Gifts with the Babcocks

On Sunday morning, we all got up and headed to church at St. Ann's. Then back over the Aunt Cathy's for our gift exchange with the Babcock family! It was AWESOME! How in the hell we got all that stuff back in our car, I have no clue! Jackson got some great stuff to play with--I just have no where to put it all: Talking Pizza Elmo and clothes from Grandma Patty and Grandpa Doug (Jackson shakes his butt when it sings, hillarious!!), a Thomas Train set from Aunt Rickie, Uncle Clint, Marley and Austin (it's in the closet still because we haven't had time to put all 86 pieces together! YIKES! It rocks!), a monster truck set from Elliott, Kayla and Camden (we take it everywhere with us! Jackson cracks up if it runs into something!) and an electric toothbrush from the Great Grandparents (he loves to brush his teeth with it, but we really have to watch him now because Adam caught him cleaning the floor, his toes, and his thingy with it! It's been sanitized numerous times now!) Adam and I got some great things too!

Marley wants a puppy pretty bad, so Aunt Pam's doggy, Bentley, was her toy all weekend!

Patty got me a bake set (I love to bake right now, but didn't have the right size pans!) and a set from Bath and Body Works, Rickie got me my long-awaited cookbook: Deceptively Delicious, and some great novelity items to go with it! Kayla got me a Starbucks mug--God I needed one of those!!

Adam got some great gift cards and clothes, and Clint got him a kick ass Miller Lite clock for in the garage to go with the rest of his neons!! Love it!

The best part of the day: Jackson is getting really good as saying "eeese" and "tank too" without me having to tell him, but with the excitement, I had to keep reminding him. I told him to tell Marley Thank You for the train set, and he leaned down, got right in her face and screamed "TAANNKK TOOO!!!" I nearly pissed myself! (right after I took the picture of it, first, of course!)

Lottery

When we were done with Santa, we all went to Aunt Cathy's resturant, Dickey's BBQ in Wylie, for dinner--yummy! They catered our rehearsal dinner a few years ago--so good!! Then, it was back to Aunt Cathy's house for chit chatting and fun! This year, Patty and Doug brought Lotto Tickets for everyone! We each got 3 rounds of scratch-offs. Anyone who was a clear loser in those 1st 3 rounds got a 4th, then a 5th, and a 6th...until you won--something! Adam and I cleared $18! No one won the big one, but it was a lot of fun!!














After the lotto, the girls played with the babies (as usual!) Maggie and Caroline were listening to their iPod and Jackson was just staring at them. I put the ear piece to his ear and he started rockin out (he loves music, remember?!) so Maggie put them both in his ear and he bounced his head to the tune! I can't help but hearing "Dude named Elrod jammin on an iPod!" from Rascal Flatts!

Firewheel Mall Santa

On Saturday, some people still had some shopping to do, and in true McGraw tradition, we hit the mall for shopping and Santa with the grandkids (they've been doing this every year since who knows when! Even the big boys get their picture with Santa!) Again, Jackson waved at Santa and actually talked to him this time! But getting a shot with all the grandbabies--oh no! I haven't gotten to the disc of images that we bought from Santa's helpers, but here are a few quick shots I took:

Coppell Santa

After the zoo, we headed back to Aunt Peggy's for dinner. When dinner was over, we talked about going to the Coppell Santa (2 minutes from the house). Basically, "Santa" sets up his sleigh in the front yard and sits out there from 6:30-8:30 every night. It's better than taking the kids to the mall because he sits and talks to the kids, they can take their time getting used to Santa--it's really a fabulous setup. He's been doing it for over 8 years! As everyone has seen, we'd seen Santa a few times before we made it to Dallas, and Jackson loves him! Marley and Austin and Camden didn't see it that way! They really didn't like Santa this year! And we, being the great parents that we are, tortured them a few more times this trip with seeing Santa! :) Oh well! The pictures are priceless! Marley actually liked this Santa. She sat there for at least a minute!

We took the reindeer costume to Dallas because it's a 12month and this was going to be the last time he could wear it, so Rudolph got to see Santa this time! And eat some hay!