Jingle Bells with a twist

Christmas

Our Christmas vacation started out with Josh getting the flu the Sunday before Christmas. Josh was going to take some time off from work and I had visions of him doing some daddy day care while I shopped and cleaned and got ready to host Christmas at our house. Unfortunately for us, the flu left Josh quarantined in our room and in bed until Thursday. So even though he did take some time off from work, it was time spent isolated with the flu. No fun for any of us. So that left me sleeping in the guest bedroom and sanitizing the house like a crazy person. The great news is that Josh got better quickly and no one else got sick so Christmas was saved. My family came to our house to celebrate.

Aunt Kathy, Grandma, Mom & Me
Brody had so much fun opening presents he passed right out on his new pillow pet
Brody trying out Jaden's new bike
Our family pjs Christmas eve
And Santa finally delivered bullseye, the very hard to find sought after toy. Jaden only had two things on his list, a bike and bullseye. Santa delivered. I absolutely love spending time with our families and just being together would have been enough of a Christmas present for me, but throw in a few presents and delicious food it's even better.

Videos from School SIngalong

We like to party

Josh and Jaden drove to Dallas to celebrate Raley's 3rd birthday. They had a great time together and we wish they were closer to Austin so we could be together more often.

Cousin Rian, isn't she adorable

Jaden & Raley

The birthday girl

The santa stare down
Brody's class party

The Polar Express

Last Sunday, Jaden, Connor, Jenn and I went on the Polar Express Train. It starts in Cedar Park and goes to Burnet and then back. We were on the train from 7 -9:30. It was a looong ride. The boys had lots of fun, and us mommies did lots of entertaining to make it fun, but that is what mommies do.

Mrs. Claus came by and handed out cookies
Happy boys

Santa came by and handed out train whistles

I love this picture of Jaden because it shows how silly he is

I am glad we went, but at $25 a ticket it will probably be our last time to go. There was only about 20 minutes of entertainment for the kids, and the rest of the time was us trying to keep them busy. Sorta like on a road trip. The kids had fun though, and that is what it is all about!

Christmas Parties

Last Thursday I hosted the Canyon Creek Preschool Teachers Party. Every year it so much fun! Everyone brings a yummy dish and a fun ornament. We eat, laugh and do a white elephant ornament exchange. I was having too much fun to take any pictures, but here are the two I got. Every year has a theme. Last year was Tacky Christmas sweaters. This year was Bling! And I won the contest! You can't really tell in this pictures, but my jacket was full sequins, Thanks Grandma for blinging me out!

And the next night, Friday, was Josh's company Christmas Party! We had it downtown at 219 West. The food and drinks were delish. We had a private room in the back so we were able to mingle and enjoy each other. Here are some of us girls.

Some of the boys

And us lovebirds :)

Saturday we went to a Christmas Shin Dig at one of our good friends moms house. It is one of the most amazing houses I have ever been in. It is just right down the road from us on a hill overlooking lake Travis. The party was great! Everyone there was so nice and friendly. The food and drinks were fantastic. They even had fireworks. Josh and I enjoyed every minute of being out together. We are going to be really busy these next few weeks with more parties, a ride on the Polar Express and of course Christmas and Brody's birthday, so I will have lots of great posts coming up.

Fall Pictures

So here are some fall highlights I have not had time to blog about. I apologize now to the 2 or 3 of you that check our blog for not posting all of these pictures sooner. But as the saying goes, better later than never. :)

1st day of school picture

(that was actually taken on the 2nd day of school)
Handsome Jaden loves preschool
Jaden's first flying kite experience, I found a bunch of kites on clearance at HEB, so I got them for party favors for Jaden's birthday party, but we had to test them out first. He had so much fun. There was not a whole lot of wind, but he was determined to make wind, so he ran and ran until his kite would fly. Which is why his face is sooo red. And as for the outfit, I guess we were probably playing dress up before we went outside.

Will, Jaden & Abby playing dress up at school, and if you can't tell by the last few pictures, this entire summer Jaden played around with some girl stuff, like tu-tus. But it was just a phase, he is over it and on to dinosaurs. ALL THINGS DINOSAURS!

Josh & I went to a lovely wedding

We had Dad's Night at school, Jaden made the number 8 picture

And they had a wiggle worm train, we have had such a great fall and as Thanksgiving approaches it reminds me how thankful I am for all of our blessings

Neighborhood Block Party

Our neighborhood had a block party the weekend before Halloween. The catered Carinos Italian food, had a bouncy house for the kids and gave away gift cards. We won a $25 JC Penny card! Yea! They held it at the park, and the weather was great! We got to meet a few more neighbors and the kids had so much fun.

Of course Brody wants to do whatever Jaden is doing, including rock climbing
When you tell Brody to say cheese, this is usually the face you get

Jaden played on the bouncy house for at least an hour and each time he flew down the slide a little faster. We are so happy in our new neighborhood and glad they do fun things like this.

Silly boys :)

Halloween continued

Look closely at Brody's face to see how excitied he was to see a mini pony at the Pumpkin Festival at church
Our little Donald Duck, he had an adorable donald hat to go with his outfit, but refused to wear it

Our little group of trick or treaters

This was Brody's first year trick or treating, and he acted like he had been doing it for years. Of course it is much easier to mimic and older sibling

The costume parade at school

Brody, cousin Ryder, and Jaden at the Pumpkin Festival

Ryder & his momma

The boys and I

We did tons of fun stuff for Halloween this year. We went to a pumpkin carving party, a Pumpkin Festival with a petting zoo, hayrides, pumpkin painting and games. Sam, Jessica & Ryder came to visit us, and of course we went Trick or Treating. Brody would run up to the door, at least 10 paces behind the other kids and would say "Treat" " Thank you" No tricks for him. And then he would run back to the wagon to check out his treat. If it looked good, he would try to eat it, and if not he would run back to the next house. It was really cute. And Jaden just ran from house to house with all of the older kids we were with. Our neighborhood is perfect for trick or treating. I know next year will be even more fun!

Halloween Preview..more to come