Advent: Christmas Parade

One of my favorite events of December is the town Christmas parade. It is all local and so much fun! We always see so many people we know, both as spectators and in the parade. And both girls know how to work it to get candy!

Dad hooked us up with donuts and hot chocolate while we waited for the festivities.

Andrew, sleepily bundled up in his stroller.

The parade begins!

Our friend Audrey jumps rope at one of the elementary schools.

This Polar Express was so cool!

Our dancing friends

Our friend Kenzie hooked us up with candy.

Emma checking out the Chick-Fil-A cows.

Santa ends every Christmas parade!

Advent, Day 3: Church Christmas Party

We have a LOT of kids in our ward, so the line to see Santa was long. Two out of three looking at the camera isn't bad, right?

Advent, Day 2: Town Tree Lighting

I took the girls to the local town tree lighting at city hall. (I had a sitter for book club later that evening, so I left her with Andrew while I took just the girls). We got there nice and early, but the games were already set up. We practically had the bounce house to ourselves! We fit in all of the activities and even grabbed some cookies and hot chocolate before the festivities officially began.

My cute ginger-girls!

Maddie working hard on her build-a-sticker scene.

Ditto Emma.

It's lit! And don't worry, it looked way better in person. 

The girls, on a hill overlooking the tree and festivities.

Advent, Day 1: Santa at the Courthouse

In "old town" Rockwall there is a lovely town square with an old courthouse. Every year they have a free visit with Santa, "sleigh" rides, and free cookies and popcorn. I love it. It is one of those events that make Rockwall feel like a smaller town than it is. (Oh, and we always wear our pajamas and get loads of compliments.) Here it is: Andrew was a little nervous, but mostly because he was tired. And the girls couldn't wait to tell Santa what they wanted.

Thanksgiving Wednesday

Dave has been working a lot of late, so when his boss generously offered him the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off, we jumped at the chance to hang out as a family. We headed to the Museum of Nature and Science, where the girls saw their first Imax movie, Dolphins. It was perfect for them and they both loved it. We had about 45 minutes before the movie started to play around in the children's section of the museum.

Emma with shark's jaw. They were promoting a new shark exhibit (which we skipped).

Maddie rides a tractor.

Maddie rides a horse.

Groovin'.

Thanksgiving Break

Emma had a whole week off from preschool for Thanksgiving, so we took advantage of the break to invite some friends (including our beloved Sarah, who started kindergarten this year) with us for one last trip to Autumn at the Arboretum. The pumpkins were starting to fade a little and it was actually a little cold out, but we   had a blast anyway.

Sitting on the throne of the Little Mermaid Castle

I love the Turk's Turban Squash and the Lakota pumpkin. Maybe I should do one in my garden this year???

Goat lovin'.

Sweet little butterflies.

Cinderella's carriage.

Can you believe these two used to pound on each other in nursery?

Dave took the girls camping and all I got were these pictures.

A Boy and His Toys

One day in November I found Andrew looking like this:

 Apparently he had been crying and Maddie thought he needed some attention.

Thanks Maddie!

Emma's 5th Birthday

For her 5th birthday, Emma requested a fairy party. Up until this point I had no idea that she was really interested in fairies--she had only a passing interest in Tinkerbell. But she insisted fairies it was, so I did some searching on Pinterest and came up with a fun party. We had a lovely group of girls who were so polite and kind and had such a great time playing with each other. I love this age!

Fairies playing in the "bower"

Patiently waiting turns

Pin the wings on the fairy

Musical flowers

Fairy scavenger hunt

The scavenger hunt gets abandoned as everyone just starts playing

Opening presents

The birthday girl seems happy with her party.

Using stickers to make fairy scenes

Halloween

This was Maddie's first year going trick-or-treating. I guess technically it was Andrew's first year too, though he didn't collect candy, he just came along for the ride. We went out around 6 for an hour and a half and got a lot of loot, and we didn't even hit up that many houses (we were kind of slow). The girls watched out for each other and had a great time.