Children's Museum FUN

We met up with our dear friends, The Holgerson Family. We were neighbors long ago (back in 2002) and we moved then they moved. Now, they live in Georgia and we've kept in touch this whole time. When we first met, Jay and I just married and Meghan was pregnant with Elise. She is now a third grader--crazy!!!

We decided to meet half way in Chattanooga and make a day of it. We started off with lunch at a delicious pizza joint Bryan picked out called Lupi's Pizza. I'm not a huge pizza person but we would definitely go back!

Our kids got reacquainted over pizza (it's been over a year since we last saw each other) and then we walked to one of my favorite children's museums ever, Creative Discovery Museum. This museum is SO much fun that we stayed from OPEN to CLOSE! No joke. :)

Here is a group picture of the kiddos:

Meghan and I decided we would just tell them they were cousins. It was amazing how quickly our kids picked up right where they left off. As if a year was more like a few weeks. The kids got along so well. It really does feel like they are all cousins. :)

They have the largest, most insane water station. We stayed here for at least an hour...or two.

Brady and Bryan put on a little puppet show for us. CUTE!

What is it about kids and sand??? This was another favorite. We were probably here for an hour while the kids dug for dinosaur bones.

They had so many fun things to do outside. We really enjoyed watching the kids learn about science without realizing they were learning at all! Explore all you want! :)

Sweet Daniel blew bubbles but it looks like he got more in his mouth. HAHA!

Our girls decided to teach us a little about Japan. Cracked us up!!!!

Brady was my little worker bee! He loved running around in this costume. It was pretty comical with those bee legs flying around.

The Boys...

This was such a fun treat for us all. Can't wait to get together with our "cousins" again soon! :)

Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas!

What a wonderful, peaceful Christmas we had this year. This year, we chose to stay home on Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day. The only place we went was Christmas Eve service at church which is always a favorite of ours. We met up with our families a few days before Christmas and celebrated. It was so nice to not rush around and worry about being late somewhere or not spending enough time with someone. The usual hustle and bustle was avoided this year and I think our kids reaped the benefit.
Christmas morning is usually hectic and rushed but not this time. Below are pictures of our first relaxed Christmas. Ahhhhh!

We always let the kids open up one gift on Christmas Eve. They were so excited about the gifts they bought for each other and that is what they chose to open. It is always so much taking them shopping to pick out that special gift. They get so anxious about it and I think we hear 50 million times leading up to Christmas Eve, "Brady you are SO going to love what I got you!" and "Kelsey, I so excited to give you your present!" It really is sweet. Just as we knew, they both LOVE LOVE LOVED what the other got them.

We always have family movie night on Christmas Eve wearing our Christmas jammers after we sprinkle reindeer food in the backyard. :) We love to watch all the kids Christmas shows as well as the classics! Kelsey actually watched the entire "White Christmas" movie with me this year.

This year, Santa Claus left Kelsey and Brady a note. Here is Kelsey reading it out loud Christmas morning!

The Christmas spread.  That big table in the picture is an awesome lego table that MawMaw and PawPaw got the kids for Christmas. They love it!

Look at what Kelsey found in her stocking...tickets to the CIRCUS along with the usual toothbrush, dvd and chapstick!!! YAY!

We had one last major surprise for them.
We asked the kids, "do you see the pictures on the fireplace mantel?"
Kids: "Yes!"
Us: "What are they of?"
Kids: "Pictures from Disney"
Us: "Where do you think we are going to go on vacation next year?"
Kids: "DISNEY????"
Us: (silence) we just smiled and they exploded into jumping, dancing and cheering!!!

We spent the entire day at home playing with all of our new toys, playing games and watching more Christmas movies. We had a lovely Christmas lunch that I prepared and just really enjoyed being together as our little family on Christmas...in our jammies ALL DAY! :)

They did ask about Shalley the Elf and sadly, Santa Claus took her back to the North Pole. Until next year...

Brady's new haircut --sad face!

Brady gave himself a new haircut yesterday. :(

I was in the bedroom wrapping Christmas presents while he did the damage. I walked into the living room to see him sitting behind Kelsey twirling her school scissors around his fingers. My first thought was he cut her hair but then he bent his head down. I saw it. The skinned bald spots on his head. I gasped loudly and he took off running to his room in tears. He knew what he did was wrong.

I took him to the bathroom so he could see it. He said "it'll grow back, Mommy!" I made him run errands with me with his hair looking like that so he'd feel a little embarrassment. I don't think it worked. He thought it was funny. Sigh.

When Daddy came home, he shaved it off. He looks real ashamed, doesn't he? lol

My poor baby's hair. I miss his little faux hawk. :(

I love this shot of Kelsey holding his hand. He started getting ansy.

He said, "I look just like Daddy!" lol After his bath, he told me wants his hair back. I said, yeah me too! He said, "I'm sorry, Mommy. Will you forgive me? I won't do it again." Sweet face.

Shalley the Elf wasn't too happy about it either. They both had a rough day yesterday as far as behavior went. Shalley gave them a gentle reminder. :)

Elf on the Shelf & School Christmas Parties

I'll start this LONG post with an update on our elf. She sure is sneaky and the kids love it.
Here she is with her donuts...

She even got a roll of toilet paper and rolled down the stairs with it. Another night, she took a bubble bath with marshmallows in our sink.

This time she was actually super helpful and did something I've been meaning to do for quite some time! Thanks, Shalley! Usually she just makes messes for me to clean up.

My friend, Stacy and I put together Brady's (and Will's) classroom Christmas party.

We started out by doing a craft with all the kids. Stacy found this cute reindeer hand print craft on pinterest. I'm so glad we did this. I just love keepsakes the kids make that I can put on our tree. They all really enjoyed making it, too!

Next up, we provided pizza for lunch.

I made some "Reindeer Trail Mix" and the kids gobbled it up.

Stacy made some cute reindeer themed desserts out of marshmallows<----such a hit! I wish I had a picture of those.
Here is everyone enjoying lunch!

After that we did a gift exchange! We thought it would be fun for the kids to exchange books so we asked the parents to send in a gender neutral book. We swapped books to music. Whoever had the book when the music stopped-- opened it! They loved it.

Everyone was so happy!

This was our attempt at a class picture. lol This cracks me up!

Brady gave all of his friends "Reindeer Noses." He was very excited about these. The brown noses are whoppers. He especially loved the red sour ball for Rudolph's nose. What is it with kids and sour candy? lol

The very next day was Kelsey's 1st grade class party!

They started out with a fun sticker craft. Little brother got to make one, too! I don't know who was more excited that Brady came to Kelsey's class party: Brady or Kelsey. In true big sister form, she loves showing Brady everything in her class. She also loves showing him off to her classmates. Truly makes my heart swell!

Ornament decorating!

Kelsey's class had their own book exchange--so fun!

During the book exchange, Brady colored more!

Kelsey gave all of her classmates "snowman soup" for Christmas. She loved putting these together with me and passing them out after the party. Her friends were so happy which made her feel extra good. :) I found these cute free printables here!

I found the most perfect containers at Target in their dollar bin. Inside is hot cocoa, marshmallows with chocolate chips, candy cane Hershey's kisses and topped with a candy cane to stir!

Now that school is finally out for Christmas break, we decided to celebrate with our annual tradition of driving around looking at Christmas lights in our jammies with hot cocoa and cookies!

We are truly enjoying all of the wonderful festivities this special time of year brings! The countdown till Christmas has officially begun in our household! Can't wait!!! :)

p.s. Can I just say how much I am enjoying being home with my kids??? I love that I can really look forward to my kids getting out of school so I can spend every waking minute with them! I am super thankful...STILL! :)

Elf on the Shelf Ideas...

Our little mischievous elf has really been entertaining this year. I thought it would be fun to show you all the fun the kids have had with Shalley (yes, we changed her name back)..or should I say the fun Shalley has had with the kids.

A favorite was when the kids woke up with their very own Rudolph noses. Yes, Brady fell asleep in his shirt without wearing his jammies. It happens. :)

This was hilarious! The kids had the best reaction! Brady said all day long "Hey Elf! Go back to the North Pole! This is OUR home!" He would just giggle and giggle.

Kelsey imagined different scenarios that happened in the middle of the night between the toy people versus Shalley the Elf. I think Toy Story came to life for her with this stunt.

Here is a collage showing you everything this little elf of ours has been up to for the past couple of weeks.

I wonder what she'll get into tonight?!?! They love waking up {early} to see who can find the elf first. I love waking up {even if it is early} to the sound of my babies giggling and talking about what that crazy elf did this time!

linking: tatertots and jello, too much time on my hands

Elf on the Shelf Breakfast

Last night, we watched the movie Elf. You know, the one with Will Ferrell. It's hilarious and so cute. The kids were asking last night when our elf was going to leave the North Pole. 

So, Kelsey and Brady were SO excited to wake up and find our elf, Shalley, arrived. They were so excited they woke us up at 4am to let us know Shalley was HERE!

Not only did she show up the day after Thanksgiving but she brought them a special breakfast from the North Pole!

They couldn't believe all of the goodies she brought them from the North Pole.

This is how their place settings looked.

Brady couldn't believe that elf put Kelsey's barbies in his batmobile.

Can't you just hear them saying "look! wow! look!"???

Brady thought his socks had a dog on them. Kelsey quickly explained it was a reindeer on his socks.

Marshmallows were everywhere! They quickly ate them up.

Kelsey couldn't wait to call MawMaw and PawPaw to tell them what our silly elf did this time.

I love that sugary smile!

I'm thinking this Elf may have started a new tradition. :) Oh, Kelsey explained to me that when she named her elf  a couple years ago, she meant to name her "Shelly" but accidentally said "Shalley". She would like to change her name to Shelly the Elf. HA! :)

linking up: tatertots and jello, blissful and domestic, funky polka dot giraffe, home stories a to z, skip to my lou