Pre Christmas Fun!

I've got several Christmas posts to do so I'm just going to do several smaller ones to keep it simple :).

L and H were enjoying popcorn and a Christmas movie. It's one of our favorite things to do! This is Kim. She's about the sweetest thing ever :). Absolutely the best trooper around when it comes to preggo girls (and I'm sure at other times but I've only known her while she's been pregnant :). She texted me one night to see how our late night of Academy shopping was going. We'd gotten most of the gifts but hadn't wrapped a single one. I've been off this Christmas since my house is STILL very VERY much under construction :). I was tired and coming down with a cold that ended up lasting a week and just hadn't gotten it done. She joked about having the fun part to look forward to (wrapping) and said that if I needed help she wouldn't mind coming over. I told her I'd be wrapping the next day and to just call me if she got bored (thinking ha ha). The girl showed up and helped me wrap EVERY present in the room. She was a machine. She wrapped twice as fast as I did. She was 37 weeks pregnant (and under 5 foot tall) so I know sitting on that floor was not comfy). Thanks Kim!!!!! I'll never ever forget it.Harrison had his class party at school. I'm one of the homeroom moms this year and it's been so much fun getting to be so involved. It's priceless. Especially since I'm working with a super sweet girl :).There were extra gingerbread houses so Lydia got to decorate her own. I never heard a peep out of her during the whole party. She sat on H's lap and listened to the book, helped him with his plate of food, and LOVED decorating the house. Harrison's Santa hat had a built in beard. You know he couldn't just bring a plain one :).

Class Pic

...and a CRAZY class pic!! He's having SO much fun this year. We've been SO blessed to have two wonderful teachers in a row. This boy loves school and actually gets a little sad when there's a long break because he misses it :).

The Wieners Are Back!!

This year is round 2 for the wieners. They hadn't been out for four years so we felt like it was time!!

Big Cedar

We took the kids to Big Cedar Lodge a couple of weekends ago. We had a great time!! It was so cold but that only added to the Christmas experience :).

You always have to wrestle or jump on the bed to kick off a trip. My Dad would be so proud. He says that as kids, we jumped on some of the best beds in the country :). We had horrible cell phone reception in the room. I walked out to talk to my sister. The rest of the fam eventually followed and we ended up LOCKED OUT! In 20 degree weather :). I didn't think security would EVER get there :).We love to take weekend trips and do NOTHING! Play games, watch football, eat out! There is something about getting out of town that is so relaxing. We had some pretty great games of Yahtzee :).Cutie Pie!

We had a family picture taken on Saturday. I took a few of my own by the tree in the lobby before we went out. Its a good thing that we had them taken. Harrison decided to cut his hair the next night after he had gone to bed. He cut it right in the front and all the way to scalp (and a big hunk out of the back :)).

The ARCADE. Always a favorite.

We had a reservation to take the kids on a wagon ride at 6:30. I thought it was a carriage ride and we had seen them going by our room all day. When it was time to get ready to go, we walked out and realized how COLD it was. We aren't normally weenies when it comes to getting out in the cold but this was a different kind of cold. We talked about it and had decided to skip the ride and just go to dinner. The kids were so sad so we decided to go. The front desk called right at 6:30 and we told them that we were headed that way. They seemed a little annoyed but I was thinking, "Just take us on a 20 minute ride instead of a 30 minute ride. What's the big deal?" When we get down there to check in for it, we realized that it was the wagon ride and there were TWO wagons full of people waiting for us to check in!! I wanted to crawl in a hole. SO embarrassing! The wagon ride ended at a bon fire. There was hot chocolate, smores, and a guy playing Christmas songs with his guitar. "One more smore?!"

H and L watched some cartoons before going to bed. They are best buds! They remind me of me and my brother Matt. We were best friends (most of the time) and sometimes worst enemies. Depending on the day :).

Thanksgiving and Such

My sister and I always go to Mom's house to cook on the day before Thanksgiving. We always have SO much fun when we get together.

Mom getting ready to make some mean pies :). Shelley brought the ingredients for the kids to make really cute Pilgrim hats. I just realized that I don't have a picture of the finished product! Way to go Ang :).
She LOVES her aunt Shell!!We had to keep washing Lydia's fondue stick :).

The next day, we started off with lunch at Jared's Mom and Dad's house. It was SOO cold and even snowed. I LOVED how festive it felt!!Lydia with Mema and Great Grandma. I LOVE this picture.

This boy loves his sister. Sometimes she'll walk in with a cute dress or something on and he'll say, "Awww Lydia, you look so pretty." She's so blessed to have two brothers that love her like they do :)!!

Jared's Mom always gives the kids an Old World Christmas ornament on Thanksgiving. They really look forward to opening them. She always finds the cutest ones! We went to my parent's house for dessert but I left my camera here. No pics :(.

Birthday At Granny's

A couple of weeks ago, Lydia and I went to Granny Shirley's so that we could celebrate with her. They made a pink birthday cake with pink icing and sprinkles. She makes the BEST icing and I usually make myself sick on it!! Granny let Lydia do almost all of it by herself. I've said this many times but if I only had her patience :). Lydia absolutely loves Granny and won't let me do anything for her when we are there. Thanks Granny!! We had an awesome day!!!

Looking to see what's next! My Mom and Dad came by at lunch. Always a treat :)!!!

She's THREE!!

And pretty excited about it!! She had a Barbie cake and we went to Chuck E. Cheese. We were going to have a family dinner with grandparents but half of the crew was out of town so we decided to just go there and make it easy :). It was just us and Jared's mom and dad. It was nice and laid back. Well, as laid back as Chuck E. Cheese can be. Jared stopped and picked her up this cute puppet on the way to the party. He almost always picks up something for them that I don't know about. So sweet :).She was ready to dig in to that cake!! This is what Jared and Zane did all night once the games began. The only time I saw them was when they were looking for more tokens :). They have so much fun together! Last night, Zane dared Jared to drive home from the Boys and Girls Club (30 minutes from our house) with the convertible top down (it was in the mid 30s). They did and LOVED it!! Me and my girl!! Please ignore how scary I look. It had been a long day :).

I thought that I would add a "keeping it real" series of pictures. It's not an easy task to get a decent picture of all three kids together. It's pretty close to impossible :). My favorite part is Zane with the hammer.

That is as close as we got. The next picture on my camera was Lydia in the middle of a breakdown. It WAS 8:30!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!