Christmas Eve

Trying to get a good picture of 6 kids and a dog is challenging.  Dearie bought everyone matching Christmas PJs to wear on Christmas Eve.

After we tried for a good picture, we did some silly poses too.

This was supposed to be the "Charlie's Angels" pose.  They had no idea what we were talking about!

Pile of cousins!

This year, Dearie was on a robes and slippers kick.  Maisey loved hers and her cat sleeping mask.

Gardner and his dump truck slippers

Malloy is a zebra/penguin

Even Kyle got a robe and slippers

The kids loved hanging out with Cutter.  Maybe if we could find a dog as mellow and calm as him, I could become a dog person...well, maybe not.

Aunt Katherine got a book about kale and Kyle expressed his opinion.

Then we came home and put out some cookies and milk for Santa.  Malloy also wanted to leave her gingerbread house for Santa to eat too.  I am sure he enjoyed it!

More Christmas...

Same dress, two very different girls.  I guess Malloy was only 2 1/2 in this picture while Maisey is just a few weeks away from turning 3.  Maisey certainly has a lot more hair!  I think she looks much more grown up than Malloy.

I tried several times to get a cute picture of the kids in front of the tree, but this was the best I could do.

I did convince them to give each other a big hug!

Trying again the next week after church.

My little angel ready to perform at the Christmas Eve nativity pageant.

This was the biggest tree we have ever had.  I did not do a very good job of judging it's size or height at the tree lot.  It just barely fit in its spot.

Malloy and I spend quite a long time decorating our gingerbread house this year.  The most impressive/depressing part is that we had all of this candy on hand.  We did not have to purchase a single piece.  I think this makes us candy hoarders.

Santa Brunch

It can certainly be said that the McInnis children were NOT afraid of Santa this year.

In fact, one member of our family seems to be in LOVE with him.

It was a struggle to get Gardner off of Santa's lap so other children could have a turn.  He wanted to hug and kiss him and rub his face in his beard.  Gross!

Ellen had to throw him over her shoulder and carry him back to the table.  

I would say we were not on our best behavior for brunch.  

The girls got a little silly and were rolling around on the floor.  Kyle was out of town at the ACC Championship so I called in Granddaddy and Frances to help me wrangle everyone.  

Maisey looks like she was dancing with Santa on his way out of the building.

Getting Ready for Christmas

The kids enjoyed decorating "their" tree in the playroom.  There are no rules when it comes to ornament placement and nothing is breakable.  I enjoyed putting up their tree because it is pre-lit and snaps together 1-2-3.

Gardner is still enjoying his hat from when he was in the baby room at First Presbyterian.

Clyde, our Elf on the Shelf, showed back up after Thanksgiving.  I had forgotten that we had some other elves last year.  Malloy, however, did not, and she wrote a note to Lucy, the pocket elf.  She also left some milk and cookies for her.

Voila!  Lucy appeared the next morning with a note of her own.

We had some really cold weather [for Louisiana] and the kids enjoyed bundling up in their winter gear.  We don't get to use it much where we live!

Thanksgiving

My little turkeys were in charge of bringing strawberries to their pre-school feast.

On the actual day of Thanksgiving, they helped me clean up the house before guests arrived.

Daddy and G-Man

One of the few times I have actually used my dining room

Malloy made everyone "monogrammed" placemats and place cards.  I pulled out some of the rarely/never used wedding gifts and had to remove price tag stickers from my 12 year old napkin rings!

Malloy shared her book that she wrote about the pilgrims and Indians.  Did you know that the pilgrims ate eel??

The bird - cajun fried

The spread - rolls, sweet potato souffle, green bean casserole, stuffing, black eye peas, rice, and cranberry relish.

Dearie, Grandma and Papa

I love Malloy's reaction to the turkey

Maisey enjoyed her peas & rice with turkey

Gardner was also a great eater

Malloy's feast consisted of saltines and strawberries

After lunch, Malloy worked on a Thanksgiving poster.  She asked everyone what they were grateful for and we wrote down our responses.