Santa!!

Now that I am all caught up! Whew...

Today we took the kids to see Santa. I don't think I've ever went this late but by the size of the line at the mall, lots of people wait this long!! haha...Wow, the line was so BAD. It took us a good 45 minutes to an hour to finally get up to see him but the kids did AWESOME!  I was taken back by how shy they both seemed. Brie is my little chatter box and Noah kind of lets her take the lead. When they both sat down their little faces got red and they acted all sweet and innocent :) Santa had to be tired from having all those screaming kids on his lap all day but he took the time to ask each one of them what they wanted :) Noah kept saying "umm, ummm" squeezing his hands but finally said "monster trucks and ninja turtles!" Brie told him she wanted the Frozen DVD (not even out of the theaters!) a Frozen doll (check) and some play doh (check)! I love my babies so much!! They each smiled so good and look as innocent as can be. Wink, wink! haha...

Christmas play!!

Brie had her first play!!! I was asked by her teacher to help and couldn't be happier :) I made the elf hats. I didn't take a picture though :( They were pretty easy to make, I was a little nervous. I'm not the craftiest person out there but I gave it my best and they turned out really cute! Brie was a doll and her hat was pink and purple with sparkles. I didn't get the best pictures, I didn't even get the best video, but I did take as many as I could and taped the best I could!! My Mom ended up taking the day off and came with me. Thank goodness, I had to bring Noah, Addyson and Ashlee with me and I wasn't sure how that was going to pan out! Brie was over the moon to have her there too :) I love how she isn't shy and loves to get up in front of people, there isn't a shy bone in that girls body! haha....I hope it stays that way. I was like that and then as soon as I hit middle school you couldn't pay me to talk in front of a group. It was such a cute little play. The kids were seperated into different groups to do a song and then they did Rudolph and Wish you a Merry Christmas all together at the end. I am so proud of her. I teared up a few times watching her and loved how she sung the songs and looked to make sure I was watching her :) Noah gave me so trouble but wasn't too terrible. He just can't seem to sit still! haha...little stinker. After the play was over we got to go to her classroom and sign her out for the day. My Mom had me take a quick picutre of Brie with her teacher, I wanted to get out of that crowded room so bad but am so glad I snapped a quick picture. Brie just loves her :) I let Brie pick what she wanted for lunch and then we headed back to my house and spent the rest of the day with Mawmaw. Brie took a nap with her, of course, it's Mawmaw favorite thing to do! haha...

Gingerbread house!

Last year my sister and I got together and had the kids build a ginger bread house and thought we should do it again this year. Last year it was tough but it all ended up working out in the end. This year, yeah, not so much! haha...We gave it our best shot but we just couldn't get the darn thing to stay together and the icing (glue) that holds it together was getting a little out of control and dripping everywhere. So after several failed attempts and the kids starting to get restless we decided to just let them decorate one side of the house each and use the gum drops and hard candy however they wanted. That ended up being a really good idea :) The kids were just happy to finally get their hands in something and use the candy because we told them eating it was out of the question. The ginger bread house was a couple years old and we didn't think it was safe to eat. Not to mention you would probably break a tooth trying to eat it!! Ekk! I have to say these kiddos are very creative and they all turned out just as cute as can be! :)

SNOW DAY!!

I am a little behind so I'm playing catch up!...
 We had our first official big snow day of the year :) It was on a Friday so the kids and I were snowed in together. Tommy went into work and didn't get home until after 9 :( I had cleaned the house gave the kids baths and we even baked cookies and decorated them! :) It was a day, to say the least! haha...I decided after all the cleaning and going stir crazy we should try and do at least a craft or make something. I got the idea from my sister ;) I let the kids help me make sugar cookies and then opened a tub of icing and gave them some sprinkles! They were in heaven. I just gave them each half and let them go to town. Brie took her time and tried to make the prettiest cookies ever and Noah, well, he just made a mess! hahah...I honestly don't think he could have fit any more sprinkles on his cookies but he sure didn't have any problem eating them! I let them have two each :) They loved it and I actually had fun doing it with them. I am always trying to keep it as neat as possible but I tried to just let them go this time, I did pretty good :)

The next day the kids were so excited that they got to go outside with their Daddy! Tommy was really awesome with them and helped them build a snowman and even had a snowball fight too! Almost as soon as they got outside Noah was on the ground making his snow angels :) He was so excited to make one! Brie took a break from helping Daddy and couldn't resist making a couple herself too! I don't really like the cold so much so I just stayed in and went outside to take pictures every so often. I have to say, their snowman was pretty cool AND he stayed together for over a week! The weather here is so unpredictable and it snowed Friday and the following Friday it was all melted and gone! Their snowman reallly hung on though! :) The kids were pretty sad when he finally tipped over and melted away. :( We will just have to make another when it snows again!! :)

Thanksgiving

So, this is my second year doing Thanksgiving with the family. I think we are getting better and better but still have a few things to work on. I thought we had it all planned out and everything we needed and we did, MOSTLY. Appearantly we forgot stuffing and gravy!! Ahh, I didn't even think about it. Well, I did think of the gravy but only for a split second ;) Haha... my family, especially my mother, gave me a hard time but aside from that, I think it went pretty well! We had a big enough turkey and Tommy even added a whole chicken which we cooked rotisserie. I had my favorite desserts, cupcakes and cheese cake, my grandma even brought apple pie!! My other grandma brought the newspaper for us and we all looked through that coming up with our game plan for the night of Black Friday shopping :) My sister and I have gone for years now and we just love being in all the craziness. We might have to make a few changes to our plans next year because we were a little disappointed in some of the stores we frequent this year. It's so much fun with her and we always stay out late enough to be delirious but still having fun! We didn't take pics this year but I never forget a shopping trip with her:)

Thanksgiving lunch with Brie :)

So at Brie's school they do a special Thanksgiving Day lunch with the kids and the parents and siblings are asked to come and join. I was so excited and so was Brie :) We had Tommy take a vacation day and I told everyone I couldn't babysit for the day. In the morning Tommy took Brie to school and then hit the gym and we spent the day with Noah. At 12:30 we headed over to her school and had lunch with our baby girl :) It's so funny how certain smells bring instant memories. As soon as we entered the cafeteria I was instantly taken back to my childhood and remembered lunch time with friends. I still get blown away at how much my little girl has grown up. I got to watch her line up with her class and take her bathroom break. It's little things but it made me tear up just watching her from a distant being so, well, big! I love that little girl so much and just love how she lights up seeing her Daddy and I. I'm so proud of her and all that she does, such a smart little girl :) Noah was so excited to see his sissy too! He just adores her and he now says he can't wait to go to school and be a big boy!