Trick-or-Treat... It's Halloween!

Again this year, Halloween arrived and we had non-stop Halloween activities for two days straight. We started Friday at the Indian Lake Halloween Parade. I have to say, this is by far one of my favortie events at Indian Lake Elementary. The parade was FANTASTIC! We saw some very creative costumes! Mary Grace was dressed as a witch! She looked great! After the parade, we headed inside for Mary Grace's 1st Grade class Halloween party. The kids had so much fun decorating Halloween picture frames and eating yummy treats. Then we headed home to get ready for Carleigh and Tucker's annual Halloween party. Mary Grace was happy to put on her witch costume for the second time and Carolyne was excited to get ready in her cat costume. The girls had tons of fun! They decorated pumpkins, played games, and trick-or-treated through the candy line. Mary Grace even braved the haunted house... twice! The next day we dressed up again and headed to the Pumpkin Festival at Moss Wright Park. This was our 7th year to attend the Pumpkin Festival. The girls always have so much fun! After a trip down the trick-or-treat trail, we headed to the Hitchcock's house to trick-or-treat through their neighborhood. We were excited to be joined by the Smith family. The girls had so much fun going door-to-door with Carleigh as Sleeping Beauty and Tucker as Darty Maul. It was a great day! We were exhausted, but the girls loved every minute!

Seven and Skating!

Mary Grace counted down the days till her birthday for months! She planned and prepared and could not wait for her big day to arrive. About a month before her birthday, she decided she wanted to have her party at the skating rink. I have to say, this made me smile, bringing back memories of my own 7th birthday party at the skating rink. So, we started going on Saturdays to Wee Skate at the Sumner Skate Zone to let her practice. She wanted to skate on roller blades, instead of the traditional 4 wheel roller skates. Surprisingly, she picked it up right away. By the end of the first Saturday, she was skating on her own. We continued to practice for the next three weeks... a couple of Saturdays at the skating rink and a few afternoons on the park trail. She quickly became a huge fan of roller blading. Her birthday party date arrived and we headed to the skating rink. Most of the girls from her class and a few other friends joined us for the big day. The girls skated to fun songs by Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, and Taylor Swift. Then they enjoyed pizza and cake before heading back on the rink for the Hokey Pokey. Mary Grace had so much fun!!

Back to School!

As always, summer ended, and it was time to get back to school. This year Mary Grace's school kicked-off a "year round" schedule... which means little more than starting one week earlier, ending one week later, and having three long breaks during the year. It did push the start date back to the first week of August. Fortunately, Mary Grace did not mind summer coming to an early end... she was ready to get back to school with her friends and get started in 1st grade. She was really excited to show her friends her new earrings.... oh yes, Mary Grace got her ears pierced the week before school started. She was thrilled to start this school year feeling like a big girl! This year she is in Mrs. Engle's class. We LOVE Mrs. Engle! She is fun and creative, but also very challenging. She means business, but she has turned out to be the PERFECT fit for Mary Grace. Mary Grace is really enjoying first grade! This year has introduced us to unit projects, chapter books, accelerated reader, accelerated math, spelling tests, and nightly homework... not to mention one extra hour of school each day. But, so far, so good! She is having fun..., learning and growing by leaps and bounds!

Carolyne also started back to school in August... 4-Year Old Preschool. She was thrilled to get Ms. Rachel as her teacher. Rachel taught Mary Grace's 3-Year Old class, so Carolyne was already very familiar with Ms. Rachel. That made for such an easy start to the year... no tears and no worries... quite a change from last year's first day! The 4-Year Old class introduced a couple of new things to the preschool routine... the removal of a daily nap (oh my!) and the addition of computer class! Carolyne was thrilled to welcome both things into her weekly schedule... she was especially excited to learn she would be skipping naptime! She really loves computer and is continuing to learn many new things in Spanish, Discovery, and Music. Ms. Rachel is an awesome teacher and is really helping the kids get ready for Kindergarten! It is hard to believe that this time next year, Carolyne will be in "big school" every day. I am not ready for that!

Not-So-Lazy Days of Summer

It has been a long time since I have had a chance to sit down and blog about our family. The last four and a half months have flown by. It seems like we have been swimming through life for a while now and tomorrow I will officially come up for air. We have experienced a lot in the last months... a summer full of softball tournaments, swimming, and travel... the first day of 1st Grade and 4-Year Old Preschool... our first concert... a birthday party... Halloween... the list goes on and on. So, I will try to play catch-up here... it may be long, so bear with me. I will post a few highlights and fun pictures and get ready to ease into the last two months of this year.

So, like I said, it has been a busy four months. We kicked off our summer with Mary Grace joining the Goodlettsville "Storm" 6U Softball Team. She was beyond thrilled to be picked for this team. And, even more thrilled that she would be joined by two of her favorite "Lightning" teammates... Carleigh and Makayla. This was our first experience with "travel" softball. Fortunately, the "travel" part was fairly easy with most of the tournaments being somewhat close to home. Mary Grace had a blast playing for the Storm. She made lots of new friends and enjoyed challenging herself to play a new level of softball. Carolyne enjoyed the tournaments too! For her, every weekend was an exciting new adventure! The team had a great season, winning 1st place in 3 of the tournaments.

Softball was not our only summer activity. The girls joined Ms. Dana and Ms. Daree again this year for a week of swimming lessons. It is amazing to see how far they have come in the last year! Mary Grace finally learned to swim on her own... not that I would throw her out in the deep end unsupervised... but she has the confidence and ability to keep herself afloat and enjoy being in the pool... without an arm wrapped around my neck! Carolyne did great too! She loves being in the water... and I mean "IN" the water... face down, under water, holding her breath for as long as she can. To practice our skills, we joined the Hendersonville YMCA! The girls enjoyed swimming there all summer... 3 or 4 times a week. We will definitely be heading back to the Y again next year!

With school out for the summer, we were also able to do a little traveling. In addition to our short weekend softball trips, we made trips to Atlanta, Auburn, and Gulf Shores. We love visiting Atlanta, home of two of Jason's close friends from college, Matt and Benji. We have made it a tradition to visit these families every summer and we are always blessed to be hosted by Matt and his wife Elizabeth and their three beautiful girls... Avery, Emily, and baby Ashley. As of our trip in June, baby Ashley had yet to arrive, but our girls had a blast playing with Avery and Emily. The girls are all very close in age, so it is always an adventure to have 4 lively girls together in one house for a few days. Following our Atlanta trip, we headed to Auburn to visit Jason's grandparents. It is always fun to relax for a few days with Grandaddy and Gran. The girls love going to Auburn to explore the town where GiGi and PawPaw (Jason's parents) grew up and where Jason went to college. Who knows... maybe one day they will go to college there too... although I am secretly hoping for them to attend college a little closer to home! Our last trip of the summer was to the beautiful beach in Gulf Shores. This was our second summer to visit the beach and it is quickly becoming one of our favorite traditions! The girls had so much fun swimming in the ocean and digging in the sand. We were so excited this year to be in Gulf Shores at the same time as our friends, the Smiths. The girls had so much fun playing with Carleigh and Tucker. We went on a crab hunt, took a trip to Alligator Alley, and enjoyed a day of hunting for sea shells. I was sad to see our week at the beach come to an end! I am already looking forward to next year's beach trip!

School's Out for SUMMER!

Well, I am a little late posting about the end of school, but... better late than never. This year has been FANTASTIC! Carolyne enjoyed her first year of Preschool and Mary Grace had a blast in Kindergarten. The girls have been so busy and learned so much... it is truly amazing! I have had lots of fun too! It is easy to forget just how much fun school can be!

This year brought about many changes in our family. The first being that my baby, sweet Carolyne, started Preschool two days a week. Honestly, I was not sure how this would go... Carolyne would much rather be home with her family than anywhere else in the world. But, after a slow start (a few days of tears and long hugs at the door), she jumped in head first and slowly emerged as a new, independant and outgoing, Carolyne. This was so wonderful to see. Carolyne enjoyed being side by side with Mary Grace for the first 3 1/2 years of her life. So, it was a much needed change to see her learn to play on her own, make her own friends, and step out of the shadow of her big sister. She really loved her teachers,Ms. Cari and Ms. Candi, and it filled my heart with joy to see they loved her so much in return. She made great friends and learned many new things. It was a great first year of Preschool. She is very excited about being home for the summer, although she is looking forward to "4-Year-Old Preschool". She knows she is only one year away from being in "big school with sissy". She is ready!! I, on the other hand, am NOT... so I am glad I have one more year to enjoy having her at home!

Mary Grace had an AWESOME first year of school. I can't say enough how blessed we were for Mary Grace to have such an amazing teacher...Mrs. Seigenthaler. Her love for her students and for teaching is such a blessing! She went above and beyond this year to ensure that each child had the absolute best Kindergarten experience. Mary Grace certainly did! She did not waste any time jumping into her Kindergarten routine. She loved everything about school this year... although she is always quick to tell me that her favorite parts of the day were lunch and recess because she loved hanging out with her friends... our little social butterfly. But, she also learned so much. She finished the year reading like a pro and picked up the skill of solving math problems in her head... I guess she gets that from Jason. She made lots of wonderful friends and enjoyed being a great student as well. I have no doubt she will be a successful first grader! She is excited about starting first grade, even though she has mentioned on many occasions that she will really miss Mrs. Seigenthaler. We are so excited about having a break for the summer... but I can't wait to see what she will learn next year.

Reflecting

Today is a day to celebrate... it is Mother's Day! I would like to think I have always loved and appreciated my mother, especially on this special day. But, it is only in the recent years, that I have truly understood what this day really means. Six and a half years ago, God blessed me with the role of being a mother. I had no idea what to expect. This has been the craziest journey of my life... but also the most precious, fulfilling, and rewarding. My sweet babies have changed the way I view the world. Before they arrived, I did not think much past any given day. It was easy to be selfish and immature and not worry too much about the future. But, now I awaken each day to a new found purpose. With God's help (and Jason's, of course), I am raising two of the sweetest and smartest little girls in the world. I find so much joy in the little tasks that can seem mundane... packing lunches, ironing school clothes, picking up toys. Because with these tasks come the most precious and rewarding times of the day... a good morning kiss, bear hugs at school drop-off, and sweet bedtime stories. I am amazed every day at how much my girls are growing and changing. I know, in the blink of an eye, they will be married with babies of their own. But, I will always be their mother... what an amazing life long gift! I am so blessed today to be a mother! I look forward to many more Mother's Days with my wonderful daughters. Thank you, Mary Grace and Carolyne, for making me the happiest mother in the world!

Mary Grace Takes 6U Softball by "STORM"

Mary Grace is having a great softball season. We are officially half-way through the season and the girls are playing great! Last Friday Mary Grace reached a huge softball milestone... she hit her first ever HOME RUN! She was beyond excited! We were all beyond excited! We followed that big night with a game Saturday morning and our first win of the season. This past weekend, the girls won their second game and Mary Grace hit two more home runs. And, to top off the weekend, Mary Grace was picked for the Goodlettsville 6U Storm (All-Star) team. The Storm team will travel to weekend softball tournaments throughout the summer. Mary Grace is so excited... especially since Carleigh was also picked for the team and they will spend the summer playing ball together. This is turning out to be an awesome softball season... and we still have another month to go!

All I Want for Summer is My TWO FRONT TEETH!

It was bound to happen. Since the first day of school, I have been holding my breath, waiting on some type of playground catastrophe. I am that overprotective mom that follows her kids around the playground attempting to protect them from every bump, bruise, or fall. I am thrilled to help them cross the monkey bars, happy to wait at the bottom of the slide, and eager to push them on the swings. I love the park, but I will be the first to admit the whole experience makes me nervous... mostly because I hate the thought of my babies getting hurt. So, when Mary Grace started school I had to release all my fears and just pray that she would stay safe. She has loved playing on the playground... getting only a few minor scrapes and bruises along the way. That is until two weeks ago. While playing on the playground at school she slipped and fell and knocked out her two front teeth. Well, actually, she knocked out one tooth and the other was left just barely dangling. So, her dentist went ahead and pulled her other front tooth. She was such a brave little girl. When I picked her up in the office, her eyes were filled with tears as she stood there holding a towel to her mouth. I think she was in shock. But, after a couple of hours and a quick trip to the dentist, she was grinning from ear to ear with her new smile. She could not wait to get home and put her tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy. She looks so cute... and sounds even cuter!

It's Fun to Play at the Y-M-C-A!!

This year our friend, Carleigh, celebrated her 7th birthday at the YMCA indoor pool. The girls were so excited about this party. I think we started the count down two weeks ahead of time. I was not too sure how Carolyne would do in the pool, but she had SO much fun. She really loved sliding down the frog slide and splashing and kicking in the shallow water with Tucker. Mary Grace had tons of fun with Carleigh and enjoyed meeting a few new friends. We followed a fun day of swimming with a trip to the movies to see Hannah Montana. The girls had really been looking forward to this movie... I think we have been watching previews for 6 months or more. They loved the movie... I have to admit, so did I! It was very cute and they loved singing along and dancing to the music. Since the movie, they have become pros at the "Hoedown Throwdown"... their new favorite Hannah dance. It was a weekend full of excitement and fun!

Easter "Eggstravaganza"

To get ready for Easter, we teamed up with the Smiths and the Hitchcocks for a night of dying eggs. This craft went so much better than I had anticipated... you never know what will happen when you have 5 kids, ranging in age from 2 to 7, all at one table with 6 bowls of dye. But, we had a BLAST! All of the kids made several eggs each... solid colors, tye dye, and even a few with character stickers. Mary Grace and Carleigh were super creative... they took a lot of time drawing faces on their eggs. Carolyne and Brody took a careful approach... they wanted to be sure to completely coat each egg with an even amount of color. Tucker was fast and furious... he dyed his eggs (and his hands) and finished them off by cracking the shells and digging out the boiled egg. We had so much fun! I am already looking forward to doing this again next year... another fun friend tradition!

Softball Season has Arrived!

Softball season kicked off with the first game on Friday followed be another game Saturday morning. I am not sure who was more excited in our family. Of course, Mary Grace couldn't wait to get on the field and play softball with all of her friends. Now that she is a little bigger, she really understands the game and enjoys it more now that she can hit well, run fast, and field most balls that come her way. Jason was excited to get back in the swing of our favorite spring sport... he loves coaching ball, especially since he gets to coach with Chris, and has so much fun teaching all of the girls the fundamentals of the game. Carolyne was looking forward to all of the wonderful snacks that she gets only at the ballpark... sunflower seeds, roasted peanuts, and ring pops. And, I was excited to be out in the fresh air with family and friends watching my little girl play ball. I just love this time of year!

Both games went really well! For the Friday game, MG played short stop. Her friend, Carleigh, played pitcher. Now that they are the oldest, it was great to see them playing big positions. On Saturday, MG played pitcher and a little bit at first base. She is so excited that she is getting the chance to play in a few different spots. She had two great hits on Saturday! She was really happy to see her cousin Kailey score her first run ever. Kailey is a great hitter and, over the course of last season, made it to base several times. Unfortunately, it was usually after the third out. On Saturday she got a great hit and was so excited to cross home plate to score a run for her team! We are looking forward to many more exciting games this season!

Mary Grace's Kindergarten Easter Egg Hunt

On Friday, Mary Grace's class celebrated the upcoming Easter holiday with an Easter egg hunt. To prepare for the big event, each child brought in a dozen candy filled eggs and a plastic milk jug. The children used their milk jugs to make a cute bunny Easter basket. Before the hunt, the parents took a little time to hide all of the eggs. Then, all of the kids gathered in the front yard of the school to begin the hunt. At the sound of the whistle, the kids went crazy. They had so much fun running through the yard and searching for eggs. Most of the kids filled their baskets, and suprisingly, shared eggs with those that did not hunt quite as fast. Mary Grace really enjoyed hunting eggs with her friends.

Carolyne is 4 Years Old!!

Two weeks ago Carolyne celebrated her fourth birthday. She was so excited... she has been eagerly anticipating her birthday for months. On March 22nd, we started her birthday celebrations with a party at our house for our families. She was so excited to have her grandparents, aunts, uncle, and cousins join her for lunch, cake, ice cream, and presents. She had a blast! We ended the party with a wiffle ball game in the back yard... I am pretty sure that was her favorite part.

The following Tuesday, she celebrated her birthday at preschool with her class friends. She picked out Polly Pocket cupcakes to take to school. She loved sharing the cupcakes with her friends... although the bright green and pink icing left her teachers with quite a mess. She was one of the last ones in her class to turn four, so she was so happy to finally reach this milestone.

Last, but not least, she celebrated her birthday with all of her little friends on March 28th at My Gym. Carolyne has been taking classes at My Gym since she was 2, so it was no surprise that she wanted to share this experience with all of her friends. The party started with free play time while music by Hannah Montana played in the background. Carolyne LOVED the music... as you all know, she loves any music from Hannah Montana and High School Musical! Then the kids played lots of fun games including dodge ball and freeze dance and took a ride on the zip line. Then, as a surprise to all of the kids and adults, Carolyne came riding out on a motorcycle bike covered in pink feather boas and wearing a crown to the tune of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". It was priceless. All of the kids enjoyed cupcakes and then a little more playtime including a swing on the hot dog, before we ended with a puppet show and a game of pop the bubbles. Everyone had so much fun! Carolyne has been asking every day when she gets to have another birthday party at My Gym. It was a great way to end her week of birthday celebrations!

Let's Get Outside!

To kick off the warmer weather, on March 7th we joined the Smiths, Hitchcocks, and Allens for a bonfire at the Smith house. We have been wanting to do this for such a long time... we were so excited that it was finally warm enough to be outside. Chris built a cozy bonfire and we started the night roasting hot dogs. The kids got such a kick out of this... for some reason hot dogs taste so much better when they have been cooked in a fire. Mary Grace and Carleigh had the most fun... I think they cooked 2 or 3 hot dogs each. After supper, the kids enjoyed riding around in Tucker's Power Wheels 4-Wheeler, riding bikes, and swinging on the swingset. After a little play time, we gathered back around the fire to roast marshmellows and make smores. This was a HUGE hit with all of the kids... it was clear by the smeared marshmellows on all of their faces. We all had so much fun... it was a great way to spend time with friends and enjoy the great weather! We are really looking forward to doing it again soon!

Cosmic Bowling

On February 21st we joined the Smith family for our first ever round of bowling... Cosmic Bowling to be exact. The girls had never been to a bowling alley, so this was a totally new experience. The first order of business was to rent a pair of bowling shoes and pick out a ball... which was a little tough since most of the balls were way too heavy. But, once all of the selections had been made, they were ready to get started. It was no surprise that they were all pretty good at bowling... with the bumpers up, of course. Mary Grace and Carleigh learned very quickly how to bowl with one hand while Carolyne and Tucker stuck with the "granny roll". They had a blast!

Valentine's Father/Daughter Breakfast

On Friday, Jason joined Mary Grace at school for a special Father/Daughter Breakfast to celebrate Valentine's Day. I can't even tell you excited Mary Grace has been about this event... she has been talking about it all month. She could not wait to have her own Valentine's "date" with her daddy. The cafeteria was filled with lots of festive decorations and balloons. They even had a little backdrop for all of the daddies and daughters to have their picture made together. Mary Grace and Jason had such a great time! They enjoyed a good breakfast, had fun taking pictures, and were able to spend a little time with some of Mary Grace's friends and their dads. What a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day! Mary Grace is already looking forward to attending this event next year!

Roller Skating... Take Two!!

On Saturday we made our second trip to the Sumner Skate Zone to roller skate. This time we were joined by our friends, the Smiths... Chris, Cecili, Carleigh and Tucker. This girls could not wait to get their skates laced up and get out on the floor. They had so much fun on our first trip, but since they were new skaters, they spent the whole time trying to get it all figured out. This time, after a few laps holding hands with Dad, Mary Grace was ready to skate on her own. We did stay close to her, just to break her fall when needed. But, she did GREAT! She had so much fun skating with her friend Carleigh. Carolyne had a great time too! She and Tucker took it slow around the rink... she tooks turns holding hands with Mom and Dad. Her favorite part, of course, was when all of the kids gathered in the center of the rink for the Hokey Pokey. It was a great day and we are already looking forward to our next skating adventure.

Mary Grace is Growing Up... and Losing Teeth!

Well, this past week the inevitable happened... Mary Grace lost her first tooth. The excitement of the first tooth was shortly followed by the loss of her second tooth. What happened to our baby? I will admit, I have not looked forward to this milestone. It seems like she lost all of her baby things in her first few years... bottles, crib, pacifiers, diapers. I was hanging on to her precious baby smile with everything I had. Unfortunately, this milestone, like all the others, was completely out of my control. Her teeth first started wiggling back before Christmas. She was so excited to have wiggly teeth and could not wait for them to fall out. She did not have to wait too long. This past Monday, her first tooth decided to make its exit. It did need a little help and I decided that I would take on the challenge. We worked on it for only a minute or so and after a quick 1-2-3 pull, it was out! She was beside herself with excitement. She rushed to the bathroom with Jason, and Carolyne right on her heels, to rinse her mouth and check out her new toothless grin. I stayed behind to shed a few tears and wrap my mind around the fact that my baby is now a big girl. Just as I began to expect that sweet smile with only one tooth missing, her second tooth joined the first. While eating dinner on Thursday night, her second tooth came out into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It has been a little tough to get used to her new smile... it is always hard to see those baby years melt away. But, I love it! She looks so cute! So, she had two visits from the tooth fairy this week. What a lucky girl! She can't wait to lose another tooth. To my surprise, one of her top teeth is already loose. So, she may get her wish sooner than we think.

Way to Go Carolyne!!

Today we made another visit to our pediatric ophthalmologist, Dr. Ludwig. It is really hard to believe that it has been 4 months since our first appointment. Carolyne has been such a trooper... patching her eye every day for four hours a day. To be honest, from the beginning I really dreaded the whole patching process. I anticipated that Carolyne would despise the treatment and would quickly learn how to either remove the patches or look around them. Instead, the whole thing has barely fazed her. She has never complained! She wears her patch every single day and acts as if she does not notice it at all. Her patience has definitely paid off. The daily patching has successfully altered the alignment of her left eye. During our first visit to Dr. Ludwig, we were told that Carolyne's eye was aligned at 35 degrees. At that time, her eye naturally rested in this position and she had to work constantly to pull it into focus with her right eye. Today, during a normal vision screen, her eye rested in normal alignment. It was only during the detailed exam that Dr. Ludwig could see any misalignment, and even then, only at 14 degrees. That is a huge improvement. We were more than thrilled! Dr. Ludwig was also thrilled and very complimentary of Carolyne. A lot of children struggle with patching. Not little Carolyne, she has been amazing! We were so happy to hear that Carolyne's eye is moving in the right direction. So, we are still a year or more away from making the decision about eye surgery. She will continue to wear her patch 3-4 hours, every day, for the next 8 months. Dr. Ludwig wants to get at least one year of patching behind us to see how her eye will improve. We will visit Carolyne's eye doctor, Dr. Orgain, in two months and then make another visit to Dr. Ludwig in four months. At least now, we know that the patching is working. The major improvement in her eye makes it all worthwhile. We are so proud of Carolyne! She continues to surprise us with how well she deals with her little challenges. Whether it is monthly fevers, glasses, or wearing an eye patch, she is always happy, smiling and having fun.

Happy New Year!

This year we broke tradition and spent New Year's Eve away from home... although not far from home. This year we went with our friends Cecil, Chris, Carleigh, and Tucker Smith to Cecili's sister Beth's house for a fun night of food and games. The girls had so much fun playing Bingo and really enjoyed the New Year's raffle... Carolyne won a $10 gift card to Target. After the party, we headed to the Smith house for more fun and a family sleepover. The kids stayed up late and celebrated the New Year at 11:00 PM... I know, that is a little unfair, but it was technically midnight on the Disney Channel. They toasted glasses full of apple juice while watching some of their favorite Disney stars... it was too cute! Once all of the kids were off to bed, the grown ups rang in the new year with a game of Battle of the Sexes. With a game ending wild card draw, Jason and Chris took the prize... maybe Cecili and I will win next year. On New Year's morning, we headed to meet the Hitchcock family and the Allen family for a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel. It is so much fun to celebrate the New Year with great friends! We had a wonderful 2008 and are looking forward to an even better 2009!

Merry Christmas!

We love Christmas! Every year the girls get more excited in anticipation of the big day! This year was filled with tons of fun activities... school parties, friend parties, and family traditions. We were especially excited that this year both of our girls were able to really understand the true meaning of Christmas. This special day is about so much more than parties, gifts, and yummy treats... it is a wonderful time to celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus. What a blessing!! The girls did have lots of fun getting ready for Christmas day. Their Aunt "T" joined us for dinner on Christmas Eve and helped us get ready for Santa. We sprinkled our front yard with reindeer food, baked cookies for Santa, and exchanged our family gifts. Then the girls were off to bed. Santa arrived at our house and spent lots of time getting everything ready for Christmas morning. He brought lots of wonderful toys... the little elves must have been busy this year! The girls were SO excited to wake up Christmas morning to find their stockings full and, once again, the discovery of the empty cookie plate and milk cup left a priceless look on their little faces. They were amazed by all of the presents left under the tree. Mary Grace really loved her new Littlest Pet Shop Fitness Club (the top item on her wish list) and her Barbie I-Design computer game. Carolyne was so happy to get her High School Musical Prom dolls (her top wish list pick) and her Leap Frog Tag Pen and Books. They also loved their new Polly Pocket Mega Mall and Cruise Ship, VTech KidiDoodle, VTech KidiJamz, and Hannah Montana Guitar Game. The list goes on and on... they really loved it all! After the rush of Christmas morning, we settled down for a wonderful breakfast and watched the Disney Christmas parade. We spent the rest of the morning playing with all of the new toys before heading to Nana and Pop's house for Christmas dinner. The next day we traveled to Auburn to celebrate Christmas with Jason's family. We had so much fun!! I have to say, I was a little sad to see Christmas day come and go. It seems like we spend so much time getting ready for Christmas and then it goes by way too fast. The girls are already making their list for next year... how crazy is that? It was, once again, such a blessing to spend the holidays with friends and family. That is always what makes it so very special.