to keep for Christmas, but she snuck them home and hide so they could be our gift! *adorable* We got many beautiful things and a few pieces of candy corn too :)

It is really hard to decide what their favorite things will be...we took off for my family Christmas a few hours after opening all of our gifts so there wasn't much time to process what they got!  Charli loves her Spiderman pj's Santa brought though...and her Lincoln logs, as well as her marble run from Harper.  She got a lot of "art" and "school" things this year which she will love, but has a hard time finding the privacy to do them without her brothers uninvited help! 

Harper has lots of favorites this year.  Along with anything that his sister got, he has had fun playing with his combine that Santa pulled through on, and also a few big trucks/semis he got.  They got a lego/train table from Santa which is being used for storage of other gifts right now!

This picture of Charli with the pitiful tears is when she realized that when she woke up "Bunny", the elf, would be gone for another year.  So sad!

The kids went with Chad to the jewelry store to pick out my gift.  It cracks me up that Charli thinks my gifts have to come from Kelly's Jewelery, but when it is time for Chad's gift Charli wants to go straight to the farm store!  I won't argue with her logic!  I got a beautiful necklace and a jelly watch.  Chad said the two kids kind of argued over what color to get me, and they finally agreed on the purple one they wrapped up!  Charli was very proud of the necklace she fell in love with.  For being a tomboy she has great taste in picking out gifts for me, hope that never changes :-)

Chad was happy to get some fun hunting toys, new boots, and tools  from the kids.  He loaded up at my parents house again with some more handy tools and an automatic coffee pot, so he can jet out the door even faster in the morning! 

From my siblings and I, my parents will have the opportunity to go on a helicopter ride!  I was pleased to see that my mom was super excited about it.  In fact, while I know my dad will enjoy it and liked the gift, it was my mom who was the most excited!  Parents can be hard to buy for, and this was a big hit...that is so much fun!

The day after Christmas was probably the most fun for ME (outside of experiencing Christmas for/with my kids!).  Today we shot bluerock (or clay pigeons as some people call them) with most of the family.  It was fun to have an activity that we all did with our spouses!  And, the fact that I shot as good (or maybe better, ha!!) wasn't so bad either!!

As the Christmas weekend has drawn near I am reminded how important special people are in our lives.  Sometimes these people are family and sometimes they are friends who have become family.  Sometimes being family isn't enough, and sometimes being a friend is more than you could have ever imagined!  Making memories and spending time with the ones we love, celebrating what matters...is what matters!  Thank you to those who have filled this spot for us!  We hope you had a very Merry Christmas...looking forward to ringing in the the new year! 

Charli & Harper getting ready to make the big birthday cake!

and the finished project!  Charli wanted me to write on it because frosting can be "tricky"!  But, she was quick to tell me "do not put BABY Jesus on the cake, he is NOT a baby anymore...why do people keep calling him baby Jesus?!"

Charli * Harper * Braxton

Charli and "flipper"

"oooooo"!!!

some of his favorite! 

these two LOVE the Llama Llama books!  Charli got this one for Chad for Christmas!

Brenda * Randy * Rachelle * Vicki

getting a picture with my siblings was just about as hard as getting all 11 grand kids below!  Adults are no better and just standing and smiling that kids 3 months - 25 years! 

Ryen *Macey *Derek * Grant * Andrew * Reid * Harper * Cohen * Charli * Bryant * Colton

Charli and Reid !

Charli has really enjoyed babies lately.  She is old enough to "help" at daycare and has got to feed baby Bodee a time or too!  She loved her new cousin Reid!

Charli may have loved Reid...but she has nothing on Harper.  Harper CLINGS to Reid...always wanting to hold, help, or be near him.  Harper was Reid's wing man to make sure he had his paci and attention at any given moment!  Little does he know Reid will soon be a "pest" getting into his things, just like he (Harper) does to his big cousins!

I love, Love, LOVE the way cousins play together!!  They just play, play, play...tattle, tattle, play, play, play!  We are lucky enough to just let them go and let them work it out most of the time...but just watching them learn, and grow together is so much fun!  I didn't grow up with cousins the same age as myself - so this is so neat to me!  I love the way these kids love each other!! (and we all know that to love your cousins does not mean you won't fight, hit, bite, or push them from time to time!!) 

two busy boys! 

love!  Cohen gave great rides!

Ryen and Harper have always had a cute little bond, she is a great helper!

big day, Charli was in on the action for our Borg-family shoot out!

(don't tell Rachelle...but I think I could hold my own with her, for awhile at least!)

I think the memory of this day will stick with my dad forever!! (and with me too!) He was pulling and his three girls were shooting!  We all had a good time!

Charli in her spiderman PJ's!  Thank you Santa...she has wanted these for a long time!!

 The kids had a great time playing with all of their cousins this weekend on the Borg side!  They did not get to see all of their cousins on the Preister side...but did have fun with the one they did get to see!  As the families on both sides continue to grow I know the kids will really start to look forward to these family events more and more!  Cousins can be so much fun!!

Merry Christmas!

There are always more people who we want to share our Christmas wishes with, than cards...so please accept my apologies if you did not receive a card from us this year!  Those of you who come visit us on our blog are near and dear to our hearts! Merry Christmas to you all!!! 

Christmas Memories spreading Chrismtas Cheer!!

So excited to see Santa!!  Harper wanted a combine, tractor, suckers, and candy!  Charli wanted stompees, Lincoln logs,and a new bed for Wynston to sleep in!  She later added that she wanted a new puppy for her daddy, since Kasper is in heaven!

 

 

Painting can be so much fun!!  Harper was getting to close to Charli's work of art though, so she had to move!!  They each did a fine job, wouldn't you say?!

 

our next fun task for the weekend was to make and create sugar cookies!!  Charli got to pick out all the designs and they ranged from a dinosaur, letters for their names, Christmas tree, stocking, gingerbread man,and many others!  Frosting was the most fun, I used gel food coloring and it stained everything from Harper's tummy to Chad's mouth!!  Charil thought it was hilarious!

Charli was not thrilled to discover that Harper got to wear jeans to her Christmas program Sunday night!!

Harper is so proud to see Charli on stage...he loved finding her, waving to her, telling her hi, and ending with "good job Charli!"

too cute for words ;-)

and the lessons we can learn at starbucks...

We are about to head out the door for Charli's church Christmas program, the day has been full of fun and exciting things!  But, I wanted to be sure to share something special from Charli's day - in fear that I may forget later!

After shopping Charli wanted to stop at Starbucks (bad habit to have started so early!) for some hot chocolate.  As we were walking to the counter she said to me "mom can we leave some dollars here in case the next person doesn't have enough money?".  How sweet, and how could I turn that request down.  Charli was so excited to leave $5 at the counter for the person to come next! 

The selflessness of a five-year old can make an entire week of worries and cares go away! Thank you, Charli, for teaching all of us the importance of simple acts of kindness to strangers!

yeah charli, amen!

Charli sang in church today and I am happy to report that both kids were amazing during church...which isn't always the case!  After Charli was done singing Harper would clap with such a proud look on his face and on her last song cheered "yeah, good job Charli, Amen"!  This was the first week I let Harper and Charli go up to Children's Time together to sit.  She held his hand and helped him move his legs so he didn't get stepped on by the big kids!  Teamwork :-)

This morning, at a little after 6:00, Harper decided it was time to get up.  Not only did he decide it was time to get up, but he decided it was time to get up and not tell anyone!  I thought I heard something, and told Chad he should check on him.  Checked in his room...no where to be found.  Checked in the kitchen, no Harper there.  Looked in the living room...where could Harper be?  Chad looked in the bathroom and I think Charli's room before re-checking the rooms again.  On his second look in the living room he found Harper sitting all alone on the couch with his favorite blanket and Mickey Mouse, just sitting quietly and alone in a very dark living room.  He was in rare form today from the get go!  At nap he kept getting out of bed to turn the light on!  I thought I lost my mind the first two times I saw the light on...and he thought he was so sneaky!  So, he napped with the light on and at bed tonight got up to shut his door because I guess having it open a crack is just not his style!  I guess we will need to put bells on the doors soon since he can get all of the doors to the outside open, awesome!!

Charli had her first "friend" birthday party this weekend.  She went to the party of a classmate who was having a "princess" themed party.  We talked about how this was not her party and that for a short time she might need to play with things that aren't her favorite.  Charli understood and was fine with it, and in fact she was happy to be giving her two barbie dolls!  I dropped her off with about four princesses.  About 90 minutes later I came back to a room of about 12 princesses with handmade crowns, necklaces, and toilet paper gowns!  Then...in walks Charli in her jeans and t-shirt she arrived in!!  All the little girls had "Princess ___insert name here____" on their shirts and Charli had "Charli" slapped on the bottom of her jeans!  For 90 minutes she couldn't even bring herself to play the part of a girly-girl! 

We are about 98% done shopping, but I have a lot of wrapping (aka, putting in bags) to do yet. Charli needs to get something for Harper, which he as requested (multiple times) a big combine.  When we ask more about it he wants one as big as he his, and I pray he doesn't get it!  Charli had a lot of fun picking out Chad's gift but was quick to add "if he asks I will tell him he isn't getting anything for Christmas, not even nice kids that day!!" 

As we were reminded in church today there are only two weeks left until Christmas.  Charli gets to have the last show-n-tell before Christmas break, and on her day they are having a big birthday party for Jesus...pizza party and all!!  So many fun things coming up in the next few weeks...life just flies by in December. 

I am happy to report that I was finally able to pack these PJs away!!  He loves these and when I would wash them he would grab them before I could pack them away...they were capris with a belly shirt - not a good look on him.

a friend from work put together some fun things for both kids when Harper broke his leg and one of those goodies were a package of window markers which we forgot about!  I was gone Friday night and returned to this!  It is a picture of me and Chad with Charli and Harper's names!  They had a lot of fun making this and many other creations on the bathroom mirror this weekend!  Ohhh, and in the background is a very special surprise gift Courtney sent! She is great at picking up on hints I guess...while in Iowa a few weeks ago I said I liked her perfume, and a short time later a friendly little elf dressed all in brown and driving a UPS truck brought this Ed Hardy package to me! Thanks Court, you're the best!

Harper was so excited to play in the snow this weekend when Chad (finally) got our lights up!  If only he wouldn't have gotten snow in his glove he could have lasted another 45 minutes I bet!   He was not happy to come in, but they both enjoyed the hot chocolate after!  Winter can be so much fun when you're a kid!

We have had a lot of fun driving to see Christmas lights.  We have more than one house in town who puts on a show to music on the radio and the kids are so attentive to watch!  Watching a Christmas Light show is a great way to get into the holiday spirit!! 

Have a great week ya'll!!

Oh Christmas Tree!

I forgot to share a picture of our tree!!  (sans the tree skirt)  The kids had so much fun decorating last week.  It is full, to say the least, with memories of past and present -- but, to me, that is what makes the tree! 

leaving notes for Santa!

We had our first Christmas party this weekend, it is fun to start the holiday season!  We had snow on the ground which made it feel even more like the "season"!

 Harper got some of his tractors out over the weekend, but is still asking for a combine from Santa.  I am not sure he will get it, but I don't think he will notice...or mind!

fun with the camera!  I had the camera sitting in Harper's room and he brought it to me and said "cheese" so we had some fun with upside group pictures!

 It seems like everyone has caught on to the elf this year!  I think about ten friends on facebook got an elf last week!  We have been sharing pictures, names, and stories.  This is our elf, Bunny.  This is his third year at our house, and he seems to be doing a pretty good job!  Now that Harper is able to get into it this year Bunny has a hard time keeping them both happy with where he hides, poor fella just can't catch a break!  Charli has been showing him pictures of what she wants, and plans to write a letter to him so he can take it back to Santa before she gets to see him.  There is a new tv movie about the elf on the shelf and Charli cannot wait to watch it with Bunny!!

At our party this weekend they kids each got a gift from Lynn (daycare) and also got to take their pick from a table...Charli picked this gun.  Lucky for her she was one of the first to pick because there were several boys eyeing this baby!

Charli * Lynn * Harper  (we had a little better picture of Harper but the girls had their eyes closed, as the boy..Harper must take one for the team and have the cheese pose!!)

Charli was nice enough to help Haper open his gift...he didn't seem to mind - he was more excited about the bow!  Harper got an aqua doodle...which was on Charli's list too!

two best buddies ! This is Maggie...she is in kindergarten this year and said she is excited for Charli to be in school next year so they can be best friends at recess! 

Charli LOVES candy canes, loves them!  She hung some on the tree and one happened to break and needed to be eaten.  This is her subtle wink!

first snowplay day!  Charli does not look thrilled here because something about black and blue boots just "screams" girl to her!!  Maybe with "6" she will learn that she is actually a girl?!

once she got out in the show she forgot about the shoes I guess!

and now the magic begins....

Thanksgiving time means Christmas time for my family!  Most years it is the time we get together with my mom's family to celebrate Christmas.  I really do find a lot of pride in the fact that my grandma has been gone for over fifteen years and the family still gets together each year to celebrate Christmas, Grandma would be so proud of the effort her kids go to each year to make it special!  Year after year there are more there than missing...I leave the celebration each time thankful that we are able to still be together.  I know many families who do not make it a priority, so I feel we are pretty special!  We had family from Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota,  Iowa, and Nebraska this year!

But, before we celebrated Christmas we did enjoy thanksgiving!  We had several hours at the farm with my family before heading to Chad's sisters house to celebrate with his family.  Thanks to a lot of play with cousins Harper can now run up and down steps while bending his leg.  I would say he is about 90% (or more) with his walking now...each day is more progress!

the kids had a lot of fun playing in the corn field at Grandpa's house!  Harper really thinks Grandpa hung the moon, so there is nothing at his house he doesn't like.  Harper walked the field more than once to find corn left behind from the combine, but had a hard time finding any, what a bummer!

a few of the cousins though it would be fun to pose by the pivot...Colton rocking his spiderman hat and red cowboy boots ;-)  He looks like a total cowboy with one leg in and one leg out!

Harper nailed his head on the rim of the tire!  they thought they could just lean back and fit inside the tire...it worked for Charli, not to much for Harper!

Fast forward to our Christmas celebration in Iowa!  The grandparents bring gifts for the grandkids...and Charli was super excited to get her blue Doodle Bear, "sky" as her first gift this year!  She was SO excited!

She could not wait to color on him.  First his name was Nick, than Peyton (named after one of her favorite cousins she played with this weekend who she sees once a year!), and then decided to go back to 'his' original name, Sky! 

with equal excitement Harper opened a new dump truck and backhoe...when you are a dirt boy you can never have enough backhoes! 

I have yet to figure out who gets more excited over these toys, Chad or Harper.  Lucky for Harper, Chad does share.

Macey and Charli having so much fun with their new toys!

Sky even came with stencils, Charli has grown attached to him!

Two proud girls!

Harper and Aunt Rachelle became best buddies over the weekend.  Speaking of buddies, and I will have to post pictures later once Aunt Kara shares them with me, Harper was SO attached to baby Reid.  He held him while he was awake, held him while he was a sleep, helped read him a book, brought him toys, tried to feed him cookies...he was a great big cousin to him!  Harper wanted to take him home, and said he could sleep in his bed!  I am sure he will be excited to see him at Christmas again.  I tried to tell him that next Christmas he would steal his toys, but he was okay with it now!  :D  So fun to have those babies around!

snuggles with Grandma after a long day.  Surprisingly enough he did find enough energy to swim a little while later.  Funny how that works!

I came home to a happy surprise, our Christmas tree was up!  Chad said both kids were so excited to see it come up the stairs and loved to see the lights come on for the first time.  They had a lot of fun putting decorations on.  We sang songs, the kids played, and everyone helped cover our tree.  I have a ton of decorations from when I was a baby.  I have many of my own decorations, add them to the many each child gets each year...our tree is full to say the least!  I love the mixture of new and old, handmade and bought, shiny and rustic...most importantly it is ours and that is the best part!

We hope everyone starts off their holidays with lots of joy and HOPE!