Meet Charlie!

Meet Charlie.

He is a jolly ole' elf with a lot of spunk!

So I fell into the "Elf on a Shelf" trap.

I had heard about this last year but didn't think much about it. This year he has seemed to have exploded because he is everywhere and everyone has him.

He fell from the sky and landed right on our porch. When the kids noticed him out in the cold they immediately begged for us to keep him. Of course I couldn't resist this cute little guy and I caved. He is now, offically, the Zimmerman elf. The children named him "Charlie"! Throughout the day he watches to make sure that my children are behaving. By night he sneeks out and takes flight to visit Santa and let him know if they have been naughty or nice. Each morning he is in a new spot and he is not to be touched or his magic will be lost.

This has been great fun for my kids each morning to find "Charlie". He has even gotten them to do things around here on the first time asked. Every time Walter misbehaves and I remind him of Charlie and he walks right up to him and apologizes.

I have decided that I really like this little elf. Even if I have woken up several mornings in a panic to get downstairs to move him before they awake, he is so worth it!

Ho Ho Ho

As I look at this picture of our family with Santa, I kind of feel bad for making this my children's "Santa" experience this year. I mean really Santa, move the hair out of your face so we can see both eyes, and does he look younger in the face than Kyle and I? I think he does, how will I explain that one?

Shame on me for being so critical of Santa! He'll probably leave me a box of rocks now. I really shouldn't complain, my kids were really into him. They told him exactly what they wanted for Christmas, all except for Caroline. She loved looking at him, just didn't want him to touch her or have to touch him herself. Throughout the party she constantly walked right close to him to wave, then would turn to run. No tears this year so that was a plus:)
We took the kids to our church's annual children's Christmas party. It's so much fun for them with crafts, carnival games, face painting, and balloon making.
We look forward to this event every year and I am so thankful that my children never tire of it. It is a great way for us to get into the Christmas spirit!

Business up front...Party in the back

Caroline pulled into Sheer Madness last week to get her first hair trim!

The mullet is offically gone! Not that I have anything against people with mullets, just not on my baby girl. Kyle has been telling me for quite some time that she needed to get rid of the mullet. I resisted thinking the front would somehow catch up on its own. Plus, she is my baby. In my mind I thought maybe if I never get her hair cut she will remain a baby to me forever...right?
Okay, well too many jokes about the mullet got to me and I rushed right into Sheer Madness for this cute little bob...
She did great with no tears and loved getting to drive the orange sportscar.

Mom did great too, no tears, watching the last of her babies get their first hair cut:)

That's it, won't get to do that again!

Another reminder to appreciate each and every moment with my children, no matter how hard that is at times, they grow up way too fast!

Turkey Cake

I will never forget the Thanksgiving night that I went into labor with my Margaret Mary.

We had both sets of families over that year because we knew she would be coming soon. After spending the day in the kitchen and eatting a huge meal I had it in my mind that I was going to walk that baby right out of me. I made my mom walk several miles with me, then Kyle's mom walked a couple more miles.

Once home, nothing.

I waited a bit and then went out and did several laps around the cul-de-sac.

Again no progress.

Frustrated, and barely able to move at this point, I gave up. I sat down to watch Grey's Anatomy at 8:00 p.m. that night and boom, my contractions started! By 8:00 a.m. I got to meet my Margaret Mary:)

I have teased her all month leading up to her big day that since it was on actual Thanksgiving this year we would be having turkey cake, turkey decorations, turkey crafts, and heck we would probably all just dress up like turkeys! Of course she thought this was hysterical but then whispered in my ear "really mom?" I think I actually had her a little worried:)

It was a great day that she got to spend with family. I think I spent too much time in the kitchen because this is the only picture that I got and it was from the morning. Kyle took the cake shots but they were too blurry to post, and no it was not a turkey cake:)

Turkey Stroll 5K 2011

Beautiful day for a run! We took the kids out of the stroller and let them run across the finish line! Loved getting to do this, hope to do it every year!

Happy Birthday Miss Margaret

I can't believe my little bug is five!

Her actual birthday was on Thanksgiving Day this year. We celebrated her day with lots of family and fun...hopefully I get these pics uploaded soon.

To celebrate with her friends from school Miss Margaret decided that she wanted to have a teaparty at one of our local cupcakerys.

It was a super fun party with these fun girlies!

Of course she had to attend her party in "Fancy Nancy" style. She picked out her own attire. Pearls, pink pettie skirt, pink cardigan, and high heels!The party got started with the girls mixing their own frosting for the cupcakes.
They had a blast getting to pipe the frosting on their own cupcake!
As you can see they got a little crazy with the frosting. Most of the girls made theirs so top heavy that their cupcake fell over!
So YuMmY!

The girls had a blast with their "fancy" hats and getting to make a "fancy" hat for their dolls.

Five years has gone by so fast with you Margaret! Each day that I get to spend with you I hold so close to my heart. You amaze me with your ability to just be silly, your independence, your deep thoughts and questions, and that contagious laugh that makes it so hard to discipline you:) Hope you never wonder how much I love you because it is to the moon and back!

Grandparents Day

Best Grandparents Ever!!!

Way To Go Margo!

Spent the weekend watching this little spitfire become the "Bicycle Queen"

She has been working on this for awhile and was determined, as she is in everything that she wants badly, to master it by the time that the weekend was over.

Everything finally fell into place for her and she is on her way to great places and great fun!

Way to go Margaret, we are so excited and proud of you!