Christmas caroling for The Salvation Army!

 Every year we spend the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving ringing bells and singing Christmas carols for The Salvation Army.  The kids love it and it is wonderful for them to give back, not sure how our voices sound but we made almost every smile!

Black Friday Shopping!!!

This year was so much fun with the girls shopping, we put in 5 hours of craziness and enjoyed every minute of it!  This is something we look forward to all year and puts us even more in the Christmas spirit!

Future Bay Port Pirate!

 Ellie had lots of fun playing basketball and improving her game. 

Ellie with her team the last game of the season.

LOVE

What I am most grateful for this season!

He makes me laugh....

With all 3 of my pregnancies I had terrible morning sickness which was accelerated with smells, but with Jace my "smeller" seemed to be even more touchy.   To this day he has the weakest stomach for smells also.  Even for Jace this was a new one, yesterday when he was peeing, he threw up because it smelled "bad".  He just cracks me up.... he gives me so many instances of mystification, sometimes I am not sure whether I should laugh or cry.  I now know for sure that the little guy who grew in my tummy is the reason I can't bear smelly things. 

Patiently awaiting Christmas' arrival.

 Santa, I promise to be good from here on out!

 She can't wait for Christmas.

 So excited to see Santa.

This is my favorite picture of Santa and the kids, I now have a 16 x 20 of all my elves and Santa.

Where, Oh where did my little boy go? Where can he be?

This kiddo keeps growing and growing, please stop for your MOMMY!

Saving up for a few years really pays off...... also teaching them patience!

The kids planted sunflower seeds with great expectations!

Hooray for the First Day of 4K!

So excited to meet new friends and see old ones.

There is always a Path Home.

Good Luck on your first day!  Mom loves you!

Love those eyes, love that smile.

First Day of School!

 Sydney's first day of Second Grade, her teacher is Miss Adrians and she wants to work at McDonalds or Kwik Trip when she grows up!

 Ellie's first day of Fourth Grade, her teacher is Mr. Maricque and wants to be an author or a celebrity when she grows up!  

 I pray you have a wonderful, safe day at school!   Love you, Mom!

Tuesday was the first day of school for Ellie and Sydney and they were so excited for new teachers, new friends and new beginnings!  Mama wishes you the best and misses you like crazy!  

Thankful Thursday!

Last week was a little crazy for me, but I was reminded how truly wonderful and caring my Ellie is.  After dinner I was upstairs with Jace and came down to her telling me "Mom, I washed the dishes and Sydney dried them, I know how hard you have been working and I wanted to give you a break."  Her empathy didn't stop there, after our walk she rubbed lotion on my feet, because they looked so dry and wanted to do something nice for me.  I love you Ellie so much, and I happy at how you amaze me.