Christmas Eve Traditions

Walker helping Bebe light the candles.

The Wise girls.

All the grands singing Jingle Bells.

Bebe and AG

AG & Liza (who is True Maroon!) Daddy Jim and the boys oversee the clean up effort while we open presents.

AG and Charlotte with their new toboggans

Walker practicing his putting.

On Christmas Eve, the whole Wise clan celebrated at Bebe and Daddy Jim's house. The kids helped Bebe light the candles around the house and then we have a wonderful meal. Afterwards, Daddy Jim reads the Christmas story, and then we launch into presents. We usually stay until late in the night visiting and eating left overs! By the time we head home, the kids are dreaming of what Santa will bring that night.

Gingerbread Village

The kids and I spent the afternoon assembling and decorating a gingerbread village. It took awhile to put the 5 houses together; but once they were ready, the kids had a great time decorating them. They even tried their hand at the pastry bag! I think Walker ate more candy than he put on his houses! I think they look very festive on our breakfast room table.

Visit with Santa

Friday we braved the crowds at the mall to visit Santa. We had a little wait, but it was worth it! Anna Grace and Walker didn't hesitate to jump up on his knee and tell him exactly what they wanted for Christmas. Walker - Wii, trampoline, pool, Silly Bandz and a DS game. Anna Grace - IPOD with speakers, Wii, hair straightener and surprises. Not sure what he had to say about the pool!

Christmas Around the World

The Thomas Street Kindergarten presented their Christmas program - "Christmas Around the World." There were 155 kindergartners in all! Walker was the 1st speaker and told everyone to bucket their seat bealts and prepare for take off. Then we were taken to many different countries around the world. The kids told us different interesting Christmas traditions for each country. The last song of the night was beautiful - "Light the Candles." I'll try to load a video of the song soon.

3rd Grade Program

The Pierce Street 3rd grade presented a program entitled "Mama Penya's Pancakes" which is a story they had been reading. The focus the past several weeks was on Kenya so the kids wore sashes they decorated to resemble those worn in Kenya. Anna Grace had a speaking part and did a fabulous job.

Sweet Treats Christmas Party

Anna Grace couldn't wait to go to Caroline's house for her Sweet Treats Party. A cookie recipe was included in each invitation. The girls were to make the cookies and bring them to the party. Grace and I had fun making Snickerdoodles. Anna Grace measures, cracked, stirred and rolled. We had never made these cookies before and didn't know how they would turn out. To our surprise, they were very good. Now, Snickerdoodles may be one of our favorite cookie!

Anna Grace, Ansley, Sarah, Taylor, Grace, Gracie, Lucy, Caroline, Sydney & Mary Alice

The girls had a great time at the party. After they told about how they made their cookies, they got to dig in! Even though it was a "cookie" party, the girls really didn't eat many cookies. They had fun just hanging out & especially opening presents! It was a fun way to kick off the Christmas season!

Tupelo Christmas Parade

AG and Charlotte enjoying their pancakes.

Piled on to keep warm!
Walker, John David & Sam

We braved the bitter cold to watch the Tupelo Christmas Parade this morning. Before the parade we had wonderful pancakes at the Kiwanas Club breakfast. Then we headed to the Priest & Wise office to watch the parade. We were so thankful for a warm place to thaw out during the parade and for the hot chocolate and snacks.

John the Elf Arrives!!

Anna Grace had been asking about our elf for several days over Thanksgiving. She was so excited when she came home from school on Dec. 1 to find the elf at the top of the Christmas tree! She and Walker were so glad to see him and were surprised that he had brought little presents! Christmas shaped Silly Bandz! Anna Grace methodically laid hers out on the floor while Walker quickly looked at them while putting everyone of them on his wrists!

Later this week, Anna Grace started wondering what the elf's name was. So she decided to write him a note asking him. He wrote back that his name was John and reminded AG to be good so that Santa might bring her a Wii or IPOD.

A Santa head Silly Band

Wearing all 24 at one time!

Decking the Halls

The kids really enjoyed decorating the trees this year. We started decorating the before Thanksgiving, but ran out of time. So we finished it on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. After the "big" tree was fully decorated, the kids moved to the ones in their rooms. I loved watching them take their time to pick out just the perfect spot for each ornament. It's beginning to look

a lot like Christmas at the Wise house!

Happy Thanksgiving

They loved the static in the hair!

We had a very full Thanksgiving. For lunch we ate with Bebe & Daddy Jim. Usually we are in Brandon for Thanksgiving, so it was nice to spend some time with Scott's parents. The kids especially enjoyed the trampoline!

Later that afternoon we headed to Brandon for Thanksgiving with my family. We actually didn't all get together until Friday evening, but we enjoyed spending time with Nana and PopPop. The kids also had a good time playing at Aunt Kris and Uncle Hamp's house. Walker especially liked playing the Wii with Reid. The park is also one of their favorite places to visit in Brandon. We made a quick stop by for them to play.

Walker & Reid duking it out on Wii boxing.

Anna Grace was a fabulous babysitter!

Anna Grace loved playing with Nana & PopPop's new kittens.

This was the best picture of the kids. It was kind of like hearding cats!

The whole family