a visit with santa

so, we are past the stage of screaming and crying or standing a mile away when we visit santa.  now, they come with a plan and a mental list of things to ask for.  they said their hellos and how ya beens and smiled for a photo then they got down to business.  grace asked for the american girl doll, grace.  then, santa asked what else she wanted.  what???  santa, no!!!!!!  so, she thought an american girl doll kitchen would be nice to have as well.  boy, santa, we might need to talk about this!  carter took his turn and asked for star wars legos and a star wars blanket.  then, they said their see ya laters and merry christmases and that was the end.

hello there, jingle

we, once again, welcomed jingle back with our annual north pole breakfast.

it's so fun and something i hope the kids will remember forever.

anytime we get to eat powdered donuts and not hide in the closet to do so is a pretty great day!!!

candy and sweet notes are kind of perfect!

oh christmas tree!

well, if we wanted a christmas tree this year, this was basically the only day that we have free until the 26th.  so, we put on our rain jackets and picked out a tree.

then, we brought it home and dried it, of course.

while we were waiting for the tree to finish drying, the kids got their new ornaments.

a rainbow star for our color loving girl and a miniature plush rudolph for the boy who loves to cuddle.  with stuffed animals.  not his momma.

finally, the tree was dry-ish and we got to decorating!

our new ornaments!!!

the finishing touch...our always crooked star.

perfect!

and...

...let the christmas shenanigans begin!

thanksgiving {2015}

my cup runneth over!

movie night

popcorn + candy + pajamas = movie night!!!

we had our 11th anniversary movie night

this year, we watched (aka: played loudly in the background) Star Wars.

as usual, once the kids were cut off from the popcorn and candy, the movie watching was over and the playing began.

but, it's a fun tradition because we love getting to hang out with our family and eat a bunch of junk!!!

turkey time

good luck finding a turkey for your thanksgiving dinner this year!

my sweet friend sent grace and carter supplies to make these cute turkey snacks!

gobble.

gobble.

gobble.

thanksgiving school feasts are always fun when you get to dress up!

the food and friends are pretty great too!

i've got a super cute helper in the kitchen!  next year, she's on her own!!!

november

grace had a program at school the other night...all these second graders are growing up so fast!!!  she's been practicing her songs at home for weeks and she did a great job!

we had family pics taken and i'm super excited to see how they turned out!

these two are becoming some big basketball fans!  of course, cuddling with pouncer doesn't hurt!!!