Gracie and her clippies

Gracie loves to have clippies in her hair. One morning, she had Mommy help her put at least 6 or 7 in her hair.

Christmas visitors

Grandma Kitty and Grandpa Art came to spend Christmas Day with us again this year. It was a very special day. Grandma Kitty made lots of Christmas treats for us to enjoy and brought lots of presents too! Here are Gracie and Grandma getting ready for a "tea" party with one of Gracie's new favorite toys from Grandma, her baby Elmo.

Merry Christmas!!!

Everyone slept until about 6:30 so it wasn't too early of a morning at our house.

Christmas with our cousins

We went to our Gramma Esther and Grampa Jeff's house for Christmas Eve with our cousins this year. Our uncles and Tasha and Jamie were there too. We love you all!

This is grampa Jeff's favorite present: A trailer hitch cover that says "Bubba." He can thank his oldest son for that one!

Gingerbread house

Last year, Mommy bought 3 gingerbread houses so we could each have one. This year, she learned her lesson and bought only one. We had a wonderful time decorating it and eating the candy as we decorated. Gracie is a great candy thief! We were very proud of our concoction.

Advent candles

We finally got to light all the candles on our Advent wreath. Christmas is only days away and we are anxiously waitinig to celebrate Jesus' birthday!

2nd grade winter party

Alex's class party was shortly after Adam's so Mommy was able to be there for both. Here is Alex with a few of his classmates being silly:

Here is Alex with his classmates and his teacher. Yes, he is almost bigger than his teacher. She is a tiny lady with a huge heart. She just got married in October and is expecting her first baby late this summer! Very exciting.

Kinder winter party

Adam's winter party went over very well with the parents and kiddos. They got to play pin the nose on the snowman and they decorated cookies. Here are Adam and Monika decorating their cookies. They made Santa Bags to take home all of their goodies:

They had many moms there to help out with the party:

Mrs. C even had a great time. Here she is:

And they got to listen to stories.

A cold night at the park

After carolling was over, Gracie wanted to ride the horse at the park. Never mind the fact that it was dark and freezing, she didn't really care.

Christmas Caroling

We went Christmas Carolling with Adam's kindergarten class around his teacher's neighborhood. It was so much fun. When it was all over, we ended up at Mrs. C's house for hot cocoa, cookies and other yummy treats. Here is Alex, John and Madison enjoying their hot cocoa and treats.

Here is the gang carolling at a home:

Here is Adam and one of his best buddies, Riley with Alex.

Relidious education Christmas Party

We had a fun little Christmas party with Adam's religious education class on Monday. Everyone brought snacks and we made birthday cards for Baby Jesus.

Gracie's Christmas Program

Gracie was a reindeer for her Christmas program this year. She sang lots of fun Christmas songs and did a great job up on stage. If you ask her, she can sing Jingle Bells for you.

A visit with Santa

Alex and Adam enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap. As you will notice, Gracie is nowhere to be found in these pictures. She wanted nothing to do with Santa this year. Maybe we'll try again next year.

Lunch with friends

Here is Gracie with her good buddies Meghan, Elizabeth, Evan and Gabe. Ms. Kathleen made cream cheese and jelly sandwiches - a new favorite for Gracie!

First Reconciliation

Alex celebrated his First Reconciliation at St. William's. It was a very special night for him. Here he is with his classmates waiting to make his confession.

Here he is doing his penance after confession.

Here is Alex with his certificate of recognition after his First Reconciliation. He was so proud. We went to celebrate and had ice cream afterwards.

Eagles' Soccer Party

We had a pizza party for the end of Adam's soccer season. He recieved a trophy and a certificate for an excellent season. Go Eagles!

Snuggle time

Snuggling under a warm fleece blanket while you watch your favorite show is awesome!

Alex's piano recital

Here is Alex with his piano teacher. Alex is going to give up the piano for now. He has been taking lessons for over a year and has enjoyed it.

Alex had his first piano recital. He played "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "The Bubble." He played beautifully and we all enjoyed listening. Gramma Esther, Grampa Jeff, Grandma Kitty and Grandpa Art were all able to be at the recital. It was special.

Hot cocoa

We are enjoying this little cold snap that came through last night. We had some hot cocoa this morning and it was loaded with marshmallows! Yum!