Last night a friend and I took our girls to see Santa and the pretty Christmas lights.  They each colored a picture for Santa and wrote their Christmas list down so they wouldn't forget to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  It was such a beautiful night. 

Megan's last day of school for the year was today.  They had a Christmas party and a tuba concert.  It's been a fun-filled day for her.  Here she is with her Rudolph mask they made in class.
They all got to decorate cookies at the party, play a reindeer game, and make candy cane ornaments.  Then they had pizza and cokes.   I don't remember getting fed so grandly when I was in school!!!  

To top it all off the principal came over the speaker and announced that Santa's sleigh had pulled up in the parking lot.  The kids rushed over to see, but he was just too quick.  He left a huge stocking full of gifts for all the kids (wrapped courtesy of Santa's elf, yours truly).  They were so excited.
Here's Megan waiting patiently with all kinds of anticipation to see what Santa brought her!  He ended up bringing a new book and phone for all the kids.

Party for Jesus + Gingerbread houses

Anna got invited to a party with some of her preschool friends where they all  got to make gingerbread houses.   It was a great time, and she really enjoyed getting to create her own house.  I thought it was a great idea.  Here she is working hard.

 It was so much fun, that we did it with Megan's older friends a few days later.  We ended up having ten kids, so the house was packed, but it was such a festive and fun-filled time.  We had a birthday party for Jesus while they were all over.  We had cupcakes which my friend suggested we put in the shape of a cross while we sang Happy Birthday.   

One of the moms read the Christmas story.  She had the neatest props that went with it I've ever seen.  Each character she mentioned (the angel, Mary and Joseph, the wise men, Jesus, even the sheep and camels) had a little toy that represented that character.  The kids would take turns putting them onto the fabric with velcro until the entire story was read.  It was really neat.

Here they are listening to the story.  

Then later that night, just the moms had a girl's night/40th birthday party for one of my neighbors.  It was so nice to relax, play games, and laugh!!!  

Superheros

The girls had two birthday parties this week (both were for twins).  One of the parties was a "Superhero" party, so I wanted to sare some pics of Superwoman and Cat-woman.  

Our weekend with friends

We just got back from visiting some friends we've had for years.  We were spoiled yet again with great friendships, great cooking, and just a very nice break from the day-to-day activities.  

The girls had so much fun playing with their 3 boys.  They got to go see Christmas lights, make Christmas cookies, go to Playworld, and just play, play, play.  What little girls wouldn't like those things?  

Here are some pics for you to enjoy as well.  

Her youngest son, Sam, was more interested in eating the dough (and I'm talking chunks at a time) and the icing than he was in "making" cookies.  :) 

Plus, while we were there, Becke' took some photos of the family for us.  She's starting her own photography business, so I was all too excited to get her to take some shots for us.  She did a great job.  The picture of the girls at the top of the blog in the Santa hats are from her as well.  Here are a few of the pics she took.  Actually, the one of me and her Jason took for us.  

What a great weekend.  Thanks so much for everything, guys!  We're lucky to be your friends.

Christmas Time

I was so excited about my new tree to go outside.  I had been looking at pre-lit outdoor trees and just happened to stop at Lowe's to look at them when a worker mentioned to me that they were half off!!!  

And mom, here's the picture of the front entryway I promised I'd post for you to see.

These are the goodie bags Megan will be giving to her classmates.  I found them on sale last year for 10 cents a piece.  Add a little candy, a pencil, and a special treat, and they make the perfect little gift for a perfect little price.  :)

We are about to go visit some dear friends of ours.  Can't hardly wait.  I'll post some pictures when we get back of our visit and of the girls' super-hero party they went to last night.  It was lots of fun.