Visiting Santa Claus - Take 1

Since we are new to Montgomery, and would not be able to go to the Christmas Train this year, we weren't sure where to take the boys to see Santa.  I received a letter from our mortgage company that Santa would be visiting their office, so I took the boys there one day after school to see the big guy.  It went pretty well, but we weren't able to get a good picture with Major because he was scared of Santa.  Also, Bill was unable to join us, so about a week later, we took the boys to another Santa. 
That post will be later.  :-)

Here are Brady and Eli individually with Santa.  Brady asked for 2 cats, and Eli said he'd be happy with whatever Santa brings him.  Sorry, Brady, I don't believe Santa will be bringing any cats this year.

 Here's the picture I did get with the 3 boys...Eli (8), Brady (5), and Major (2)

 The mortgage company served hot chocolate and cookies afterwards.  This was Major's first taste of hot chocolate.  If chocolate all over his face and shirt is any indicator, I would say he was a fan.

Super Major

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's SUPER MAJOR!!  Recently, he has been carrying around this bandana, asking us to put it in as a cape, and running around yelling, "SUPER MAJOR"! He "flies" and "saves the day" (his words).  It is so precious, and I'm not even sure where he got it.  His older brothers aren't into super heroes all that much, and he doesn't watch much TV. He tells me all the time that he is Super Major and he asks for crackers and juice for Super Major. I love it!

 In this second one he said, "take picture mommy and Super Major". So I did. :-)

Eli's Christmas Performance

The 1st and 2nd grade and Alabama Christian Academy put on a Christmas show called "A Bear-y Merry Holiday".  Eli's class were grizzly bears, hence the brown shirts and brown bear ears.  You can see Eli in the back, that is his friend Landon Nelson in front of him.  Behind Eli in the red shirt and dark hair is his teacher, Mrs. Rachel Hatcher.  She has been wonderful this year.  We are so thankful he has her as his teacher!

 Every child who wanted to have one got a speaking part, and Eli got to speak first. :-)

 A Bear-y Merry Holiday to you!

Eli's 8th Birthday Party - Saturday, December 7th

For his 8th birthday, Eli decided to have a football party.  Basically, he had 5 boys over from his class and they played football for 2 hours.  Sounds like a great party to me!

Brady Sutton arrived first.  Here is my Brady, Brady Sutton, and Eli making NFL logos waiting for other guests to arrive.

 Major was also excited for guests to come!

 The following are a few pictures of what happened in those two hours.  These boys played all out tackle football in 40 degree weather.  These are some tough dudes!  This first one is Eli running by while Brady is being tackled by Jonah Kohring.

 Then we have your basic tackle dog-pile.  Tyson Summers on the far left, then Brady being tackled by Jonah and Eli on the ground with Micah Kohring under him (in the yellow sweatshirt).

Brady, Tyson Summers, and Micah Kohring get ready to make a play while Brady Sutton, Eli, and Jonah Kohring play defense. 

 Kick-off time: Eli, Brady Sutton, and Jonah

 More offensive genius of Brady Moore, Tyson, and Micah running the ball with Eli, Brady Sutton, and Jonah Kohring playing defense.

 In the far lower left corner of this one, you can see the edge of Eli's green shirt, at the top of the photo you can see the football, and at the very back, you can see Jonah getting ready to jump.  Jonah caught this ball for an amazing touchdown by Eli's team!

 Captain Eli (in the middle in green) gets his team in a huddle to call the next play.

 Another pass from Eli to Jonah that was caught and resulted in a touchdown!

 Desperate for a comeback, Miach, Brady Moore, and Tyson try some offensive strategy of their own.

 Eli is tackled by Tyson Summers.

 Brady Sutton kicks off.

 The proud football players: (Levi Summers on the far left got in the picture, too.) Jonah Kohring, Eli Moore, Tyson Summers are standing.  Micah Kohring, Brady Moore, and Brady Sutton are kneeling.  Eli, Jonah, and Brady Sutton won the game 114-107 on a last second touchdown pass from Eli to Jonah.  It was close!

 One more photo with the babies included: Levi Summers, Jonah Kohring, Eli Moore, Tyson Summers, then Major Moore and Ryder Summers in the middle, and Micah Kohring, Brady Moore, and Brady Sutton kneeling.

 Lunchtime consisted of hamburgers and hot dogs.  They all sat on blankets in the guestroom floor.  Starting from the bottom left corner and going around the picture: Brady Moore, Brady Sutton, Levi Summers, Ryder Summers, Tyson Summers, Jonah Kohring, Landon Nelson (He showed up late and didn't get to play much football), and Eli Moore.  I wasn't able to get Major and Micah Kohring in the picture.

 Present Time!  Landon Nelson looks at the presents while Eli is ready to dive in!

 First: a nerf water gun from Tyson, Levi, and Ryder Summers

 Second: an Alabama shirt from Brady Sutton

 Third: a toy bow and arrow from Jonah and Micah Kohring

 Fourth: a new football from Landon Nelson

 I made a cookie cake this time for Eli.  Here are Levi and Tyson Summers, Jonah, Rachel, and Eli around the cake while I light the candles.

 Brady Sutton had to go home early, so he wasn't in this photo.  Levi Summers, Jonah Kohring, Tyson Summers, Eli, Landon Nelson, Micah Kohring, and Brady Moore

 This last picture cracks me up.  They celebrated when he blew out all 8 candles at once.

Happy 8th birthday, Eli!

The Adventures of Chris the Elf - the First 10 Days

Sunday, December 1st, we woke up to find an elf in our house!  The boys have named him Chris, and he has been sent to us from Santa to observe our behavior and report directly back to him. Every night while we are sleeping, Chris gets into some sort of mischief and then the boys find out what he's been up to the next morning!  They have really enjoyed running through the house trying to find him every day when they wake up.

 

Night of December 1st: Chris eats the doughnuts.

 Night of December 2nd: Chris plays Hungry Hungry Hippos with some of the boys' toys.

 Night of December 3rd: Chris drinks daddy's Mountain Dew

 Night of December 4th: Chris plays games on the computer.

 Night of December 5th: Chris flies around hanging from the attic door chain.

 Night of December 6th: Chris takes a bath in marshmallows

 Night of December 7th: Chris removes all our stockings and replaces them with underwear.  (You can see Chris sitting in the middle of the mantle, looking very pleased with himself.)

Night of December 8th: Chris reads a Christmas book to the penguins.

 Night of December 9th: Chris makes a "snow angel" in flour.

 Night of December 10th: Chris finds himself trapped in the jaws of a T-Rex, the other toys throw him a rope and try to pull him free.

 Stay tuned for more Chris adventures.

 

Advent Calendars - Sunday, December 1st

When I was growing up, we always had 1 advent calendar that my siblings and I (4 of us total) had to share.  Thanks to Bill's Uncle Cliff Moore, each boy has his own!  Uncle Cliff (Bill's father's brother) and Aunt Carol sent the boys each their own advent calendars.  It is so great not to have to share!  Here they are each opening up the box for December 1st.  They have really enjoyed opening these up every evening and counting down the days until Santa comes!