Christmas Pictures

Every once in a while I get a great idea. Sometimes my sister thinks it is great as well.  I always

 love taking my girls pictures in front of the Christmas trees at our church, but it is always so

 crowded on Christmas Eve and you feel rushed to take a picture while everyone is waiting. 

Kids + rushed pictures = no good.

So last year we took the girls the week before Christmas when no one was at the church and we had all the time we needed to take pictures.  This year my sister decided to do the same thing, so we managed to get a few cousin shots too. 

Oh man, how I love these girls!

Holiday School Happenings

There are so many fun events at this time of year.  We experienced our last kindergarten Thanksgiving play this year.  Brooke was an Indian woman.  Kayla was a Pilgrim woman and Macy was the turkey, so we have experienced all parts to this cute little play!

And I love that we are part of a school where the siblings can slip out of class to watch 

these special events. 

Macy and Brooke also had their Christmas concert, but as a 5th grader Kayla does not have

 music class anymore.

And then of course there were the class parties. The third graders had a photo booth as well as some relay races. I was able to catch a quick glimpse of Brooke swinging at the pinata, but I didn't take any pictures when I popped into Kayla's class. I'm thankful I'm there all day to peek in on the fun events.

We rounded out the celebrations with dance parties. I love these sweet girls and their friendship. They have been in the same class at school for 4 years and this is this year they are back in the same dance class as well. 

School's out for the holiday so the family fun times are beginning!

A Cabin in the Woods... or on a Horse Farm

Back in late summer Marc and I thought about getting a bunch of friends together at a cabin in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  We all have season passes to Dollywood thanks to a wonderful friend of ours. Marc found a large cabin and we worked on a date that everyone could go. The girls and I worked super hard to get five days of school work done in only three days so we could get away without worrying about school.  My girls are amazing rock stars.  We were all pushed just about to our limits, but they wanted to be done more than I did. There is a reason that we usually take five days to complete five days of work. :)

There were five families going to Tennessee with a total of 15 children.  The baby and the teenager stayed with their parents, but all of the other kids stayed in this room.  It was amazingly perfect for them and they had the best time. 

How cool to have a horse in your room!

There were all of these cubbies along the wall that the kids claimed to keep their belongings.  I was shocked when I walked past Brooke's cubbie and saw this. This girl could care less about order and organization at home. 

 

The cabin was on a horse farm and the scenery from the back deck was beautiful.

Weekdays during the school year are the best time to go to Dollywood.  Lines were super short and the kids have a little freedom to run around without the crowds.

 We had so much fun hanging out and laughing.  Good friends are good for the soul. We had many funny moments together including this "three men and a baby" one.

Friday morning we woke up and the Johnson's (and Deidre) made everyone a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs. We then relaxed for a few hours before the park opened.  It was such a time of refreshment as us ladies rarely just sit on the couch these days. The Smiths headed out early so we didn't get them included in our pictures. :(

11:00PM bedtime with a 7:30AM wake up makes for a tired little girl.  She was out cold within five minutes of getting in the car.

Brooke isn't a big fan of roller coasters, but she was super patient while the big kids (and parents) rode many rides.  On Saturday we finally made it back over to the little kid rides.  While she was waiting on her sisters to finish a ride her daddy took her to play a game of tossing rings on bottles.  Apparently he has pretty good aim because the next thing I know she comes running back to me with a huge Pinkie Pie. It was a tight squeeze getting home in our new, smaller vehicle, but the joy on her face when her daddy won her this horse was worth every minute of it. 

It was such a refreshing few days away with some of the best friends we could ask for.  I am so thankful for the blessing of these people in our lives.  The kids are such great friends and I pray that they remain so for many years.

Pumpkin Patch

Brooke's class took a field trip to a local pumpkin patch.  They get to walk the fields and find these baby pumpkins. The field was quite bare, but the kindergartners didn't seem to min.  They loved running around with their friends.  We also enjoyed a picnic lunch with some classmates before heading home.

Brooke had run off and I didn't get a picture of her at this setup.

As a family we also went to another pumpkin patch just down the road a couple weeks ago.  I have a few pictures on my phone I'll try to remember and add to this post.

Soccer Wrap Up and Cheer Camp

I found a few more soccer pictures from Brooke's game.  I think these were taken the day that rain threatened all morning, and I decided to leave my camera in the car for the big girls' game.

Scoring a goal!

The girls were so excited to be able to do Cheer Camp at their school this year.  Camp is usually on a Saturday when they have soccer games.  This year it was on a Friday night, but the game they get to perform at was during the big girls' game.  They both decided to skip the game and cheer, especially since this would be the last year Kayla would be young enough to participate.

They were all so stinking cute! I don't know that any of them will pursue cheerleading long term, but they sure do love this opportunity every year.

Apple Picking

We headed to Mercier's Orchards one Sunday after church for apple picking.  We always enjoy the ride up, but the apples were a bit slim picking.  I think next year we need to go on a Saturday because by Sunday afternoon the only apples still on the tree had rotten spots or were up high. But as you can see Marc always has a plan.  Too bad little girls don't always like said plans.

Eating and picking.  That takes talent.

Beautiful girl inside and out.

So it has become an almost yearly tradition for Macy to repeat this pose.

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