Grinch Movie Night

Aaron's brothers, Ammon and Adam, both came into town last night for Christmas. So tonight everyone met at Kent and Johnice's house for dinner and Grinch Movie night. First we ate Johnice's delicious crawfish ettouffe. After visiting and making plans for the next few days, we got ready to watch Kent's favorite Christmas movie, "The Grinch." Of course, watching the Grinch movie in your Grinch pjs makes it even better.



We had Grinch punch.



John David really liked the Grinch punch.





And I really liked his Grinch punch mustache.



Katie testing out the Grinch cookies. So nice of her.



Sarah passed them out to everyone.



John David borrowed Paw Paw's Grinch blanket.



And everyone settled in to watch the movie.









What a fun night!

Preschool Christmas Party

Today was our preschool Christmas party. We made some Christmas ornaments.



And decorated sugar cookies.



And the kids exchanged gifts. John David loves his snake that Stetson gave him.



Merry Christmas preschool friends!

Christmas Oranges

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is reading the book Christmas Oranges. We love this simple, but sweet story and the kindness that is shown to Rose from the other kids in her orphanage.  After the things that my girls have experienced this past year, I hope that they will always remember how important it is to show kindness to others, and how it makes you feel so much better inside when you do. Love my sweet babies!

Christmas Cuties

Our ward Christmas party was tonight. So the kids got all decked out for the festivities. Is this not the cutest elf you've ever seen?



The girls were excited to wear their shirts that I made them.



Katie loves to pose for the camera.





 This silly girl cracks me up!





Group pictures.





Love these sweet, silly kids!



At the ward party the kids did a Christmas alphabet play. Sarah was a sweet, little Shepherd.



Katie and John David were Zooming Santa and elf.



Good times!

Preschool....brought to you today by the letter "L"

Today was our turn for preschool. After practicing writing our name and letter of the week, we read some Christmas books. The kids love story time so much. It's amazing how well they sit and listen now compared to how they did when we first started preschool.


Then we made our letter craft. The kids loved the lions.....and pretending with their lions.



Then we played with legos for a while.



After legos, we picked a lollipop from the lollipop tree.



And then we watched the "Lion King".



Thanks for a lovely day "L".

lollipop tree makeover

When we went home to NC last Christmas, my mom had decided to downsize her Christmas decor and had a pile of Christmas decorations she let the kids go through. They each got to pick one thing, and this lollipop tree is what Sarah picked. My mom has had this thing since I was a kid. Only it was just natural wood color. So Sarah and I decided to give it a makeover. We painted it green and added this star we found at Hobby Lobby. I wish we had taken a before picture. I think it turned out pretty cute! Now it's ready for lots more Christmases at our house! Thanks Mom!

Countdown to Christmas

I may have a slight addiction to countdowns. We have several that we use each year to countdown to Christmas. One I made in 5th grade. You untie a string (holding candy) each night until you get to Christmas. One is a cute little felt tree that we got at Target that has pockets for each day in December and you move a little candy cane to the correlating pocket each day. One I made a few years ago out of match boxes and we put activities in each box to do everyday. It has been our favorite. But it is falling apart. And for the past few years we have been wrapping up our Christmas books and unwrapping one each night and reading it as our bedtime story. A couple of years ago I found one on pinterest I have been wanting to make and I finally made time to get it done this year. I love how it turned out!



So cute! LOVE!



It has little pockets to put treats or activities in each day. Let the countdown begin!

my birthday wish

Today is my birthday. And what did I want for my birthday? Only one thing. Only the impossible apparently. I just wanted to surprise my husband. You see.....he always puts so much thought into things he gets and does for me. And I try hard to do the same for him, but he always either tells me what he wants....or he just goes and gets it himself. So my goal....my one and only wish for my birthday this year was to surprise him for his birthday. And since our birthdays are so close together, I thought I had the perfect plan. I asked his Mom to tell him that she and my good friend, Heidi, were planning a surprise party for me, and that all he had to do was get me there....and all the while I was planning this surprise party for him. It was the perfect cover. But I blew it...or so he says. He says that I left my emails up.....and that he found out from an email from one of his friends. I don't quite buy it all, but that's another story. So...it wasn't quite the surprise I thought it was going to be, but it was a super fun night nonetheless.

So we both had a birthday cake.



So everyone sang to us and we blew our candles out, and then we ate and visited.



What he was suprised about was who all I had invited. He was so excited to see who all was there.



Our dear friend Karen.

His good friend and counselor, Ryan.

Mike (his duck hunting buddy) and Elaine Kohler.

Jim May, who was probably the biggest influence in Aaron's decision to serve in the Marines.



Josh and Dan, his best friends from high school.



Zack, who he shared an unforgettable night with in Colorado years ago that has bonded them forever. Hahaha!



Mr. Gene and Mrs. Nell, who he loves dearly.



And Adam came in from Austin. Aaron was very surprised and excited to see him.



Johnny Colbert, who Aaron loves and admires so much.



After everyone left, he discovered another surprise. Weeks ago I had sent out letters to people that mean a lot to him and asked them to send him a card or letter for his birthday. My goal was to get 40 cards from dear friends for him to read on his 40th birthday.



He was so touched by the sweet memories and stories that were shared.



His "brother from another mother", aka, Mark James, sent his this picture of one of their hunting trips from years ago with his letter.



So...a huge thank you to everyone who helped me make this happen. It really means a lot to have such wonderful friends and family in our lives.



And even though it didn't turn out quite as planned, it was a lot of fun. And....I still love you honey! Even if you are impossible to surprise!