We wish all of your families a very Merry Christmas!

And may we all remember the true reason for this holiday season.

22 Dec ~ Happy B-day Uncle Jace!!

Today was Sailer's Uncle Jace's 35th B-day, so we all met up at our fave sushi place to eat. When the kids were smaller, we used to all meet up there pretty regularly... enough that the entire wait staff loves the kiddos. The boys proceeded to order EVERYTHING on the menu...too funny. And luckily there was quite a bit that the two pregos could eat. YUM-O!

Sailer and Grady were ALL over the place...completely wearing Amy and me out! Of course, there fave part was the chopsticks....up until the point when Sailer tried to take Grady's eye out. They were quickly confiscated.

21 Dec ~ Sailer's Baby Christmas Party

Well, last minute, I decided to throw a little baby Christmas party together for Sailer and some of her pals. No big deal... just play time, some food, decorate a few cookies, etc. But surprise, surprise.... even the Big Guy showed up to celebrate with the little ones. But I think the biggest hit of the night was the bounce house we blew up in our entry way...Santa decided to come a little early to our house and drop it off. (= He definitely knew this was the right house, b/c Sailer (& Hope) refused to get out it! All in all, they were so stinkin' cute!!
Sailer also L-O-V-E-D all of the balloons, though she wore her dad and Papa out by releasing them so they'd have to lift her up to retrieve them.
The last few photos of the slide show are of Sailer opening up some of her gifts from her sweet friends... as you can see, she put them immediately to good use. (=

20 Dec ~ Fellowship

Tonight Mark and I were supposed to head to Dallas for a birthday party for an old friend of mine, Angela, but we didn't make it b/c M has come down with a major cold (I think).... Major bummer, but poor thing sounds HORRIBLE! Anyway, we did take the girls to the early service at Fellowship. I didn't get any really great shots of them, as the girls were EVERYWHERE! I did think the one of Sailer kissing Hope was sweet though...

Better late the never... setting up her Barbie tree

Several people have asked me where Sailer's Barbie tree was this year?? Well, as I explained earlier this month, I have not been in my usual "every surface of my house is Christmas'ed out" mode this year. And well, I'm kind of glad I waited to put Sailer's tree up since I decided to do a baby Christmas party last minute and it was such a fun addition to the party room (if I'd put it up earlier, it would've been in her room). Unlike last year, Sailer actually helped decorate her tree. She was SOOOO proud of herself everytime she placed an ornament on the tree. And since you can't tell from the pics, the reason it's called the "Barbie Tree" (outside of the fact that it's pepto-bismol pink) is because Sailer's nana has been collecting the original Barbie ornaments for years and last year she gave them to Miss. S. Anyway, I love it!! And am so glad I begrudgingly decided to put it up. The pink makes me happy!(=

19 Dec ~ The North Pole Express

What a fun day! Sailer met up with her pals, Hope and Hope, to ride the North Pole Express on the historic train in Grapevine. What a cute production... you start with carols sung by the kids, then, head through a "snow" and Christmas tree maze toward the train.Once aboard the "North Pole Express," there is Christmas music played over the PA, then, the actual story is read aloud for all the kids to enjoy before their golden tickets are punched by the actual conductor. And of course, a ride on the Polar Express wouldn't be complete without a visit from Santa himself. Of course, the girls were a little leary of him (though Hope Mc. was the most brave), but we did get a few pics of them with the big man.After the ride, we played around with the blow up machine and took in the Christmas set up... and finally, called it a night.

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MJEC Christmas Party

..... On to the second party I got to help plan for the day. Tonight was Mark's company's party. We've had it at our house in the past, but since my house is far from company ready, we decided to do it up at Timarron. PERFECT idea! So much easier and the space was perfect for the theme.... Vegas, baby! With prizes ranging from IPODS to spa days to rock band, cameras, etc., there was much to gamble for. I stuck mostly with the Blackjack tables, but we had craps, roulette, texas hold 'em for the more adventurous. It was SO much fun. Lots of good food, drinks and friends. Oh, and I was a big winner... I won a shuffle and the spa day (which is a little unfair since Mark was sweet and got me a big gift certificate when he picked that one up). (=

18 Dec ~ Sailer's Winter Wonderland

Today was Sailer's Holiday Party... since it's a Christian school, the theme couldn't revolve around Santa, so I went with a snowflake/winter wonderland theme. Aren't they adorable in their snow hats and scarves...I can't believe they actually kept them on! Anyway, I included pictures of the decorations (got to use the monogrammer again...yippee!) which I had such a good time doing and several of Sailer's school pals.

16 Dec ~ Santa's Prayer

Each month at Sailer's school, they highlight a specific color and shape. To coordinate with this, each parent brings a snack one month of the year on the day the whole school wears the certain color. Well, Dec. was my month- they're learning about the color green and triangles.

So I had Sailer in a little Christmas get-up that had green and Christmas trees made from triangles, and of course, the precious green hat she loves... well, usually she does! (= As you can see from the picture, she was NOT into having her photo taken today.

To coordinate with the little scrapbooks I made for their teachers (thanks Trac!), I made these little bags that held their snacks and a few other fun green treats and toys... and included the following poem, "Santa's Prayer,"

The sleigh was all packed, the reindeer were fed,
But Santa still knelt by the side of the bed.
“Dear Father,” he prayed, “Be with me tonight.
There’s much work to do and my schedule is tight.
I must jump in my sleigh and streak through the sky,
Knowing full well that a reindeer can’t fly.
I will visit each household before the first light;
I’ll cover the world and all in one night.
With sleigh bells a-ringing, I’ll land on each roof,
Amid the soft clatter of each little hoof.
To get in the house is the difficult part,
So I’ll slide down the chimney of each child’s heart.
My sack will hold toys to grant all their wishes.
The supply will be endless like the loaves and the fishes.
I will fill all the stockings and not leave a track.
I’ll eat every cookie that is left for my snack.
I can do all things Lord, only through You,
I just need your blessing, then it’s easy to do.
All this is to honor the birth of the One,
That was sent to redeem us, Your Holy Son.
So to all of my friends, least Your glory I rob,
Please Lord, remind them who gave me this job.”

Finally, here's a little pic of the books for her two teachers, so they can include their fave pics of Santa and their kids through the years.

15 Dec ~ Baby, it's cold outside!

WOWZA- it got cold all of the sudden. Mommy and Baby bundled up as much as we could to brave the weather today, and once we got home, my sweet little girl didn't want to part with her flower hat.

Cowboys Game

Tonight, the Mackies came over for pizza and the Cowboys game...well, the boys watched it anyway. I grabbed a few pics of the girls scarfing down their ice cream (yes, they knew it was 30 degrees outside. (= ) I wish I'd gotten a pic of Sailer in this cute little Cowboy cheerleader outfit I grabbed at Walmart a couple of months ago. It was still a little too big, but cutie patootie nonetheless.

14 Dec ~ Annual Santa Brunch

I can't believe it's Christmas time already. It seems like this year has just flown by. It seems like just a few months ago that we met the Jenkins fam up at TCC to meet Santa, and here it is, a year later. Well, there are a TON of pictures from this morning's Santa's Brunch. I just couldn't help myself!! I swear, if by some crazy chance Sailer and Grady actually do get married, they're going to have one incredible scrapbook of their life together. He is one of Sailer's favorite people on the planet and you can tell just from the pics. They're absolutely hilarious together!!
Sailer wasn't really loving Santa. She didn't necessarily cry, but she didn't want to sit in his lap either.... therefore, I got to sit in his lap (fun times) so we could get our picture together. Then, she was A-OK. Grady was a champ and sat in his lap with no problem. Maybe next year I can skip Santa's lap...
While the boys continued to chug their mimosas (sad prego mamas), Amy and I took the babies outside for quite awhile to play. This is where the real action happened. A lot of dirt, leaves, climbing, and giggling. They're just too fun to watch! All in all, the kiddos had a blast!

13 Dec ~ Naughty Holiday Party

Tonight, Mark and I went to a Christmas Party at a good couple friend of ours...let's just say there was a "dirty" white elephant exchange. Mark was in charge of picking out our gifts (there's no better person). Three little words...Chug-A-Jug. It looked like the boob bra from the Fockers only with a tap. Then, we moved onto the Porn Pictionary. Not need for further "illustration." Anyway, it was a fun getaway for the night.

Nutcracker 2008

One of my favorite memories growing up was going to the Nutcracker with my mom and grandma...just the girls! We would dress up (and I would try to "steal" my Mur's mink for the night b/c it made me feel so fancy.) Well, I'm so glad to continue this tradition with my little future ballerina. Just out of caution, we just did Act II this year...it's the best part anyway...and Sailer did pretty well. Except for maybe when she tried to "reenact" the ballet on the bar in front of us. (= Too funny. And she loved to clap at the end of a sequence. Of course, one of the most fun parts of the Nutcracker is getting to dress Sailer up as a princess while I still can. As we were heading to our seats, one of the ballet coordinators stopped us and said that she sees little girls dressed up each performance but that Sailer had topped the charts out of all that seen. Too sweet! She did look absolutely beautiful...she loved showing off her tutu during the intermission (whether it be turned circles to see it shift or just plain rolling around in all the layers). Needless to say, either way, people just stopped and watched her "mini performances."

I've loved watching Sailer grow...but it just goes by soooo fast. Sometimes it makes me a little sad to see how big she has already become, but at the same time love her growing personality. Just to see the marked difference between this year and last...