Warm weather, how I love thee

Yesterday was awesome! I am so much a warm-weather girl. Sunny, 80 plus degrees and not too windy...amazing for the end of December! Really, I'll take that weather year-round.

Since it was so nice the kids and I took advantage of it and enjoyed the outdoors. Lila loved chillin' in her swing..

and big brother joined her for a bit.

Yay! Thanks, Cali for sending a little bit of awesome weather our way.

Lots of Birthdays

It's birthday time in the Hays Family! Poppi turned 60 the day before Thanksgiving and we all went out to celebrate a few days after. We went to the Bavarian Grill and had such a fun time!

Miss Lila snoozed for most of the meal...which was shocking for a few reasons...

the main one being that this is not a quiet place. There is live music playing the whole time and everyone is encouraged to sing a long! It's great for the big kids and apparantly perfect for little ones as well. And no, Jared didn't really give Lila a sip of his beer! He did think it was pretty funny to put it up to her lips, though.

Jackson got to sit right between his two Uncles and was in hog heaven.

Happy Birthday, Poppi!

Last night we all went out for Memaw's birthday at Main Street Bistro. It's a quaint little place in Richardson and was perfect for us to enjoy a good meal together. Afterwards we all came back to our house for some cake and presents.

J man was front and center for cake time.

He was so excited to give Memaw the card he picked out especially for her.

As he told me, "Mom, I want this card. It has a SUPERHERO on it!" He loved it and so did she. Happy Birthday, Memaw. We love you.

Gingerbread House

When I was growing up we made and decorated a gingerbread house every year right before Christmas. It was something that we loved doing and so I got really excited when Maddie and I went shopping the other night and saw this Gingerbread House Kit. I thought Jackson and Madison would have a blast with the icing and candies and I was right.

These two elves loved having their very own spatulas and spreading the icing. They

concentrated so hard and did really well!

Look at that attention to detail!

After we frosted the house it was time to decorate. I was shocked that they didn't try to eat all of the candy. In fact, they didn't even ask to eat any of it until they saw me do it!

After it was all finished I asked them to take some pictures with their masterpiece. Of course, sweet smiles with their gingerbread house were out of the question. Here they are being reindeer...

and then moving on to straight-up goofy!

A good time was had by all and we can't wait to do it again next year. Yay for bringing back a little family tradition!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Yesterday was the Christmas Program at Jackson's school. Gigi, Lila and I went to watch him sing his little heart out. He's been practicing the songs for weeks and it was really fun to see. He did so good!

Here are all of the 3 year olds at his school. He's right in the center of the stage--the tall blonde looking very serious. He was looking all around and we were standing up and waving, trying to show him where we were seated. I kept thinking, "how does he not see us? He is looking right at me." Turns out he did see us...he just didn't acknowledge us. It seems the the director told that they should watch her (she stood up in front and led them in the hand motions) so my son, Mr. Rule Follower Extraordinaire would not even crack a smile at his sweet mom, let alone wave back!

When the program started Lila was mesmerized by the singing.

The three year olds sang three songs and then came back to sing with the older kids at the end of the show.

Lila was SO GOOD! She was completely entertained with her sprinkle shaker and Gigi's necklace and never uttered a peep. So glad we didn't have to go to the dreaded "Cry room!"

After the performance the kids were all treated to some sugar cookies back in their classroom.

While Jackson chowed down, Lila entertained two older sisters.

Then we went over to Maddie's room to see what they were up to. They started off with a book exchange. Each child got to open up a new book. Of course, Madison didn't like hers!

Her teacher really outdid herself. She helped the kids make so many precious keepsakes and she even dressed up as an elf for their party! Now that's dedication.

Annual Santa Party

This past Saturday we had our Annual Santa Party. It is by far my favorite party of the year. I have so many wonderful memories of this party when I was a kid and it's really neat that I get to pass that on to our kids now. We had so much fun with all our friends and family and this year did not disappoint at all!

We greeted our guests at the door. As you can see, Lila was checking out her two perspective boyfriends, Henry Duncan and Sawyer Rachavong.

Then we went outside to wait for Santa's big arrival.

After a few minutes we saw a big firetruck AND ambulance coming down the street. Jackson was the first kid to hustle down the street and greet Santa!

Santa was cool, but the firefighters were too! Jackson and Madison marched right on over and introduced themselves to the Murphy Fire Dept.

After reminding Jackson that Santa was the main attraction of the night, he held Santa's hand and walked with him all the way back into our house. So cute.

Santa and Mrs. Claus got comfy by the fire and read the kids "The Night Before Christmas."

Everyone enjoyed listening to the story and it gave some of the kids time to warm up to the jolly old guy!

After letting a few other kids go first, Lila and Jackson hopped on his lap. When his sister started to fuss a little, J gave her a big kiss! Not sure it helped, but it was funny.

Madison wasn't having anything to do with Santa at first, but then decided to bring him a chip. She must have heard he really likes chips. So, here are all the kids...Maddie's chip in her hand!

Gigi and Boom were in attendance...

as were Memaw, Poppy and Uncle Andrew.

Lots of our friends came and I have many family pics...this one made me laugh the most, though. Levi Martinez was so not wanting to stand in front of Santa! He was at least standing there, though. His big brother kept running away!

Monica was finally able to convince Judah to stand by her and they got a family pic with Santa:)

When Madison decided she finally wanted to go talk to Santa we got the sweetest picture of them together. Love. Those. Dimples.

We were glad that the Fort Worth crew was able to come--always good to see Pa "Grape," Aunt Bina and Roxie.

The big boys had fun hanging out.

And we loved getting to visit with my Papaw, too.

I wish I would have had more time to visit with my girlfriends, but when there are 28 kids running around, adult conversation is a little tough to come by!

By 7:00 Sawyer had had enough party:)

It was time for Santa to go back to the North Pole, so Boom and Jackson walked him out.

Thanks Santa and Mrs. Claus for stopping by our house! See y'all again next year!

In the Christmas Spirit

Christmas in in the air! And I love it! Last night we went over to The Brooks' home for some good family fun. First, we roasted a few marshmallows over the fire...Jackson was a little leery of the whole process and told me that I needed to eat that marshmellow, not him!

Then we drove to this really festive house in their neighborhood for a train ride!

The kids were very excited! Jackson must have asked me 12 times on our 5 minute drive when we were going to get to the train.

This nice man (the one driving the train) sets up this whole train in his backyard and gives rides to adults and kids. For free! So nice. Jackson chose to ride in Santa's sleigh.

After we got home I checked my email and saw that Santa had sent a video message to Jackson! It is the coolest thing.

I wish I could make the link work so that y'all could watch it.

Here's Jackson in Santa's book!

Needless to say, he was amazed by it! Let's hope he listens to Santa and continues to be a really good boy this year.