Merry Christmas

My first Christmas not in Kansas and I survived!!!!

There wasn't any snow, the decorations were all in new spots in our new house, the church was different, the Nutcracker was different, and to top it all off my husband was on call the entire time!

Because I try to always see the positive and not let myself have a pity party I came up with a list of things that I love that will never change!

 Thank goodness for Mimi and Papa, the cookies still taste yummy when you bake them in Oklahoma, as long as I am surrounded by my babies I feel so blessed, no matter what church I am in I still feel Jesus in my heart, my husband does his best to make up for his time away from us, Santa still found us even though we had moved, being with family is when I feel them most content!

We had a blast with Mimi and Papa while they were here.  They did their best to make things feel normal for us through all of this change.

Many trips to the hospital to bring this guy his coffee ( really just our excuse to get to see him). 

Christmas Eve!

Mass was at 5:00...he slid into the pew at 4:56. 

Papa playing "Just Dance" on the XBox

One of his favorite Christmas gifts!  This and his 3 race cars from Santa!

All she wanted from Santa was a Diner.  

Not only did she get a pretend Diner but she got a little helper to be her chef!

A gymnastics mat was on her list for Santa!

And a "baby cart" for the little bitty.

All my Christmas dreams came true!

Lots of love, family, giggles, and treats.

Christmas Train

This year we did something new!  We boarded a train for a magical Christmas experience!  We didn't tell the kids where we were going until we were packed up in the car to head out of town.  We drove them an hour away to board a train and hear the true meaning of Christmas story.  It was awesome, and they loved it!

After our train ride there were so many fun activities for the kids.  It was set in a old time village with carolers on the corners, horse carriage rides, hot chocolate, and the best funnel cakes I have had in a very long time!

Very magical, very meaningful, very memorable!

Think I may have found another new favorite tradition to add to my list:)

Christmas Parties!

Three kids in school means three Christmas parties to be at.  

Usually no big deal!

But what to do when you have two on the same day at the same time?

Pull their daddy away from work to join in on the fun!

Unfortunately we do not have the luxury of Kyle having a "flexible" job where he can just get out of the office for a few hours to help me out.  The fact that he made this happen for the kids and I was a real treat for us.  We know he works hard to help make people's lives better, we are just glad he was able to do it for us today:)

Spreading the Joy!

 A good friend put together a morning of card making and treats for these little ones.  

We were then off to the nursing home to deliver our cards to the residents.  Even though I don't think that Miss C had a clue what she was doing there it meant the world to each and every one of the people we were able to hand our cards out to.  Just seeing our little ones smile at them lights up their lives.  We had a blast and hope to get to do it each year:)

Miss M did something very similar with her Daisy troop.  She made snowflakes for residents and her group of friends sang Christmas Carols.  Such an important thing for her to see the difference that these little things can make for other people's lives.  It meant the world to them!

Breakfast with Santa!

 Breakfast with Santa was a hit!

 He flew in by helicopter to help us get in the holiday spirit!  

 Lots of crafts, a petting zoo, and yummy cookie decorating!

They also got to sit on his lap one last time to make nice before the big day arrived ;)

Nutcracker!

The Nutcracker, of course, is one of my MANY favorite traditions for the holiday season.  

Every year it is off with Mimi and the girls for a fancy lunch/dinner and then the Nutcracker.  This year was a little different because Mimi was still trying to unpack her new house and she couldn't join us.  She was greatly missed and we already have her reserved for next year!  

Another difference for us this year was that we went to the the Tulsa Nutcracker.  It is set in a different era so the costumes were a change, but other than that it was a great show!

 It was also Miss Caroline's first time going to see the Nutcracker with the girls!  She was so excited to get to do this with us that I pretty much got her to do anything I asked for a whole two days leading up to it.  I wasn't sure how it would go but she was mesmerized!  Her face lit up with each scene, I could barely get her to take a break at intermission to use the restroom!

 Getting ready to head off to the show!

 Of course our classy "fancy" lunch before we went:)

Isabella brought her sweet new friend with us to see the show!

These two were excited to have a day of "boy" stuff to do.  Haircuts...hardware store...go carts...pizza...bounce u...video games.  Oh, the life of a man!

66ers Game

 Getting ready to cheer at the 66ers game!

These girls stole the show at halftime!

Again, can't believe how brave she was going out and doing this.  She did it without even breaking a sweat.  I kept asking her afterwards if she was nervous...she finally responded "No mom, why do you keep asking me that?"  I just know that I would have never had the nerves to get out there and perform like this in front of such a crowd!  Way to go bug, we are so proud of you!!!!

It was a fun night for us all to experience our first 66ers game!

FIrst Reconciliation

So proud of this pretty girl on the night of her First Reconciliation!

She was a lot more brave than I remember being.  

Having a child go through this process has taught me so much about myself and the example I want to be for my children.  God speaks to us in so many ways:)

Cutest Snow Girl I Know!

 She is the cutest little Snow Girl I know!!!

These precious girls put on quite the show for their winter performance!  

Love watching her dance, makes me smile every time!

Can't wait until the spring recital!!!!

San Francisco

 We began our December with a short trip to San Francisco.

This was a much needed trip for just Kyle and I and even though he was there for business we found time to just get away and be a couple.  It is hard to do this with four little munchkins wanting all of your attention and a job that keeps you away from home quite a bit.  It was a great jump start to our holiday season!

 I stole him for the afternoon to take him to one of the cutest towns that I know.  We took the ferry to Sausalito for the afternoon to do some shopping, wine tasting, and site seeing.  

Although it pretty much rained the entire weekend we didn't let it bring us down.  I missed my babies but knew they were in good hands.  Sometimes I feel like the house is going to fall to pieces if I am away too long and that my children are going to be miserable because only I can make things right.  Of course they love us but I think they need a break from us every now and then too!  

Margaret is Six!!!

 Turning 6 is a big deal!  

Not only do you get to use two hands to show people your age but you also get to have a fun party at the ice skating rink!  Okay, you can do this at any age but this girl was on cloud nine when I gave her some choices for her birthday.  Her birthday is in November, which in her words is "boring because you can't have a party at a park, the swimming pool, or even play outside!"  Some choices were movie, skating, ice skating, GOING TO DINNER ON THE PLAZA AND TAKING A CARRIAGE RIDE TO SEE PLAZA LIGHTS.  Can you tell which one I was hoping that she would choose???  Of course she wasn't thinking the same thing that I was so we all headed out to the ice skating rink!  This was the first birthday that we weren't at home for and I wanted to make it extra special.  Since we were with family she got to have two special days, one with each side of the family! 

 My time with this little one seems to be just flying by!  

I will never forget the day she had to grow up in a blink of an eye!  She was only 18 months old the day she came to the hospital to meet her baby brother.  I remember looking at her and I began to cry because it hit me that she was still just a baby too!  Poor thing was kicked out of her crib at 14 months (still can't believe that I did this!)! There are times that I feel bad for this, but I also realize that this has shaped her into who she is today.  

She is a firecracker!  Full of determination, honesty, curiosity, and a heart full of warmth for others.  She stumps me daily with questions about God, earth, the sky...this girl is headed someplace awesome!  Can't wait to see where she will land in life but I am for certain it will be someplace great!

 Every American Girl needs her own Vespa!  Of course with a matching helmet!

I love how this picture tells the story of these girls.  

Maddie is in the middle of the sisters, to keep peace between them I'm sure!  Isabella is two steps ahead of everyone because she always does everything so quick!  Margaret is a tad behind Maddie trying to keep up, and of course Maddie's patience is allowing her to hang on to her little cousin's hand!  

Love these girls, hope they stay this close for life!

Happy Birthday my precious girl!

I bet you know this by now, but in case you forgot...I love you to the moon and back ;)

Gobble Gobble

We got to travel home for Thanksgiving and it just melted my heart to be near our families and see these kiddos spend some much needed time together!

 My sweet niece turned ten!

Can't believe she is old enough to be in the double digits!  Everything about her is as sweet as can be!  My girls look up to her so much!  She is the organizer of the group, always makes sure everyone stays on track!  No matter what is going on I have never seen her loose patience with my kids, trust me this can be a hard task at times.  She is always fair to them and gives each and every one of them her attention.  We love  you sweet girl and are so thankful we got to spend your special day with you!

 They are even starting to dress alike!

Lots of chill time, which was just what the Doctor ordered!

 Cousin Sandwich!

 These boys look tough don't they?

 Got my brother in a picture!  Never thought this would happen! He probably wouldn't be too happy if he knew this!  Don't think he checks out my blog so I think I am safe:)  Loved spending time with these guys!

 A little football after dinner to burn off those calories.

 Would love to know what he is tell them!

 Always ready for a photo opp!

 Love this sweet picture with cousin Hanks!  He is a cutie for sure, think these two could have stared at each other for hours!

 Our sweet new nephew was baptized while we were home.  So glad we were able to share this special day with him.  He is so precious and such a wonderful gift to this family!  

Had to get a picture with "Big Papa"!  Check out the Papa Smurf shirt:)  The kids thought that this was hilarious!

Spending time with family, filling up on turkey, eating apple pie!  Can't think of a better way to spend our Thanksgiving!