Snow Angels

Watching Hallie make snow angels skyrocketed to the top of my favorite moments list. The smile on her face and the joy in her eyes was enough to make this momma's heart sing. 

She plopped down and went to work. When I asked her where she learned how to make snow angels she replied "on Max and Ruby"....

Can we just talk about how adorable kids in snowsuits are???? Please!!! I must get this off my chest.........CUTEST.THING.EVER. Second cutest thing ever? Kids trying to help their daddy shovel snow with a giant shovel that they can't control without falling over. Now that's cute.

"I do it myself"

We brought some cups and plastic spoons outside to "make towers and stack things." She was a big fan of this.

Mommy made the towers.

And she crushed them.

 

Mommy had a bright idea to sled on a pan. Daddy thought it was a dumb idea. And it was at first. Until we found the perfect spot.

 

Let's see how this goes....

Ready. Set....

Stuck. We need more of a hill.

 

Ah ha! Found the spot!

 



"Sure you know what you're doing ma?"

 

 

 

Success!!!

Next it was my turn. She sat atop a rock and gave me a good push!

 

"Who was it that said you can't sled on a pan without a hill?!?!"

Thanks to Nanny we were able to put her suit and boots to good use on this snow day. She was one tuckered out girl when we came inside.....

 

She's asked me nearly everyday since then "mommy, is today the day it will snow again?"

Oh my dear snow angel, you melt my heart.

Hey Santa

I'm not quite sure how he managed to pull it off but our favorite jolly ol' guy came to visit Hal gal five times this Christmas season....not to mention the top secret trip he made down the chimney to drop off his sack of toys. We've had a fairly peaceful past with Santa and this year was no different. She was as sweet as could be at the hospital children's party where she hopped up on his lap to ask for a "Minnie's Pet Salon, a baby doll and a Barbie." She even leaned in to give him (Dave) a kiss on the cheek but backed away after she got near his beard.......

 

 



 

We look forward to the downtown parade followed by the children's Santa lunch every year. This year temps were frigid but we toughed em out on the hospital float while daddy and his coworkers passed out apples. We huddled up under a blanket to stay warm and she waved her little heart out at the little kids lining the street.....

 



 



 

Hallie ate hotdogs, played chase with her little friends and ate a bag of goodies while they watched a special Christmas movie. It's such a fun event for the children and I think I end up having just as much fun as she does!

 

 Santa's second stop was by the church after the children's church program. This Miss Priss got a sneak peak and a chance to hop on his lap because she was too rambunctious to sit still and finish watching the big kids perform. Nanny and Hal snuck into the church office to share her Christmas list with him.....

 

The very next night he returned to check on Hallie and her Free Spirit friends at the church. Her behavior was top-notch that evening thanks to the man dressed in red. She felt pretty special since they both chose matching outfits for the Christmas program.....

 

Possibly my favorite picture of all time

 

So far she'd had three chances to share her wish list with Santa and each time she whispered the same three things to him. Last Saturday she made a special trip to breakfast with Nanny and Papa before visiting Santa.....

 

I met Nanny and this silly girl at the museum in town to wait in line. It turned out there wasn't a line but it didn't much matter because she was too scared to walk up the long red carpet to see her BFF Santa. She clung to Nanny's leg....

So Nanny visited with him a bit and shared Hallie's list with him....

She was too busy checking out the SpongeBob gingerbread display to care about Santa #4....

Oh but wait........we got a couple of cookies in her system and she gave it a go. After tripping on the red rug on her way to see him she was a bit stumped about what to do or say. Or maybe she was thinking "I've already talked to you three times so is this really necessary?" ;)

After some serious thinking and no messing around expressions she told him every other time. If Santa didn't bring a Minnie's Pet Salon, a baby doll and a Barbie things weren't going to end well....

 

I told her that sometimes, and only in special circumstances for extra good little girls and boys, Santa would make a house visit on Christmas Eve before his shift began just to say hello and make sure the good list had your name on it. Well whatdya know, HE SHOWED UP!!!!!

 



 

 

Dear Santa, good work this year dude. You came through yet again!

 

P.S.- and thanks for giving me a year-round way to attempt to get her to bed earlier..."Santa's ALWAYS watching...."

 

 

 

Seven Nights of Christmas Parties



The Christmas calendar filled up faster than I could say "ten extra pounds" this year. Luckily none of the fun events overlapped and we were able to take in all of the fun. I was terribly crummy when it came to taking pictures at most of these shindigs but I did get a few memorable moments documented. Our babysitters made bank the week of the 9th through the 14th thanks for non-stop holiday happenings.

 

The Christmas celebrations kicked off on the 8th of December with a family friendly party at Kim and BJs beautiful home where we joined over 60 of our fellow Sunday school friends and their kiddos for a night of delicious food and laughs. Our class has grown at an astounding rate over the past year and it's a definite sign of God's work. We love being surrounded by some of our closest friends and growing closer to new friends that we spend every Sunday with.

 

I passed up an Alpha Gamma Christmas social on the 9th for some rest on the couch after the previous weekend of hosting the home tour. On the 10th Katie hosted our Bunco group's Christmas get together. We brought finger foods, did a gag gift exchange and did what we do best...sit around and talk, talk talk. The Bunco Babes are a blessing and our nights together leave us all with happy hearts and sore cheeks from laughing.

 

The 11th was an evening to celebrate with my coworkers and their spouses at JBs. Our work group has grown over the past year and I'm thankful to get to work with some hard-working and helpful people. Baby was not cooperating with my stomach which was a big time bummer since I'd dreamed about my dinner selection all day. The gift exchange was side-splitting as usual and Riley and I walked away with a set of "redneck wind chimes" (a pair of underwear with beer cans hanging from). Solid night. ;)

 

On the 12th we spent a fun evening at AJ and Susan Jacques' home for the hospital physician's party. The amazing hospital board members always go above and beyond. We ate from a table full of appetizers and I spent the evening moseying from room to room catching up with people I hadn't seen in awhile. Most of the men could be found out in the pool house by the bar. We left pretty early compared to the rest of the party-goers....my old man needed some rest for the next two nights of parties. Ok, maybe this girl did too!

 

We were treated to a night of food and games at Dave and Kelly Wallace's house for the hospital director's Christmas party on Friday the 13th. You'd never have known that I'd pigged out on food the entire week by the embarrassing amount of food I ate that night. Can't let it go to waste, right? We separated into groups and sang the 12 Days of Christmas hospital style. Impressive pipes on some of the nurses in the crowd!

 

By Saturday the 14th we were running on 'E'....that's about all that kept me going when it came time to get dressed for the hospital-wide Christmas party that night. Oh and the fact that I'd treated myself to a shopping trip that morning for a new dress to wear. The convention center was packed with familiar faces for a night of dinner and lots of entertainment. The high school drum line performed, the hospital directors stood up front and sang Little Drummer Boy and Bobby and Chris Castor sang a few songs. I cried while they awarded employee of the year to a stranger I didn't even know and I sampled various desserts from friends at our table. Hormones were in full force that night obviously. We had a great time and I was again reminded of what a great group of people Riley is blessed to work with. This is the night I finally took some pictures!

 



One of the coolest chicks around

My favorite guy

Our Christmas party tour ended last Friday night at Bobby and Brenda's house for a fabulous evening of dressing up, eating (duh), drinking (fruit punch...duh) and chatting (double duh). Here's a shot of the most fun gals at the party....

The Life of the Party

I look forward to this party each year and this year's was a blast with some of my favorite people!!!

It's even safe to say that Riley had a great time too...maybe even crawled out of his shell a bit! That brings me to the end of a fun-filled holiday season full of parties and celebrating. Until next year!!!

Christmas Tour of Homes

When asked to host something my answer is always immediately and most definitely "YES." 

Always. 

When asked to host something that involves decorating extra for Christmas the answer is "HECK YES!"

The owner of one of my favorite decorative stores in town called me about the tour in October asking if I'd be interested. This gave me plenty of time to scheme about my Christmas plan. It allowed me plenty of time to take my big two basket Hobby Lobby trip and numerous trips to stores around town gathering odds and ends. I received a letter near the first of November letting me know that my house needed to be completed by November 25th. Cue panic mode. Cue the worry about how many trees would be sufficient. On November 9th Christmas made an early entrance into our home and every inch was covered in glitter, fake snow, ornament hooks and ribbon. Good thing I have some cooperative and patient sidekicks that live with me. Me....not so patient. I couldn't stand the wait for Riley to drag the boxes down so I made that dreaded yet exciting trip to the attic to drag down three trees and ten boxes. We (trusty Hal and I) started in her room with a brand new white tree and pink and gray ornaments. She was adorable grouping all of her ornaments in one tiny section of the tree. I kept them there for a good ten minutes and then the OCD took over and I had to spread them out. She marveled at her work when we were all done and her eyes were big in the sparkly light...."it so boooootiful mommy." 

Our elf, Summer, made her (he's really a he but who's keeping track) appearance and has been hanging out around the house being "so silly" ever since....

I unpacked anything and everything that didn't have to do with trees since my arms needed a break from the scratchy branches.....

He's such a good sport this time of year. Hehe

Can't wait to add another next year

Once my arms stopped bleeding (only kidding) this little guy seemed harmless for my next tree to tackle....

After that came the candy tree which was formerly the boring "white tree." I'm quite fond of all the color now and the bow that Polly made is eye-catching....

I had a billion tour guests ask about the bit light-up bows on the doors....Walmart. Cue the surprised expressions.

This petite little guy (a hand me down from Nanny) was fun to funky up plus very quick and easy to boot.....

Next came the big momma. Dun dun dun. 

A thousand tiny branch scratches on my arms later and I was done. Sort of. Glutton for punishment here went out and bought a box of 100 new ornaments to add to it. When standing on a chair felt more natural to me than standing on the ground I figured it was time for a break. Present-wrappin' time....

The kitchen got a makeover too. Riley was so pleased to see his pregnant wife tiptoeing on the counter trying to reach the corner of the wall when he walked through the door one evening.....

My Hal loves all the sparkle and her smile says it all....

But her favorite thing of all......is her new super girly tree in her playroom.....

This undertaking took me the longest by far and was in no way planned but I think it's my favorite too now!!

I mean seriously, all that COLOR!!

The newspaper came a week later than planned to take pictures for the Sunday paper so it came me some extra time to finish up completely. The day of the home tour came and went in a flash. Christmas music playing in the background, yummy treats laid out on the counter, a holiday scent in the warmer and the lights were all lit up. So many friendly faces (friends, family and complete strangers of course) made their way through the house that afternoon and grabbed some cider and goodies that I'd set out on the counter. Nanny came over to help me host and greet visitors at the door. As crazy as it sounds there was not one stressful second of the entire day. It was perfect in every sense of the word. Every visitor was gracious and kind and I loved meeting a load of new people. Christmas tour of homes goes down in the books as a fantastic experience that I'd most definitely do again.........in ten years when I'm rested up from taking all of these decorations down. ;) Hiring helpers now....pays in pizza and non-stop entertainment from Hal. 

Merry Christmas to all!