December Birthdays!!

Two days after Christmas, our Maddie girl turned EIGHT.

EIGHT YEARS OLD. 

Maddie is a tiny version of me. She thinks and responds to situations much like I do.

Her favorite person is still tia.

Maddie is our serious gal. She likes to be in control and is a planner. She doesn't like surprises and always asks "what's the plan for today?" 

She loves doing gymnastics and being with friends. She's a great student and loves reading. She had the flu last week and read three books while sick! 

For her birthday, she asked for roller blades. She's been blading all over the house!

The next day was Chris's birthday! We went to Jeff Ruby's with some friends. 

We also went to Bonefish with my entire family to celebrate. The next day we went to Stoney River with Chris's parents - adults only! All were great celebrations!

Happy birthday to Maddie and daddy!

Introducing our newest family member!!

On Christmas Eve, we surprised the girls with an early present.

We got a new puppy!

They were SO excited!

Madeline kept saying "I just can't believe I have a puppy."

We named her Daisy (after our favorite Disney duck, of course!) and she really is pretty sweet.

Chris adores her and thinks she can do no wrong. I'm a bit more of a realist...but Chris LOVES his puppies.

The first two weeks were pretty rough. She didn't sleep well and whined all through the night. We had lots of accidents in the house and she ate everything in sight. Fast forward to today. She sleeps through the night, has fewer accidents in the house and still eats everything in sight. So, she's kind of a work in progress!

Maddie is very helpful with Daisy. She takes her outside, plays with her and loves on her constantly.

Sydney...well, here's what she wrote in her journal.

"I got a new puppy. It was a lot of work. She pooped in the house. She peed in the house. My dad had to clean it up. My mom had to clean it up." HAHAHAH!

She is a very cute napper.

We find her in the funniest places! 

We love to take pictures of her!

When Maddie got the flu, she snuggled with her for the better part of a week.

We love our sweet Daisy dog!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

We had a great Christmas with lots of fun activities!

We missed the carriage rides last year at the Paddock, and were just able to squeeze in one this year on the last day.

Then, we saw Santa again that night at Gustavo's!

Imagine our surprise when Madeline told the big guy the "ONLY THING" she wanted for Christmas was roller blades. It was two days before Christmas and she hadn't bother to tell her mommy or daddy that she wanted rollerblades...

We went to Christmas Eve service at church. 

And spent Christmas Eve with grandma and grandpa!

On Christmas morning, the girls got their second big surprise. (Their first will be discussed in the next post!) Daddy built them a doll house!

We had Christmas dinner at nana and grandpa's with our cousins!

What a wonderful holiday season it was! 

Tis the Season!

We have one more day until Christmas break! We've been enjoying this month with all kinds of fun activities. 

My Secret Pal gave me an advent calendar with gifts for a lot of days. The girls have really racked up! The day they got LOL balls was probably their favorite though. 

We've been playing a lot of board games. It gets dark so early there's no more outside playing. We like Life and Jenga the best, currently. Getting the twins in Life is a big excitement!

Nana got the girls matching holiday outfits and they wear them practically faster than I can wash them.

Daddy was WATCHDOG! This is the girls favorite! He spent half the day with Madeline and half with Sydney. He practice play lines with the second graders, did math with the Kindergarteners and had lunch with both.

We met Santa at Gustavo's! (Because, who DOESN'T go to Gustavos?)

My friend Sarah and I are the room moms for our kiddo's classes. Emerson and Maddie are in the same 2nd grade class, as are Sawyer and Sydney. We planned both of the class's holiday parties together and had them back to back.

Maddie and Emerson

After the second grade party, the class performed a reading of the Grinch. Maddie is in the second row, near the middle. She was the narrator and was pretty cute!

Next up was the little one. Reindeer toss was a big hit with this bunch!

Looking forward to Christmas!