Santa Breakfast

It has become a family tradition for Grandma Susan, me, Sarah & Caleb to attend the Santa Breakfast.

It is a really fun morning and the kids enjoy going, not only to see Santa, but also to see

all the other characters at the breakfast . . .

This is the place setting for every seat:

coloring pages, a decorated doughnut and a cute Christmas ornament!

I'm sure you can tell what Caleb enjoyed the most. . .

he ate the entire doughnut!

Sarah's favorite character this year was Minnie Mouse . . .

Caleb's favorite character. . . can you guess???

Barney. . . can you believe it?  I couldn't!

I don't know when Caleb has even watched Barney . . .

maybe it was the big sparkly purple that he liked. . . .

I'm still trying to figure it out!

Of course, the best part was sitting on Santa's lap!

Sarah told Santa what she wanted for Christmas . . .

and Caleb didn't scream!  I think he was actually excited!

It's so awesome to watch their faces light up when talking to or about Santa!

Christmas Decorations

My father-in-law once asked me why I go through all the trouble to decorate our house.

After seeing all these unpacked boxes and watching the clock tick away all day,

I was kind of beginning to think the same thing. . . .

We went through a lot of work . . . inside & outside!

In the end . . it was worth it!  I love seeing the kids excited about the wonder of Christmas.

The tree was beautiful and only one ornament was broken this year. . . a little glue & all will be fine!

The other reason I love decorating so much. . . .

seeing how excited they get when looking at all the decorations!

The decorations were all up & all the boxes were put away . . .

it was time for our annual Christmas Vacation movie . . .

complete with egg nog in Santa mugs and cookies!

What a perfect way to end the evening!

I'm glad I've seen the movie so many times before,

because Caleb didn't seem to be too interested. . .

he like to sit/lay/crawl on me instead!

The next day, Sarah & I decorated her tree.

All the ornaments are from her Aunt Emily as is the tree!

Brandon & I gave her the topper last year, but we had to wait for Dad to get home to put it up!

Caleb got his own tree in his room too this year!

No ornaments, just lights but he still loves it!

Caleb's favorite decoration is the Drummer Snowman.

He carries it around by the earmuff band over it's head.

When you push the hand it plays Joy to the World and Caleb marches along!

Santa - watch out!

Sarah has been working on her Christmas list. . .

It reads "hors ar cute. We ar gonna get a horse."

Wonder what Daddy is going to think???

Family Christmas Pictures - sneak peak!

We had our family pictures taken on November 19th. . . here is a sneak peak.

Rams Football Game

Brandon was given some free tickets to the Rams v Arizona Cardinals football game.

We had 6 free tickets, so we took the kids and gave the other 2 tickets to some friends.

The kids really enjoyed the game and the nachos. . .

Energizer bunny ears were given to everyone before the game.

This is Sarah showing her touchdown dance. . .

it wasn't the Rams best performance, so she only got to do it twice!

Family fun. . .

I love the way Caleb is looking at Brandon . . .

there was some great Father/Son time during the game!

I think we have a new football fan in the family!

Thanksgiving Pie

Before Brandon and I got married, Brandon asked me to learn how to make a pie crust like Grandma Lill!  So off to Grandma Lill's I went . . . that was 10 years ago and guess what I make for all the family gatherings?  PIE, PIE and more PIE

I must admit that until last year I had never used a store bought crust, but after working until 5 pm, picking up the kids, making dinner, bath time, Brandon working until 8 pm . . . I decided to give the store bought crust a whirl.  I have used store bought pie crusts for two family events: Thanksgiving 2010 and Thanksgiving 2011.

There weren't any complaints . . not sure if anyone noticed the difference. . .

not sure what I'll do for the Christmas Pies. . .  hhhmmm

For this year's Thanksigving Pie's we (Caleb & I) made pumpkin and apple cranberry with crumb topping.

Caleb was in charge of stirring the pumpkin . . .

and mixing the apples and cranberries . . .

Sarah was in charge of the camera. . .

Sadly, my camera was left at home over all the Thankgiving festivities . . .

so no pictures of the pie, no pictures of the family . . .

However, we were all there and a great time was had by all!

Out of the 4 pies I baked, I had less than 1 pie remaining. . . which Brandon gladly took home with us!

No More Training Wheels!

Sarah practiced and practiced . . .

it was finally time to remove the training wheels!

She oh so patiently waited for Brandon to get home, because this was not a Mom job.

Waiting so patiently, she decided to get a chair . . .

I think she thought you just pulled them off or something.

Caleb even helped the processes along and Sarah is still being so patient.

Finally . . . the wheels were off!

However, even though the wheels came off . . . Mom's job was to hold the bike, run along side

and under no circumstances was I allowed to let go!

Still running and holding . . . maybe in the spring I'll be able to let go!

After all that waiting and hard work, Dad treated the kids to their favorite drink. . .

EGG NOG!