A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

Wow! Let me just start out by saying that Santa was way too nice to us this year! He brought me a cannon rebel and I could not be any more excited. I have always been interested in 2 things that I never pursued, Hair (cosmetology) and Photography. There is no possible way to go ahead with cosmetology at this stage in my life, and what better hobby to pursue than photography? I mean, I have the perfect subjects, my sweet babies! So thank you Santa!
We had an early start to our day and it was NON-STOP. I found my husband doing this many times throughout the day.

My stud muffin in his Kurt Warner jersey that he got from his daddy.

Not sure what Santa was thinking on this one but he actually does really well and it has turned out great!

The girls got DS Lite's and this is what they did all day.

Kash got batting gloves just his size and still has not taken them off. He opened all of his presents like this and it took FOREVER!

By the end of the day Madi's face was covered.

We ended the day with a nice warm cup of hot chocolate. I want my children to know how much I adore them and how much joy and happiness they bring to my life. I love these pictures because all I have to do is look into their eyes and I see everything.

(Kash would not look at me!)

MORE CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES

Like I said in my previous post, I love this time of year but man is it ever busy! For me, this is my favorite kind of busy though. We are busy spending all of our time with family and reflecting on how lucky we are to have each other and the reasons why we are all here together on this earth.

Anyhow, I have got a ton of pictures of what we have been doing this last week. I threw this first one in here because this little boy cracks me up! He insisted on eating his lunch with a spatula.

I wore him out with all my running around!

Decorating Gingerbread Houses. Before...

After...

Kash had his Christmas Program and once again Mrs. Rogers outdid herself. These little kids did such a fabulous job!
Kash taking his bow:)

The next few pictures tell a funny story. (well at least to me) He was so excited to perform all of the songs they had worked so hard on, I mean look at his face. But then...

A little visitor came knocking at the door and look how the expression on his face changed drastically from the previous picture. And then...

The meltdown. He tried so hard to be brave but I think he thought if he just rubbed his eyes Santa Clause would disappear.

And then we experienced a Christmas miracle...He decided it wouldn't be that bad to sit on his lap. He couldn't be that bad, right? The day turned out to be a great one and everyone was happy.

Here are the kids at our annual Turley Christmas Party performing the Nativity. My girl were beautiful angels.

And Kash was a studly Sheppard.

THE GRINCH VS. THE NUTCRACKER

What a fun week we have had. It started out with a night of "Reading Under the Stars", well that's what it was supposed to be until it decided to rain all day so the school changed it to "Reading in the Multi-Purpose Room". There was cookies, hot chocolate, and some great stories read to us as we sat in our comfy pj's. At the end a great night there was a special visit from The Grinch. Kash would have nothing to do with him but the girls were all over it!
This is how Kash insisted on being carried out to the car. Little Goober.

Friday night we went to the Temple Lights and ate some yummy pizza at good ole pizza mart!

Saturday my girls were in the Nutcracker! It was such a fun but busy day. They had 2 shows, one at 2 and one at 7:30. Jake's parents, sister, and all of the girl cousins from the Allen side came to the 2:00 showing. They were so sweet for coming to show their support. I know it meant a lot to my girls and made them feel so special.

In between shows their awesome Daddy took us all out to dinner at Costa Vida. My girls still had another show to perform but as you can see from this picture they are exhausted!

Madi was a Gingerbread and Dani was a Gumdrop. They did so good. I am so very proud of them. They had extra practices every week (on top of their regular dance and gymnastics classes) since the beginning of October and never once did they complain.

Girls, Mom and Dad love you! You rocked it!

AM I REALLY THAT OLD?

My sweet Madi Bear celebrated her 9th, yes I said 9th, Birthday on Saturday. Madi is such a special girl. She definitely came to me first for a reason. She is such a good helper and she seems to have a special intuition to know when her crazy mom needs help. She is tender hearted and people flock to her because of her genuinely sweet and fun personality. I love this girl!

We don't do big Birthday parties every year so this time she got to invite 2 friends to a Girl's Night Out. We took them to dinner and a movie. She chose to see A Christmas Carol and wanted to sit by herself, not by her embarrassing parents. We had heard that this movie was a little scary so the best we could do was to sit right behind them just in case. They made it through the whole movie but within the first 5 minutes the arm rest went up and they scooted in close and all had their arms around each other.

Here they are walking into the movie singing, "Bad Girls, Bad Girls What you gonna do? What you gonna do when they come for you?"
Strikin' a pose in their sweet 3-D glasses. You do not want to mess with these "Bad Girls".

Following the movie we went to Red Robin to enjoy some fabulous food and open a few presents.

You can really see her fun personality in this picture:)

We opened her family presents the morning of her birthday. Dani had been talking about her present for her for days. This purse that she is holding up is a purse that Dani has had for a while and it is her all time favorite possession and she chose to give it her older sister. Do I have the best children or what?!

I promise you my Madi will work with animals in one way or another when she is older. We call her the animal whisperer. She has got a way with animals, they just love her. She opened this huge horse and just about had a heart attack.

Last night we were able to celebrate with my family and enjoy her favorite Texas Sheet Cake with some of her favorite people.

Madisen, I love you! I am so thankful for you and all that you bring to my life! You are such a light in all of our lives. Hope you had a great Birthday!

Where Do I Begin?

I have come to the conclusion that most of my posts are full of pictures of my kids and I now know why that is. I have been absolutely miserable lately (I know I'm a baby-waa-waa) and this is how I focus on the best things in my life instead of how incredibly huge, swollen, and grumpy I am. These emotions that I have been dealing with are so not important but my children, on the other hand, are the most important people in my life ( my hubby too:)) I am so blessed and so Happy. This is my favorite time of year.

Kash had a Thanksgiving Feast at his preschool and he dressed up as an Indian. His Indian name was Black Horse.
A couple days before Thanksgiving we went to Nanna's house for our 1st annual pie making night. It was a blast! My mother-in-law is so talented in so many ways. We were so happy that she was willing to share her talent with us!

We actually put up the Christmas lights before Thanksgiving this year. (when I say we I really mean my most awesomest hubby)

I caught these 2 actually being nice to each other. I love these little moments!

They were totally rockin' out!

We went out to dinner the day before Thanksgiving and we came to a decision that going out to dinner with Kash was no longer a fun thing to do. This is what he was doing the entire time until his food came out.

And he would only use a knife to eat his food!

After our big meal on the special Turkey day Grandad took us out back and shot BB guns with us.

AZ STATE FAIR!

Yesterday brought back some old, old but great memories. We were able to go as a family and watch Dani perform at the good old Az State Fair. She did Fabulous, we are so proud of her!
(she's the one with her hands clasped together)
Front and center! She is such a performer.

Shakin' her booty in her booty shorts!

We were then able to go and enjoy the rides, the fun exhibits, and let's not forget the GREAT FATTY FOOD! (If you click on the pictures you can see the looks on their faces. I'm still laughing out loud...too funny)

Kash loved pretending he was Super Man flying through the air!