New Year's Eve

We came to Williamsburg this year to celebrate New Years with Jon's family.  Kate and Gabe were super excited to spend the week playing cards and I was keeping my fingers crossed that Grant wouldn't go stir crazy trapped with very little to do!  He and I spent much of the time playing in our condo while the rest of the family was in the condo next door playing cards.  And unfortunately, it rained pretty much all day so going outside wasn't an option!  :/

Anyway, the day started with Kate very busy crafting and cooking.  She tried her hand at making a little dress.  It was intended for her American Girl doll but ended up a little too small.  Still, she is enjoying cutting and sewing and coming up with new creations.  I can't even use a sewing machine so it's all very impressive to me!

One thing Kate and her daddy love is eggnog,

and they especially love making homemade eggnog around the holidays!

I think this might have been my favorite batch...it was delicious...and I don't even like eggnog!

Next up we decided to head back down to the clubhouse for another activity: bottle painting!

We learned that this is harder than it seems to end up with a beautiful creation...but it was fun.

Kate got this silly new game for Christmas, Pie Face, and she was SO excited to bring it on vacation to play!  I don't think Jon's parents were as excited to play this as the kids, but they were good sports and went along with it for one round.  :)  Basically, you just spin the paper spinner, then turn the dial on the pie face setup, and cross your fingers that the whipped cream topped hand doesn't fly in your face!  It's Russian Roulette for kids...Lol!  

Kate decided it would be much better to play with your mouth wide open!

We rang in the New Year with cupcakes, sparkling cider, and my sweet babies!

Happy 2016!!!!

Williamsburg, VA

After the excitement of Christmas had worn off just a tad, it was time to pack the car and head north to Williamsburg to spend a few days with Jon's family.  It actually felt very weird this year though because for most of the time it was just Jon's parents and his sister Myra.  We are used to coming here to visit with lots of family....parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  So to just have three people in town and cousin Andrew part-time, it felt too quiet!  But, the kids still enjoy coming here.  Kate and Gabe love getting to play cards with Jon's family and Grant just enjoys getting to play wherever.

Thanks Aunt Myra and cousin Andrew for this cool new truck!

Playing cards....they could (and practically do!) play this all day every day.

My sweet boy got his finger slammed in Gabe's door a little while back.  The nail is just about ready to fall off completely, but it's at that painful stage where it keeps snagging on everything (and therefore bleeding).  He won't let me touch it, but Grant is trying to carefully put on a bandaid to protect it.

 We decided to check out the activities condo clubhouse....

The kids got to make adorable little take home snowgobes.

And Grant insisted on a picture of him with his snowglobe and Santa.  :)

One of the things Grant got for Christmas was the wooden train set.

To help pass the time today, he and Myra decided to make it colorful!

Kate got this sewing machine for her birthday and just recently took a private class to learn how to use it!  After just one sewing lesson, Kate just finished her first pillow for one of her American Girl dolls. I'm so impressed....I can barely sew on a button and would be totally clueless on a machine! She wants to learn how to use patterns next for outfits!

Awesome job on that pillow!!!

I am so impressed!

Bare Family Christmas

Bare Family Christmas!

We always have a great time being together with our cousins. This year was the first year not celebrating at Grandma's house in Jacksonville. We miss the old and all the memories on Pinehurst Dr. but embrace all the new memories yet to be made! Merry Christmas everyone!

All the cousins.

The oldest with the youngest.

The whole gang!

And I think we managed to get everyone looking and smiling

except Hannah, who always hates pictures.

My grandma with her girls....

It's Christmas Morning

Kate woke up super early this morning, and using the special bell she got from Father Christmas, she was thrilled to sneak into our bedroom to ring it over our heads and wake us up!!

Moments later, the boys were also up and ready to open gifts....at 6am!

Kate took only seconds to start noticing a strange noise.  Then, it was an unmistakable meow!

Kate got excited and started looking out the back door in hopes that a cat had wandered onto our porch.  When it wasn't there, she realized the sound was actually coming from a box near our tree!  Oh my....Santa outdid himself this year!  We have one VERY excited girl with her very first kitten!

This sweet kitty was quickly named Jingle and loved intensely by all from the moment we laid eyes on her!

Introducing...our Christmas kitten "Jingle!"

After discovering the kitten, the rest of the gifts are sort of a blur, but everyone had a great morning.

The boys were delighted with their gifts and Kate would have been fine to not get anything else.

Merry Christmas morning from The Dingmans!

Christmas Eve

It's finally Christmas Eve....the excitement and magic in the air is intense.

These kids are SO ready for the next 12 or so hours to unfold.

Following with tradition, we are having dinner with Grandma & PawPaw

and the kids each get to choose one gift from under their tree to open tonight.

As I remember, the gift I got to open on Christmas Eve was never one of my biggest gifts, but with these kids, it's a different story.  Grandma wraps up some of their best gifts and lets them choose from anything under the tree.  They were all very happy tonight with their surprises.  :D 

After gifts, Grandma had a delicious meal prepared for us to enjoy.

She works hard to make sure the table and house are fully decorated for the kids to enjoy.

Holidays are always special with Grandma & PawPaw...so glad the kids will have all these memories to look back on once they are grown.  It's not always easy to pull off grand celebrations because we get so busy, but Grandma and I both sure do try our best!

Time to decorate cookies for Santa!

Oh this kid......hope Santa likes sprinkles!!

Gotta test one to make sure they are good.

Great job Kate & Gabe!

After dinner and cookie decorating, it was time to go home

to set out the cookies and make food for the reindeer.

Kate is very particular about how the food should be mixed!

Yummy salad for the reindeer to enjoy tonight!

With the cookies and milk set out by the fireplace,

the house is now quiet and we are waiting for the magic to begin....