christmas day

well, i think this christmas topped all! it gets more and more fun with the girls each year. even kam was excited about everything this time. it was just so fun to watch their faces! :)

ken's favorite gift was a scooter from santa and a "real" camera from us. mck's favorites were her big wheel from santa and a "weal kids" camera from us! kam is so in love with her baby and all the goodies that go with it and loves her princess potty from santa! :)

the girls really tore through everything so fast! they opened and played with almost everything before we packed up and headed to grammy and grampy's house in houston for christmas dinner! it was hard to pack up three kids and two dogs after all the christmas excitment, but soooo nice to not have to cook! :)

we had christmas morning with the family the following morning! ken and mck were spoiled with a wonderful doll house (which kam loves playing with too!) and kam finally got her pbk chair so she can hang with her sisters when they're in their chairs! :) grammy spoiled everyone with stockings full of goodies! :)

will it continue to get better every year? hard to believe, but i think it just might . . . okay, maybe only until we are completely outnumbered by teenagers . . . but we have a few years until that happens!

christmas eve

the girls were soooo excited today! :) they loved wearing their christmas dresses and going to the children's service . . . mck even danced in the aisle! :) we came home and had lots of finger foods and special christmas eve drinks! poor mck starting crying and complaining about her ear . . . of course EVRYTHING was closed! poor baby. (she made it until the next day when a dr. called in a prescrip for her! she ended up with 2 ear infections!)

the girls got in their christmas p.j.'s and opened one gift . . . kam thought everything we opened was for her! :) they put out cookies for santa along with a mug of milk. they all went out to sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn . . . and holy crow, they were in bed AND asleep by 8:30. they were NOT messing around with scaring santa off! (could we have a visit from santa every night?)

the baking bailey girls

the girls got all decked out in their holiday baking gear to make christmas cookies. ken and mck were so into picking the sugar cookie shapes they wanted to cute out . . . kam was content to eat the decorations! :)

bailey and i frosted the cookies to keep the mess to a minimum and the girls went crazy decoration with all sorts of sprinkles and frosting tubes. mck would dump a whole bunch of sprinkles on one spot of the cookie. we tried to have her spread it out, but she was adamant that that's how it was supposed to look! ken took great care in trying to make the cutouts look "real" . . . candy canes decorated with candy cane sprinkles, gingerbread men with gingerbread sprinkles! :) little kam just tried to eat as much sugar as she could before we cleaned up! :) they are sooooo different, but each so wonderful in their own way! :)

one more tradition

the weather finally got cold . . . a little too cold! we visited the lights in marble falls at a chilly 35 degrees. all of us were bundled up head to toe! the kids ran through the trail to keep warm and poor kam couldn't snuggle close enough! it really made it feel like the holidays were here! (FINALLY!)

after getting chilly and checking out the lights we headed to the blue bonnet cafe for hot chocolate with whip cream and pie! what a perfect ending to the evening! :)

bowling with santa

the girls had their first family bowling experience! :) it was a hit with all of them! we went to a new place in georgetown - mel's . . . it's so nice and new and clean! and the hit of the morning was santa was there! he even came and bowled with the girls for a minute! :)

ken really got into it and stands with her hands on her hips wiggling her booty waiting for the ball to reach the end of the alley! truly, we are in trouble with her! mck does everything really fast and doesn't pay too much attention! she's funny to watch! and kam got a kick out of bowling with me holding her or pushing it down the ramp! :)

what a fun first day of vacation! :)

the north pole flyer

bailey and i had been anticipating taking the girls on the north pole flyer, a local train that does a christmas ride for kids, since may when i purchased the tickets (it fills up fast!). we had a great start to our evening . . . dinner at a favorite restaurant, the kids opened their christmas p.j.'s and slippers in the car, the were all decked out! :) even the walk up to the train was pretty cool! we had out own compartment . . . plenty of room to spread out and let the kids be monkeys!

well, after the initial boarding, it seemed to be one crazy thing after another . . . the train left almost 45 minutes late (we were having to entertain them for the whole time . . . i didn't bring anything entertaining other than food!)/ about 15 minutes into the ride our car (attached to the engine) became unattached from the rest of the train and went completely black. fun. so we had to reverse and re-attach. the kids were dressed in fleece p.j.'s and the car was like 80 degrees! and despite all of the pitfalls, we still arrived back at the station promptly at 9 . . . hmmmm, not exactly the magical experience i was imagining! the kids had fun and just enjoyed being on a train and moving without having to sit in their seat! :)

there is a silver lining to the whole thing! :) i complained and they refunded my $140! so for a free ride, i guess we'll take the craziness! :)

zilker tree and trail of lights

we met our bff's for dinner and the zilker park christmas experience on thursday! the kids all had so much fun spinning under the tree . . . i think this is one of the things that just might get better every year. kam just kept saying "more, more!". the trail of lights was fun too. it seemed like the kids were all so excited about every exhibit - just trying to take it all in! despite the warm weather, the girls enjoyed some hot chocolate at the end of the trail. another tradition checked off the list . . . christmas is right around the corner! :)

christmas dance performances

both mck and ken had their christmas performances in ballet class this week.

mck performed to "mrs. santa claus" . . . she did great being in front of a large group of parents! she had so much fun dancing . . . sometimes she's more interested in what the little girl next to her is doing than actually doing the dance, but it was super cute. they finished their morning with a party and gift exchange . . . mck ended up with a stuffed pegasus. she's slept with it for two nights! :)

ken performed to a country song "jingle my bells" . . . and the dance was complete with jingling bells! way cute. wow. they had a lot of steps to try to remember. it was a fast moving song. she did soooo well! her class also finished with goodies and a gift exchange . . . ken ended up with a littlest pet shop figure. she is now figuring out how she can get more to add to her "collection". :)

let it snow . . . (texas style!)

with our crazy texas weather the girls got to see some snow flurries and some ice last week! it was soooooo exciting for it to finally be cold! :) the snow and cold didn't last long though. :( so on sunday we headed to play in some texas "snow"!

our playgroup friends are amazing and set up an entire room of "snow" again this year! the kids got to run, play, throw "snowballs" and make "snow angels". that's about as real as it gets in texas!

what an amazing afternoon! ken had lots of fun throwing it at everyone, mck wanted to lay down and be buried in it, and poor kam was a little overwhelmed by the whole crazy scene!

gingerbread village

thanks to our breakfast at nordstrom's, all of the girls had a gingerbread house to decorate! :) we spent a large majority of our day sunday assembling and then decorating them! ken knew exactly how she wanted hers to look, mck ate more candy than she put on the house, and kam was happy just to watch the commotion and eat an occasional gumdrop!

after we put the houses together the girls decorated the village with christmas marshmallows. they are so proud of it and are having trouble keeping their hands off! :)

a spectacular saturday

we began our day with the most wonderful treat . . . a snowman breakfast at nordstrom's! it was soooooo perfect. we were walked to our table in the cafe where ken, mck, and kam each had a gingerbread house kit waiting for them! we had a delicious breakfast then headed downstairs for more fun . . . a visit with santa, face/arm painting, balloon art, a candy cane hunt, letter writing. it was wonderful! ken and mck each really got to visit with santa and tell him what they're wishing for without any crowds! . . . santa told them he knew they'd been good (ha!). kam even sat for a few pictures and didn't cry! :) despite our very early wake up on a weekend (5:45!) it made for a magical start to our holiday! we'll be trying to do this every year - as long as i remember to call in july and get put on the list! :

in the afternoon we met our bff's in georgetown for the christmas stroll - lots of vendors and kid activities. we got some fresh air, a little bit of bouncing, a visit to bethlehem, and saw some cool characters in who-ville! :) the kids had fun hanging out with their buds and so did mom and dad! :) we ate an awesome dinner at monument cafe then piled back in the mini-van!

we drove to belton for the "nature in lights" display . . . the kids love it because they get to be unbuckled while we're driving and the lights are truly amazing! there are countless light displays along the drive and the tunnel at the end is completely covered with lights and moves to music. . . the best $5 we'll spend this holiday season! the girls enjoyed sugary snacks and popcorn while we drove through. a perfect end to our spectacular saturday!

fun friday with family!

we had a really nice day with the fam before heading back to gerogetown! after sarah and i had a morning of fighting the crowds and hunting for bargains, we all went to see madagascar 2 and loaded up on soda, candy, and popcorn! :) ken and mck loved the movie - it was really cute. kam preferred walking around and saying "hi" to all the random people in and out of the theatre - guess she's not quite ready for the movies! :)

we walked around the market street area which is sooooo wonderful! a nice green area with fountains a beautiful tree! we then checked out a new fountian that "performs" to music. it was sooooo cool! we'll be heading back there soon. we walked along the river walk and enjoyed the fresh air. it was the perfect ending to a holiday week! :)

turkey day 2008

we started off the day dressed in turkey shirts to watch the macy's parade! the girls had fun, but were easily distracted and enjoyed destroying the downstairs with toys! :)

sarah had all sorts of fun crafts for the girls to do on their visit - including pine cone turkeys (okay, this was more me and sarah than the girls!), turkey headbands, and turkey cupcakes (which were SOOOOOO yummy!). they had so much fun! thanks, sarah! :) you are such a wonderful aunt! the girls are lucky! :)

the girls got all dressed up for thanksgiving dinner and were having a great time being sweet to each other for some pictures! :)

we had a wonderful meal . . . the turkey was great! my personal favorite was the gourmet green beans - who knew you could spend an hour making green beans? :)

we lounged around and chatted in the evening. sarah and i retired early for our big black friday shopping spree the next morning . . .

thanks mom and dad for a wonderful holiday!

pumpkin play dough playtime

this fall craft from family fun magazine was a hit! the girls mixed the play dough and kam turned the noodle stems green! the kids made pumpkin families and giant pumpkins! what a fun afternoon! we even brought it to grammy's house to play on turkey day! :)

tree trimming traditions

ken and mck got their own pick tree last year and couldn't wait to get it out of the christmas storage tubs and put it up. they wanted it all to be a surprise and had us close our eyes when we went in to see it! :) too cute! they were even good sports about letting kam help out! :) now they say they need a tree skirt for it! :)

the kids had so much fun pulling out ornanments and hanging them on the tree. i totally gave up control this year and let them hang them where they wanted to! :) (and i'm not fixing them!) :)

our tradition of the letting the kids put the topper on the tree continues! :) each girl took turns trying to put the snowman on top! :) it was the last stage of our tree trimming tradition fun today! :)