Christmas Eve!

We had such an awesome day on Christmas Eve!  We started out the day by heading to Ft. Smith with NaNa and Papa for a quick last minute shopping trip.  Creative Whit had everything 50% off so we stocked up on some Bulldog gear:)  Then we went to lunch at Beef O'Brady's.  That just might be my favorite new place to eat!

Then we went home, put Beau down for a nap, and I started cooking.  I made Pioneer Woman Rosemary Rolls (4 pans!), spinach mashed potatoes, and deviled eggs. 

Next we all loaded up and went to Christmas Eve service at church.  We ended up sitting in the back, because I thought it would be better for Beau.  There ended up being so many people there that the whole lobby was even full of chairs.  To be honest, it was a little noisy and bright back in the back, so I'm not really sure I actually heard anything.  But, I did enjoy being with my family:)  By the way, Beau actually did GREAT!

We stopped by the house to pick up our food and presents and headed over to mom and dad's for dinner. 

One last look at my presents before we packed them up!

We had a full house for dinner.  It was all 5 of us, mom and dad, Kyle and Amy, and Amy's mom-Judy, and her sister Cindy.  We had prime rib, spinach mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, salad, and rosemary rolls!  The table was set so pretty!

 There were enough of us, we had to use 2 tables!

 Dessert was amazing also.  Not pictured are some cookies that Judy made that were TO.DIE.FOR.  I think I ate 10!!

Kyle, Amy, and sweet Georgia.  Hard to believe we will have another little one around next Christmas!!!

 Me and my baby Beau!!!

 A glimple at part of the crew!

 My boys in front of the tree.  Ready to go home and get ready for Santa to come!!

 We tried SO hard to get a cute picture of Beau in front of the tree.  He was more interested in eating and throwing the gifts, than posing:)

 Little stinker...

 When we got home, I put Beau to bed and the boys got out the cookies and milk for Santa.

 Then we piled up on the couch and Evan and Blake read the Christmas story out of Luke to us.

It was a great ending to a great day!  Evan put the reindeer food out in the yard and told us he would know for sure if the reindeer had been here if the corn was gone:)

They went straight to bed, believe it or not.  Evan said the sooner he fell asleep the sooner he could get up and see what Santa brought!!  We told them they had to stay in their rooms until 7:30.  And....they did!!

Santa!!!

We FINALLY managed to catch Santa at the Santa House!!  Evan has been dying to talk to Santa.  He walked right in and plopped down on Santa's lap.  He has refused to tell us what he wanted from Santa, so this was news for everyone:)  He told Santa he wanted....and xbox and a red Wii remote.  Hmmmm, interesting...

Then Beau got a turn.  At first he was totally fine!

 Then he got a good look at Santa, and reached out for me!

Blake wasn't one bit interested in talking with or taking a picture with Santa.  I BEGGED him for just one with Beau.  This is what we got...PERFECT!!!  Beau just couldn't love Santa any more:)

Happy again out of Santa's house:)  My sweet boys!!

WE LOVE SANTA!!!

Christmas Around Here...

I finally managed to get a picture of the boys before church Sunday morning.  It's just a struggle to get a picture of all 3 looking happy at the same time! 

This one was close!

This is SO typical.  Get ready to snap the picture and Beau pops up...

 I just love this sweet little outfit.  Evan wore it when he was Beau's age.  It's huge on Beau was I was determined to get one wear out of it:)

 And this, was my Sunday afternoon project.  Seven loads to be exact.  It never ends!!!



5th Grade Life Group Party!!

Last Friday night we had my 5th grade girls Life Group Christmas Party at my house.  It was SO much fun.  Dana Moore and I are teaching this group this year and I am enjoying it so much!  They are such a sweet group of girls. I think I can connect to them better than any other group I have taught because they are Blake's age.  So many of them are daughters of friends of mine.  I like the idea of getting to know the girls that are Blake's age, too:).  They keep me updated on everything going on with Blake at school also, which is nice!

We had pizza and then played Dirty Santa.  They weren't very mean at all:).  Some of them were playing for the first time.  They'll learn!!

We also made some super cute Christmas ornaments, but I got no pictures of that project.  Beau came home towards the end and then he was the star of the show!! 

Here are some of the girls posed with Beau.

 A little out of order, but here they are playing Dirty Santa!

 Carrie opening her gift.

 Sweet girls!

 The funnest part of the night...getting to change Beau's diaper!!! Ha!!  They were all gathered around trying to help.  It totally cracked me up.  I just let them go for it.  Beau was so good, he just laid there while they all "helped". 

I'm so thankful for this group of girls.  They are truly sweet girls who love Jesus!  I am looking forward to the new year with them!!

Random Cuteness...

I've been really frustrated today, because I've been trying to clean my house and Beau has been into EVERYTHING!!  I'm having my 5th grade Life Group here tonight for a Christmas party and I just want my house to all be clean at the same time for just a few hours.  Pretty much impossible with a 13 month old Beau running around:)

Thankfully, Nonnie just came to my rescue and took Beau with her for a few hours.  My house is already in better shape than it has been in a LONG time.  I was cleaning off my computer desk and found a note about a few random cute pics I wanted to remember to blog about.

These remind me of how much I absolutely adore my children and that I LOVE being a mom.  Sometimes it's just hard to get past the craziness:)

These 2 boys are more alike than I want to even admit.  Beau has had Evan tendancies since he could roll over...I'm in SO much trouble!

 They truly love each other!!

 This was during the Cotillion getting ready process.  Evan decided he wanted to learn how to tie a tie.  Nice look... Under Armor, shorts, and a tie!

 And this, is the cutest of ALL!!!  He is SO stinkin' cute when he is asleep.  I love how his knees are underneath him and his bottom is in the air:)  I could just eat him up!!!!

Good for me to remind myself just how much I love them!!! (Blake too, he just didn't make it into a funny picture today)!!!

Evan's PTO Christmas Program

Last night was Evan's PTO Christmas program at school.  The 2nd and 3rd grade performed and Evan was a 50's elf.  He was in fine form before the program...

 Side view of my little elf...

 He sang his heart out.  I've never seen him so "into" performing.  It was such a cute program.  I thought the atmosphere was just so much "happier" than the past performances I have seen.  The kids really seemed to love performing.  I was pretty proud!

 Evan with the crew after the performance.  Travis and Blake came straight from basketball practice...hence the formal attire:)

I am so thankful for a great school and a great music program.  My boys are learning a lot and having so much fun in the process!!!

Ugliest Christmas Sweater Party :)

I went to an "Ugliest Christmas Sweater" party yesterday, and can I just say, HILAROUS!!!  I had such a good time hanging out with some sweet friends.  Thank you Melissa and Kristan for a great time and much needed stress reliever!

I haven't laughed so hard in a long time!  Here is the crew, minus Sharon and Sherry were came a litter late...

The sweaters truly cracked me up!!  And we all know, at some point in our lives, we have worn a Christmas sweater with PRIDE!! 

 They were all tacky, but someone had to win!!

 And the prize goes to....Dottie!  Her nutcracker sweater with the "drums" placed so perfectly on both "cheeks" earned her the prize...hands down:)

Melissa's house was beautiful, as usual, and the food...to die for!!  Thanks so much for such a good time!!!

I dare you all to wear your Christmas sweater with pride!!!

Evan's 1st Piano Recital

It was a big weekend for us!  Evan had his first piano recital this afternoon.  It was at his school in the music room and he had quite an audience.  NaNa, Granny, Nonnie, Poppy, Dad, Beau, Blake, and I were all there to watch him.  He got pretty nervous before we left the house.  Evan doesn't get nervous very often, so it made me pretty nervous for him!

We got there 15 minutes early and the room was already full.  We sat on the back row, which was good, because Beau only made through 4 of the 21 students:)  Thankfully, Evan was 4th!

Here is a view of him sitting up front, waiting for the recital to start.

 He did an AWESOME job.  He played 5 Christmas songs and played them all beautifully.  I could tell he was SO nervous, but he did great!  I'm SO glad that he is enjoying the piano.  He can already read music pretty well, which is so great.  He wants to play the drums some day, and we told him this is the first step:)

 Evan and his piano teacher, Mrs. Franks.  Evan absolutely REFUSES to smile in pictures these days.  I think he thinks it makes him look less tough!

 His own personal audience!

 And one with me, just to prove I was there!!

I'm so proud of Evan, and of all he has accomplished in his first 6 months of piano lessons!!

Cotillion Christmas Ball

Last night was the Junior Cotillion Christmas Ball.  Blake has been pretty excited about it!  It was a "grandparent's" event and ALL of Blake's grandparents got to go.  I'm not sure he realizes just how blessed he is to have 2 sets of grandparents who LOVE to do things like this with him.

Getting ready is always a process.  Travis doesn't admit it, but he loves helping Blake get ready.  It was a formal event, so Blake wore a suit.  He looked SO handsome!

While Blake got ready, I took a few pictures...

 Travis helping him get his coat on.

 My handsome boy with his Nonnie and Poppy.

 Blake with NaNa and PaPa.  (Looks like Beau snuck in too).

 All my boys with all their grandparents.  Makes me proud!

 Blake with all of his "dates" for the night:)

 Nonnie and Poppy with the boys...

 Blake with a girl (can't remember her name:)  Super cutie!

 They are seriously really dancing.  Hard to believe...but I'm so proud of Blake for going and enjoying it!

 Blake dancing with his NaNa.  Apparently they were in the inside surrounded by a lot of people, so Poppy didn't get many pictures of them together.

 Blake dancing with Nonnie.

 Having a good time!

 Memories for sure!

 Awwww....

Next Blake danced with Lauren.  I think he might have a tiny crush:)

 She looked absolutely beautiful!

 They look WAY too grown up here!!!

 Blake said this was like "London Bridge"...

He had such a good time, even though all of his usual buddies didn't go.  Sick germs must be rampant!  I'm so thankful for grandparents who are willing to support our kiddos, no matter what they are doing!!!