A glimpse into Christmas at our house

Since ya'll don't stop by our house at Christmas time I'd thought I'd give a quick glimpse at a few traditions and some decor around our house this season. I don't go all out by any means b/c with three little ones and one little guy that gets into everything it's not worth it. We've already had a few broken ornaments.

First off we don't have a fireplace and we don't really have a good spot to hang our stockings without the kids getting into them so I found this great sign on etsy and she made it to match our house perfectly!
Here is a picture of our tree decorated with our three little models.

Some decor on our shelves.
Some chocolate snowmen I made for some of Carter's teachers at church along with the ornament he made at M-LIFE.
And of course we had to make Christmas cookies. Carter was a big helper.
And Trey enjoyed the finished product!

We also made a gingerbread house. We had to make it super FAST b/c the boys wouldn't quit eating the candy! Trey wanted nothing to do with being in this picture. Every year is more fun as the boys can do more and more stuff.
And lastly just a picture of our pictures!Looking forward to our family of five Christmas together tonight. Homemade pizzas and sparkling juice by candlelight. :)

Carter's 1st Christmas Program

Last night our church had their children's Christmas program. Carter had to practice on Saturday and he just stood there. After having a talk with him about who was coming to watch him along with a couple of bribes definitely improved his performance for Sunday night! (He's the little guy in the red in the front).

And then he spotted me and quick smiled for me to take a picture. It was so sticken cute! He was so proud of himself which melted our hearts.

First Christmas party of the season

The Christmas parties have begun! Saturday night we had the extended Meeuwsen family party at our church. We had a great meal, the kids opened their gifts, Santa came!!, and we had a fun game of bingo and ended the night with yummy sundaes. With our kids being the youngest of the group they are spoiled by all the older kids!

Carter wasn't too sure of Santa at first but as you can see from his smile he REALLY wanted a candy cane! Trey wasn't too sure of him...no tears but no smiles either.
Santa wanted to take Jade home with him. :)


Jade got lots of loving! I hardly held her all night. Abbie (on the right) has just started babysitting and has watched our kiddos a few times with the help of her mom and does a great job. She LOVES babies as does her mom! :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving day after church we headed to my parents house for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with just our immediate family. After lunch we told my dad we were taking him out for his 60th birthday on Saturday night but had him open his present then which as you can see was probably a good idea. :) We surprised him with a new muzzle loader. When carrying the package in Carter told Grandpa Jim it was a big chocolate bar (oh he thinks like his mom). :)

Thanksgiving night we headed to Brian's Aunt and Uncles house to have a meal with the Meeuwsens. Friday I stayed home and avoided the crazy shoppers and bought some stuff online...so much nicer! On Saturday I did run to town for a bit while Brian took Carter to ZFS and my mom took Trey to go pick out her Christmas tree with Mike, Kim and Kasen.

After we were all back home and had lunch we headed out to pick out our Christmas tree at Prince's in Borculo. That is where my family always bought ours so it's kind of a fun tradition. Jade was all bundled up ready to go.
And this is the one we picked out! Stayed tuned next week for pictures of it decorated.

Saturday night was my dad's actual 60th birthday so my cousin and her hubby came to babysit (for free!) so we headed to Rosebud's in Grand Haven. We were the only ones in the dining room so we were a little nervous and joked that my mom rented the entire place for us. But the food was awesome and we had a great time!