The 12 Days of Christmas

Christmas is filled with many traditions we have established as a family over the years as well as many other holiday activities....the season is one of my favorite times of the year.  

From attending the Singing Christmas Tree to watching Maddox sing in her chorus performance at school....

 to naps by the tree....

 to stocking parties at Gran and Pop's....

 and, unfortunately, we didn't escape the season without a due illness.....Chapman is rarely sick, and honestly I don't recall her being down and out since her de-tethering surgery just after she came home.  But, alas, she was a sick little one but we were thankful she was up and running around again after some good rest and fabulous meds!

 The last day of school spent with your besties is always a good day, Grinch and all.  These four are friends for life and we adore every one of them!  

 The Christmas season always calls for some cookie decorating with friends....

 and who decorates without sampling some of their tasty treats?!?

 Our big girl has the best of friends that we love spending time with throughout the year, especially at Christmas.  Target date for a good scavenger hunt and Starbucks refueling is always a good time!

 Colin and Kayla came in for a moment to join in the decorating fun....big kids like the fun too though I am realizing at this moment as I type that P missed out!  Not even sure where he was but I am positive he managed to eat something sweet before the evening ended!

 MK and her friends tend to make it a decorating contest....they always ask me who won but I just can't ever decide!  

 Christmas gifting is always fun when you find the perfect gift.  So was the case when I spied this DT coffee mug for my dad....as a member of the local coffee club, I knew this mug was to bring much discussion among the men in attendance, lol.

 Gingerbread house decorating is always a fun way to spend an evening together....

 my three littles were loving this time.  Chapman felt the need to wear this hat....I love her and all of her funny little things she does to add personality to our family.

 Maddox and Maryn work very well together so giving them the gingerbread house challenge was a great idea....they even built a train with gumdrops on top!

 The Christmas season is always filled with many picture taking opportunities.  Getting all six of my favorites to look at the camera and smile can be quite the task at times!  I do love looking at this crew through my lens....and each time I do, I am so thankful to call them my own!

 My Granny loved Christmas too and always celebrated surrounded by family.  

 Last year we began a tradition of having the Goodson Family gathering at our house in honor of my Granny and Grandaddy....and tho our menu changes each year, we always have "a lil pickle" to remember my fun and dearly missed grandparents.

 Christmas season meant all six of my kiddos were under one roof for several weeks.  Man, I was so excited!  And when all are under one roof, we must take a selfie to show the love....and to show that P was present too!  He tends to duck when the camera comes out!  On this night, he had a Cotillion dance to attend and a bowtie was in order to spruce him up a bit!

 My Maryn.  We had a date, just the two of us.  We went to dinner....Jason's Deli, not because she wanted dinner so much but because she LOVES that they have an ice cream machine for dessert and you can eat as much as you want!  So, ice cream dinner and Christmas lights it was!  The awe in her eye when we stood beside the giant Christmas tree was priceless.

 Mar-Bear does Kinder.  Kindergarten has proven to be just what the doctor ordered for this little one.  She LOVES it.  

 Sister Friends.  Brooklyn and Mads do life.  A holiday favorite, cookie decorating.....

 and a little facial mask application....that's what friends are for!  Love these two girls so much.

 Maryn's beauty wish came true with her new lipstick and princess mirror....

 always fun spending a day with G-Mom and G-Dad....

 Rush's for the win!  Rush's is about the only fast-food restaurant we frequent....it's a SC favorite when we visit.

We enjoyed our time with Gran and Pop especially the lipstick application instruction!  

Christmas Adam arrived and we found ourselves at the mall.  Note to self, the mall is NOT the place to be on Christmas Adam.  And, another note, not all people choose to see Santa early in the season.....there are several who wait until the very last minute much like we did.  

Alas, we went.  We took our place in line for Santa....we took turns going to ride the train and the fun electric animals through the crowds - luckily no bystanders were hurt :)  And, through all of these side events, we still stood in the very place we began to see Santa.  NO movement.  

So I did what most moms do in sticky situations, I quick walked over and asked how we could speed this process along.  After all, we had places to be and movies to see.  A kind soul told me to make an online reservation and regardless of the time we were reserved, come to the front of the line and they would get us through at that moment.  And that is how we moved from the back of the line to the very front of the line and visited with Santa stat.  It's tradition and it had to be done.  All six agreed.

That night, it was time to decorate cookies for Santa and our lone gingerbread house....we should note that in the Drafts house, "decorating" is really about eating the candy that really should go on the house - it has nothing to do with actually decorating the house.  

Reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is my favorite.  I love the Herdmans and the message that this story brings each year.  

I love our traditions.  I adore my little family.  I am thankful for another year with them, all under one roof for the season and the magic that Christmas is surrounded with.  

Clarks Hill Christmas Tree Farm

After a fun-filled Thanksgiving with family, we ventured out to the local Christmas tree farm to officially begin our Christmas season with decor!  

 Our quest to find the perfect tree went something like this...."that one is leaning" "that one is too tall!" "that one has a hole" "too short" "too round" "too green" "it's dead".....

 We were all a bit baffled at why it was so hard to find our tree!

 Even our beloved tape measure took a turn for the worse and broke in two leaving us with no official way to even know if the tree was too small or too round or, gasp, too tall!

 So, we did what most families do when they are troubled with a decision, we took pictures! 

 But even the picture was a short-lived distraction from finding the perfect tree!  

 In the midst of our day, I did manage to snap a few individual photos of my bigs and my littles.  The big kiddos don't always agree to this!

 And my bitty baby, my little Cha, is always on the run so catching her for even the slightest moment, is a feat like no other.

 Each year when we find the perfect must-have tree for our family, the boys give it a tree hug of sorts and I take a pic.  Tradition.

 This year was no different. Only, I took the pic and then some bystanders came over to inform us that our perfect tree, the one we had looked so hard and desperately for, the one we had actually all agreed on, well, that tree was not even for sale!  

 And then we realized in all of our madness, we were missing one.  Thankfully, C found her and she was back safe and sound ready to get into something else!

 Our little Cha is a wanderer, she is the sweetest, cuddliest little thing but she has the fierce independence about her and she LOVES exploring outdoors!

 So we let her explore a bit as we started the tree search over from scratch.  

 Finally, we found the perfect one and Maddox was loving the task of cutting it down!  She did a great job!

 With our tree in hand, and our tummies growling, we headed over to the little cafe for some much needed hot chocolate and snacks....boiled peanuts and tree cakes for the win!  

We also did our annual hide and seek tree game tho I must say that the bigs and the parents are losing their might and didn't fare too long in this game!  Ha!

Santa Pictures with the Littles

2018 was the year of change in Christmas traditions.  For as long as I can recall, we have always gone to see a local play, A Christmas Carol, then gone to the mall for lunch and shopping, and, lastly, gotten our pic taken with Santa during this time.  My house is decorated with Santa pics dating back to when the boys were babies.  

This year was to be different.  This year, A Christmas Carol wasn't to be performed.  This year, Colin was in school until December 18 and wouldn't be home for our trip to the mall and, most importantly, Santa pics.  

So, I made the decision to do "real" Santa pics with the two bitty babies.  Merry Christmas to ME!  I wanted classic photos and more memories to have for the years to come.  I found a fabulous photographer and, poof, she made the magic of Santa a beautiful reality for the three of us.

There is a story tho, and one that must be documented for Cha's sake.  It will be a story that I will tell for many years to come.....the year Cha went to see Santa with nothing on - gasp!

Our mornings start early.  Everyone has to be up by 6:30 and out of the house by 7:00.  And this morning was no different.  We had early Santa pics and they were all the way across town, a good thirty minute drive without traffic.  

The dresses for the littles had been ironed the night before and bows laid out too.  So I woke the girls, curled their hair, fed them breakfast, put their dresses on and out the door we went.  We took MK, Maddox and P to school and we were off to see Santa!

The photographer's home was the setting for our pics.  Her home is beautiful and looks like the setting of a movie....it's an older home in a very quaint part of the city.  We entered through a side door into a sunroom filled with toys and cookies for the girls as they waited their turn to see Santa.

The photographer's husband greeted us and chatted with me as the girls happily played.  It is funny to note that all of the toys were for little boys, no dolls or Barbies, and my girls were in heaven.  They were building at the workshop and scooting trains around the train track....it was a fun sight to see!

Suddenly, Cha yelled, "I've got to go POTTY!" 

Of course the bathroom was behind closed doors very close to where Santa was sitting so it took an act of congress to tiptoe quietly with my very curious Cha and get to the bathroom without disrupting Santa's time with his current little person.  

Alas, we made it, and just as I always do, I went to lift Cha's dress, pull down her little panties and help her to sit on the potty.  It was at this time that I realized she was commando with nothing on that cute little tush.  

I went into shock mode - how was she going to sit on Santa's lap without anything on under her dress?  What if she decided to pull one of her amazing gymnastic stunts and flashed everyone, including Santa?  What in the world was I going to do?!  I had NOTHING, no panties, no diapers, no NOTHING.

And then I remembered.  I DID have something.  

Cha had a runny nose and as we were getting out of the car to go inside, I felt it was best to wipe it really well before making out debut.  Of course, I didn't have tissues in my car so I desperately looked around for anything I could use to wipe her nose with.  And there they were, a pair of clean little panties, sitting in the center console of my car for an emergency.  

I snatched them up quick and wiped her very runny nose instructing her to blow really hard for me too!  We were all clean and, as a last minute thought, I stuck them into my purse "just in case" we needed them again for another little wipe of the nose.  

So here we were, in this gorgeous little bathroom, with a bare bum and our only hope was a pair of snotty panties that were sitting in my purse in another room of the house.

We finished up, washed our hands, and tiptoed back to the playroom.  My purse was sitting with our things and I snatched it up to be sure the panties were in there.  Being that we were in this little room with a man we didn't really know, I was trying to be discreet in how I proceeded with getting those snotty panties on my sweet little Cha.  

After a few moments, I said that maybe we should go back to the bathroom and wipe her nose - now, we all know I was really trying to get back to the bathroom so I could get those panties on her without a show.  The man was so polite as he walked over and handed me an entire box of tissues and  insisted I use as many as I needed to get her ready for her visit with Santa.

So, I was left with no choice, I took the box of tissues and headed over to a little corner of the room, praying he wasn't looking, and I quickly put those snotty little panties that had been balled up in my purse on Cha's little bum.  

And off she went!  She marched her little self in to see the bearded man and proceeded to win him over in her own little way.   

Both girls adored their time with Santa.  He was so good to each of them, reading to them and making them giggle.  Of course he asked what they would like for Christmas....Maryn said an electric scooter, and Cha said a "baby cry"....that is a story for another day! And I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear as I watched these two little joys, my daughters, soak up their time with this magical, unsuspecting man. Of course, I was a bit giggly on the inside too knowing what was sitting on Santa's lap.  He had a whole lot of love and a little bit of "ick" sitting on that lap....but I guess that is how it always is as we are all full of laughter and goop, right?