Twinners

Abby and Maylie received matching dresses for Christmas. Abby loves matching with her little sister but it is sometimes difficult since there is an 8 year age difference. I was pretty excited when I found these dresses on sale in both of their sizes at Gymboree.

Oh, how I adore these two sweet girls!!

Christmas Day 2015

Santa completely surprised the kids with new tablets this year. Abby, Landon and Nolan each got their own Kindle Fires and were THRILLED!! We like them too because they are easy to limit usage and content, a great plus for parents!

We played with our gifts from Santa for a while until Maylie woke up around 8 a.m. and then we took our time opening up the rest of the gifts that morning.

There was lots of laughter, excitement and fun...just the way Christmas morning should be!

Maylie wasn't quite sure what was happening but enjoyed being a part of all the action.

All the kids enjoyed showing her how to work her new toys!!

And they enjoyed playing with their new toys too...

We had a nice breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon and hash browns after all the presents were opened. Maylie tried orange juice for the first time and was a huge fan. I think that was the best part of Christmas for her!!

Merry Christmas 2015!!

Christmas Eve!

Ahhh...the most magical night of the whole year! These kids were so excited all day long and were very anxious for our official Christmas Eve traditions to arrive. We had pizza, drove around to look at Christmas lights and then came back home for the main events.

While we were out driving around we came across a really pretty home with a live manger scene. Pretty cool!!

We acted out the Christmas Story from the Bible, read "T'was the Night Before Christmas" and then opened our matching Christmas pajamas...

What cute kids we have!!!

We went with the Disney theme since 2015 marked our first (but hopefully not our last) year of going to Disneyworld...

Plus I found all four sizes that I needed on sale and they were gender-neutral. Can't beat that!!

Sure do love these little ones!!

Afterwards we opened up our new family game and played a few rounds of "Quickcups"...

Then it was time to leave a little treat for Santa and the reindeer before calling it a night. I was afraid they would be up all night with all the excitement, but they all went to sleep fairly early so final Christmas preparations could take place.

Time for Gingerbread Houses!

Nolan's gingerbread house making at preschool reminded me of how we used to do gingerbread houses in elementary school while I was growing up using graham crackers and small empty milk cartons. We usually do just one big gingerbread house from a kit, but we changed things up a bit this year and everybody got to make their very own gingerbread house. I think the kids' main objective was to use as much candy as possible, but we all had a great time on Christmas Eve putting them together.

Our finished creations...

Looks like a pretty yummy gingerbread village to me!

Preschool Gingerbread Making

Nolan was so excited for gingerbread house making at preschool. He was also pretty proud of his beautiful creation.

Let's take a little bit closer look at that thing of beauty...

I don't think he could have fit another piece of candy on that thing! He was also very good about sharing  his creation with his siblings when they got home from school!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2015

Nolan (4), Abigail (9), Maylie (14 months), Landon (7)

May your days be merry and bright!!!

Citi Kid's Christmas Party

On Saturday, December 5th we headed over to Jason's work for their annual kid's Christmas party. Each year has a different theme and this year's theme was "Disney World." Since we had just gone there in September, it was fun to recognize so many of the different attractions and games.

We were greeted my Mickey Mouse...

And his friend Minnie too!

The kids loved the maze through Cinderella's castle!

And Maylie loved her "Frozen: wand with glittery snow inside!

They swept "dust balls" for Cinderella...

And engaged in many balloon sword fights!

Landon really enjoyed throwing the ball in Snow White's well!

Abby with the princesses!

Next we went to Tomorrow Land where we met Captain America!

What tough guys!

Then we had our traditional picture with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but Maylie wasn't a fan.

We did some crafts with "Woody" and Jessie" too before heading on home. Such a fun holiday tradition!!