celebrating Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we went to Moms house to have lunch.  We didn't get a group picture since some were missing, but Uncle Carl, and Aunt Liz, Zachary, Anthony, Chris and Emily were there. :)  We missed Grandma and Uncle Mackie.

 

That evening we headed to Tigersville to see Michael's Uncle Bobby and Aunt Harriet.  He had some big toys to show the kids when we got there.  They had fun "playing".

 

 Eating their Christmas tree brownie dessert.

Here are some Christmas tree pics that I loved this year.

more pre-christmas pics

The week before Christmas I was reminded that I am the worst gingerbread house maker in the world.  This time, I actually hot glued graham crackers together so the house wouldn't shift and fall as they were "gluing" candy on.  I liked this part, for sure, since Sawyer isn't so gentle these days. :)  We used candy that was leftover from Halloween and stuff that needed to eaten or thrown away.  Stella did hers all by herself and I made a mess on Sawyers while he ate most of it.  :) The most important part: they had fun :)

sneaking some Christmas goodies covered in white chocolate

 

one of our special Christmas foods :)

Last week for dance, I put Stella's hair up in 2 buns instead of one...for no particular reason... 

 ...She slept in them that night, and didn't take them out until the following evening at bath time, and this was the result of it: CURLS! We don't see many curls around our house unless it's with a curling iron.  She was so excited! 

more pics

Seriously, how is Christmas next week?  I have been trying to take as many pictures as I can this past month...somehow a few months slipped by and I didn't take as many...trying to do better.



 

a few Christmas crafts :)

We went to see Mrs. Claus and Santa at the library.

 

 Stella coloring her picture while waiting our turn to sit on Santa's knee :)

Surprisingly, Sawyer wasn't afraid at all! yay :) Now, if we can talk him into liking the Chick-fil-A cow...

Last week we rode through Zootastic to see all the lights...this was Stella's favorite part.  She loved the tunnel of lights, can you tell? :)))

...still can't stop looking at all the lights :)

 

A sweet pic of Stella and Papaw :)

Stella has enjoyed our Pinterest inspired Christmas countdown calendar...we add a cotton ball each night until his beard is full...Sawyer has enjoyed removing the cotton balls.  I'm pretty sure there are more than 25 cotton balls on his beard by now.  

Picnic in front of the Christmas tree while watching Christmas stories before nap time.  You would've thought they won the lottery :) So fun!

 

 

more december happenings ;)

Michael's friend invited us to stop by his Christmas tree lot to pick out the perfect one.  Yes, we already have our tree up, but we picked this one out to go on the newly painted "store building" in front on my parents house.  The kids loved it there and it was so sweet to smell the fresh trees.

They especially liked the string of lights not far from the traffic behind them, which made me a nervous wreck.

 

After we picked out our tree, we headed to Birkdale to get Stella's last birthday wish.  EAR PIERCING!! Before the big step, we stopped to hear the singing bears...always a treat.

 

 It all started when she saw a pair of Hello Kitty earrings. I explained that to wear those, she had to have her ears pierced. We, especially Michael, told her that it would feel like a little shot, but that didn't stop her. She assured us that she was four now, and she would be brave. To be sure, I put some numbing gel on them about 15 minutes before...not sure it that really helped, but it made me feel better ;)  Before it all...

Trying to figure out where to put the little dot on her tiny, and I mean, TINY ear lobe...

I remember her saying, "what are you doing now?"

holding Mommy's hand...she did so good...a little teary but no tears.  So proud of her.

 

a little blurry side shot :)

 

 

stella's big day!

We have been counting down to Stella's fourth birthday for a while now.  Not that I was ready for it at all, but having special days are so fun to look forward to. We had so much fun planning the party and seeing Stella get so excited about all of it makes it even more fun! :)
Here she is eating her birthday breakfast.

Snow White Polly Pocket that I found on ebay in a collectors store...they just don't make them like this anymore...so fun!

 We had her Snow White party at a local church because there was no way I would've had a clean house ready by today! :)  Very close to home and a big area for the kids to have fun! 

 

 Apple cake pops with cute tags from McSwain Design

 

The invitation was inspired from an 80's Valentine's Day card that Stella found at my Moms...she carried it everywhere...so we decided she would be the one on her invite.  Thanks for making it so special Wendy!!

 

 I loved the way the cake turned out.  I looked at so many different pictures online for some ideas, but didn't fall in love with anything...so, I did what I do for most customers...look at the invite for inspiration...duh?!  Luckily, we had the perfect invitation, that led to the perfect cake.  My favorite part are the birds holding up the banner...where there's a princess, there must be bluebirds, right? :)

 

Snow White was a hit!

 

  After some face painting fun :)

Sawyer doing what he does best... :)

 finally, she got a "Snow White Barbie!!"



 

 

All of her little friends.  We are so blessed to have such sweet friends that came out to celebrate!

 

After she found the Snow White card, she was really into drawing her too...I love this...a lot.

 

Happy 4th Birthday!