New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve we celebrated both New Years and Christmas with Nana & Papa and our Gibb family.  We played the traditional Candy Bar Game.

And opened more presents (MORE? Where are they all going to fit??).

Dax and Jaylee got little backpacks, they were both pretty excited about them!

I was obviously very excited about this nail polish, I knew I was old when I had a favorite color of nail polish  and was devastated when they discontinued it, my mom special ordered it for a surprise- thank goodness for Amazon.

We munched on cheese and chocolate fondues with all the dippers.

But the best part of New Year's Eve was the parade Nana and Papa led all the grandkids in, with all the NOISE, NOISE, NOISE. They were so cute marching around tooting and clammering, it was fun to see them celebrate the New Year, before bedtime!

Once there was a Snowman

Once Dax had a snowman.

(Because he is a boy, as soon as we had the snowman done, Dax tried to push him down!)

 It has been an-seasonably warm winter. In a matter of two days, this was all that was left of our Snowman.

 In the sun our snowman, melted, melted melted... and then Dax splattered him with his foot. 

Wagon

Dax & Rockwell got a wagon from Grandma & Grandpa for Christmas, even personalized with their names! 

 They have been trying it out inside, but are looking forward to some warmer weather!

Merry Christmas - 2011

Merry Christmas -love, the Asays-

Presents, presents, presents

CHRISTMAS EVE:

On Christmas Eve my boys exchange presents as well as receive their Sunday outfits from Mom & Dad. Dax got an excavator (his latest obsession) from Rockwell.

Rockwell got a BIG hug for that one. And Dax had picked out a ball for Rockwell's gift.

The boys as opened their gift from Grandma Great, it was a huge wooden block with lots of doors, beads, blocks and fun. They LOVE it! (Notice the excavator still in hand, Dax has a hard time doing anything without it!).

CHRISTMAS MORNING:

The loot from Santa, after all was said and done Christmas morning.

Rockwell was especially enthusiastic about all his new stuff!

After church we went to Grandma & Grandpa's house to open gifts. Among much else, Dax got this sweet Purdue Football helmet. (Take a glimpse at the mayhem behind him.. and that's just a fraction of us all!).

After every gift was opened and all the wrapping paper thrown away we feel overwhelmed with blessings, spoiled beyond belief and wondering how all of this new stuff is going to be organized and fit into our little house!

Christmas Love

Nothing is better than a little 'brotherly love' on Christmas.

Nativity 2011

As is tradition, we acted out the Nativity on Christmas Eve. 

Nana and Papa came over for the evening and were nice enough to play parts, too!

 Best Dressed went to the littlest and wisest Wiseman of us all.

Cousin Sleep-Over

Dax has no idea how much younger he is than some of his cousins. He has zero interest in playing with kids that are close to his age, and much prefers following his 8 year old cousins around. We invited two of his 8 year old cousins over for a sleep-over during Christmas break. They were excited to come play video games with Uncle Curtis, Dax was excited to have friends his size over and I was excited to shut my door and have a night to myself! It worked out great; we made pizzas, had snacks and the boys all got plenty of playing done. Karson and Ethan were so so nice to Dax, literally carrying him around like a King.

This picture perfectly describes Karson.

 And this one, Ethan.

 Dax was in heaven! And I loved having a house full of boys. They are welcome over again, anytime!

Gingerbread House

 Well, we aren't talented in architecture (our first house collapsed), design, baking (no picture needed for my BURNT gingerbread - graham crackers had to do) or construction. 

However, we are good at having a good time. And we did, we had a great afternoon laughing at our short-comings, sneaking candy and watching Dax's excitement.

See you later, Pacifier

Dax was coming up on his second Birthday and we knew it was past-time to ween him from his pacifier. He loved them, and they were so handy. However, we knew he was plenty big enough to be without it. To our surprise, he did so well in the transition! We talked to him about how he was too big for pacifiers and that they were just for babies. We offered him a new little stuffed dog (on the right) if he would like to say 'see you later' to the pacifiers and put them in a bag to put away. He didn't even hesitate and quickly named his new dog "Bark". Only once did he have a hard time falling asleep, but he never asked for a pacifier again. (We should have done it months ago!!). He's such a great kid, we are so proud of how big he is getting.

Hello Blue-Eyes

Some days I will admit, it is looking like Rockwell might keep his blue eyes.

Christmas through a Child's eyes

Christmas time really is beautiful with children around. I have had so many tender moments watching Dax fall in love with all that Christmas time brings. He inspires us to slow down, enjoy and ponder more than we did in Christmas past. 

Once the tree was all decorated, it wasn't just a task accomplished for Dax, it was amazing and awe inspiring. He stood in front of the lit tree and just watched it, quietly. 

Moments like this filled our home with the true spirit of Christmas. Because the spirit of Christmas, is the spirit of Christ and no one feels it as easily as a child.

This Christmas we drove Dax through a Living Nativity at a local church. At each stop there were actors portraying a scene from the Bible. Dax couldn't get enough of it, "hooray, hooray, see it? see it? see Mary? hi Mary! see it, Mama?". Dax brings so much excitement to life and to this season of year.

We also took the boys to see some amazing Christmas lights in Battleground, just a short drive away. Dax could have stayed there all night clapping and dancing. We were all mesmerized. 

Every night we read Christmas stories as a family and we talked to Dax a lot about the Nativity and about Jesus. Dax understood more than we expected. One of my favorite things this Christmas was watching Dax take care of our wooden Baby Jesus Nativity (much improved from last year when his favorite thing to do was to throw baby Jesus out of his Manger). Dax would often walk by baby Jesus and take him out of his manger, gently burp him, kiss him and lay him back down. On one occasion he picked up him, turned him around sniffed and shouted "pe-ew!", took off his swaddling clothes and cleaned him up with his wet wipes before returning him to his manger. 

Regardless, he is such an example to us. It made my heart burn and mind question how we are choosing to be examples and disciples of Christ. This year really strengthened how we see both Christmas and Christ.