Snow Day!

Nothing says Christmas time like throwing snow-cone like ice at each other in 80 plus degree weather.  It was our neighborhood's annual snow day last Saturday Dec. 1 and we had a blast.  Met Santa (without any tears--although Candy wasn't his biggest fan), had hot chocolate (Megan's favorite part), saw friends, rode on a "sleigh" ride, the whole nine yards.  It was a great morning!

Waiting patiently to request...BIKES!  That's pretty much the whole of their lists this year.

So they had a professional photographer taking pics and that one looks great.  This one--not so much.  I had Santa's helper take it--she wouldn't make the cut at Disney World!

We lasted in the snow for about 90 seconds.  Each threw one snowball, said it was cold, and called it a day.  My sweet little Texans :)

Ahaha.  Candy looks awesome.  I just had to prove I was there too.

Tree Trimming 2012

Our kids have been BEGGING to get our tree up since last week.  So we planned to do it for FHE on Monday (Nov. 26), but after a crazy afternoon, all we had time for after the lesson was to get the boxes out of the attic.  So as soon as dinner was done on Tuesday, we found some Christmas music to put on and away we went!  I love it. I love to have the lights on all day, every day.  And so do the kids.  It just makes the house feel festive! 
We have the tree out in the front room...which means the ornaments are being constantly dragged all over the house by the girls.  Maybe I'll finish up my sewing for Christmas soon and we can move the tree into the study.  Too bad I keep adding to my list of things to make :) 

Three excited girls, Nov. 27

This picture makes me want a taller tree!  Maybe next year :)

Notice Candy is wearing her black Sunday shoes w/her footie pjs.  And holding the remote.  She's always finding the remotes and the phones and boy does she throw a fit if you take it away!

Thanksgiving 2012

We had such a fun week with Jamie in town.  We ate Pappasito's, played in the hot tub at Dad's, got to know Sally (Dad's girlfriend) better, played games, and had a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner.

I was in charge of mashed potatoes.  But with the parade being so early in the day, I made them on Wednesday.  They turned out a little dry when they were reheated in the oven  on Thanksgiving.  Shad was particularly heartbroken and spent 20 minutes re-whipping them with extra butter and milk.  I don't think I'll have the potato assignment again any time soon :).

I didn't get any pics at the meal itself, but it involved 2 turkeys (one roasted and one smoked), yummy sides, and ending the day with pie at Shad's house.

We are so thankful for family and being together.

At the parade with everyone--Dad, his 5 kids, 3 kid-in-laws, and 12 grandkids

We ended the week with my nephew Zach's baptism.  He is a great kid.  We were sad to say goodbye to our Dallas cousins after, but it was great to have them here!

And just because--Candy's curls are adorable.  Even when she's sitting on the table sneaking.

Nov. 21

Nov.  25

Jamie visits! And Mercer Arboretum

Before we get to Jamie's visit, I made another carseat cover--this time for Dan's sister Amberly and her new little girl coming! (Nov. 13)

And for fun, my girls make me happy ( Nov. 17)

It is SO fun to have Jamie just up the road!  Since her kids were off of school this week, she brought them all down for some fun before Turkey Day.   I took her to one of my favorite places--Mercer Arboretum.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day.  We walked around for a while before driving over to the park side for a picnic.  (Nov. 20)

Our whole group...

 

Candace and the Blue Hat

My sister has 3 girls, about the same age differences as mine, just 8 years older.  All of her girls wore this outfit with a blue hat (see cousins here), and all of mine have too!

Here is Candace on Nov. 6, 2012

Brooke on Nov. 19, 2010

Megan on Dec. 4, 2008

RenFest

We got free tickets for the Texas Renaissance Festival with a new hire group Dan is a part of for Saturday, Nov. 3.  Dan and I were not sure how the girls would feel about the fest just a week after being in Disney World, but our kids were pretty sure they were back at the Magic Kingdom. 
They had jousting, face painting, lunch, and even a fairy who came by the luncheon to visit.  The fairy creeped me out a little (she took her role seriously!), but the girls LOVED her.  And I must say, the people watching at a Renaissance Festival does NOT disappoint.  It was a really fun day.

The Party!

We'd been telling Megan for more than a year that for her 5th birthday we were going to Disney World.  And we went!  And she wore her pin and people told her "Happy birthday Princess" about 500 times over the course of the week.
But, I still felt like she needed to have a small, simple party to celebrate.  She wanted a princess party (shocker), and it was our night for babysitting swap anyway.  We planned a pizza, pedicure, and a princess movie party.  So all of 2 days in advance, I sent an e-vite to her requested guest list, thinking that with such short notice we probably wouldn't get many there...WRONG!  All but 2 kids were coming!
So, we had our 3 kids plus our usual babysit swap group of 6 more.  Plus another 11 kids!  That's 20!
But actually, I've gotten pretty good at handling hordes of kids.
So, we sent all the princesses (and the two boys from babysit swap) into the backyard. We did as much as we possibly could outside.  They ate their pizza, ran around like crazy, came in a few at a time to make bracelets before heading back outside for toenail painting, present opening, and cake.  Then we herded them all upstairs to watch "Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses".  It was a really fun, low-stress party for me.  Don't get me wrong, those were 2 busy hours, but it took very little prep work and there was basically no cleanup since it was almost all outside!  Success!
And Megan had a blast.  She was the happiest princess in the bunch and she has such a great group of little friends.


Sigh.  My kids will probably look at these pictures someday and think I make the ugliest cakes...and they'd be a little right!  But hey, that is homemade almond-vanilla buttercream frosting and those were delicious cupcakes! 

Candy and her bud Trent from babysit swap--they are only 3 weeks apart in age.

The first round of princesses eating dinner.

My angel friend Melissa who stayed and helped with the chaos!

Our sweet Spiderman did a lot of this...running from the girls!

I love seeing our swing set filled to capacity. 

Bracelet time!

Presents!

Most of the group watching the movie.

As people left, they scooted closer and closer to the tv.  Hilarious.

Another successful birthday party. Love you Megan!