Henderson, Party of 5: Fort Worth Christmas

I love our tradition of having Christmas with our Fort Worth family the weekend before actual Christmas. It's nice to know that we will get our holiday celebrations started with fun, laughter, and lots of love! We started off the festivities at Nammie and Pawpaw's house. Nammie went all out this year, and as soon as we got there the princess wrapping paper under the tree was overwhelming. Adilyn said, "Mommy, are all those princess presents for us?" We didn't waste any time, and got right to opening presents. As always, the stocking stuffers give everyone a laugh! Nammie got a Home Drug Test from the dollar store. I got a special bra that keep popping up in stockings each year. Cory got some coal. The girls both got some silly headbands. After we did presents, the girls wanted to play with everything, so Cory and Greg got out their knives and went to town trying to get all those plastic boxes open. Once everything was open and spread out all over the house, we ate dinner and played some more. The girls worked with Nammie to create a spectacular gingerbread house. We were smart this year, and decided to buy a house that was already put together and only needed decorating. Adilyn really wanted to try to make it look "just like the picture", and Kacy just wanted to eat all the candy. Imagine that! Eventually our fun had to end, and it was time to head over to Mimi and Pops's house.

We got to their house kind of late, so we pretty much just set up the beds and went to sleep. We were trying a new sleeping arrangement with Adilyn and Kacy in the same room, and I was a little nervous. I put Kacy on a pallet on the floor, but she seemed excited to be sleeping with Adilyn. They went to sleep pretty quick, but Kacy woke up crying at 3am saying, "No floor, Mama, no floor!" I tried to get her back to sleep there, but it wasn't happening. Finally, I gave in and brought her into our bed. Luckily, she slept soundly through the night the other two nights! The next morning, we woke up and everyone headed over around 10am. Every time we get together with our Fort Worth cousins it is tons of fun. Adilyn, Taylor, and Kacy were so silly with each other, and Terilyn just tried to keep up. It hilarious to watch them grow and learn to play with each other differently. Maren kept herself busy this time with her new baby brother, Ethan. We had a yummy breakfast/brunch/all day snack time as always with great food. We began the tradition of singing and dancing around the Christmas tree. The has always been done with Kris's family, and she decided it was time to expand this tradition. The little kids loved it, the older boys didn't want to hold hands, but fun was had by all (even if they don't want to admit it)! After the amazing display of singing and dancing talent, it was time to open presents. Once the present opening chaos ended, all the kids played with their new toys and had fun being silly with each other. Adilyn's favorite toy was the beauty salon set that Maren picked out for her, and Kacy's favorite toy was a tiny baby doll that Nina gave her. Everyone liked the hammer and nails set that Mimi and Pops got Kacy, and Taylor's golf set. I love spending time with everyone up there, it is so nice and relaxed.

(Thanks to Anne I have some pictures from the fun! I stole them for her blog. Thanks, Anne!)