3 little Miracles

3 little Miracles

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Surprise visit and a beautiful day for the Beach

We were pleasantly surprised when my oldest brother Ted, my SIL Paula and foster-nephew Sam called and said they were coming down for the weekend for a quick visit and to go to the beach.  They arrived Friday evening and after dinner the CARDS came out and we played a fun game of Liverpool Rummy {these are not the rules or guidelines we play by, we have our own role book, but this give you an idea of how to play the game}.

The kids eating some chocolate lava cake



The GAME is on
my brother Ted trying to play Liverpool AND play War with Jon
Rachel handed Sam her new ballerina Barbie and he just sat their holding it Ha
 

Breakfast the next morning, and then Ted, Paula, Sam, Rachel and I headed off to the beach


I don't often get to spend time with my brother and his family, so when I was asked if I would like to go with them down to the beach, I jumped on the chance to go and take just Rachel along.  It would have been hard for me to keep the boys out of the water and I really wanted to enjoy quality time with Rachel and my brother on the beach.

The weather was so perfect, I was bundled up in a jacket, scarf, hat, gloves and ended up stripping them all of and taken them back to the car along with Rachel's hat.  IN fact the weather was so warm that even my SIL braved the chilly water to get wet and Sam did some sun bathing while Rachel and I hunted for shells.

my brother Ted with Rachel

photo by Ted Haynes Hope (my brother)
photo by Ted Haynes Hope (my brother)
photo by Ted Haynes Hope (my brother)
photo by Ted Haynes Hope (my brother)
photo by Ted Haynes Hope (my brother)

 Beautiful afternoon and even more fun in the evening with another two rounds of Liverpool including one round of cut-throat with just Ted, Paula and I in which I WON :-) before they headed back up Raleigh way.  LOVE you guys and so happy you came down for a quick visit before the end of the year.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas Morning

First signs of life outside of our door at 5:46 AM (which is way to early after staying up until 12:30 putting together a little girls kitchen and yes I had my camera beside my bed so I could capture this kind of moment)

 The boys were up for at least a half hour before I finally went back and gently encouraged Rachel to wake by opening her door and whispering her name.

Something different this year for all of us, was that we actually ALL got dressed for the day before getting into the presents.  I think this happened because I went ahead and dressed Rachel due to wet PJs.  I guess I kinda dictated it because I felt like it would be odd for Rachel to be the only one dressed in Christmas morning pictures (part of my anal retentive personality).

Rachel's first interaction with her Angelina Ballerina Doll from Santa and her kitchen from Mommy & Daddy.


  
Davey exploring his stocking


This year was so much more fun with Rachel, she was much more curious and interactive with getting into presents and exploring her stocking.



Davey opening his presents and the AWW in this face when opening his Star Wars Lego set 
#2 on his Christmas list.


 Jon's turn and his reaction to getting his #2 item the Whale Giant Skylander

 I love Davey's congratulatory hug on Jon getting a Ninja Turtle #3 on his list HA


Finally Rachel's turn, we did have her sit in Daddy's lap not completely sure of the reasoning for this but I am sure Christmas 2014 we will NOT have an option this girl will want her freedom next year.





 In a gift bag from her teacher was Rachel's finished pottery start from her trip to Accidental Artist.





Finished product of the casseroles prepped the night before and the overnight 
Slow Cooker Sausage Breakfast Casserole.  It turned out so well, it turned out a little darker than in the original recipe because we changed Parmesan cheese to cheddar cheese when we prepared the recipe.

Cinnamon French Toast Recipe
Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

 Jon giving Maggie the present he bought for her, a squeaky pork chop :-)


 FUNNY STORY:  My husband gave me these lovely bright green booties in my stocking.  I have become very cold natured since the weight loss and so I almost always have socks on my feet.  I thought these were quirky but fun and totally loved them and wore them ALL day. 

It wasn't until around 8PM when the rest of my family was here and we were opening presents with them upstairs at my folks, that I took one off to adjust it's "insole" and discovered it wasn't a insole but the matching bootie.  This was actually TWO pairs of booties, two dark green and two light green with aqua trim NOT a mismatched quirky pair of booties. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

One of my favorite pictures from the day, Jon with his new stuffed fox, Bentley the Plush Gray Fox.  
He love the song "What does the Fox Say?"

I hope your Christmas morning was as Merry and Bright as ours!
God Bless!!!