{Christmas Best}

The ladies got new Christmas Dresses.
Naturally I wanted to take some
pictures because they look mighty pretty.
Right?

One of the ladies indulged me
by letting me snap a few pictures.
She finally gave me her fakest smile after
the 3rd take.
When did she grow up?The other little lady got mad when I
turned off the camera.
She was in her modeliest of moods.
For real,
I have at least 4 more shots a little like these.

Stay little Roo.
Forever.

Man, I adore these girls of mine.

{Rockin' the Halls}

This little lady of mine LOVES to read.
She spends every single night reading in bed
after we tuck her in, and usually she begs for
'just a few more pages...".

Adyson's been working hard to earn
AR points for rewards in school.
She earned lunch with the principal a while back-
(pizza and CANDY!),
and Friday she earned the chance to
ROCK THE HALLS!
Last time they did it she was only 2 points away,
so she was excited!
What is rocking the halls you ask?
It's when the whole school stands in the hall
and cheers as you break the rules and run
through the halls (led by the principal)
to the tune of

"We will Rock you."

Here's a little sideways video for you,

if you care to watch.

Sienna was really excited to be able to
cheer her sister on, and I'm pretty sure
it inspired her to earn those AR points
so she can run through the halls too.
What fun!
We really are so proud of Adyson for
being such a great reader and mostly
for loving it so much.
Adyson's such a smart little lady!

And this portion of the post is dedicated to my sis Heather,
who has been begging to see the girls friends Christmas gifts,
and I've been promising to post them for a good month now.
We love to do a cute gift for the girls friends,
so they can see how good it feels to give.
The problem is that they have quite a few friends..
and it can get pricey. This year we found these
adorable snowman printables here, and opted to
wrap them around 8 oz. jars filled with candy instead
of candy bars or popcorn.
They turned out really cute! The hats are gloves. (One stuffed inside the other).
So...for those of you who have little girls who play with
my little girls...sorry we ruined the surprise!:)

{Glimpses...}

...Of our Thanksgiving weekend.

We decorated the downstairs tree on
Tuesday. This is the tree we let
the ladies loose on.

I heard Sienna say-
"And for the finishing touch"...
5 times.
It had lots, and lots, and lots
of finishing touches on it. :)

Thanksgiving Day
(and really, the whole weekend),
was spent at my parents house
with my entire family.
It was lovely to have everyone there-
and just what we all needed.
I really am so grateful for a
family who really always understands
what we are going through,
who makes us laugh-always,
and to let the cousins enjoy
each other all weekend long.

Brielle and Roo.
Are they really only 1 year apart??

Oreo Turkeys.

I tried to get a picture of Sienna,
and Ellie and Kutter snuck in.
Cuties.

Kutter just turned 8 and is now a Scout.
Quite possibly the proudest Scout ever.
He made Simon and Adyson each their own
paper kerchief. So cute.

Trayson

Breje

2 Stooges.

There was a lot of board games going on.

Even Lucy got in on the action.

The boys playing Risk.
It gets loud, and ugly.
And Amy, who always works her tail off
on Thanksgiving, got the day off to relax.
It was so, so great to have her there.

Me and the ladies.
So grateful for them.

When the cousins left and we could finally drag
our kids home, they found a pretty exciting surprise
waiting for them.

Skeeter is back!!
Do you see him?

Take a closer look.
Here he is sitting on our chandelier.
The ladies couldn't have been happier.We ended the weekend
by decorating the upstairs tree.
It looks like Christmas over here!
I am so excited already!

{Weekend Update}

This weekend:
Travis began the huge chore of cleaning out
our cold storage room.

I'm thinking that alone will send him to heaven one day.
Cause it's a big job.
And I have no desire to do it.

I ran the turkey trot 10k in the ice and snow,
and decided to spend the rest of the day laying
around in my pj's.
I decided that I earned it and savored every second.

The ladies:Put on their snow gear.
A lot.

First on Friday, when they made the
first snowmen of the year, and spent
hours rolling the biggest snowballs they could
around the house.

And making snow angels.

And then Saturday they got the sled out
and cruised down the hill in our backyard.
Those girls were flying!

And all snow days should include hot cocoa.
It's pure fact.

Here's to many more beautiful snowy weekends!
I do not hate being snowed in.

{Playing Hooky}

This past week Travis had to work in Savannah, Ga.
and I was pouting a little because I
really, really wanted to go.

I was able to go with him last year,
and I fell in love.
I was unbearably jealous.

So I decided to drag my mom into taking a
day off work, and took the girls to play hooky
for the day.

It's my opinion that all daughters
should have a night in a hotel,
with delicious food,
and lots of shopping with their moms
at least once a year.

Who's with me?

Here's my mom and the ladies.
Cause who doesn't whip out their camera at
the Cheesecake Factory?

We do.
I love these girls.
I can't say how grateful I am
to be their mom.
I'm kinda lucky.
Really.

We were pretty excited
to run into Santa in the mall.
And since I'm too cheap to buy the $30
picture, an after shot will have to do.

The ladies are crossing their fingers they will
get what they want....

{First Dam Run}

Remember back in January I wrote this post?
Well, the rumor is true---writing something down
really does guilt you into accomplishing your to-do lists.

Saturday I ran the First Dam 10k with some of
my favorite girl friends.

From L to R
Kristin, Mindi, Heather, Moi, Becky, Courtney, and Candace.
Love these girls!

I was so happy to see these
bright coats waiting at the finish line.
They were cheering me on and pretty excited to see
me cross. Sienna said I came in second....
Totally not true.

Not even close, but gosh I love her!
Trav stopped at Kneaders on the way and
picked up Cinnamon Rolls for all of us.
Have I mentioned how awesome my husband is?
Just-so-awesome.
I ate every single bite for dinner.
I earned it, right?

{Halloween Goodness}

Each year my mom throws a little pumpkin carving
party for the kids. They love it, and the men pretend
to hate it while being utterly competitive and breaking
out special drills and tools to make it perfect.

It's always fun to watch.

Here's Adyson gearing up to carve, with
a little help from Gpa.

And Roo. So excited!

They turned out really great!

On Halloween the ladies had
a parade at their school. We moms wait outside
for a good half hour watching for our kids
and picturing them being excited to see us....

but Adyson pretty much snubbed me.
She looked my way, smiled-and ran past
as fast as she could.
Stinker.

Sienna at least gave me a quick smile.Before Trick or Treating I wanted to get
a cute shot of them together.

My kids should really work on their posing.
(Total Sarcasm)

We always love seeing what Amy comes up with
for Simon and Lucy. This year Simon was
a boy turning into a werewolf. Pretty fabulous!

I sure love Halloween and am a bit
sod it's over...but bring on the Holidays!