Christmas Day 'O Fun!

Yes, I'm behind and still posting about Christmas! Had to share though! ;-)

Saturday, December 11th was the first annual Jonah, Glory, & Kristi's Christmas Day O' Fun!

I had told Keelie that I wanted to spend some time with the kiddos and do some Christmas activities. I suggested that Keelie & Justin drop the kids off at my apartment and head out to do some shopping while we enjoyed our Christmas Day. Jonah & I always talk about my kitties in-depth so I knew he'd enjoy being at my apartment so he could see them. The kiddos were dropped off around 10, Justin & Keelie slyly snuck out as the kids and I looked for Sylvester in my closet, and then we got started on making sugar cookies. I tried so hard to be completely prepared so that there would be no bumps in the road, but really, how can you ever be completely prepared with a 2 & 5 year old. ;-) I didn't expect the kids to want to eat the raw dough more than they wanted to cut out the fun shapes. I had to keep reigning them back in to the topic at hand. I knew it'd be a fun/interesting day when both children had massive dough balls in their mouths. Big Aunt Kristi fail! lol. We finally got the pitiful cookies cut out and cooked. And I do mean pitiful. I rolled the dough out way to thin so after they cooked they looked like hard, golden, blobs. Yeah, they didn't keep their shape even a little. I really don't think the kids cared though. It was time to decorate! I moved all the icing and sprinkles to the table where the kids were and headed back to the kitchen to bring over the cookies. It never crossed my mind that I shouldn't leave them alone with the sprinkles. In the minute I was away Glory had managed to pour some all over the table. Awesome! Even after that I didn't think about not letting Glory hold her own sprinkle container. Her cookies were covered head to toe in sprinkles! After decorating cookies, and eating LOTS of icing, and I do mean A LOT, we headed to McDonald's for some real food. Okay, maybe not real food, but Happy Meals, which we picked up and brought back to my apartment. Did you know that it's not super smart to let kids leave their food out, along with ketchup, all afternoon so they can graze? There were nuggets and ketchup everywhere. Every time I picked Glory up she was covered in the stuff. And then there was the time she took her nugget and rubbed it on the tv and then ate it. Yum! LOL!

Rolling out dough and cutting cookies!

Yummy dough! lol!

Hawaiian dough eating reindeer!

Chillin' in their Christmas shades!


Must work out!

I loved when Jonah asked excitedly "KRISTI! Do you do this every day?!" Ha!

Decorating cookies!

Love this face!

After cookies & McDonald's we worked on some art projects. Jonah & I made a hand print wreath with his picture on it, and Glory got one too, minus the hand prints since she was opposed to me tracing her hands. We also worked on some foam sticker projects. The kids enjoyed peeling the stickers and putting them on the foam background. Glory liked putting the stickers in her mouth. Wild child!

I gave the kids their Christmas ornaments & presents during the afternoon. I think they enjoyed their pillow pets, as they used them right away. At some point we had 'Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas' movie playing and started 'Elf'. Wow, I'm tired just thinking about all we did! :-) It was a very fun day! Keelie & Justin got most of their shopping done too and suggested we do this every year! ;-) I guess we can...if they twist my arm! Hahaha! I just LOVE these kiddos and enjoy all my time spent with them! I can't wait for our 2nd Annual Christmas Day O' Fun. Although I might be a bit more prepared next time and get more sleep the night before. ;-)

Away In A Manger

On Friday, December 10th Joy, Leigh Ann, & I attended The Christmas Journey at First Baptist Church McKinney. According to the church's website, " “Christmas Journey” is a fully dramatized production utilizing professional sets for a 16-scene living pageant. The entire drama can be seen from your car. Volunteers will provide each car with a CD narrating each scene. As you travel through the biblical scenes, you will have a multi-sensory experience of the biblical accounts of Jesus Christ’s life. Participants will find themselves driving through a biblical street market or into the field where the shepherds heard the good news. With live animals and kid-friendly scenes, this event is geared toward the entire family." In a word, AMAZING!

I honestly didn't expect too much when we decided to attend The Christmas Journey, which I assumed was just a drive-through nativity. I was very excited to go, but just assumed it would be a small scale production that would take a few minutes to drive though. It was SO much more. The Christmas Journey was a performance of Jesus' birth in a manager through His resurrection from the grave. We were blown away. It was incredible. We even got to keep the narration CD at the end of it all! We waiting in line before entering the church lot for about 20 min and it took about 45 min to drive through it. Well worth the time spent!

It was so weird to be driving along and have Roman soldiers walking right beside the car.

According to the FBC website, more than 600 volunteers put this performance together. More than 7,000 man-hours are spent on this project, which began in June! We all agreed it was definitely worth the time spent.

The scenes were so authentic. They used real babies & children, as well as the live animals. It was great!

Check out Satan to the far left of the photo!

Up from the grave He arose!

I highly recommend this event to everyone next year. They only do it one weekend, 3 days, in December so make plans early to attend. You will not be disappointed!

2010 Holiday Tour of Homes in McKinney

I just love Christmas and all the fun events leading up to it. There is never a shortage of things to do and see in the month of December.

On Saturday, December 4th, I went on the Holiday Tour of Homes in McKinney with Leigh Ann, her mom, Jackie, and three of Jackie's long-time friends from Celina. It was a busy day, but SO much fun! When Leigh Ann mentioned the Tour of Homes earlier in the week I was immediately excited & wanted to attend. In Decatur, where I grew up, they also host a Holiday Tour of Homes and I know how much work goes into the decorating of the fabulous homes on the tour. I knew it would be a fun treat to see all the pretty places.

We met at Leigh Ann's at 11 am, the 6 of us jumped into a Tahoe and off we went to our first destination, 506 W. Hunt. The Victoria style home with Neo-classical elements was built in 1906.


I liked their unusual decorating style and the way they displayed their Christmas cards.

How interesting is this wreath of kitchen gadgets, as well as the little animal designs?!

Next we headed to 315 North Church Street to the First United Methodist Church of McKinney, which was built in 1876 and has a Victorian Gothic style. This is also where Leigh Ann's brother & sister-in-law were married!

I loved all their nativity scenes.

The church has beautiful stained glass windows.

The lovely ladies in our crew outside the church.

Our next stop was to downtown McKinney Square to 110 E. Louisiana to the apartment of Don & Linda Day. This building was constructed in 1880 to house the Crouch Mercantile Store. The apartment was built in 1996.

We then visited 407 S. Tennessee. This home was originally built in 1937 as a medical clinic. The home is a New Orleans French style and still has the original chandeliers and light fixtures in the bedrooms and baths that were imported from Europe.

The light fixtures and garland were beautiful.

I thought this chandelier was amazing!

Our next stop was 824 Chapel Hill Ln, part of Cambridge Homes. The Somerset design featured an Al Fresco room with a fireplace and a very cool wine closet.

This model home was decorated so pretty.

All the ladies!

We stopped at 803 Waddill before heading home to Leigh Ann's. This home was built in 1946 and has late 1800's Victorian doors and stained glass, along with large pocket privacy doors that close off the entry foyer from the family room.

We ended our tour at Leigh Ann's for a fabulous late lunch of chicken salad croissant sandwiches, salad with pears, blue cheese, & cranberries, potato chips, and creme brulee for dessert. It was the perfect end to a fun-filled day!

I would definitely recommend the Holiday Tour of Homes to anyone. It was a great way to start off the month of December. I look forward to next year!