Christmas Day

I decided to combine my Christmas posts this year.  We went to Christmas service on Saturday and enjoyed it.  It was a family service.  I kinda wish we would have waited to do church on Christmas Eve, but it was still nice.

I did not take a lot of pictures and instead decided to just enjoy the moment.  Jordy and I were up early Christmas morning and couldn't go back to sleep.  I don't know what the problem was, but we decided to go for showers and then wake Kaylea up.  We ended up waking her up at 7:30.  She was excited to see what Santa had brought, but didn't talk too much about the big guy.  Kaylea got a lot of toys she liked.  I think her favorites were the Doc McStuffins Check-Up Center and the hair salon chair and manicure set (I think I had at least 5 manicures today).

After opening presents and playing at our house for a little while, we headed to the Struck's for monkey bread and to open presents.  Kaylea got a new art easel.  She was very happy with her big gift from Nana & Pop's house.  She got some other gifts, too, but this was certainly the highlight.  We hung out at Nana & Pop's for a long time.  Jordy worked on putting some electronics together and Kaylea got to play.  We finally headed home around noon.  We thought we were going to hit up McDonald's for lunch, but they didn't open until 2pm, so we were out of luck.  Kaylea didn't take a nap, but she was kind enough to let us sleep for about an hour.

The final celebration of the season was at our house with my mom & dad and Trina & Mikey.  We had a delicious dinner.  For many reasons, it works out better to have my family over in the evening.  This isn't really my preference, but I have been looking on the bright side of it.  This Christmas was drama free.  My mom made an awesome meal - we had filet, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, carrots, green beans, and rolls (I did help make some of it).  We also had several desserts to select from.  Of course, Kaylea as spoiled some more with presents.  She also got some playtime with everyone, so she was one happy girl.

We were very blessed this Christmas season.  I feel like I have a child who understands the reason for the season, even though she is in love with getting presents.  I have a family who loves me and a warm bed to sleep in.  Merry Christmas!

Annual Ornament Exchange

When Jordy and I were in Maine and newly engaged, my mom gave me the idea for exchanging ornaments each year.  It has been a tradition we have continued.  Some years we give each other help, this year being one of them :)  We always buy Kaylea one now, too.  

This year, I ran my first (two) mini-marathons, so I received a running shirt with my times on it.  The highlight of Kaylea's year seemed to be her trip to Jamaica, so she received a beach ornament.  Jordy really wanted a Navy ornament that he saw at the Galt House, so I found a similar one online.  This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions.  

Merry Christmas Eve

This year I have so much to be thankful for.  I worked on Christmas Eve, but our boss was kind enough to suggest we go home early (that was in addition to another Christmas gift he gave us).  I left around 1pm and I was just in the best mood.  I got to hang out at home with the family before heading to the annual Christmas Eve celebration at the Struck's. I didn't get a lot of pictures this year, but that doesn't mean we didn't have fun.  We only get to see most of these family members once or twice a year, so we always have fun.  Kaylea got a lot of great gifts.

When we came home, I was surprised at how quickly Jordy got her to bed.  We forgot to sprinkle reindeer food and we forgot to set out cookies for Santa.  I promised Kaylea I would put the cookies out myself and I did.  She was asleep by 10pm and Santa finished wrapping and stopped by the house.

The Elf on the Shelf

The Elf on the Shelf (as Kaylea would call her) has arrived in our house. Last year, her name was Sparkles, but Kaylea asked the elf if we could change her name. It continues to change but the general consences is her name is Lilly Sparkles Heart. I just wanted to use this post to remember some of the places our Elf landed this year. I'm not sure she will buy this next year. She has already asked several questions, such as why does the elf just sit there and not move or do anything. I am hoping for a child who believes in Santa for at least another Christmas, but once I am sure she has it figured out, I will have to tell her the truth :)

Cookie Decorating Party

Cookie decorating has become a yearly tradition.  It started in Sellersburg, moved with us to Lafayette, and came back with us to New Albany.  I love it, the kids love it, and even Jordy doesn't mind.  This year we invited a house full and only 2 kids couldn't make it.  I usually have it in the morning, but we did it on a Friday night this year.  I think it was more fun this way.  We had dinner (everyone brought something).  We iced and decorated the cookies, made reindeer food, and did a craft.  I actually made the cookies a few days before and put them in the freezer.  They were so very yummy, even with canned icing!

I will admit, I was exhausted by the time everyone left.  Thankfully, I have a fabulous husband who took care of most of the clean up and my mom did all of the dishes.  You do not know how much this meant to me.

On a side note, the cookies did not make it to Christmas Eve.  The cat knocked them off of the counter and the dog and cat had a nice treat together.

Dance Recital

Kaylea had a dance recital this weekend.  The performance was at Bass Pro in an auditorium upstairs.  It was interesting.  I was impressed that Kaylea actually did the dance.  Most of the time during practice, she would not even try to pretend to be interested in learning the moves.  It was cute, but dance isn't my thing.  It may not be Kaylea's either - she likes to dance, but she isn't too interested in continuing to take the class.  She was most excited that it was over.  We celebrated the end of dance class by going out to dinner and letting her pick.  She selected Tomo and I have to say, I think it was an excellent choice :)

Happy 5th Birthday Carter

Kaylea was invited to her first birthday party from a school friend at Christian Academy. Carter turned 5 and had his birthday at SIGS. I wasn't sure if she actually wanted to go, but her friend Lucy was going to be there, so she went. She seemed to have a great time, until they passed out the treat bags. Not every treat bag was the same. Kaylea had a complete meltdown when everyone had a whistle, except her. Luckily, there was a little boy from her class there and he was super sweet and gave Kaylea his whistle. I honestly did not know how to handle this situation. It really wasn't fair and she really wanted a whistle, but life isn't fair, right? I intially had her ask the mother, thinking there was probably an extra treat bag - no luck. That only made it worse. I had just decided we were going to leave when Sam gave her his whistle. She was instantly happy.

First Snow of the Winter

We got snow this weekend. School was called off for Jordy & Kaylea so they got to spend some time together. It didn't start icing and snowing until after 1pm, but it got prety bad quickly. It took me over an hour to get home (double time), but when I got home Jordy was ready to go out for dinner. It's taken 14 years, but he is finally on board for a crazy adventure. We picked up my mom and went to Tumbleweed. We weren't the only ones out, but there weren't too many people out there. Sunday afternoon, I lucked upon a pair of snow pants in Kaylea's size at Target. It was the only pair left - and they were on sale! I was excited. We went home and got bundled up and played in the snow. She lasted about 20 minutes, which was longer than I expected! She kept wanting me to tackle her in the snow until her fingers got cold.

Christmas Photos

We bundled up for some Christmas pictures on a very cold day. It.was.freezing! We headed to Mount St. Francis with our photographer, Courtney and took some family photos. To be honest with you, these are not some of my favorites, but I got enough out of them to make me happy for Christmas cards. I also got what I needed for a Christmas present for Nana this year.

Happy 3rd Birthday Alton

Saturday morning we celebrated Alton turning 3! His birthday was in November, but his original party had to be rescheduled. The party was at St. John's church. There were bouncey houses, scooters, other toys to play with. Breakfast was served and Amy made some adorable monkey cupcakes. Kaylea had a great time and we had a great time catching up with the adults (when not being forced to jump, too)!

Happy 16th Birthday Mikey

On Saturday night, we celebrated our cousin, Mikey's, 16th Birthday! I cannot believe he is 16 years old. I can remember when he was born. I was only 17 years old. We had dinner, ate cake, opened presents, and visited with family we don't always get to see too often. Happy 16th Birthday Mikey!