visiting Santa...

man i love this tradition. i have vivid memories of each year taking the boys to the mall for pictures with Santa. we always go the first week of December. starts off the holiday season in a special way. this year they were especially cooperative, interested and played along very well. happy me!
7 months old, 19 months old, 2 1/2 years, 4 1/2 years

sadly i don't have one from 2009, 3 1/2 years. i got them dressed in shirt and tie took them to the mall, but couldn't convince them to sit with santa. AT ALL! i was so sad! but thankfully i got this beforehand picture by our tree at home.


this year was fun. they were ready and excited to go!

they insisted on one in my sunglasses... lookin' cool. they are pretty cool, for sure! cooper has been sure to point out over and over that the santa's in most of the pictures are different. hmmm

instafriday

yay! i made it... linking up with Jeanette at Life Rearranged on FRIDAY.
love her motto -life doesn't always go as planned. help others anyway. Amen to that!

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it's been a super great week 'round here. here's some pictures i took with my phone.

i took these cool dudes to the mall to see Santa. i've taken them every year of their life in the first week of December. i am very sentimental about it. the boys played along superbly this year. five is good! they dressed up and corbin accessorized them by suggesting they each wear a pair of my sunglasses. it was so cute! more on that in another post...

this is InstaFriday! on to more phone pics

we made a few homemade snow globes. i thought about doing it as a craft for the boys class party. not sure i can come up with enough for 40 kiddos or not. they sure are cute though. i still need to add the distilled water and glycerin.

we are so behind with our Jesse tree stories. adam said it looks pretty sad. we are only 6 ornaments behind. we will catch up.

i'm busy sewing. and trying to remember to be elijah the elf after the boys go to bed at night. most days i'm waking up in the middle of the night remembering to move him to a new spot. wife, mom, daughter, sister, elf... whatever.
the boys like the find the elf game.

cooper said this morning, ugh elijah's in the tree AGAIN. ha
the game invokes lots and lots of questions out of our curious boys.



the hospital by our house had the cross lit up in blue last night. i knew the boys would want to see it, but they were home in bed. i took a picture to show them.

happy weekending! our plans include christmas party with our sunday school class, lacrosse tournament work for adam, church, and caroling on sunday afternoon around dripping springs with our class. we love our sunday school friends. surely loads of laughs and good times to come.

we are blessed!

remember jesus is the reason for the season

terrific tuesday

oh christmas tree!
i really love this time of year. decorating for christmas is the best.
me and the boys made pretzel hugs today after school. trays and trays of yummy goodness. the boys eagerly took a few plates to the neighbors before dinner.


we love this fabulous mexican pizza.
we eat too well around here.
the temperature barely got to 40 degrees here today. i was lucky to have a fire going most of the day. thanks to adam.


my big kindergartners are learning to read.

instagram Monday

i love taking pictures with my iphone! catching up from the end of November.
1. picture of my mom and brother. Ronnie was one.
2. my mom's new dog, sophie. so cute.
3. cooper at the dentist.
4. getting some small surface fillings at the dentist. pain free.
i was so proud of how brave they were at the dentist. we love dr strickland!
5. corbin and i take good self portraits
6. let's merry. i love the holidays.
7. our sunday school class fed thanksgiving dinner to the boys from the burke center
8. coach is finally better after his surgery... he was so pathetic in that cone.
9. a much anticipated playdate with alex, the boys best friend from kindergarten
10. dylan, alex's precious brother
11. corbin's color by number turkey
12. cooper took this of me and corbin posing by the fire last night.
13. ryan's basketball game
14. coop fell asleep in time out :(

have a blessed week.

hello december

these cookies are SO SUPER GOOD! my new holiday favorite. thanks to Joy's Hope for sharing the recipe. I can't wait to make these for everyone I know. they are that GOOD!
Ingredients:

1 pouch Betty Crocker snickerdoodle cookie mix, found at Target during the holidays

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon water

1 egg

1 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1 cup white chocolate chips


Beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Open cookie mix. Set aside cinnamon sugar packet. Add water, egg and cookie mix to cream cheese mixture. Stir until soft dough forms. Add in cranberries and white chocolate chips. Cover & refrigerate 30 minutes.

Roll in cinnamon sugar to coat. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake a 375º for 8-9 minutes until edges are set. Cool one minute then transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy!
sewing Barbie totes today
next up a Ken tote

fireplace weather on it's way. we are ready!

happy weekending!

christmasy

the little guys are having fun decorating for Christmas. i'm enjoying watching them get into the holiday season, and figure out what this is all about. such big boys.
we strung cranberries and popcorn after school yesterday. i told them they were sewing the popcorn and cranberries with needle and thread. we used blunt needles. and they did really well! it takes a long time to make garland to cover an entire tree. i love the vintage look on the tree. pictures later...
i tried another new recipe for dinner... meatball subs. i thought they were good, but the boys were not impressed. oh well. they loved using their christmas plates.

editing pictures today. loved loved this session.

over the river and through the woods...

Thanksgiving weekend was awesome. i spent a few days visiting my brother in the rehab hospital. i'm so full of gratitude for the time, the miracle, the bond i could spend time nurturing with my big brother. he's such a blessing!he has a mountain to climb, thankfully!! but he has a mountain to climb and the reality is harsh. friday his OT therapist shared the christopher reeves foundation book and earmarked several sections of information about parapalegics care and spinal cord injuries. it was overwhelming. thankfully Ronnie's attitude is great. he is full of such determination to walk out of there. he works so hard, and truly has the best team of therapist. the nurses who care for him are absolutely first class!
we so appreciate all of your prayers! our roll will be head cheerleaders and encouragers to support him on this next chapter. god is in control and has a perfect plan in place.

i'm thankful for my family and time spent together.
and immensly blessed to get to come home to my sweet guys...