Not just any babysitting job...

Last weekend, I had a pretty special babysitting job. I got a call from Ashley saying she and David were wanting to go on a date and had thought it would be a lot of fun for the two grandmothers to get to babysit Emma! Pretty fun is right!!! Patti and I jumped at the chance! It was wonderful to get a little time with Emma but also so sweet to get to be with Patti. David and Ashley had a great date and we two grandmother managed our time with Emma just fine! Even though Emma wasn't terribly interested in taking Mom's milk from a bottle! :) It was so fun to get to go to church with them the next morning before heading back home. Though I am never ready to leave and hate not seeing this precious little girl every day, I am so thankful they are close enough that we can make trips for special moments like this one! We love you Emma Grace and I am so thankful to be your "Honey"!

Do you ever wonder how a tradition starts??

Okay, as you can see from my blogs last month, we like traditions! We are funny that way. Sometime, we really don't intend on a tradition starting...it just kind of happens. Case in point.
Whenever it is a birthday or really any occasion that we might be giving a little treat, we will say "Get on the couch and close your eyes!" So the person will sit on the couch, close their eyes and hold open their hands. That was not really suppose to be a tradition...but it sure has turned into one! We did it with our kids. We did it once with the grands and now ANYTIME you have something to give someone else, you must go to the couch and close your eyes! What do you do if you are not at home? Well, you just sit wherever and close those eyes! It is really adorable! Like one year at Knight Camp, I was going to give the boys their new waterguns. I told them I was going in the camper to get a special little treat. When I came out of the camper...here is what I saw!

It that not the cutest picture of Owen? So sweet!!!
So no surprise, when it was time for stockings Christmas morning and Bud and Honey came into the den with them and this is what we saw!

Okay, so maybe Will doesn't have down the whole close your eyes part...but he is sitting! I love this picture of Clay...he is working hard to keep those eyes closed.

Christmas Past...2009 that is!

I thought I would post a few pictures, a snipet of our Christmas with our kids! We had a blast! Everyone stayed here so we had lots of time for playing, laughing, eating and a little sleeping!

First of all, thank you God! What a fun start to our Christmas Eve morning. The little boys and Honey were sneaking into the kitchen to start the coffee and cocoa when what to our wondering eyes should appear...SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Our little guys on their scavenger hunt Christmas Eve morning. Emma let the boys do the work this year! :)



Emma and David hanging out while the little guys did the hunt, they were sweet little cousins and found Emma's gifts too!



Now it is the "big kids" turn! Here they are reading the slightly altered "Twas the Knights on Christmas Eve" poem and looking for clues! It is HARD to stump this group, after all, Zach and Ashley have had around 25 years experience!



Our annual Gingerbread Contest was a huge success again. I am blown away with how creative our children are! First we let the little guys do their very own house (Emma Grace-a house will be waiting for you next time!) and then the adults got serious and construction began! It was so fun once again to watch our couples plot, plan and produce such lovely little homes! Larry even brought out a power tool! Scary huh! (Please excuse how we all look...the best part about Christmas Eve was the fact that MOST of us stayed in our "fat pants" ALL day!!!)






Bud, Honey and the four little grands enjoying a Christmas book before bedtime! Sweet snuggles!



I had the great honor of bringing all the grands down the hall on Christmas morning! What a treat!!!



They were an excited little group! First thing to do, find the pickle!!





Here are a few of MANY pictures that capture the fun we all had on Christmas morning! The little ones opened their gifts, then we enjoyed a big breakfast (complete with a new breakfast casserole that everyone loved!) and then it was stocking time! Our family loves stockings! First the little ones opened theirs and then the big kids! Wow, our children did an amazing job stuffing ours! We played and sipped on coffee and cocoa for hours! Then we all loaded up in the afternoon and headed to Larry's parents for Knight Christmas. It was a wonderful day! We are so incredibly blessed!

Emma sporting one of her new bows!


David is excited about Emma's gift...boots!!



Owen is pretty excited about his stocking goodies!



Clay, what is it?



Will has the opening gifts skills!



Bud, looks like you hit the jackpot!



I think Ashley sees a new clothing item in her future!!



David, it's your turn!!!



Meg, what did you get???



Zach, you've been patient...but dig in, its your turn!!


And finally, Honey and Bud's FAVORITE packages under the tree!

Merry Christmas to all & to all a good night!

I hope your day is merry in every single way!

From the Knight house we wish all of you a Very Merry Christmas

and a Happy and Blessed New Year!

God Bless You All!

Bingo and favorite snacks night!

Today is a special night for our family. I suppose any time we get to be with family is sweet. Tonight, my brother and his wife, their sons and daughter in law will come over to join our while crew for some long lived traditions. It starts with eating...something our family takes seriously. Tonight's menu is this families favorite...snacks! You know the holiday snacks that you love making and eating! Things like Sausage balls, Little smokies, Ranch Oyster crackers, Eggrolls not to mention all the desserts! Then comes the annual reading of a fun Christmas story, see my December 2007 blog for more info, it explains the another one of our traditions. Then we end the evening with a game of BINGO. Now, here is where it gets wild. We all bring a wrapped gift, this year the budget is $1.00. Yep, you saw that right! I've already checked the dollar bins at Target or Michaels looking for the perfect gift...the one everyone will be fighting over! As you can see, it doesn't take much to get this family excited! :) If you win a round at BINGO, then you get to select a gift. Next round, the whoever wins, they have a choice, to take your gift or open one of the wrapped gifts. You know the game, it can get a little wild at our house...seems there is always something EVERYONE wants! Even if it just cost a dollar! As you can see, our family is easy entertain!

The children were all snug in their beds or not!

From the time Zach and Ashley were old enough to know what Christmas was really all about, which actually meant Ashley probably didn't but Zach did, so the tradition started. On Christmas Eve, once they had taken their baths and put on their Christmas PJ's, they would sleep in the same room. They were so excited and would often talk and giggle...way too late for their parent's liking...but at the same time it was so sweet to hear! We had a rule about Christmas morning, it was as follows. When they woke up, first it had to be morning (morning might be 5 AM but that counted), they would come to our room, where we would all wake up and wait. Wait for what seemed like an eternity for the kids but Larry would go start the coffee, light the fire and often take out a load of trash! (This is the part the kids remember, but sometimes Santa had to leave trash for us to dispose of, after all Santa can't have all that trash in his sleigh!) Then I would go to the end of our hallway, camera in hand, make a huge gasp at what I saw Santa had left under the tree and then tell them they could come see! They would come running down the hallway together! Every year, we did it the same way. So, what do you think we did the year that Meg joined our family? THE SAME WAY!!!! The all slept in the same room. It was so sweet! Meg just joined right in as if it was her very own tradition! She loves Christmas so she was all about carrying on the traditions! The year before Ashley got married, it was Zach, Meg, Ashley and Owen in the bedroom. I think at this point it was getting a little crowded and no one got a lot of sleep! :) So, now each family stays in their own bedroom...but they all meet up by our room before they come down the hall together! I had hoped to find a picture of them running down the hall together...but that would require me digging through a bunch of boxes and Mrs. Claus just doesn't have the time right now! :)

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Our family LOVES stockings! My mother was a pro at "stuffing stockings". It's one of our favorite parts of Christmas! I've always made our stockings. When Larry and I married, we had simple red and white polka dot stockings with our names hand stitched across the top. (Sorry no picture) When the kids came along, I made them one. Then when the kids were in elementary school, a life long friend of mine, Cathy Potts and I made our families new stockings. We had so much fun picking out the fabrics, designing them and even sewing them! (I only say that because we both had wonderful mothers who sewed so beautifully and we always felt we were quite challenged in the sewing department). Those were our stockings until Zach married. At that time, I decided it was time to make some new ones for our growing family. I decided on the background colors and bought A LOT of extra fabric. So, as you can see from the pictures...we have gone from 4 stockings to 10!!!

Since I love snowman, I decided each would have one on the front, and would reflect that persons personality or interests! There is a funny story on one of these stockings. When I made Ashley's, she was a junior in High School. She loved winter so I decided to just decorate her with a snowflake theme! Little did I know that years later, she would actually fall in love with a SNOWman! Pretty cool huh!

So, here is a peek at our stockings...the wall is filling up but we can nuzzle in more!

Stuffing these stockings is my favorite thing to do! I love the hunt for the perfect little items. I have to admit, the older men in the family, Zach and David, can sometimes be a little challenging but Larry really helps me out. The girls...I am always on the hunt and pick up things throughout the year. Little things. We don't put big dollar items in the stockings...just fun little stuff! And of course, it is SO fun to fill the little ones stockings...it is just so sweet to buy toys again!!!

Just as our presents, we don't all dive into our stockings at once. We take turns. We love to watch what each person get, so we go slow and methodical! :) Now that we have little ones again, we let them go first! I thought it would be where they could then play with their goodies, while we opened ours, but these little ones get just as much joy watching us! How sweet!!!

(I need to apologize for my photographs. My camera bit the dust at a recent birthday party, so I am having to use my phone! Not such great pictures but maybe it will give you the idea)!