One last post!

I had to get a "last post" in before the new year! We got back yesterday from our 2 night trip to Marksville. We are the delinquent parents that take our children to a casino resort. We were entertained by the alligators and indoor pool. Then we watched Alvin and the Chipmunks at the movie theatre and also let them play at Kids Quest, all without leaving the resort. They had a blast! And it's nice that we are only 2 hours away from home, so we got back pretty early and still had time to soak up the 70 degree weather!

Checking out the gators.

Playing in the pool.

And soaking up the 70 degree weather yesterday. Gotta love Louisiana! And a little girl who loves to put on bathing suits...and change clothes....she might be the death of her daddy;). His words, not mine!

Praying for a prosperous new years for you and yours! Happy New Year!!

This I have learned....

....kids outsmart us every time! We had a GREAT Christmas, complete with my grandmother celebrating with us. But I have to laugh at what my kids enjoyed MOST about their presents. 1) The boxes. We had several large boxes from gifts yesterday that tickled their imaginations for hours last night! 2) A last minute idea to take our old, non-used iPhones and download them with all of my kid friendly apps....JACKPOT! I literally spent $10 each on a colored cover for the phones. LG hasn't stopped carrying hers around listening to nursery rhymes on it. Nonetheless, a Merry Christmas was had by all.

Leaving brownies out for Santa. I forgot to make the cookies. Luckily we had some brownies sent by Aunt Lou to suffice!

The coveted i-Phone project. I do have a lot of educational apps that I got through school that are downloaded onto all our phones. If you're interested, let me know. LG's current favorite is the Easy Bake Oven app. Unfortunately, it's not educational.

Jake discovering all the new apps!

Family shot. Don't we all look jolly!

Taking time to celebrate Jesus' birth. We didn't do this before presents. Opps!

After the cake we got dressed and headed to church.

When we got home, Daddy cooked steak and shrimp and Matt's family celebrated with us. My parents came over as well.

Uncle Brian(my brother) got Jake a Tebow jersey. We love Tim Tebow!

TaDah!!! Playing with BOXES!

My grandmother and GiGi opening up presents.

Grrr....I forgot to take pictures of everyone else there, but it was a great day. Hope each of you had a BLESSED Christmas!

Santa comes to GiGi's!

We had Christmas at GiGi's in Bossier last night. The kids always have fun with their cousins, Kyleigh and Kaleb. We now have a new cousin by marriage as well this year, Emma. She is the same age as Landry Grace. GiGi surprised the kids by having Santa stop by and give each child a gift. I thought LG would be scared, but she warmed up rather quickly to him! Merry Christmas!

Landry Grace, Kyleigh, and Emma playing Dora the Explorer

Landry Grace playing with Emma

All the cousins together

Santa arrives........

My picture with all the cousins came out blurry, so I was left with this one. Last night LG asked for a stroller and she'd gotten one from my mom earlier in the day....who knows what she wants:)! Jake is still asking for a robot.

Family pic

And then with their beloved GiGi!

Merry Christmas!

December Update

Opps! December is almost over and I have failed to update. We've been super busy with parties and celebrations. Lately, I have neglected to bring my camera with me to these functions. But in case you're in doubt:), we've had plenty going on.

We celebrated 8 years on December 13. I love looking at old photos to see how much we've changed! This was taken after we'd been married for 8 months. It's been a fun ride and I'm looking forward to many more years with Matt. He is such a blessing to our family.

On December 15, Jake turned 5!! This was our Christmas card picture from 4 years ago. Jake had just turned 1 and Landry Grace was about 7 days old. He had to endure a lot for a 1 year old, and Jake is a trooper in so many ways! We love him so much! We celebrated his birthday with cupcakes at school. I didn't bring my camera, but he thought they were the coolest cupcakes ever!

Last weekend we headed to Jonesboro to see the lights. Santa was there for us to meet. My kid's Christmas lists change everyday, so who knows what Santa will bring. I tell you this, we will be celebrating Jesus' birthday before we open gifts. Most important things first.

Landry Grace loved singing in Daddy's lap at her school program.

We got out of school on Tuesday for the holidays and I let the kids bake reindeer cookies in celebration. Jake was so excited!

Katie had us and the Cauley kiddos over yesterday for our annual Christmas play date. They loved making snowman apples and ice cream cone Christmas trees.

And accidents happen:(. Landry Grace ran into a corner of some sort and ended up with a hole in the corner of her eyebrow. Disclaimer: Dr. Sanders suggested I take a picture to send to Matt since he was working out of town yesterday. So I sent him this picture.

And LG was SUCH a trooper. She cried a little but after 4 stitches was good to go. After a nap yesterday, she woke up her "old self"!

And I had to end on a happy note! I love getting Christmas cards in the the mail! Our collection grows everyday. Thanks for sending them, as we love getting updates during this time of year!
May your family have a wonderful Christmas and remember that it all started with the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!!!

Landry Grace turns 4!

Our baby turned 4 this weekend. Wasn't it just yesterday that I went into the hospital to give birth to her? She was so little (5 lbs 13 oz)for full term! To this day she is still on the small side, but anyone who knows Landry Grace will say that she makes up for her small frame with her large personality. We truly love her to the moon and back. She is our "life of the party", sweet and sassy yet super sensitive, lover of all things princess, and admirer of her big brother. Our life is sweeter because of her. Thank you Lord for blessing us with Landry Grace.

We began the morning with DONUTS! She thought it was so fun to be sung to. And no, she doesn't normally sleep in a bow. Just had to clarify that:)!

The invite to her birthday party. This party turned out to be one of my favorites! We had to do NOTHING for the party but show up. Fantastic!!! Kacee's Sugar and Spice did it all.

Birthday girl is 4!

Typical of their relationship. I was trying to get a cute pic but Jake was not into it so LG took the situation into her own hands. Love these 2 more than life itself.

Kacee and her staff always make great cakes!

Family shot

When the guests arrived, we gave them an apron with their name on it. Found these on Etsy for a super reasonable price and thought they turned out cute!

What a cute group! LG with her girlfriends.

The table was set up with gingerbread houses already put together. They all had items at their "station" to decorate with. Everyone seemed to really enjoy making their houses fancy.

Mandy and Grant drove over from Monroe. Landry Grace thought this was the best part of the party, second to opening gifts. She calls Grant her "boyfriend". I think it may have embarrassed him a little!

Decorating and talking

Opening presents.

Landry Grace made sure her big brother was close by to help her blow out the candles. It took a group effort since they were taller than normal.

Even Daddy got in on the action and enjoyed some decorating!

Landry and her schoolmate, Camille

At home they got to check out their houses again. I let them eat off of them and they thought that was so much fun.

What a fun weekend! Too often I think we can all get caught up in day to day life and not appreciate the small things. This weekend was just a reminder of the blessings of family and friends. I don't deserve them, and my cup truly runneth over. Happy Birthday Landry Grace!!

'Tis the Season!

For BIRTHDAYS! Our family celebrated the first of three during the month of December on Wednesday when Daddy turned 35. Jake and Landry Grace had fun picking out a snowman cake at Wal-Mart and singing him the birthday song. I may not say it often enough, but Matt is such a wonderful daddy. His babies adore him and so do I.

And Thursday, LG took Mickey Mouse cookies to school in honor of her 4th birthday, which is actually tomorrow, December 10th. She was so excited to see these cookies when she woke up that morning.

Thanks to Pinterest, I made these!

And what's Christmas without your hometown Christmas parade? We celebrated with friends last night and had lots of fun catching candy and other goodies. I love love love my babies at this age. They are loving Christmas together and feed off each other's energy!

The crew before we headed out to catch the parade.

Holly, Katie, and me

And we were doing fantastic until LG caught a glimpse of Frosty during the parade. He was in a costume and walked right past her. God love her.....!

Family photo op. Needless to say we don't pass many of these up. Thankful that we do lots as a family.

And today we took professional family pictures. Funny story: I ordered Jake a sweater off the Internet TWO weeks ago and it was supposed to get here today. No sweat, it'll get here. Well, it did not get here. At 2:00 I was at school needing to get some errands run afterwards for our 3:30 photo shoot...and there there was NO sweater. My wonderful co-worker Sharon said she'd look around town for Jake something to wear(thank God for great friends). She tried a couple of places and found this sweater at Goodwill. It worked out perfect! The weather was a little cool but LG was a trooper in her short sleeves. Can't wait to see them!

And since she did so great, we let her open up her birthday present early:). If your little girl or boy loves dressing up, check out Little Dress Up Shop. These costumes are great because they don't itch. Wish I'd ordered the larger size as they are a little small. But it's not stopping her!

Tomorrow we will be celebrating with a PARTY! And since Landry Grace seems to be the life of the party, I know she will love soaking up the attention. I love my sweet little girl.