Christmas at Papa and Nana's

After church we headed over the Nana and Papa's for Christmas. Papa had to work Christmas day so we waited for him to get off work before opening presents. The girls asked for Papa to come home for a solid 2 1/2 hours. I have never seen 3 little girls more excited to see their Papa when he finally arrived! The Belle was thrilled to get a scooter and a pottery maker. The May loved her Easy Bake Oven. The Lynn loved all of her gifts but was really sad when there wasn't anymore to open (that was her favorite part of Christmas). After Nana and Papa's the girls had a sleep over at Margo and Jude's. The girls were excited to see all of their new toys. My favorite toy that Margo and Jude got was Just Dance 3 for the wii!

Christmas Morning!

There were LOTS of squeals at our house this morning. The Belle was so dramatic when she opened each gift. It was as if she won a million dollars with each gift she opened. The May kept saying "I can't believe it". The Lynn was a little overwhelmed with her sisters excitement but she quickly got into the routine of tearing into her gifts. After they opened their gifts and ate our weekly Sunday morning cinnamon rolls for breakfast we went to church.

Christmas Eve!

The girls opened their traditional pajamas from Nana tonight. You can almost feel the excitement in the pictures. I think tonight was the fastest they have ever gone to sleep.

Christmas with Pappy and Grandmama!

We spent the day celebrating Christmas with husband's side of the family. We always have a blast together. All the grandkids got new bikes/scooter for Christmas. My girls were completely shocked! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Margo with her new scooter. It was so sweet to see baby Marshall on his first Christmas!

Gingerbread Houses

We were cleaning out drawers and closet's recently and the girls came across old Christmas pictures. Before there were any children in my husbands family we had a tradition of making gingerbread houses. When the girls found out about this they were devastated that they had never made a gingerbread house. They have now declared that the gingerbread house tradition is back! The May really enjoyed the final product.

Santa @ Pizza Hut!

My sweet husband teaches some pretty cool students (who also read my blog). One of the girls favorite is "Mr." Jarred. We have a tendency to run into him at the beach quite often. He also works at Pizza Hut. He was sweet enough to let us know that Santa was making a visit to Pizza Hut and that kids eat free!! It just so happened that it was also The Lynn's birthday. We didn't tell the girls that Santa would make an appearance but they did know Jarred would be working (I think they were more excited to see him than Santa). The girls were very surprised to see Santa. The Lynn was a tad bit scared of him. Their main concern was "where he parked his sleigh".

The Lynn turned 3!

The Lynn finally had a real birthday party (her 1st birthday she was sick and just family came and we cancelled her 2nd party because we were all sick). We were so excited for her until we got to the park and a cold front moved through. I had to go to the store to buy all the kids hats and gloves. None of us were prepared for the frigid wind. So, needless to say it was probably the fastest birthday party in the history of parties. The Lynn didn't mind though. She loved all of her gifts and had a blast! I still can't believe our baby is3!!

Little Town of Bethlehem

One of our local churches had a night in Bethlehem. Thankfully, a friend of mine posted about how great it was on facebook. So, we decided to check it out. It was so fun! The church set up a literal town of Bethlehem in their parking lot. Each tent offered a different Jewish trade. The girls baked bread, made perfume, made jewelry, hammered out a picture onto sheets of metal, made a mosaic cross, and their favorite thing of all....rode real horses!! Thankfully, Nana and Papa went with us and helped carry all their creations.

School Party

The big girls had their school Christmas party today at the bouncy place. I was thrilled when I found out the Lynn could also go (and so was she). The only picture I captured of all 3 girls was when they were sharing a $3.25 blue icee! They had so much fun! After the party they went back to school and exchanged gifts. Each girl drew a friends name from their class. They were both beyond excited to give their gift (I think they were more excited to give their gift than to receive one). It was a great way to end the year before Christmas break.

Dear Santa,

The girls wrote their letters to Santa tonight. It was quite the process. Each girl wanted to make sure they included each gift they REALLY wanted. I love how the May sounded out each word in her letter.

Oh Christmas Tree

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the day we pick out and cut down our Christmas tree. It was lots of fun this year! Now that the girls are older; they each had a vote on the tree we should choose. I think this was our best tree yet.

Fudge Mouth

Our nightly routine is exhausting to say the least. The girls bedtime is 7:30 so we start our nightly routine of baths, put on pajamas (or jomminies as The Lynn calls them), blow dry hair, brush teeth, floss teeth, rinse with fluoride, bed time story, and last but not least tuck everyone into bed. The tucking everyone into bed is a routine all in itself. Each girl must have their specific pillow pet (whale for The Belle, 2 lady bugs for The May, and a bumblebee for The Lynn), their special doll (a minnie mouse doll for The Belle, Madeline and Genevieve for The May, and Cleo the dog for The Lynn), and of course their special blanket that must be placed on top of them just right. Then each girl needs a hug, kiss, I love you, and last but not least we all say "you are the best" to each other about 50 times. By the time Husband and I close the door we both let out a big sigh. Then it is free time for us! Free time usually consists of some sort of dessert and watching whatever we want on t.v.! Occasionally, someone sneaks out of bed to announce they have an itch, some part of their body hurts, or to tattle on someone for talking instead of going to sleep. The really bad part about this is once one of us has to return to their bedroom each girl must have another: kiss, hug, I love you, and another round of you are the best said back and forth. So, last night The Lynn was the one who came out to inform us that she was scared of going to sleep. Husband took her back to bed and was the lucky one to go through the goodnights.....again. As he tucked in The May (again) she said "why does your mouth smell like fudge?". If we aren't careful our night time party may be busted and we will never get these girls into bed!!

Catching Up!

The past couple of weeks have been so busy! So, here is a re-cap of what we have been up to.

Papa, Nana, and myself catered the girls Thanksgiving lunch at their school.


The Lynn got her first haircut! I know some of you are thinking "really? her first haircut? isn't she almost three?". Well, she was my only baby who actually had ringlet curls and I was a tad bit attached to those sweet curls. But, it was time and she was excited to get a haircut. I am happy to say the curls are still there!




We celebrated Thanksgiving! No Thanksgiving would be complete without a fun game of "mother may I" with cousins.





The most shocking event was Husband, Nana, and myself shopped from 10:00 Thanksgiving night until 6:00 Friday morning. That is right my sweet Husband braved all the shoppers all night long!! Unfortunately, I did not capture it on film.....but it happened! Now, we are gearing up for Christmas. The girls and I put out Christmas decorations this afternoon. Hopefully, we can continue our tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree this weekend.