Slaughter Christmas 2009, in the books...

So many Christmas pictures. I considered breaking up the posts so I could do a few pictures here and a few there. But then decided I should just cull them down (which was so hard) and put them all in one big post. We travelled to Grandpa's on December 22nd and stayed until Christmas Eve. We have a new camera that I haven't really learned to use yet. Matt took the kids out on a very informal photo shoot on Grandpa's farm. (In case you're wondering, yes, Jeb is almost always in this hat. It is a must have for him.)


Pretty Estella

Belle and Jeb walking beside old chicken house.

Love these of Belle...

Little farm girl.

Drusy in the hay shed.

Jeb loves stealing Grandpa's cane.

Pawpaw with my and my little brother's little ones.

We came home Christmas Eve, and during the night, this happened!!

We got the idea of a wrapping paper 'break-through' from our friend Jill. SO fun. Except Belle wiped out, and Dru kept right on going.

Estella in her new wig (that she's been BEGGING for). And for the rest of the day, we confused her with her sister.

After opening gifts from Santa at home, we drove (very slowly and carefully in the snow) to Gigi and G-Pops' house. Here are Lynlee, Belle, and Belle.... I mean, Dru, in front of Gigi's tree.

A very early morning baby.

After opening presents, the boys took the little ones sledding! Lynlee, E Dru, and Jeb. It was all fun and games until they crashed.

And here's a great one of Estella wiping out. Poor thing.

What a wonderful daddy.

Pretty pretty Belle in the snow.

Uncle Pat and Ms. Lynlee.

It really was a wonderful Slaughter Christmas. Thank you, Lord for all the undeserved blessings you have given to me. I really do stand amazed. And thank you for a happy, beautiful Christmas.

Christmas Baking Day 2009

I know. I know. Enough with the Christmas posts and the bazillion pictures. But seriously... it's the most wonderful time of the year, right? We have to take advantage of every moment. Today we spent the majority of the day at Matt's parents' house making candy and baking. It was so much fun, and we have lots of yummy goodies to show for it. Even the kids got in on the action making Christmas cookies. They did such a good job. A little messy and, at times, a bit excessive on the icing and sprinkles, but still... they had a ton of fun. (And so did the adults. If a blue ribbon would have been available for the best cookie decorator, I think I would have taken it home. Hands down. I'm just sayin'....)

So, here are some pictures from the day for you to enjoy and so I won't ever forget.

Christmas 2004

Last week I ran across this video we made for our family Christmas 2004, the year Estella Dru was born. It's a very amateur job, but I bawled like a baby the entire time I watched it. Where, oh where, does the time go? We had just moved into the Siloam house and had not even begun the repairs, as you can tell by looking. But what wonderful memories of that time. My girls were so little. I swear I just blinked, and here they are... such big girls. I love them so much.

More Christmas (Way Too Many Pictures Ahead)

We are still celebrating Christmastime at our house. And as hectic as these attempts may be, they are so much fun.

Gingerbread Men Making Day!


Even Jeb got in on the action.


Out of the oven and ready to get all dressed up.


Matt is no longer allowed to participate.


Jeb got a tad messy.


Belle and her masterpiece.


Estella and her masterpiece.


Afterwards, I asked Matt to get Jeb dressed so we could go look at Christmas lights. This is what happened.


And here are a few house shots.

Mistletoe!


One of my favorite ornaments. It's a muffin tin I got the month after Grandma died, 2005. Everyone loved her cornbread muffins. (Except me. Sorry, Grandma.)


And this one is an ornament I bought when I found out Jeb was a boy. SO exciting.


Stockings waiting to be filled! Oh, and check out the new tile. Matt just took out the old stuff and replaced it with new. I love it.


And finally, our gingerbread house, complete with little paper umbrella. The Slaughter girls got style.

Thankful Morning

This morning I am indescribably grateful for...

A cereal bowl that didn't make it to the dishwasher.

A toothbrush that didn't get put away.

A book left out of the bookshelf.

A toy left in mommy's tub.

A purse full of rocks and leaves hanging on my chair.


My Little Pony fruitsnacks that missed the trashcan.

A bunny that hopped out of the toy box.

Jammies that didn't make the hamper.

Little fingers that love to touch ornaments.

I've spent the greater part of my morning picking up, cleaning up, fixing up after my children. Normally, I would be exasperated.

Not today.

Today I find all of it beautiful, and I feel honored. Blessed beyond words. If I could go to school right now and pull those girls out of their classes, I would. I want to hold them.

This morning a precious family left Arkansas Children's Hospital without their baby girl. I don't think appropriate words exist to follow that statement. It is unimaginable. It is heartbreaking. It is something only a loving Father in his infinite wisdom and love can know. I beg with every person reading these words to stop what you are doing right now and pray for James and Kim Crumby. Precious Hannah is safe and perfect. I can only imagine how big her smile is right now, seeing all she is seeing. But a mommy and daddy's journey without their child began today. Please please please pray for this family. They believe in prayer.

Jeb's Ice Cream Song

This is a video Matt took of Jeb eating his ice cream cone in Chick-fil-A. I don't know why we all find it so hilarious, but we have watched it as a family a million times. To say our little guy is a handful is an understatement. But he is just so darn entertaining. (Please note how Matt spelled Chick-fil-A on the video title. Oh, sweet Matt....)

Christmas in the Slaughter House (That's funny every time.)

We had such a fun night tonight. It was Christmas decorating night at our house! One of my favorite nights of the year.

We started out by decorating some cookies. The original plan involved very simply putting a little red nose on Rudolph with red icing, but somehow, we ended up with every tube of icing out going freestyle.




Next we went to Hobby Lobby to pick our ornaments--a yearly tradition. Ornaments are a BIG deal around here. Belle always picks a bell. Estella Dru always picks a star--her name means 'star.' Jeb gets something that reminds us of Grandpa, his namesake. And Matt and I just pick whatever we want. The last four years, I've chosen a flamingo. There is, as you might imagine, no rhyme or reason to Matt's choices. This year he picked a hideous gold trophy with a golf ball on top. It resides at the back of the tree next to the plastic, yellow rubber ducky he picked in 2002. No, I'm not kidding.


After Hobby Lobby, the kids were starving. Since it was Shiloh Night at Chick-fil-A, we thought we'd go there. Matt had the bright idea of giving Jeb his own ice cream cone. I'm not sure who was messier.




After eating, we went to Lowe's where we found this beautiful tree. It was FREEEEEEZZZZING cold out, so the kids and I sat in a very warm Jeep while Matt tied the tree to the top. Belle quote: "Mommy, I'm glad I'm not a boy. Boy jobs are hard."


After successfully securing the tree to the Jeep, we made a Starbucks run. Everyone but Jeb was able to participate. He was not happy. Nothing a blowpop couldn't handle.


We finally made it home, and I put the kids in the tub while Matt put up the tree. Jeb was able to put his two ornaments on before he had to get in bed. He didn't really want to part with them, especially since one was a truck... but he was too tired to protest much.


I just love how our tree turned out. Like I said, every single ornament has meaning or it doesn't get hung. To say I'm sentimental MAY be an understatement. Our tree sort of tells our story. I love love love it.


I hope my kids remember these times. When I was young, I used to dream about what it would be like to have a family of my own at Christmas time. The reality far surpasses the dream.