Some Christmas Festivities

I think I mentioned it in an earlier post, but the kids & I went to The Singing Christmas Tree with Mary Duke & Hartley.  My family always went when I was growing up so I was very excited to take my kids for the first time. My mom got a few pictures of us before we left that night. Poor TAG had to work, so he didn’t get to make it. Maybe next year!

 

Riley’s preschool Christmas party was the next week. When the parents got there, they were making beaded candy canes.



Santa even stopped by to see the kids!

 

Checking out his book that Santa gave him.



Riley’s handprints in the hallway wall at school. They do every kids’ hands when they start. I’ve been meaning to get a picture them & finally did.



Then, that weekend some of my college friends all got together for our annual Christmas get-together. We ate a wonderful supper & then went to Hannah’s house for Dirty Santa.

I love seeing these girls!



Up next, pictures with Santa!

Christmas Card Outtakes (I stole this post idea from Amy :0))

Getting two kids to cooperate for a decent Christmas card picture is so hard at this age! Especially my little almost-two-year-old. In the end, we finally got a few for the card, but it was no easy task.
Round one, tree only-no kids to be found.



Then I actually got Riley to sit in front of the tree…



but Averly just wasn’t having it!



I finally bribed her with a Capri Sun, which you can see on the table back there. She stood in front of the tree but was sure not going to smile.



Riley man was saying cheeeeeeesseeeee super loud for me. I guess he thought it would help out the fact that Averly wasn’t cooperating.

 

I think this is my favorite! Haha!



So then we try in front of the fireplace (per Averly’s request demand). It was the only place she would even crack a smile for me. And my camera is still set to the setting that I needed for the tree so it was all washed out here.



Right setting; different kid not looking.



Back to the tree. Averly refusing to smile again.



The only thing that would make her smile was her Dada!



Much better.



And we ended up with this card, which was in my last post. Kelly at Four Kids, a Mini-van, and a Lot of Love created it for me, by the way. She is awesome! I just told her what I wanted it to say & she put it all together for me. Thanks, Kelly!



Lots more Christmas to come! I am trying my best to get caught up!

A Few of Our Favorite Things

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!!

Birthday Parties, Parades, Singing Christmas Tree & Sick!

Just as everyone is this time of year, we have been crazy busy! But mostly with fun stuff, even though there has been a couple doctor visits thrown in there too. We've been to a few birthday parties in the last couple weeks, watched our town parade & went to the Singing Christmas tree, plus all of our other daily activities!

First up was Hartley's birthday party. It was at Jump & our first time to go. Riley loved it, but Averly was a little skeptical of everything. And it was right at nap time so she was super tired. But she ended up warming up after a while.


Baby Girl insisted on wearing that necklace!

 
Happy Birthday to Hartley!

Next up was our town’s Christmas parade. The kids had a blast & were so cute telling everybody in the parade “Merry Christmas!”



One of my favorite floats. I thought this was so cute!



Aunt Brooke & Uncle Josh were even in it!



Then we attended our first skating party. It was pretty interesting to see a bunch of 3 year olds on roller skates! They also let us bring ride-on toys so the kids could play. We all had a blast!

 

Family photo. Ha!



Even Averly tried it for a little while. 



Happy Birthday, Carter!

This past week we went to the Singing Christmas Tree with Mary Duke & Hartley. The kids really enjoyed that too. Riley says his favorite part was the glowing hands. I think that’s my favorite too. ;0)

(Blurry iphone pictures.)



Riley & my future daughter-in-law! I love this one of them!



Now after all of our fun, both kids have been sick. Riley has had the stomach virus not being able to keep any food down & Averly has RSV. I think she actually got that from Riley. I believe he had/has it too. But he was feeling better today so I only took Averly to the doctor. One thing I am NOT loving about preschool is all the germs that go along with it!