The Tough Times Make You Stronger: December 2014, Christmas, and a Reminder that Time Flies when Youre Having Fun!

So. yeah. Its ~~February~~. March. We are one week away from Spring Break. So ya wanna hear about our Christmas?! :)

Im determined to post these pics and blog it out A) so we dont forget how fabulous Christmas 2014 was and B) because my OCD wont allow me to write about 2015 things until 2014 things are squared away.

So...without further ado...

We kicked off December with holiday tees......and shorts!

And ANOTHER hole-in-one for Mac!!!

And a birthday for Grady's teacher helped Grady understand that Jesus' birthday was coming!

I LOVE when he goes right into class, washes his hands, and gets right to work :) Such a good little student :)

Mac was on the ball again this year, and created another fantastic Christmas card :)

Some pics from our Disney visit with Uncle Jay at Thanksgiving!

We hit up the Hollywood Studios lights with Uncle Jay before he headed home from Thanksgiving...

And more holiday shirts....and shorts...

...and more December traditions and more Disney lights and snow with Team O!

Sillies :)

Love these girls!

Gotta love that popcorn is gluten free!

"Hey e'rybody! I got pah-corn!"

How many kids can we fit on a stroller?!

We may or may not have been the loudest ones at the Frozen Sing-Along...again...

I think this is our fourth year going to the lights with Team O..? Its always fun and the kids love to dance :) It gets the holiday season started in a fun way and makes the 80-degree weather feel Christmas-y!

Team pictures are not easy.....and next year, there will be an infant in these pics, as Julie is pregnant!!!

Team O + 1

Team Bass...it was 89002 degrees!

Let the dancing begin!

Best dads ever!

Grady really started to "get" Christmas this year! He understood Jesus' birthday and presents and opening a Christmas book each morning. He obviously doesnt understand real snow, but the faux snow at the Studios was pretty exciting!

Happy dude.

This girl LOVES this boy. :)

Dont Whitney and Lauren look like they could be related?!

And sometimes, the tram ride through the parking lot is just as much fun as the Disney magic inside the parks!

I LOVE these kids! I can still hear their silly giggles!!

Random cuteness....she got two years of wear out of that shirt I made. I fear this is the last year she will be on board with matchy-matchy personalized tees made by mommy. :(

And we tried to get two years out of Grady's Christmas gear, but it appears he has finally decided to grow!

Sometimes, getting through the holiday obligations and traditions can be overwhelming. But Team work makes the dream work! :)

And Booker the Elf requires team work...

Grady thought Booker's ceiling fan spin was hilarious!

In previous years, Whitney has been allowed to open the books that Booker the Elf brings. She would open one each morning, and by Christmas Eve, we had 24 Christmas books to celebrate the season. But this year, the dude wanted in on the fun! So we had to alternate (and keep track of!) who got to open the book each morning :) Both kids loved it!

And this is what I get for trying to blog Christmas in ~~February~~ March. I KNOW there are countless photos of Booker's antics (marker on the mirrors, swinging from the fan, chillin' in the tree, making faux snow angels...etc), but I cant find them on my phone, the laptop, or facebook. :( But rest assured, Booker had a blast at our house again this year!

Christmas is a month-long celebration for our kids! We started with the "BassIlleriAvis" Christmas with Eric's dad's side of the family :)

We got to spend time with our nephews from Texas!

And Whitney realllllly wanted to hold Wyatt :)

Wyatt wasnt so sure about all the girly cousin lovin' lol

Uh oh, he spotted Daddy!!

Nice bird, Daniel!

Dean let the little boys destroy his room and take over his legos :)

Grady sat down, looked at Sawyer and said, "Hi. Im Grady. Whats your name?" I melted.

Uncle Dawson and Papa lead the littles on a musical parade before dinner :)

And the brothers enjoyed time together :)

And it wouldnt be a family Christmas without a family picture attempt!

As the crowd of cousins grew by two feet annually, the sisters-in-law all decided that presents could get out of control if we didnt get ahold of it. So we agreed that exchanging books was a better idea than adding more toys to these kids' lives :)

It was so fun to watch the kids open their books!

And mommy reactions were hilarious, too! :)

And Christina wins "best daughter-in-law of the year" award for putting together an awesome calendar for Papa and Ms. Martha, filled with family photos and bible verses :)

Sisters from some brother misters!

Uncle Parker earned bonus points for carrying the squealing giggly girlies :)

Cousin sister love....

and more brother love..

And Papa got extra cuddles with his youngest Grand :)

The oldest cousin with the youngest :)

The cute holiday wear was rockin', making these kids the best dressed kids on the block, and we got to use the hand-me-down clothes sent from a very generous Northern friend with twin boys! Id NEVER think to buy a sweater for these kids because its just so hot/warm here that I cant justify spending the money. But Maggie has hooked this kid up, and he has an awesome Winter wardrobe :)

As the weeks went by, Whitney was excited to help us get in the holiday spirit! Booker "tagged" her nose......

....so we made Reindeer Noses!

And Grady wanted to get in on the reindeer nose fun this year! We made a handful with gluten free pretzels, and then crossed our fingers and said a prayer that a few hershey kisses wouldnt totally derail the dude's behavior.

He did a really great job unwrapping the kisses....placing them on the pretzels..........and sneaking more than a few!

And, ever the little teacher-mommy, Whitney was so fun to listen to as she taught Grady what to do :)

Stinker...

Love these giggles!

From reindeer noses to gingerbread trains (which seemed sort of evil since Grady couldnt eat any of it and he is the train lover,...but oh well. He didnt care!), we had our holiday treats covered!

As the weeks went by, we all got more and more excited about Jesus' birthday and the visits from out-of-town family!

And some little folks might have been trying to butter us up...

Perhaps she saw the browser open to my email account, filled with Amazon order confirmations :)

Seriously!? Who shopped IN stores for every single gift!? I think we bought a handful in stores, but most online! LOVE Amazon Prime!

We did make ONE shopping trip for the kids' Christmas gifts and a few last minute family gifts. Alone with my husband??! Unheard of!

And it wasnt just the grownups and kids getting in the holiday spirit! Our favorite dogsitting friend, Benny Boo Boo got to visit with Santa! Whitney and I tagged along for the greatest people-watching at the mall pet santa event with Aunt Dee :)

And this mutt. Well. He had his good days and he had his bad days. He didnt earn any coal, but he is still getting used to life with rules about chewing and jumping on guests. But 95% of the time, he is this:

Pure mush.

He lets these kids get away with whatever they want. He really TRIES to be a good dog.

There is not a chance on God's green earth that I wouldve tried to take this mutt to meet Santa. Not. A. Chance.

But he did give me some sympathy when I couldnt get the pile of presents into the guest room before the kids could see them....I will never understand these doors and their "keys". That is no key. That is a metal toothpick that is pointless in a locked-door situation. Sigh.

Whitney was a big helper with our Christmas cards this year!

Eric created the cards again this year, with a little help from the internet...I had thrown my hands in the air and said we werent gonna bother with cards because they are too expensive, but Im so glad Eric made it happen!

On a sad note, we said goodbye to my dad's dad, G.G. in December. After several weeks in pain, at 93 years old, GG went to be with Grandma Bette in heaven. Whitney cried about it for a while, and was sad for my dad. She made Gramps this picture and said the first picture is GG when he was healthy. The second picture was GG when he was sick and sad. And the third picture is GG in heaven, dancing and happy to be with Grandma Bette. I love this sweet girl and her sensitive, kind heart!

Uncle Jay came back for Christmas and both kids were over the moon excited!

Grady still asks to see "Untle Jay" on a weekly basis, and my brother is such a good sport about giving both kids a lot of attention while he's here!

I suppose if youre going to be locked in a confined space with my children, a wine room is the best kind of confined space.

...that moment when Uncle Jay realizes he may have lost all control...

We kicked off the Christmas celebrations with a yummy dinner made by Mac, and opening a few gifts.

And, of course, taking family pics :)

Whitney opened a singing, light-up Anna dress to go with her singing, light-up Elsa dress! This dress is a hit with every little girl who comes to our house!

And both kids opened giant sacks of "snow balls!!"

A "snow ball" fight immediately ensued, and we were all laughing so hard! Such a great gift that Im sure we will get a kick out of for many Christmases ahead!

I think Uncle Jay was just glad it wasnt real snow, as Boston has been slammed by snow storms this Winter!

Gramps made an excellent catch!

Grady wanted to build a snow man :)

Snow ball fights are exhausting!

Snuggles.

Techies

The next day was Christmas Eve and both kids were so excited! What better way to kick off the night than with a Frozen singalong!?

On Christmas Eve, we hosted Eric's mom's side of the family at our house. Its always fun to see the cousins together!

Our nephew Dean played his usual role as the "elf", passing out the socks (adults) and books (kids) we each exchanged this year!

Grandaddy wasnt feeling well, so he left right after he got there. As it turned out, he had a cancerous spot on his colon/intestines and just had surgery to remove it yesterday (3/5/15). The surgery was successful and he will be back on his feet and bowling before we know it!

Memaw stayed to spend time with her kids and grandkids and great grandkids!

We all live within a 30 mile radius of one another and we SHOULD see each other more often, but life gets in the way and everyone is so busy all the time. So it was fun to catch up and see the family members that youd think we would run into around town, but we require plans months in advance to actually spend much time with. Its always fun :)

Little did Kyle know he was being groomed to babysit in the months ahead! He spent the night last weekend and babysat the kids for several hours and it was a huge success! We have a new baby-sitter to book! :)

After the crowd left, the kids quickly got in their jammies and we headed out front to sprinkle the "Reindeer Food" Whitney made in her class!

She was such a great sharer and both kids were excited, despite the drizzling rain.

Looks like snow, but its really rain :)

Then they snuggled into Whitney's bed and I read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas".

Grady wanted to sleep in his Sissy's bed, snuggled up they both said, "G'night, Mommy! Merry Christmas!" (or, "Merry Chrimmus" from Grady) as I turned out the light.

That lasted about 29 seconds before Grady said, "Ok, night night, Sissy. I goin' to sleep in my cwib. Merry Chrimmus." And I melted. It is more than two months later and I still remember his little voice and sweet words to his big sister. They have the best bond!

When they were in their beds, surely dreaming of all the excitement the morning would bring, Eric and I got to work. We set of their stockings....

And I packed up all the food pantry donations Eric's family had brought for our school's food pantry!

We set out the gifts....

....tried explaining the chaos to Bingo, who had been locked in our bedroom all night.

prepped the casserole for the morning, and then sat on the couch with a glass of wine and "Its a Wonderful Life". One of my very favorite traditions with this guy.

The next morning, Whitney read her note from Booker Bass, as he headed back to the North Pole. She was so excited to dive into the gifts and her stocking.....

...but brother had different ideas....sleepyhead did NOT want to wake up.

So we let Whitney tear into her stocking and we welcomed Mac and Gramps and Uncle Jay!

And Gramps and Uncle Jay were the only ones who could get Grady to wake up and participate in Christmas morning fun!

"Merry Chrimmus, Grumps."

He finally perked up and was excited to open his stocking!

Bingo got the mother of all rawhide bones!

And that kept him busy while we all went to the family room to open the gifts! I LOVE the chaos of the flying wrapping paper and squeals of excitement!

Whitney was VERY excited to get the Flutterby Fairy she'd been asking for!

And, of course, Grady was thrilled with all the trains!

Uncle Jay and Eric were on battery-installing duty!

and toy-unboxing duty....

...which is often comical.

I love that my kids get to experience Christmas with their grandparents. All of them! Watching my mom and dad with my kids is such a gift, and it just keeps getting better and better every year!

right in the middle of the mess....just like Bailey used to do. :)

Whitney's Flutterby Fairy was a huge hit!

Though there was a bit of a learning curve....

Uncle Jay helped rescue her from the ceiling.

....and then we decided to re-read the directions before someone got hurt by the fairy-turned-torpedo.

watching a slow motion video Uncle Jay took of the torpedo fairy.

These kids LOVE their Uncle Jay.

My friend said, "I wish MY kids had an Uncle Jay! Everyone should have an Uncle Jay!" So true.

And we made a weak attempt at some pics in front of the tree....but let's be honest...Grady is two.

After another yummy breakfast casserole and cinnamon buns breakfast, per tradition, Mac and Gramps and Uncle Jay headed home, no doubt to rest up and recharge for the evening round of chaos. And Eric's dad, aka Papa, came to visit!

We missed having Ms. Martha this year, but she got to spend the morning with her son so we understood her absence.

Papa hugs!!!!

The next day, Papa and Ms. Martha were moving into their new condo, so it was fun to hear all the details and see Papa so happy and excited! This was a merry Christmas, indeed!

Papa Claus has a lot of houses to hit on Christmas morning, and before long he had to ride his sleigh to Eric's brothers and sister's houses to celebrate with them. We are so glad to have him and Ms. Martha so much closer to us again.

And after Papa left, it was time to break open more toys and goodies! Whitney wanted to play with the faux snow she got in her stocking. Best $2 ever spent.

Both kids sat at the kitchen table and played in the snow for an hour or more. They LOVED it! Will be stocking up next year. Its likely crazy toxic, but worth the clean-up and toxicity :)

That afternoon, after some rest and showers, we headed over to my parents' house for dinner and more presents! Yes, more!

Whitney passed out the gifts she bought each family member at her school's "Holiday Shop". I got a diamond necklace and earring set! ;-)

She was SOOOO proud of her purchases and it was fun to watch her get excited about giving to others.

Gramps got a money clip that says "#1 Grandpa" and he still uses it :) Isnt he the best?!

And Eric was the winner with a light-up, singing Christmas tie. She was SOOO excited to give it to him!

Uncle Jay got a "#1 Uncle" wallet-type-thingy lol

and, of course, the kids got even more presents from my parents and Uncle Jay.

There are few pics of Whitney opening gifts because she tears into them at lightning speed lol She's too quick to get pics of these days! But Grady? He takes forEVER to open one gift....so, more pics.

Mom got both kids a Wubble for Christmas. Uncle Jay and Eric were on wuble-blow-up-duty. Who knew it could be that complicated!?

And the wubble was a hit!

Who's having more fun?!

Though Christmas day came and went, our Christmas festivities were still carrying on! Eric's mom's side of the family got together at our house this year, and it was a great time!

The two littlest grandsons and the two littlest granddaughters are really close in age and it was fun to watch them play and laugh together!

Dean passed out the gifts again and the kids were SO excited about all the gifts!

Whitney got ROLLER SKATES!!!

Grandma Debbie snuggles

Grandma Debbie and the two Erics

love the noise and chaos of Christmas with family!

And, of course, a family pic attempt!

We all had a great time catching up! It was a fun night and a great way to wrap up the Christmas festivities!

Whitney could NOT wait to use her new skates!

The next morning, she was out front bright and early, practicing and shouting "Im proud of myself, Mommy!! Im doing it!"

And to think, the last 100-ish pictures only cover the actual "Christmas" stuff from the month of December! We had fun the WHOLE month! Here are some pics from before Christmas/the rest of December!

Grady loves Monsters Inc. The opening scene doesnt scare him enough to make him NOT watch the movie, but he always stands behind the couch and watches the scene through covered eyes. Sweet boy :)

As much as we love living in Florida, its a mixed blessing. Its nice not to be covered in snow or gray skies, but its hard to feel very Christmas-y when its in the 80s all month. We enjoyed some park play dates at the Birthday Party Paek though!

And we tried to take the annual cozy coupe picture. Had we planned ahead, set up the whole "scene", charged the real camera, and tried to tackle this photo op, it wouldve been a total bomb. Sometimes its best to just let it happen....and watch the magic and smiles and belly laughs.

Not the shirt I wouldve picked. Needs a hair cut. But my goodness, how cute is this picture!?

And how adorable is this Christmas gift from his school? His sweet little hands are sooo cute!

I told Grady to head to the bathroom to get ready for a bath. This is what I found. Poor dude got himself all mixed up in his shirt. At least he got the pants off!

In the week before Whitney's Christmas break, the anticipation was brewing and I couldnt wait to have both kids home for a few weeks. We all love school. Both Whitney's school and Grady's. But I was excited for some home time with both of my babies. Grady and I went to the park right next to Whitney's school one day before we picked her up. He had the whole park to himself and was so cute!

Never without a train in hand.

"Kisses, Mommy!"

And THIS is what melts my mommy heart. The mutt and my two happy, healthy kids all cuddled up in our bed before the chaos of the school morning.

Whitney had a sleepover with her bestie, Faith, and the girls had fun painting fairies and making bracelets and laughing all day and night!

We got a car wash and Grady wasnt sure how he felt about that...

And the matchy-matchy Christmas ensembles were in full effect!

Grady was in bed, and Eric went out to meet friends, and I heard this sweet little voice still talking in her bed. I scooped her up, brought her to the couch, and watched "The Grinch" with my sweet girl. I asked her, "How did I get so blessed, Bug? How did I get so lucky that God made ME your mommy??"

"You prayed!"

And she's sooo right. Prayer changes things. For sure.

Oh GBass. I told him I'd get breakfast in a minute. Apparently he couldn't wait that long. I came around the corner and found a mangled box of Wheat Thins, pulled from the stash for Christmas Eve food on the dining room table. Then I walked into the kitchen and looked right and discovered the fridge and freezer wide open. (Yall I was only away for three minutes. Max.)
And I look left and see this cutie. With a tub of ice cream. He smiled and said "Oh, hi mommy! I need a 'poon please!"

Wow. He earned that ice cream for breakfast.

Our awesome Syracuse friends swung through town for breakfast on their way to the airport. I LOVE this mama!

Our girls are hilarious together and get along soooo well!

Sillies!

I closed my eyes for 13 seconds on the couch. And was quickly reminded why mom naps are not allowed.‪#‎FaceAttack‬ ‪#‎Mommy‬ #Mommy #Mommy #Mommy #Mommy ‪#‎AreYouSleeping‬ #Mommy ‪#‎HiMommy‬‪#‎MommyWereYouAsleep‬??

A few days after Christmas, my parents treated us to the best dinner around. We werent sure we could make it happen since Grady had an EPIC and embarrassing meltdown at my parents' friends' house the day before, but Grady pulled it together, we armed ourselves with DVD players and ipads and extra cell phones, and the dinner was a go!

Gramps was excited to show off his new money clip!

Uncle Jay took Whitney to the mall for some Build-A-Bear fun, and the ~~dressed like a hooker~~ sweet Palace Pet joined us for Ruth's Chris!

Our little carnivore :)

Parents of the Year award for 2014

I was sick to my stomach worrying about this kid's behavior today. Then he was a rock star and reminded me how quickly this stage goes away. The last night for our Christmas tree and his oh-so-tight Thomas jammies from Maggie and her sweet boys. And before I know it, he'll be 17. ‪#‎StopGrowing‬‪#‎ButSeriouslyStopActingLikeAJerkInPublic‬
‪#‎ButReally‬ #‎StayLittle‬

My parents watched our littlest Tigers so Eric and I could go to the Clemson bowl game in Orlando!

We had so much fun, and my Tigers were rockstars!

I got to spend some time with a favorite online/Clemson friend and her sweet family before the game! So fun to catch up in real life!

And this happened. While Eric was in the bathroom. lol

And this happened. And my heart melted.

And keeping in the "Jesus' birthday" spirit, Grady wanted to keep blowing out the candle in the kitchen. Singing "Happy Birthday" over and over ;) Such a FUN age!