Christmas!

This year our family Christmas celebrations seemed a little "scaled down", which was fine by me...maybe even a little more enjoyable :-). This time of year I'm usually cooking and baking non-stop, but I didn't do as much of that this year. However, I sure did EAT a lot despite not doing much cooking (my pants are still tight)!

Our family "celebrations" start on Christmas Eve with Jonathan's family. We gather together in the evening and share appetizers, read the Christmas story from the Bible, and open gifts. It's always a little more "low-key" as far as family gatherings go, but that's part of what I like about it. This year we were missing a family member (Brandi) due to sickness & it just didn't seem quite the same without my favorite sister-in-law :-(. However, despite Brandi's absence we all enjoyed our time together & the kids had a great time opening their gifts.

McKenna with her new jewelry box.

Chandler loves his "Pop-Pop"

Mckenna showing Maya how her jewelry box works.

Christmas morning was so much fun this year. Oh, and can you believe MY KIDS SLEPT IN ON CHRISTMAS MORNING!! I'm not sure what we did to make that happen, but chances are it will never happen again! We all rolled out of bed around 9:00 a.m and enjoyed a breakfast of homemade waffles before we opened our gifts. The "star" of our morning was the "Fur-Real" kitty that Maya got (or as Jonathan likes to call it...the "Pet Cemetery" kitty). This thing was wildly popular at our house, and all the kids took turns making it meow, purr, and hiss! It was hilarious!




(You may notice in this picture that little miss Maya is only wearing a onsie. This is not because we are careless parents who clothe our children in scant clothing during the winter months. You see, we had a tad bit of a "situation" on Christmas morning involving ....well, puke! Prior to all the Christmas morning fun and frivolity Miss Maya puked all over her "Frosty The Snowman" jammies, & we had to bathe and re-dress her quickly before the gift opening (she only wanted to wear the onsie??). We still don't know what caused the sudden GI upset because she acted fine the rest of the day. We just called her quick recovery a true "Christmas miracle".)

After all the fun at home on Christmas morning we headed over to my parents house in the afternoon for MORE presents, MORE food, and MORE fun with the fam. The kids got great new toys and gadgets this year which has made for a very peaceful and fun-filled week at our home. I've played countless rounds of "War" (the card game), and "Connect 4" with McKenna, and I think I've even figured out a thing our two on Chandler's new Leapster. In fact, it's been such a great week that I think I'm going to be a little sad when the kids have to go back to school. This week has reminded me of how much I enjoying spending quality time with my kids, and that sometimes the best gifts are the ones that don't cost a thing!

Maya in her new Cinderella dress up clothes from "Me-Maw"

You're getting sleepy...


very sleepy.....

Thank goodness I'm going to FLORIDA for this marathon!

I'm only three weeks away from my marathon now...YAY! Training has been really tough with the bad weather this season...but I've managed to survive despite the freezing rain, sleet, snow and ice! Although to be completely honest the horrid weather has brought out the worst in me. I've been one grumpy lady out on the trails & even been forced to curse a time or two at the crappy conditions I've had to run in (oh, please....you would cuss too if you busted your butt on the icy pavement!). However, I'm happy to announce that the hardest part of my training is winding up now. For the next few weeks we will begin to taper (ahhhhh...). Of course, I still have the marathon to run now, but at least I get to go to Florida for that :-).

I leave you with this lovely picture of me taken right after last weeks 20 miler in the freezing temps and snow. What fun!


Yes...that's ICE frozen to the front of my jacket (smile).

Notice how many cars are left in the parking lot (um....mine...and MINE)....it was quite a popular day to hit the trails.

My fearless running partner! Without Jodi I would have gone home after the first 10 miles (but she forced me to continue on-ha!).

The Nutcracker Ballet

Last week my mom took us to the Nutcracker ballet & it was beautiful! We took the girls two years ago (too pricey to do every year!) & it was so much fun that we decided to make it a tradition. This year was just as magical...if not more so! This is the sort of thing I always said I wanted to do if I ever had girls & it was just like a dream come true that day. We had so much fun that I can't wait until Maya is old enough to go too.

Here are a few pictures from our day.


In front of the Music hall.

Getting ready for the ballet to start!

Cute little hands.

After the show we found a kind stranger who took our picture :-).

My little ballerina.


After the ballet we took the girls out to their first fancy restaurant. It was so cute seeing them enjoy such a "grown-up" experience.

The gingerbread houses at Crown Center.

One last picture by the pretty Christmas trees.

"Holiday Happening."

*OK...in a way I hate that my kids school had to call the CHRISTMAS program a "Holiday Happening" but....whatever. God forbid we offend anyone. Moving on...

This was Chandler's first Christmas program & he did really well. He was super cute too! I didn't think he would actually stay up on the stage, but he DID! And, yes...I was the super annoying parent sitting in the middle aisle blocking people's way so that I could get a better shot of my kid (and I don't regret it-ha)!

Trying to find his place on stage.

Singing! I got the cutest video clips of him singing. If I can get them posted on youtube I'll share them with you on here :-).

After the program the school had activities for the kids. They had so much fun. Chandler NEVER plays with play-dough at home, but I guess it's more exciting at school ;-).

The girls really got into the action. Looks like I've got myself some good Christmas cookie helpers this year.

Santa! This would have been a super cute Christmas card...but Maya WOULD NOT have anything to do with Santa-ha!

The tree is up!

We tried our very best to get in the Christmas mood this weekend by breaking out the Christmas decorations! I always love getting to do this with the kids. Each year gets more and more fun :-). We had a bit of a crazy weekend, so I didn't get to bake Christmas cookies and make hot cocoa for the big event, but we will do that another night while we enjoy the warm glow of our festive tree. Now...I guess I better get to shopping!


Helping set up the tree (Gotta love what the kids are wearing...)


Chandler was just a little excited!

Chandler like this ornament.



Maya just like to take them off the tree!


McKenna is getting to be a "pro" at this ornament placement thing.


And the star goes on top :-)

Girls Night Out!

Last Thursday was "Girls Night Out" with my new little group of running friends. It was so refreshing to have a nice relaxing dinner with friends. I really missed being a part of a "girls" group & this group of women is so much fun! You forget how much you miss being with women when you don't have a group of friends to get together with on a regular basis.

I hope this group stays together for years to come :-).

Squeeze....

Theresa and Susan

Jodi and Julia

The Disney gang...with the "bucket-o-perpetuem".

My big girl turned 6!

Last week McKenna turned 6 years old! It's hard to believe that the little baby I was holding just yesterday is now a big 6 year old. She has grown up so fast....too fast if you ask me. Every time my kids have a birthday I ask myself "how did another year just go by?". If you ask me that's one of the hardest things about being a mommy. They grow up too fast.



Anyway....McKenna had a great birthday & we had a fun time celebrating as a family. On the morning of her birthday I let her pick out what she wanted me to fix her for breakfast. She picked my famous "Blueberry Crumble" muffins (I had to wake up an hour early to get those made...that's usually a weekend treat). We even put a candle in her "birthday muffin" and sang "happy birthday" to her.






After breakfast McKenna got dressed in her new cute outfit from auntie Tricia :-).



...then it was off to school where she got to be "queen of the classroom" for the day-hehe!










-That evening McKenna picked "Build-A-Bear" as her birthday present from Jonathan and I. So, we went out to the mall to create a fuzzy new addition to McKenna's growing stuffed animal family. She was SO excited when we got there!

The bear...

the stuffing....

the fluffing...

Even Chandler got in on the action!

















The last stop for the evening was a birthday dinner at "On The Border" (...off the map). McKenna was so cute at dinner. She was just so excited because she knew people were going to come out of the kitchen and sing to her! She even got to try a new taste sensation...sopapillas!















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*This year, McKenna wanted to help make her own birthday cake, so we took our cake supplies over to some friends house this weekend and let McKenna and her friends go crazy. They did a really good job & I think this was one of McKenna's favorite birthday cakes!





God had something to say
So He sent an Angel my way.
A baby girl to love
Directly from Heaven above.
McKenna; So happy and carefree
No greater love could there be.
As I watch you grow each day
I know God sent an Angel my way