Christmas with the Cousins

It was a little bit like a daycare at Christmas this year.  SEVEN kids under the age of 5 makes for completely exhausted grown ups! The kids had a blast playing with their cousins though.
They all piled in the 3 jeeps that Santa brought to Grammy and Grandpa's house.  They drove around for hours and I have to admit that I was totally surprised that there wasn't any fighting. 

Granbury decorates the park with thousands of lights so we let the kids run off some energy

Then we were off to Grapevine to ride the real train down to the Stockyards...

Lots of love, laughs and complete exhaustion.  Trying to get 5 toddlers to sleep in the same room can be quite a challenge.  Bless Grammy for giving up her sleep and staying with all the kiddos! 

Pssst... Santa Came

There's just something wrong with waking up before your kids on Christmas morning.  I thought for sure I'd be roused at the crack of dawn by two very excited little people this year, but it didn't happen.  Since I was up before the kids, I was able to really catch their reaction though... so that was fun. 

I was sitting on the couch feeding Rylan when I heard Tucker's door open very slowly.  He can see the Christmas tree from his room so immediately he starts talking to himself in a quiet but excited little voice.  Normally he comes storming out and announces to the whole house that he's awake.  Ain't nobody sleeping in my house if Tucker's not sleeping.  Anyway, he didn't come out of his room.  He just tried to wake Reese with his best "whisper-yell".  I hear, "Reese, Psssst... Santa Came!"  Eventually she tiptoes out and together they come check out the loot. I think it probably took longer for them to finally come out than it did for them to rip into all their presents...

 It was a fun morning for everyone... even Rylan.

 Along with lots of other goodies, the kids each got their own tablet.  No more fighting over my iPad. 

Tucker sat looking at his new Tee forever!  He got a real bat and glove too... he's all set to play t-ball this spring.  We spent the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's and then headed to Grammy's house for a few days.  Christmas was jam packed this year! 

The Night Before Christmas

Christmas seemed stressful this year... probably because I'm a procrastinator and didn't get my shopping, decorating or anthing done before school was out. The few days before Christmas I was busy shopping, sewing and wrapping like crazy.  On Christmas Eve we stopped, went to church to remind us of what all the hustle was actually about...

Then we all made Santa cookies at Grandmas...

 Tucker was done after about 2 minutes as usual... and then it was just the girls. 



What a mess blast! 

Holiday in the Park

The kids were so excited to go back to Six Flags now that they can ride more than the carousel.  Actually, I was excited to go back now that they can ride more than that.  Thank you Six Flags, for building some new rides that parents can ride with their littles! 

This was another Doyle Women/kids (oh and Andrew too) Christmas Outing....

They were still too little for the famous Holiday in the Park Snow Hill, but there were other fun Christmas things to do...
                                                                       Sleigh Rides

Stories and Songs with Mrs. Claus

The kids got to see Santa too, but they wouldn't let us take our own pictures.  Seriously, you pay 50 bucks a person to get in and you can't even take your own picture of Santa? Not happy!  Okay... so maybe we got in free b/c Grandma got tickets at work, but still. I'm cheap and refused to pay a ridiculous amount for a Santa picture that Reese wouldn't even get in, so stay tuned for our annual Biker Santa pictures. 

Even with all the new rides, the kids still love the carousel so we always make it our final ride of the night. 

It was way too cold for Rylan so she spent some quality time with Daddy.  It was just me and the rug rats this time. 

Thanks for the tickets Grandma!  We had a blast!

Christmas Pancakes fix Everything

I knew we were in for a long two weeks when Reese came out of her room on the first day of our vacation looking like this...

It's a good thing this super mom has some tricks up her sleeve.  Granny's famous pancake recipe, a christmas tree cookie cutter, way too much grease, and some sticky syrrup and viola...  

Not just one happy kid... but two! 

I'm addicted to my Granny's homemade pancakes so I make those all the time.  So making them in the shape of Christmas trees was a sinch... and earned me major Mom of the Year points.

It didn't take much to get us in the Christmas spirit!