Christmas Day

We have had a wonderful week celebrating with family and friends.  While coordinating schedules can sometimes be difficult, we are thankful that we are able to visit with so many people at this time of the year. 

We always begin our morning reading the Christmas story from Luke.

Christmas pajamas.

  

She finally has her own backpack.  We decided that it would be her new diaper bag, but she would rather fill it with toys and sometimes gets annoyed when we take the toys out to fill it with diapers. Guess we will stick to the old diaper bag and let her have her fun.

Homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Yum!

After opening some presents and eating a yummy breakfast we got ready for church.  We wanted to take the girls pictures in front of the trees at church and it just so happens that my mom was the one who decorated them.

After church and lunch at Grammie and Grampies, it was off to Nini's house for Christmas celebration.  The girls were blessed with many fun things, but this cupcake set is one of their favorites.  Macy had seen it in the store several weeks ago and said she wanted it.  We were done shopping for her so I didn't really think much about it. I guess Nini knows her pretty well because she picked it out for her. 

This is another well loved toy.  I remember having one of these when I was little and Kayla absolutely loves drawing with it.

My uncle is a photographer so it's always nice to have him snapping pictures when he is in town.

We ended the evening with a yummy dinner of prime rib. My mom always out does herself with the food.  We enjoy seafood gumbo on Christmas Eve, and she has started cooking prime rib for Christmas dinner. And of course there is always a plethora of yummy desserts as well. 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Preparations

Every year I say I want to take time to enjoy the season and to let it pass as slowly as possible, and every year I look back and wonder where in the world the month of December went.  

Even though we don't do the Santa thing, we still get the girls pictures taken with him every year.  I almost didn't do it this year, but Marc nagged encouraged me to get them done. I'm glad he did because the kids enjoy it and it gives me an excuse to get them all dressed up and listen to strangers talk about how precious my girls are.  I tend to agree.

The girls helped with some holiday baking.  

Brooke unwrapped a lot of these peanut butter cups and not one went into her mouth. She was so excited to help with her sisters.

Fall Pictures

Our dear friend Rebekah took some pictures of us several weeks ago.  Since they were part of our Christmas cards and Christmas presents I held off on posting them here on the blog.  It's picture overload, but I'm posting most of them because I want them included in the blog book I make every year.

Christmas Parties

We've been having Christmas parties galore this week.  They both had a dance party, Kayla had a school and Sparks party, and Macy had a choir and Cubbies party. Phew! We finished school yesterday, so other than some fun crafts and baking we are done with school for the year.

 I helped out at Kayla's class party. We decorated some ornaments, enjoyed a snack, read a few books, and had a book exchange.  I didn't get too many pictures since I spent my time cleaning up after a class of 1st graders.

And here is Kayla all bundled up in her jacket despite the fact that they had just come inside from recess where it was 71 degrees outside.

Macy's choir had an open house.  We sang a few songs and played with rhythm sticks.

 

I know the girls have had fun at their parties, but I am ready for things to settle down so we can enjoy this time with our family before the holidays.  We have been on the go so much that I am ready for some relaxing time.  Of course my house is a disaster and I still have shopping to do, but hopefully we can get that taken care of this week so that next week we can take it easy.

Catching Up

We've been pretty busy, as usual, but I haven't really taken many pictures recently.  I know that will change with all of the Christmas events coming up.  I thought I was really on the ball getting cards ordered and most of my shopping done before Thanksgiving, but Christmas is starting to sneak up on me!

Sweet Kayla made herself a list of things she needs to do. I thought it was too cute to not take a picture of and record.  It has also offered me the opportunity to remind her of things like not complaining about school work.  After all, she is the one that said she needs to get better with these things. :)

Macy came home from Timothy class as a giraffe.  A few weeks earlier she came home as a cheetah, but I forgot to take a picture of it.  

I'm usually up before the girls, but for some reason I turned off my alarm one morning.  I ended up sleeping in and coming downstairs to this cute sight.  Kayla had gotten Brooke out of her crib and they were all cuddled up watching a cartoon. 

This year we decided to make the drive to Lake Lanier to see their lights.  We usually stay more local, but decided to try something different.  The girls really enjoyed it, but if I had known about the mini carnival we wouldn't have stopped.  I know the girls had fun, but the prices are outrageous, especially after paying so much to get in a see the lights.  

Brooke loved the lights and oohed, ahhed, and wowed quite a bit.

Anytime horses are seen they must be ridden by my girls.  They LOVE riding horses. 

And thankfully they had a train for Brooke to ride.  She is at the age where she wants to do what her sisters do and not just stand around and watch.  She LOVES choo-choo trains so this was perfect for her. 

Things are getting busy around here as we begin building our house.  It's probably not the best time of year to begin the work, especially since Marc plans on doing as much as he can to help keep the cost down, but we are very excited to finally be moving forward.