Baylor's first program

Baylor had her first pre-school program on Wednesday. I wasn't sure what she would do when she saw all the parents watching, but she was quite the little performer. Below you can see her rocking baby Jesus. Singing 'Twinkle Twinkle' with some verses added about following the star to Bethlehem

The wise men looking far and wide

After all the songs the kids all sing Jingle Bells as loud as they can to see if Santa can hear them...then he magically appears:) The director of the school tells them that Santa will visit their class and they can talk to him IF they want too. Over all the other kids you hear Baylor say "I want ellella Mom" which is her way of saying Cinderella. It was priceless:)

I was a party mom so that made things a little more hectic, but I was good and didn't stress too bad. Here is the class with their yummy snack of cheese, crackers, fruit, pigs in a blanket, pretzels with chocolate kisses on top and powdered doughnuts!!

Each child brought in a gift to exchange. Baylor received a Color Wonder book with Dora in it. My kids love Color Wonder books so her big brother was a little jealous.

Daddy, Mommy, Nana, KayKay and Tex were all their to watch her sing

Baylor was much more interested in looking around at everyone else when I tried to take her picture with Mrs. Julie

Baylor and me with her friend Caroline

Here's our pic with Santa

Life Group at the Opry

land that is...Our group braved the crowds and headed out there Sunday evening. The weather was really nice compared to what had happened two days before. Our family goes to see the lights just about every year, but not everyone in our group does so it was fun showing them around. Something different from years past is the fact that they move the Nativity out front. I'm not sure which I like better, but I'm just glad it's there. Kim and Kevin had no idea that they would find out the next day that baby Gracie is coming this week!! Kim goes in on Wednesday to have her and we can't wait to see that sweet face.

Our little family

The Houston's...both girls are sweeties, but I love how little Harper is:)

Our WHOLE group...by next Christmas two other little ones will be in the picture!!!

Luke and Christian have fun being together

If you hadn't figured it out yet...we made all the kids shirts to keep up with them a little better in the crowds. They all looked super cute and we got lots of smiles and comments about them

Cuties

They really do love each other and look so gosh darn sweet when they do

What better way to spend a snowy day than making sweet things in the kitchen?!?! We make Peanut Butter Fudge for all our friends at Christmas time so this was a good day to get it done. KayKay thought it would be fun to make rice krispies too.

Last Friday was a snow day in Nashville!!! Those don't come @ very often and don't always make things look so pretty. I shot these pictures from my parents front porch. God's beauty is simply breathtaking.

Christian received a lesson in throwing snowballs

and he LOVES to make snow angels (just like his daddy)

You don't see any pictures of Baylor in the snow b/c she didn't want to go out in it! She stayed all snug in her pajama's watching her princess movies...she's such a GIRL:)

My 31st birthday

The night before my birthday our LG met at Las Palmas for some yummy (though not a bit healthy for you) dinner. We were going to Becca's house afterwards to talk about some Christmas service ideas and plan an outing for all of us to see all the lights at Opryland (will post pics of that event later). ANYWAY...I was surprised as could be when we walked up to her front door and saw streamers and a big Happy Birthday Christy sign. They had all been sneaky and planned a little party for me:) I have been told I'm a hard person to surprise so they all did good. My husband arranged for someone to pick up a cake and I even had a couple presents...like the comfy PJ's I'm currently wearing:) A picture was taken of me blowing out my candles, but I don't have it. It was lots of fun and I thank them all.

On the day I was woken up with sweet birthday hugs and Christian sang to me before I could even open my eyes:) Then I was taken out to lunch by my sweet friend Andrea, received loads of facebook messages and calls. My mom made us a yummy dinner and my kids helped make me another cake. My sweet husband gave me a small bronze statue of a four person family that I love!! AND $$ is always a fun present so now I just have to decide what to spend it on.

I'm a big kid at heart so it's always fun to celebrate. Thank you to everyone who made me feel special:)

OC Christmas Breakfast 2008

The annual OC Christmas Breakfast was last week. We actually had everyone healthy and happy this year...including mommy. This day can become stressful when you want everything to be just so and it turns out otherwise. I think this year was a combination of my kids being older and me finally giving up on things being "just so". The above picture is some of the decor I helped with...I was just a helper...other people were the real brains behind the cuteness.

Like these two...Amy and Becca put A LOT of hard work into this day and I think it payed off. This year ran much smoother than others thanks to some of their ideas. Everyone bought tickets in the rotation they wanted for the morning (pictures, craft and breakfast) and after some worship time went to their designated areas. They also had two Santa's this year for a "Disney-like" experience of visiting and getting your picture made (we are still waiting on our pic with the big guy b/c we just sat there in awe that BOTH kids actually went to him with very little coaxing).

Baylor and Caroline

Craft time was our last stop...they made treat bags and Christmas tree ornaments

Anna Kate and Christian

Above our life group minus Kim and Kevin and below most of the kids (some were no longer in the mood to have their picture taken)

KayKay and Tex were there to join in on the fun

Our family