Our White Christmas

Okay... so technically it was our "white day AFTER Christmas," but I think my original title sounds better :) When we woke up Sunday morning,we were really excited to see that it was SNOWING outside and that our yard was already covered! We decided to wait until that afternoon to actually go out in it because we wanted to wait until it stopped falling. We bundled up and went out in it,and, after about half an hour, decided to come back in because we were COLD! We did get to build a snowman, make snow angels, throw snowballs and just experience the snow. This snow day was especially fun for us because this is the first one where Noah has been able to walk around in it! When it snowed earlier this year he was still being toted around, so it was fun to see him experience that for the first time on Sunday. It was the perfect "white almost Christmas" we've ever had! Enjoy the pictures, and stay warm :)

Our snow before being trampled on :)

The boys all ready for snow!

Woohoo! Snow!

The boys and me

Daddy and his boys

Kaden threatening me with a snowball

This was daddy's first snowman... I ended up re-doing it :)

Exploring the backyard for stuff to give our snowman a face

Our poor mouthless, noseless snowman

My beautiful boy smiling with his WHOLE mouth!


I wanted to get a snow picture with our Christmas tree lit up... proof of our "White Christmas!"

Christmas Day 2010

Christmas was a blast in the Todd house this year! Both boys woke up to a surprise when they realized Santa had left a present on each of their beds! Noah woke up first and couldn't wait to wake "Kay" up so they could open them together :) After opening up their awesome books from Santa, we waited on Daddy to get a shower and then went downstairs to see what Santa brought!



Santa was very generous this year! Both boys had a ball playing with all their new toys and opening their gifts from each other.

After we spent some time playing with our gifts from Santa, we loaded into the car and headed over to Mimi-mama's house where we spent the rest of Christmas day. We got to open even MORE presents and we ate so much that we could hardly move.

It was a fabulous day, and we hope that you had a very Merry Christmas too! :)

Family Christmas and Christmas Eve

We always get together with the family on my dad's side on December 23rd. The evening's festivities take place at my Aunt Denise's house and include delicious food and lots of fun opening presents. As always, dinner was awesome and everyone had a blast watching the little ones open presents. Kaden and Noah really are very blessed to have so many people who love them enough to get them the awesome gifts they got. I won't ramble on too much about this night, but I will include pictures below!

On Christmas Eve, we loaded up and headed to my parents' house for the annual Christmas Eve drop-in. This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas-time! Many of the people who come to my parents' house are people who have been friends of our family forever and I only get to see them one time a year at the drop-in. It was great catching up with everybody and getting to celebrate this wonderful time of year with my family and family friends. After the drop-in, we headed back up to Chapin for the candlelight service at church. The service was beautiful, and the boys did really well despite being worn out from the drop-in. After church we came home, sprinkled our "reindeer food" on the front lawn, got our jammies on, and put out Santa's milk and cookies! We were all so excited about the next day- Christmas!!! Enjoy the pictures :)

Ready to eat at Aunt Denise's house!

Kaden opening his presents

Noah opening his presents

Kaden and Noah at the drop-in

Grandaddy and Kaden were twins!

Family picture

The cousins (minus Laura)... we have to get this pic every year!

Grandmama Peggy with the boys

Mimi-mama and her boys

Kimbo and me with our grandparents

Kaden sprinkling his reindeer food on the lawn

Noah with his reindeer food

Holiday Lights on the River

Although I lived close to Saluda Shoals Park almost my whole life (up until we moved here, anyway), I have never visited their Christmas lights display. Well, this year, my mom and I decided to take the boys! Patrick had to work, so my parents and I took my boys and A.J. to enjoy the lights and some of the other activities they had going on that evening.

The lights were AWESOME, and the boys had fun riding on the "train ride" and watching A.J. go tubing down a huge slide. I'm very glad we decided to go and definitely think this is something that has worked its way into our holiday to-do list for years to come!

Kaden and Noah waiting for the train ride

A.J. waiting for the train ride...over by the big fish sculpture!

Kaden and A.J. on the train ride

Mama and her baby ducks on the train ride :)

Thank you mimi-mama and grandaddy for taking us! We had a blast!!!

Kaden's Preschool Christmas Program

Kaden's preschool Christmas program took place on December 16th, but I've been so busy with Christmas preparations that I've had NO time to get on here and blog about it! He was the most handsome little guy in the place (I promise I'm not biased or anything :) and he actually sang all the songs this year! Usually, he just gets up and stands there while his friends sing, but I was SO proud of him for singing along with them this time. Kaden was thrilled that Bobo got to come watch him sing too. After his outstanding performance we got to enjoy lunch at Zesto's... a rare treat! Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for more Christmas posts! :)

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Christmas Star!"

"The Lights on the Tree go Blink, Blink,Blink!"

Doesn't Noah look thrilled to be there?? :)

Lunch afterward... yum!

The Lights Before Christmas

Hi Everyone! I apologize for not doing a "real" update in a long time. We have all been sick with different things and then just busy gearing up for Christmas!

On Thursday we took the boys to Riverbanks Zoo for their Lights Before Christmas event. We haven't been since Kaden's first Christmas in 2007 and decided that, since we have a zoo membership (that allows us a free visit to the lights), we would use it!

I think we chose the coldest night of the year so far to go! When we got to the zoo at 6p.m. it was already close to freezing outside. Thankfully, the boys don't mind being bundled up, and I'm pretty sure I was the only one who whined about being cold while we were there :) When we first arrived, we let the boys go see Santa. Kaden was a little apprehensive at first but shook off the nerves and hopped right on Santa's lap. You could tell that he was so excited to be telling Santa what he wants for Christmas! Noah, on the other hand, liked Santa from a distance. He would wave to Santa, but he didn't want to sit on his lap. Finally, before we left, Noah let me carry him up to Santa and he was able to tell Santa that he wants a "twain" and a "COW!" for Christmas :)

Other than seeing Santa, the Lights at the Zoo really just involves walking around and looking at all the light displays. They had an awesome Christmas tree that must have had a million lights on it... it was beautiful to watch. We also LOVED the train light display (of course) and my my personal favorite was the butterfly garden display. The aquarium building was open, so we did get to see a few animals. Really, though, this visit was about the lights, so the boys weren't too disappointed that they didn't see all their favorites.

This was just the first of many exciting activities we have planned over the next few weeks! Make sure to check back because next week we will attend Kaden's preschool Christmas program and the annual gingerbread house party at my aunt's house. Take care, and enjoy the pictures!

Posing by the tree before we leave for the zoo

Kaden and Santa :)

Kaden and Noah by the one of the huge Christmas trees

The boys posing by the train display

Noah posing with my favorite butterfly display - Kaden was done with pictures by this point!

The boys mailing their Christmas lists to Santa before we went home :)