Christmas with the Simmons'

We had our annual family gathering with my dad's side of the family the day after Christmas. So, we packed up the car and headed down to Roanoke, to Mee Maw and C.O.'s house (which happens to be next door to my parents' house).

Oliver enjoyed his time in Pawpaw's arms. (And lots of other arms as well)

We had a White Elephant gift exchange. Nathaniel opened a knife set (which dad ended up with). And he ended up with lottery tickets (which he stole from ME)!

After the adults did the gift exchange, all the little kids got to open lots of presents.

The rest of the time was spent eating food and enjoying one another.

Most of the grandkids and great grandkids.

Ella and Oliver were born 5 days apart. I think they enjoyed each other's company despite the fact that they slept through most of the night.

Story Time

Andrew and Madeline enjoyed some sweet story time before bedtime at my parents' house. We read The Little Engine That Could about 34,393 times during this past week. But, I will read it 56,398 more times if she will snuggle next to me like this.

Merry Christmas...

...from our family to yours!

Andrew's parents have been amazing hosts.

We enjoyed a busy Christmas morning with the other Glenns. Although, they were up much earlier than we were. We are still enjoying late Christmas mornings before our kids are old enough to want to wake up so early.

Madeline got lots of fun toys and had so many cousins that entertained her so well.

Oliver and I enjoyed all the present-opening commotion snuggled up together.

A failed attempt at a Christmas-morning- jammie picture.

We said our goodbyes to the other Glenns as they headed on their way farther up north to visit more family.

And then we enjoyed some time sledding outside. We raced Nana down the hill. (I think Nana won.)

Oliver is in this picture too. Andrew is actually wearing him in the sling to keep him warm and snuggly.

Then we enjoyed a nice lunch with more family. Madeline had a fun friend to jump off the couch with.

Bea is Daniel's (Andrew's brother) wife's niece.

Andrew enjoyed a little pool and chess with Mike (Daniel's brother-in-law).

The whole Glenn family, home for Christmas :)

Merry Christmas Eve

We are spending Christmas with Andrew's family this year. Andrew's uncle, aunt and cousins joined us from Florida as well. So, there are 14 of us here this Christmas Eve. As you can see we've been enjoying this white Christmas. (Except for the part when Andrew sliced his finger open while helping to make this igloo. It was bloody. But, he is ok now. And we didn't have to make any trips to the emergency room. So, all is well that ends well.)

Madeline has enjoyed a lot of time out in the snow today. She got to go sledding on a real sled for the first time.

Oliver is enjoying his first Christmas by mostly sleeping. But, he is enjoying a little awake time.

He sure does love his daddy!

We had a scrumptious dinner that Andrew's mom prepared.

And then the rest of the evening was filled with smiles...

...conversation among brothers...

...dessert eating...

...bridge building...

...Halo playing...

...cousin snuggling...

...and a little hide...

...and seek playing.

I had to get in this post somehow. So here is my self portrait. Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Sibling Bonding Time

Snow! Snow! Snow!

We woke up to a ton of snow this morning and it is still going strong! We are predicted to get 14-22 inches by Sunday morning. Whoa! So, Madeline and Andrew headed out this morning to go play in it before it was so deep that we might actually lose Madeline in it :)

Madeline loved it! But, it was hard to get her to look up because the snow fell in her face and she didn't like that. You can see that it is already up to her knees and there are still 19 more hours of snow fall to go.

Daddy showing Madeline that you can eat the snow.

Madeline giving it a go.

Snow angels! Madeline definitely not as excited about it as Andrew.

And Oliver and I have been enjoying the snow from the warmth and comfort of our home and Bumbo chair.

I think we are going to be stranded for a while. It's nice to be stranded with the people you love the most :)

Little Mommy

Madeline has always liked her babies and stuffed animals. But, she has been a really good mommy lately. She took her baby on a walk with us the other day. She was worried about the wheels being dirty. So, she rolled them through the puddles to clean them off.

She reads books to them.

And she even carries them around in a make-shift sling that I made her since she sees me carrying Oliver in a sling.

She is very concerned about her babies' feelings. If they are sad or crying, then she will pick them up and cuddle them, pat their back and make sure they are ok. She sure is a sweet mommy.