School Parties and the Second Christmas Celebration of 2010

Wednesday was the last day of school for Christmas break so it was party day! These party days at school are crazy. It is pure madness, but for some reason we think it is great fun.

In Reese's class we turned sugar cookie cones into Christmas trees...and then ate them. Gross. The kids totally loved it. What a mess!

In Soren's class they had a contest to see who did the best job decorating their classmate as a snowman. Soren, Tori and Riley won! Cute. Not Gross.


Because Wednesday was the last day of school, and a party day, I did not enforce a bed time this week. The girls stayed up until at least 11 every night. This is how I found them Tuesday night around that time. Classic Reese.

Our Second Christmas Celebration!

This year Grandma Charlotte gave the girls a trip for Christmas. We met at the Ga*leria Mall in Dallas and started at the Amer*can Girl Store (because it is our favorite!)

Reese decided it was time for Chrisa to get her ears pierced. She did so good! No crying at all! :)

After browsing the store and exhausting Grandma's resources (for the moment), we headed into the mall to enjoy the festive decorations.

My girls' beautiful blond, straight hair caught the attention of a salesman and he convinced them to let him curl their golden locks. It was so much fun to watch and they did a beautiful job!

The mall was decked out!

After enjoying a full afternoon of shopping we headed to the movies and then came back to the mall to spend the night! Grandma put us up in the West*n at the Galleria! We found out that for the great bargain of $3500 they will deliver one of their beds, complete with dressings, to our house. We ordered 4. Just kidding. It was an amazing hotel and we felt very pampered. Christmas Eve morning we slept in and then came downstairs to the skating rink for some ice skating around the 4 story Christmas tree. The girls skated for two hours while Grandma and I took pictures and enjoyed some interesting people watching.

Oh yes, but first we had to feed the girls some breakfast. They chose pizza. Whatever, it's Christmas with Grandma, anything goes!



Grandma, we had so much fun spending Christmas with you like that. What a great idea and what amazing memories the girls and I will cherish forever. Thank you!



After lunch we left the mall and headed home just in time for the candle light Christmas Eve service at church. It was a great time of worship and celebration of Jesus' birth!

Back home this evening we have made Santa's cookies (Reese wanted chocolate chip and Soren wanted rice kri*spie treats so we made both; good thing I don't have 5 or 6 kids!), set them out and opened the first gift of Christmas. Before we tuck into bed we are going to play some games and watch a movie. Santa will have to work the late shift to catch these girls asleep!


Traditionally we set Santa's cookie plate on the ground next to the fireplace. This year we have a new addition to the family that would assume the cookies are for him, so we had to put the cookies on the bar in the kitchen. Reese left a note on the fireplace for Santa so he could find the goodies. Love it.



Also a tradition, the girls opened their first gift, new pajamas and socks.




Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

The First Christmas of 2010

As I am sure is true for most people with children, Soren and Reese will have 4 Christmases to celebrate. This past weekend we had the joy of our first celebration with Papaw and Mamaw.

There is so much going on in the metroplex for the holidays and Pete and I decided to plan some activities during the visit, so we consulted the internet and ended up with a trip to the Cowboys Stadium and an evening at Medieval Times. Not exactly holiday entertainment, but we had a blast. I am not a huge football fan and I am not willing to pay for a ticket to watch the Cowboys play, but I have been wanting to see this new stadium that catches my eye everytime I drive down I30. This weekend was the Texas High School State Championship game and a local team was playing, so we were able to check out the amazing facility at a price I can live with. Saturday we ventured to Medieval Times where we were thoroughly entertained and enjoyed a great meal with our fingers. Sunday brought church and lunch and then it was time to say good bye and send Papaw and Mamaw down the road. As is our tradition, the in-between times were spent at the house playing games and putting together a puzzle. It was a great visit and we are so grateful for the blessing of family!

apparently Reese is not a huge football fan, either!

Seriously

Just in case you thought Pete didn't care about his dog...







Yes, those are running shoes. The ones for his back feet are on back order and will be here in a few weeks. It is a good thing they did not come at the same time because he basically ran on his back legs when we first put these on. If he had them on front and back he would have to learn to hover.

Family Fitness Night, Morning with Mom and other stuff

It has been a wonderfully uneventful Thanksgiving around here. Pete has been home all week and we took the opportunity to do, well, nothing special! It is just so nice to not have a schedule for a few days. No homework, no bed time, no alarm clock...

A few events from last week and a few random pictures that were on the camera...

Sleeping in the car. I will never understand how my kids can sleep in such crazy positions.

Sleeping on the chair. Reese actually slept like this most of the night!

Last weekend we all participated in the Sneak a Peek 5k. It is a 5k run through Grand Prairie's parade of Christmas lights. It was really neat. The weather was great; not too cold for the kids to enjoy. Little Alissa even went the entire 3.1 miles! Amazing!

Zach and I brought home some hardware.

On Friday there was a Thanksgiving Feast at school and then we enjoyed the beautiful weather out on the play ground.

"Morning with Mom" at school serves a breakfast that the girls and I are not crazy about, so we have started our own tradition by going to breakfast together before school on that special day.

Last week the school had Family Fitness night for us to come experience the exercises that the kids have to do to pass the fitness test required by the state of Texas. It was pretty interesting. It is not too hard to pass but it is pretty difficult to be commended. I had to try it all to see where I stand. Soren and I hold the record at the school for pacer laps!

Sit up test... ...and they are STILL doing sit ups...