Christmas 2008

This really is the most wonderful time of the year. This was probably the best Christmas we have had yet! We had a wonderful time with both sides of the family & we really enjoyed our time together with just our little family on Christmas morning.

I had so much fun shopping for the kids this year. I really scored BIG with the "day-after-Halloween" bargains I bought this year too (thanks for the suggestion Karen)! I went out on November 1st and purchased a bunch of 50% off costumes for the kids, because their favorite thing to do is to play "dress up". Well, my bargain hunting paid off Christmas morning when they each opened a huge box full of costumes. They went NUTS! It was so much fun to see :-).

Here are some fun pictures from our Christmas celebrations:
Here comes Santa Clause, here comes Santa Clause....











Judah and Mom-Mom White.






























Pop-Pop White with the girls.













I love this picture of Maya waking up on Christmas morning. Does she look excited or what?











Chandler got the Optimus Prime launcher he had been asking for :-)












The big boxes of costumes.













Is that Tinkerbelle and Hannah Montana I see?


















It's "The Dark Knight"!


















It's an Easy Bake Oven!!













Chandler spent the entire day soaked in Transformer heaven!

















The box says this dumb Transformer is for ages 5 and up....












...but there wasn't a child or adult in the whole house that could figure out how to "transform" that dumb thing back into a car!











Santa enjoying his first taste of way too much stimulation. Aka: The "activity mat".

17 dozen cookies!

We have been doing a little baking around here :-)

These were the cookie jars and coffee mugs I bought for the kids teachers.

(sorry about all the junk in the background).









Side view of the cookie jars...they were so cute :-).














Cute little coffee mugs.

















Yumm...homemade cookies! The kids helped me bake all day Tuesday when they had a snow day.

Baby it's cold outside!

Man...has it been COLD! At least we have had a little snow to go with the bitter cold. This is how the "Fab 4 Whites" have been dealing with the chill in the air :-).


























































WooHoo! Nothing like a snow day the week before Christmas break!


















Santa baby.....


















Judah is LOVING his snow suit!


















"The best way to spread Christmas cheer...is toting around a chubby baby in a Santa hat everywhere you go!"

McKenna turned 7!

My big girl turned 7 years old on Thanksgiving day! In some ways it seems like she should be older than 7 because she seems so "grown up" now that she is the 'big, big, big sister". But, on the other hand, it seems like she should still be my little girl with the cute chubby cheeks who makes up words like "sprankaree", and "spurple" to describe her surroundings.

When you have 4 children so close together you can't help but feel like you are somehow missing out on watching the oldest one grow up. I'll be the first to admit that I have more than just a little guilt over that! It seems like every time I look up McKenna has grown up a little more. A few months go by & I say to myself "when did my little girl quit being so 'little' ". It's bittersweet watching McKenna get older.

She has such a mature countenance for someone so young. She is always thoughtful and kind, and so tenderhearted. I love that about her! She is always thinking of others & yet she has managed to find her own voice amid the flurry of growth in our home. She is also one of the most creative children I've ever met. She doesn't need much to get her creative juices flowing. This girl can make an "art project" out of plain white paper and paper clips...I kid you not! Wherever she goes she has a bag of some sort filled with books to read, journals, sketch books, pencils, and paper. This is the one aspect of her that confounds me the most. I am about the most "un-creative" person I know, so this need for her to have learning materials by her side 24/7 is very foreign to me! When I see my little artistic savant marching around with her art satchel and reading materials, I say to myself "Is that really my child?". She must take after her Daddy in that department, because God knows he's got talent!

So, here are a few pictures of my big girl on her birthday weekend.
Opening presents on her birthday.













Waiting for Daddy to find some matches.


















"Happy Birthday to You"


















At the theater waiting for the movie "Bolt" to start.


















It was only 6:30 pm, but they were completely worn out!

2 Months