Our early Christmas with Pops, Mimi, and GG

Our Little Rock grandparents came this past weekend for an early Christmas celebration.  Pearce could not wait to open all of his presents!  Pops and Mimi came on Monday to relieve me of my mommy duties since Chris was out of town.  Oh my goodness.....it was Heaven!!!  Pearce spent two nights with them at their hotel....they picked him up from school and took him and it was just so nice to have a little mini vacation!  I can't remember the last time I had two days/nights ALL to myself!  I got presents wrapped and my battery recharged, LOL!!  Pearce said he loved being able to rent movies, get snacks, go to the workout room, and sleep on the pull out bed :)  I loved my peace and quiet for a few days!  Thank you Pops and Mimi!  Thursday, we were ready to get GG from the airport.  Her flight was delayed, so we relaxed at home for a bit after school.  I just happened to look outside to see....SNOW!!!  It was a heavy flurry and Pearce thought it was just the neatest thing!  He played outside for a while and then it was time to go to the airport.  As we drove, the snow got heavier and heavier.  It was crazy driving in snow in Austin!  We got to the waiting lot about 30 mins early.  I parked by a grassy area, and Pearce just played and played in what was now heavy snowfall!  he ate snow off the car, off the grass, off his mittens....I didn't care, just loved that he was having so much fun!  After we got GG, the drive home was even crazier!  Snow was sticking to the roads and it was seriously hard to see!  By the time we got to Cedar Park, the snowfall wasn't as much as the airport, but was still plenty to play in, so Pearce played on our back deck again!  When I dropped him off at school the next morning, that's all the kids were talking about....so much fun!  GG and I met Pops and Mimi for lunch and then picked Pearce up at school and went to Bethlehem on Main Street in a town about 45 minutes away.  We had to wait in line for an hour, but once we finally got in, it was like you really were in Bethlehem with people dressed the part and acting the part.  We walked through the town and went in and out of different houses just exploring until we came to baby Jesus in the stable.  It was a really neat experience and I'm glad we all got to go!  Saturday, Pearce knew we would be opening his presents around lunch time.  By 10:00, he started saying he was starving for lunch....he wanted us all to hurry up and eat lunch so he could open his presents!  Pearce was so patient.  He was definitely spoiled by his grandparents this Christmas!!!  His eyes were so big as he looked at all of his presents to unwrap!  He got so many neat things.....Kinetic Sand and sand toys, electronic bank, a vet costume and vet supplies plus animals, puzzles, books and a movie, new jeans and a shirt and cool big boy tennis shoes, fireman rain boots, jacket, and umbrella.  I mean, this kid is loved!  He seriously loved everything he got and was very appreciative.  Chris cooked us an amazing Christmas dinner later on that evening.  After dinner, the adults opened our presents and we all had a little helper :)  I'm so excited about my iced tea maker, gift cards, and new perfume!!!!  We just had such a fun time together.  Pearce loved being able to stay in Pops and Mimi's hotel room and then getting to sleep with GG when she got here.  He was really sad on Sunday when everyone left, which always makes me sad.  He's like me....loves having company visit, but sad when they leave.  Thank you so much for givng us such a nice Christmas Pops, Mimi, and GG!!!

Our elf, Jerry, got mauled by Daisy....pretty bad hand injury, but Mrs. Claus bandaged him and sent him back to us with a note saying he needed to rest and that he will be good as new (wink, wink) next Christmas season!

Georgetown Christmas Stroll and Sweet Eats Fruit Farm!

Last weekend Christie and I took the boys to two Christmas events which took our whole day and into the evening....but we all had the BEST time!  First up, was going to the Georgetown Christmas Stroll.  This even is held on the Georgetown square and has tons of activities for kids and adults.  We had to go see Santa first!  Pearce told him he wanted Fingerlings (little interactive monkeys that fit on your finger...hot toy this year!).  Santa said "Oh yes, Fingerlings....the elves will be working extra hard this season!"  Then we just took our time walking around and doing the kid activities....they got to make a boat, ride the trackless train while having motorcycle cops "chase" them, play hockey, cake walk, ride the swing amusement ride, and I got them each a toy gun that they had seen other kids walking around with :)  We stayed there for several hours and then had lunch at Chick-Fil-A and then went to our next destination.... Sweet Eats Fruit Farm for their Polar Express movie night!  The boys had fun playing and doing all the farm activities until it got dark, then we sat down on our blankets, bundled up and enjoyed the movie.  They even had s'mores cones.....marshmallows, graham cracker pieces, and chocolate chips all in a waffle cone and grilled on the grill to melt everything inside....it was YUMMY!!!!!  They really enjoyed the movie and snack!  Christie and I were both amazed that we had them going nonstop from morning to night but they not once complained or argued or cried about anything.  We ALL had such a fun day/night!!

Thanksgiving 2017

We had such a nice Thanksgiving in Dallas this year!  Pearce was counting down the days until it was time to go.  We left early Wednesday morning and got to Dallas just in time to go out for brunch to celebrate Allie's 21st birthday!  We met at a yummy cafe and most of us got Eggs Benedict...so good!  We did some shopping afterwards compliments of Mama!!  Then we took Allie to get her hair done and it looked so cute!!  That evening Mama cooked us a great Mexican dinner and then we gave Allie her bday presents.  She also FINALLY got to have a glass of wine...legally :)  Pearce and Charlotte loved having a tea party with Mama's nice tea set :)  Thursday we got up early and Ash and I got everything ready for our Thanksgiving lunch.  We had done most everything the night before, so it was pretty easy getting all the sides heated up while the turkey cooked.  Ashley did such a great job on the turkey plus we had all the yummy sides.....mashed potatoes, mom's dressing, Helen's corn and sausage casserole, Chris's green bean casserole, broccoli salad, sweet potato casserole, rolls, and gravy.  Oh my goodness, it was all so good!  I made myself go back for seconds even though I was pretty full.  We just hung out the rest of the day and the kids had fun playing outside and just being silly together.  That evening Ash and I geared up to go Black Friday shopping!  We left around 9:00 and went to Toys R Us first and got the kids their presents and then went to Kohl's to get the kids new clothes and a few other things.  Then we ended our night/morning with Macy's!  By the time we got to Macy's it was 1:00 in the morning, but we really wanted to go to Macy's so we did!  The stores weren't overly crazy crowded, but the lines to check out were long....thankfully the lines moved fast.  We thought next time maybe we should go earlier, but then we figured the stores would be a lot more crowded, so we decided going later was better in the end.  We each got some fun new things for ourselves plus Christmas gifts, so it was a win!  We got home at 3:00 in the morning, but it was so worth it!  Friday we met everyone for lunch at Torchy's Tacos to celebrate Mama's birthday!  Our lunch was so good and Mom was sooooo excited to get her new Apple TV!  She said she's been loving it and it's a lot easier to work than her old one.  The rest of the day, we just hung out at Ashley's house and let the kids play and play!  We did take a little trip to Starbucks to let everyone use their gift cards Papa got us.....thanks Papa!!!  The best part of Thanksgiving was just being together and watching Pearce have so much fun with his cousins.  He just cannot get enough of them and they are always so sweet to play with him!