cookies, cookies and Christmas

Is it sad to realize that I have more pictures of the kids making cookies for Santa than I actually have of the Christmas Day festivities? The last day of school was December 19 and I honestly thought the week leading up to Christmas would be a slow, relaxing one...WRONG! We were so busy with playdates, sleepovers at Mimi and Poppie's, wrapping and last minute shopping that before we knew it it was Christmas Eve, and we were in a rush to get everything in before Santa required us all to be tucked sung in our beds. Seeing as I feel that 2014 has been the fastest year ever, I shouldn't have been surprised at the speed with which the last few days have passed. Here's a lot of pictures of us making cookies, and a few from Christmas Day.

 

Most of these second cousins on Jon's side of the family have never laid eyes on one another. It took them about 15 minutes to come out of their shells and in into each others laps.

tis the season to be...busy

I thought I might be able to say that I historically have less posts in December but looking back over the past 6 years, that has not been the case...guess that just means that I have really stunk at blogging this month. Surprise, surprise!

Mailing our letter to Santa at Bass Pro Shop.

On our list this year...a Go Go Dog.

Presley's Girl Scout troop participated in the downtown Christmas parade. The girls had a great time and loved all the attention.

I took Landon to lunch at Presley's school. He was definitely the center of attention.

Even Presley acted like she liked him.

After 21 years, Garth Brooks made it back to Little Rock for a concert. It was well worth the wait.

Tree Stump has been up to no good lately.

Presley insisted I bring her and her friends her favorite pizza to school for the Christmas Party.

Taking a family stroll across the river bridge.

give thanks

We had a great Thanksgiving. For the first time, school was out for the entire week so the kids and I had a loooong vacation to get through, I mean enjoy. Jon was on call Thanksgiving day but finished up at the hospital in time to join us for lunch. Ben, Brooke, Ava, Macy and Aubrey made the trip to Arkansas for some Team Cousin time. The week actually flew by as we baked, played, and gave thanks for the many blessings in our lives.

Our baking playdate.

The kids made Thanksgiving sweets to donate to the Salvation Army.

Riding the downtown trolley after dropping off the treats.

Presley is thankful for some pretty great things.

 

Team Cousins!

Silly faces!

 

We took the kids to the park on Saturday and there were a million leaves to pile up and play with. Ava, Macy and Aubrey don't have the pleasure of seeing this many leaves where they live in Texas.

Tree Stump is back!

35 candles in the windy city

It was time for mom and I's annual girls trip. I think it's actually been a few years since we managed to take this "annual" trip. We usually head to Dallas, Texas, but after Jon visited Chicago this summer and had lots of great things to say about the city, we changed our destination and headed north. It was great 5 days. We stayed right in the middle of the city off of The Magnificent Mile. Our hotel room was a real treat as we enjoyed the city from 36 floors up. We walked countless miles. We shopped. We saw the temp drop from the 60's to the 30's. We heard Christmas music playing in Macys. We ate deep dish pizza. We rode the train both above ground and below it. We shopped, did I already say that? By day 3 we looked like we were locals so much so that someone asked me for directions. Thanks Chicago for a great trip and a great 35th!

The view from our hotel room.

 

From the 94th floor of the John Hancock Tower.

 

Mom and I set foot inside the American Girl store but opted to save our life savings and only make purchases in the Lego store.

 

Of course the day we schedule our architectural boat tour, the temp is only in the 40's.

 

My best friend, Tricia had a birthday cake delivered to our hotel.

She was determined to buy me an "un-lame" gift for my 35th.

The kids have been playing with their new Legos non-stop.

hogs, horses, poodles and turtles

I meant to post this a few weeks ago but...well, you don't really care about excuses. October was fast and furious (do I sound like a broken record yet?). Here's what we managed to do in the 31 short days.

Jon and I took a trip to Fayetteville to catch the Razorbacks in action.

Riding horses at the church Harvest Festival.

The school sock hop in honor of the 50th day of school.

Landon and his buddy Alexander eating silly face pancakes on Halloween.

At the last minute, I decided to get in on the Halloween excitement.

The kids didn't care to o much for my makeup.

 

The kids have been asking to go camping so we opted for some camping on the deck in case it was a total disaster. Setting up the tent as far as we made it after the temperature was predicted to be below 40 degrees. Sleeping in our nice, warm beds was a much better ending.

We still roasted marshmallows which might have been what the kids wanted to do all along.

Presley and her friend from school and soccer, McKenzie.