Snapshots of December

When we're not doing something holiday related, we are still plenty busy.

 

The Bumblebees are off to a great start and have won 2 out of their first 3 games.

 

I think they all really like the indoor setting--the ball never goes way out of bounds and keeps their attention the whole time.

 

 

The Mavericks are also off to an amazing start.  They won their first game 45-6 and won the second one, too, although it wasn't as much of a blowout.  They are the team to beat!

 

Jackson scored 11 points during the first game, including this free throw.  Go #7!

 

 

Our oldest has also made a return to soccer and played in his first game this week.  It's been two years since he last played, and he's playing with all third graders, but he held his own just fine.  No goals for his first game, but I predict at least a handful before the season is over.

 

And while little sister can't quite play soccer or basketball yet, she's doing her best to keep up.  She's pulling up and standing for long periods of time...



but she really prefers socializing with her peeps.  She loved having Baby Dylan over for a visit earlier this week.

2 months old and 11 months old--such a difference!

Before long, Dylan will be crawling around after her:)

I hope they'll grow up being sweet friends, just like me and his mama.

Class Christmas Parties

Friday was a super-exciting day.  Two class Christmas parties and one musical performance.

 

We started out the day with Jackson at his class party.  He made a snowman ornament...

decorated a reindeer cupcake...

and did the Penguin Snowball relay.  Funny fact: the girls beat the boys 6 times in a row! 
I think J's head almost exploded, especially when I told the girls to tell the boys, "Girls Rule! Boys Drool!"  Hehe:)

Goofiness was in full effect at his party, too! 

As you can see, he wasn't the only nutty kid, though!

 

 

Nothing says, "Merry Christmas!" quite like picking up your friend.

After taking Jackson home from his party, we were at Lila's school a few hours later. This girl had taken a nap, eaten lunch and was good to go.  She even brought her jingle bells--such a prepared little girl!  We found Poppi, Memaw, Daddy, Boom Pa and Gigi.

Jackson even got to sit by his friend Ben, too.  Bonus!

A few minutes later, Madison, Cami and I were ready for the show to begin.

 

Showtime!  They sang Joy to the World and I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (Lila's fave!)

Lila did all of the motions and sang all the words that she could remember.

They ended with Away in a Manger.  So very sweet, and she did great. 
Then it was on to her class party.

Lila and the Shubzda girls liked their treats...

but my favorite were their juice boxes that had been wrapped to look like
Santa's red coat and black belt.  Very cute.

They made a craft and then went to take a picture in front of this pretty tree.  Mandy took the pics with her polaroid camera and then slid them into ornaments for the kids to take home. 
 It was the perfect party favor!

How have these two baby sisters gotten so big, so fast?  Something tells me they will grow up as friends, just like their big sisters.

And I just bet they'll be looking up to all of these older girls, too! 

Christmas is so close, we can almost taste it.  Only 4 more days!!!

Ruby the Red Fairy

Madison was made for the stage.  She has always been our entertainer, so were thrilled when she started acting classes a few months ago.  She was in her first play this week and did so good.

Taking a bow with all of the other fairies.  Go Ruby!

I might be wrong, but I think she loved having a big audience.

Boom Pa and Gigi brought her some red roses...

and her sweet babysitter, Miss Presley, even came too.

I made it with our three munchkins and everyone had a great time watching Maddie Mae. 
We are so proud of you, Missy!

An added bonus--we might have found a babysitter for Cami!  She let Presley hold her for a long time and was so happy about it.  Sweet girls.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Only 5 more days until Christmas!  This crew is ready. 

 We've been to look at amazing Christmas lights at Deerfield...

put together and decorated our gingerbread house.

 

Not Martha Stewart worthy, but not too shabby, either!

 

The kids have LOVED running downstairs every morning and looking for Johnny the Elf.  He's been in our tree...

taking a nap on a marshmallow bed...





and even found the Team Elf jersey we bought and set out for him!

 



Lila was so elated about this that she wrote him a note. 
It says, "I love you Johnny.  From Lila"

 

We've been to watch Memaw sing in her Christmas Choir Concert at First Baptist.  It was an excellent show and these three were so excited to see her sitting on the front row.

 

I went to our annual holiday Girls Night Out with my good friends. It's so crazy, but it's been a whole YEAR since we did this.  As in, the last GNO was last December.  I guess that just goes to show you how busy our lives have gotten.  We vowed not to let that happen again!

 

Oh yes, Christmas is almost here!

 

Like Mother, Like Daughter

A few weeks ago our sweet baby was having the hardest time sleeping at night.  She just couldn't stay asleep, so around 4am I gave up and brought her into our bed--mostly so that I could lay down!  My hubby snapped this ever-so-flattering picture of us.  She looks adorable, me--not so much, but it's too funny not to share!

11 Months

T-minus one month until our baby turns a year old.  Every month I think to myself, "this is my favorite stage."  And it is.  Then I say it again the next month.  The truth is, we are all totally gaga about this little girl.  It's pretty hard not to be smitten with her sweet smile.

 

Cameron, you are such a happy child.  You flash that smile to friends and strangers alike and win over everyone within a few seconds.

You have five teeth now and are working hard on a few more. 

You love a good joke and think your family is pretty darn funny.  You sure do make us feel good about ourselves!

You've got some precious curls and a dimple, too. 

We love you, Cami Nicole--drool and all! 

Happy 35th Birthday, Dad!

Yep, it happened.  Jared turned 35 last week!  Mid-thirties.  I can only razz him for a few months until I too am 35.  Thank goodness I've still got a few more months.  Sheesh, we are getting SO OLD!

 

His birthday was the day after the Santa party, but we rallied and got Starbucks and donuts, complete with candles, for his birthday breakfast.

 

 

Then we even got our crew dressed and ready for church.  We've been three or four weeks in a row!  Go us!!

 

We surprised him with a gift certificate to iFLY in Frisco with a flight time for that night.  It's indoor skydiving and is just about the neatest thing around town.  I thought it might be more fun if he had a sidekick and Jackson fit the bill perfectly.  They completed their pre-flight class, got suited up...

and then started flying!  It was so cool!  The instructor was with them the whole time and both boys did great.

This kid was fearless!

He absolutely loved it, too.

What's up, dudes?!

During their second flight, the instructor took them up really high--about 20 feet in the air. 
They said it was awesome.  It looked way cool.

After our two fly boys were done, we met the whole fam at Maggiano's for some very tasty Italian food. 

This crazy cat had fun across the table with Aunt Maria...

and then we sang Happy Birthday to daddy and watched him blow out his lone candle on the crème brulee.  We had baked him an Oreo cake earlier that day, but we couldn't bring it with us, so we made due.

We had planned to do our cake celebration at home that night, but Lila and Chester the raccoon were the only two still awake by the time we drove home.  Score for them--the Oreo cake was most delicious.  Happy Birthday, Babe.  We love you!