Christmas Morning Celebrations

We try to keep our Christmas mornings simple, sticking to worship time and stocking stuffers, last year we did it differently and it may change from year to year but this was what we did this year...

...we started with Gabrielle, who received a felt ball that Sophia had made and a pickled egg in her stocking...

 And kisses from everyone.

Bella drew this pic of Spiderman for Tobin...

 And got other little fun things, including a few dark brown pickled eggs.

Bella got Daddy's joke and stuck her tongue out at the eggs in her stocking.

 Sophia put cards in everyone's stocking...

 It was a very Frozen Christmas...a mug and Elsa mini-doll.

 Sophia had a stocking full as well, with even more pickled eggs, a Frozen mug, a doll, some socks, and some candy.

Oh, and I forgot, one of their favorite things...

 Straw glasses. Yes, you can drink through these.

 They used these at every meal.

 The kids did have school but we let them skip for two days and now it is the weekend, we will veg and rest and enjoy family time and start the week back strong with school and work. But don't worry we will have more time to play in February for Chinese New Year.

Christmas Events and Eve

On the Saturday prior to Christmas we made Christmas ornaments with neighbors.

This activity was spurred on by Bella's reading of "Arthur's Christmas Cookies" and she kept saying she wanted to make the ornaments, so we did. 

Even Tobin painted his and enjoyed it.


Christmas Eve came around and I spent the day cooking. I had already spent the prior few weeks preparing, making pie crusts, making Karo Syrup, and making sure the big market had the kind of mushrooms I needed for the green bean casserole.

 French cut green beans, NOT from a can. I decided to become a real woman and make casseroles this year.

Chocolate chip pie...

And a yummy sweet potato casserole, half of which ended up splattered into pieces on the kitchen floor as it slipped from my oven. Yes, indeed, it was a big mishap. But it was the "best of all possible scenarios" mishap as it was the second batch of the casserole and honestly wasn't as good as the green bean casserole, or any pie of course.

The morning of Christmas Eve we reviewed our Advent banner and the purpose for Christ's coming.

 We read our Advent book...

 We watched Gabrielle be cute...

 We finished up our advent quilt.

And we had friends over for the big dinner.

 And it included the big surprise of Italian Ham!!!  This was J's gift to K and we helped protect and cook the secret. It was delicious. This was also my first time cooking a pre-cooked ham. I was a little scared about it...it was pricey and I didn't want to ruin it. I did my research and cooked it slow...
I asked my sister, I wrote my in-laws (and said: HELP, I can cook anything from scratch, but how do you cook a pre-cooked ham?), it all turned out fine in the end.

We had a great evening...

...And even though it looks like I have a star coming out of my head, here we are in our Christmas Eve picture:

The Swing Set

We have been discussing a swing set for a long time now, and decided Christmas would be a perfect time. Swing Sets are virtually non-existent where we are, so David designed it and then found someone he trusted to make it.

David mulled over this for a long time, mainly for the safety issues involved, and to maximize the fun of the swing (read: swing HIGH). Our front yard is always shady and is unused except by big dogs who like to come and lounge and leave their mark.

The questions were: how many swings, how much space do we really have, how high can it really go.? And David the M.E. did not disappoint. It turned out GREAT and in its first five days of use it completely paid for itself in joy and entertainment received by us and our friends!

We did this a week before Christmas. And had the kids sit down and cover their eyes.

 Then we put the swing seat in their laps and they did not quite know what they were looking at.

 Sophia figured it out and all were excited. Then the guys came to 'install' it.

 It is 3D, the bottom bars are buried underground a bit. This is dry season but it had been raining for two days which made this a red muddy mess. But we didn't dare hold the kids back.

 The swing seat vendor sent the wrong seat for Gabrielle, so she didn't get hers for a few days, but LOVES it now.

 There is a man whole in our yard so we have used these mats to cover it temporarily. We are trying to figure out a better solution for grass/turf/mats/sod/ whatever...

 This is the pic from across the street.

 And you can go high...

 It is 3 meters tall....the first time I got on it and went high, I couldn't help the shrieks coming from my mouth, it was so fun, refreshing and therapeutic (smile).

 This should be ongoing fun for many years.

 So thankful for our front yard that allows us to have big toys like this.

Merry Christmas

I will keep highlighting our Christmas festivities but until then....

Merry Christmas from the Coker Crew:

More Tidbits of Christmas Fun

Sophia still loves dresses that spin...

Bella is on a year strong of wanting to be a doc when she grows up...

Hilarious...

Christmas Ornaments

Christmas Clothes

 Pretty much every year the kids receive a Christmas outfit. This year I was jealous of what Poppy and CC picked out, I thought the girls dresses adorable, wasn't there one in my size? What may not be clear from the pic is that Gabrielle's matches the others and her out fit is flare out pants with the chevron print. So cute.

 We will get better pics of these cute clothes soon. This was an impromptu session...

Christmas Beginnings

These pics are from the start of our 'Advent season'. We continue to LOVE using The Advent Book, and another banner that walks us through God's story of Christmas and why we desperately need the birth of Jesus for real hope. We are also reading 'Jotham's Journey' which is incredible, we are on the edge of our seats waiting to see what happens next, and the discussion questions are great for all of us.

The kids have gotten into each aspect of our Advent time at night, and of course are always into gifts which we spread throughout. The grandparents give gifts, and we usually give one big gift and some stocking stuffers.

Here are some early pics of the season.

We gave Gabrielle a second-hand Little People barn and nativity. She loves it.

Tobin received some spiderman helicopters and other things with motors that move around the room.

Poppy and CC gave the girls Ana and Elsa Dresses!

We made some candy cane cookies died green and red.

And we have been drinking our fair share of hot chocolate with whipped cream and Christmas sprinkles.