Class Christmas Parties

The girls had their Christmas parties at school today.  Ann Parker's party started at 11:15 so I headed there first.


They have come a long way since their last party!  Each child sat so calmly and ate their lunch.

Her two sweet teachers, Ms. Debbie and Ms. Shay.  We LOVE them!

Caroline's class party started at noon, so we headed there after AP's party.  Today was pajama day at school so they got to party in their PJ's!!

They sang the parents Jingle Bells while shaking bells.  It was so cute!!

What a sweet group of kids!

Caroline with one of her best girl friends on one side and one of her best boy friends on the other.  She has some of the best friends ever.

Caroline with her teacher, Ms. Lillian.  We will miss Ms. Lillian when she leaves in January.  Ms. Lillian was a long term sub for Ms. Ginny.  Ms. Ginny cannot come back but Ms. Lillian is unable to finish the year, so these kiddos will be getting another new teacher in January.

25 Days of Christmas: Day 19

Day 19:  Go to Candyland

We went to the Vestavia Library Candyland program yesterday.  They had one of the rooms set up like the game board.  Each child got a spinner and a treat bag and made their way around the board.  It was so cute and both girls had a wonderful time!

We sure do love J and S!!  These are some of the sweetest boys - and wonderful friends to my sweet girls!

25 Days of Christmas: Day 18

Day 18:  bake goodies for our teachers!

Since class parties were at the end of this week, we spent some time baking for our teachers! It has been a great year so far and we are so thankful for them. Each class did group gifts, but we like being the favorites so we made a little something extra ;)

25 Days of Christmas: Day 17

Day 17: spread holiday cheer...AKA the day I ran a sweatshop

Thai has been a long week.  I was sick and tired, AP was not sleeping well so no one slept well, and we were busy.  I ordered Christmas cards early but with all the craziness going on, we didn't start working in them until today.  I had the girls help stuff, seal, and stick labels.  Caroline did enjoy it but AP thought I was torturing her.  I had to laugh at these pictures of Caroline working so hard....I wonder what other jobs I can get her to do in the name of holiday activities? 

25 Days of Christmas: Days 15-16

Day 15: Go see Christmas lights

We had planned on going to the Mountain Brook Christmas Parade, since it was rained out the week before and we were going to go to that.  We bundled the girls up (it was about 30 degrees) and headed out to Mountain Brook Village.  About 2 minutes away from our house, Ann Parker falls asleep.  About 3 minutes after that, Caroline falls asleep.  Although I really wanted to take them to the parade, I knew I couldn't wake up two sleepy, warm girls to watch a parade in the freezing cold.  Never fear - "Watch a Parade" quickly became "Go see Christmas lights" - an activity that we could easily do from the warmth of our car!  Caroline LOVED seeing all the lights.  There are some amazingly decorated houses out there.  Good job, Birmingham!!  I couldn't take any pictures since we were moving and they all would have come out blurry.  I did take a picture of the cute colorful alpine tree that was waiting on us at our front door.  It's so fun having some color outside our house this year!

Day 16: Go see Santa

Today we went to see Santa at Brookwood.  I knew that Caroline would love Santa and I was pretty sure AP would hate him.  A little girl in AP's class had a Santa party yesterday and AP wouldn't even go in the same room as Santa...  As expected, she screamed and cried on his lap but it made a super cute picture.  Caroline asked Santa for a race track and a Dora back pack.  She was a little confused as to where the toys were...since he's Santa and should just have them for her now.

This is a picture of a picture so it's blurry and distorted, but it was too cute not to share!

25 Days of Christmas: Days 12-14

We have been busy, busy but having oh so much fun!  I just love the holiday season!

Day 12:  Watch a Christmas movie.

Adam had a work event to go to so it was the perfect night for Christmas pj's and snuggling up on the couch for a girls night watching a movie.  We watched Saving Santa, which was really cute although a little over their heads.  It was so nice to spend some sweet time with these precious girls!

Day 13:  Give a gift

We have been trying to talk with the girls about the real meaning of Christmas.  It's fun to get new toys and clothes, but it's also a time to give.  We give to people that don't have as much because we need to share our blessings and we give to family and friends to show them how much we love them.  This was the perfect night to give something to some very special friends.

Some of the greatest blessings in our lives are our friends.  We are so fortunate to have made great friends in college, law school, church. work, and "mommy" friends.  Each year we have a special dinner with some wonderful law school friends.  This year was extra fun because Holly and Brad are engaged!!!  We are so happy for them and cannot wait for their special day next fall.  We decided to give them a beautiful ornament to hang on their tree.  While Caroline was totally on board with giving the gift, she was not about to let them open it...

Day 14:  Make SNOW!!

Thanks to Pinterest we found a fun (albeit very messy) activity for this weekend.  We made snow!  It was so easy and so much fun.  Caroline kept saying, "This is the best day ever!!"  It was adorable and was totally worth the giant mess that we made.

Visitor's Week at BDT

This week parents and other visitors were allowed to watch the dance classes at BDT.  Caroline has been taking princess ballet this year and she just loves it!  I was so excited to see what fun they have been up to.

Ms. Lacie is the best teacher ever and she made Snow White tutu's for all the sweet princesses!

If only I also had Maggie in this shot it would be perfect!  The class is dominated by girls who are children of my friends.  These girls and their mommies are such blessings in our lives!  I love having a little bit of time each week where the big girls can take dance and the mommies can visit while the little ones run wild!

Caroline, Charlotte, Sydney, Caroline M.

There - this one has Maggie in it although they are all pretending to be asleep :(

25 Days of Christmas: Day 11

Not sure why I felt like I needed to photo document every activity, but I did.  And now we are 11 days in (12 after tonight) and I feel like all I do is follow my kids around with a camera...tis the season to be a mama-razzi?

Anyway......

Day 11: SING Christmas Music

Last night Caroline had her Cherub Choir show at church.  They sang around five Christmas songs and they did a great job.  No tears, no falls, no one running off stage.  For a group that is only three year olds, that is quite a success!!

We took the girls out to dinner to celebrate afterwards.  C was so exhausted that she fell asleep in the car and slept through part of dinner.

25 Days of Christmas: Days 9-10

Day 9:  Paint a Christmas Tree

I put some paper on the floor and drew a tree on it and let the girls go crazy.  Caroline loves art and it seems that AP does too.  Everyone was covered in paint and glue by the end of it, but we made some cute trees and everyone was happy.

Day 10:  Bake Christmas Cookies

We had some friends over for dinner last night so it was the perfect day to bake some cookies to share!  We made red velvet crinkle cookies and I let the girls pretty much do everything.  I put all the ingredients into the bowl and then they took turns mixing.  I scooped the dough out of the bowl and then AP rolled it into balls and gave them to Caroline, who rolled them in the powdered sugar and put them on the pan.  They are delicious and we are looking forward to making more Christmas goodies this year!

This was fun, but it was certainly not clean fun!