Christmas 2015

This Christmas was one of the best I can remember. I feel like we weren't super rushed to do anything, I kept presents really simple and had started shopping in October, so there was no stress about that. It felt like we really just got to relax and enjoy our time with our families.

On Christmas Eve, we went to Nick's parent's house for dinner and presents. We had a delicious meal--we had white lasagna, red lasagna and chocolate lasagna. I mean, can you ever really have too much lasagna? After dinner, we went downstairs and let the kiddos all open presents. Tommy and Tessa were in heaven--they got SO many things they had wanted! They each got a tablet (which I think I've enjoyed more than they have), they got dolls and trucks and Paw Patrol hoodies and princess jackets and shirts that change colors in the sun and costumes and a million other things I can't think of right now. They loved everything they got! We also played the saran wrap game where you wrap treasures in a ball of saran wrap and take turns unwrapping the ball and trying to get to the treasures. It was a lot of fun! Kids AND adults liked that one--and I scored a sweet pink pocket knife--woot, woot!

Tessa loves her Anna costume (because what little girl wouldn't?)

And of course, we did our yearly cousin picture. One in normal clothes........

 

And one in the PJs they get every year for Christmas Eve.

This one just KILLS me. Tommy's new thing is to make weird faces or act "dead"  whenever I try to take pictures. That's what he was doing in the picture below, but something about the way he's positioned makes him look like a ventriloquist dummy! Hilarious!

The kids were exhausted by the end of the night. Tessa fell asleep in the car on the way home (cutie pie--she's so sweet when she's sleeping). We got her to wake up at least enough to dictate a note to leave for Santa!

 I convinced the kids to leave Santa a cinnamon roll from Quik Trip. I didn't have any time or desire to make cookies, so I told them that he ate SOOOOO many cookies ALLLLL night that he was probably tired of them and would LOVE a cinnamon roll! And they agreed without too much of an argument--thank God. So we set out his cinnamon roll and left him their notes. On a side note--Tessa signed her name without any help and that was the first time I'd seen her do it. I'm going to admit to a mom fail and inform you all that I honestly had no idea she could write her whole name without help. I was so proud! And Tommy signed his letter 'TJ.' He took that moment to inform me that he would like to start being called TJ because it sounds a lot cooler than Tommy. Well.......okay then (I haven't quite jumped on that wagon yet because I don't care a whole lot for TJ and I'm REAAAAALLLY hoping he'll change his mind about that!).

The kiddos finally got off to bed and fell asleep quickly. I happened to stay up REALLY late and caught Santa sneaking around our living room.....

I also got a video of him checking his list. The kids LOVED seeing the "proof" the next morning that Santa had been there. It was so sweet to see their reactions! They actually slept in for quite awhile--I don't think we got up until 8ish. That may have been my best Christmas present.

We of course rushed in to open presents. 

They got shoes, clothes, a remote control helicopter, movies, a baby doll that really pees (thanks a lot, Santa) and a million other things. They were spoiled rotten! I was pretty spoiled myself. Each of the kids got me a pair of earrings and Nick got me candles, perfume and a gift certificate for family pictures with a promise to not be grumpy whenever we actually take the pictures--score!

After we were done with presents and breakfast, we picked up my Granny and headed to my mom's house. The weather was gray, but not too chilly and I spent the drive wishing it was snowing instead (because it doesn't really feel like Christmas without snow). We ate some more at mom's and then moved on to MORE presents. The kids each got sleeping bags, board games, socks and undies (my favorite gift they got!), watches and a bunch of other toys. The adults played Dirty Santa and I ended up getting a bug out bag kit, which was ONE HUNDRED percent the perfect gift for me. Let's just say that if the end of the world comes and I'm away from home, I'm all set.

After presents, we just hung out and played games and then every one headed home to crash. The kids and Nick and I slept in the living room. We drug their mattresses out there and they got to sleep in their brabd new sleeping bags. We snuggled in and watched movies and it was SO nice. To just be together and relax and enjoy each other's company....couldn't have asked for a better way to end our Christmas.

Christmas Program 2015

We've come a long way, baby.

Tommy's first Christmas program.........he wasn't having it. He was scared to get on stage, scared to stand in front of everyone, refused to sing and then ended up making funny faces (and inappropriate gestures that he didn't know were inappropriate) throughout the whole program.

Ahhhhhh, that's my boy.

This year, Tommy AND Tessa got to do a program together! Tommy's gotten a few more programs under his belt since last Christmas, so I was expecting him to do okay. Tessa.......I had no idea how she'd act. Sometimes she's super outgoing and sometimes she's super shy.

But they both ended up doing pretty well! I wouldn't say Tommy was EXCITED to be on stage, but he sang most of the songs and did most of the actions, so we were happy.

 I mean, just look at the excitement exuding from his face......

 

Tessa at least got on the stage, but she was barely moving her lips and wasn't really doing any motions. She had a headband on that she kept pulling down onto her forehead and blocking her face--thankfully, one of her sweet teachers saw it and fixed it.
 

But there was no crying! Or inappropriate gestures! So we're calling this one a win.

 Their classes were so cute.....

Overall, my goofy kiddos did much better than expected and it was so fun that for at least one year, they got to be on stage at the same time!

That one time my kid yelled a naughty word in public....

So, I feel like I've done a pretty good job or watching my language in front of my kids. Not that I have a sailor's mouth or anything, but I've been known to let an occasional bad word slip every now and then. I'm terrible about saying things that aren't necessarily cuss words but aren't necessarily nice either while I'm driving (i.e. douche bag, jerk, mother-son-of-a-gun). Things that don't sounds TOO bad coming out of my mouth but sound HORRIBLE coming out of the mouths of babes.

But I can honestly say that this incident is 100% NOT from me.

We were at Gambino's the other night waiting on our pizza to be done. Now, let me preface this by saying that lately, I (and other people) have been teasing Tessa a lot. It's been a fun game for her to do something crazy and an adult to say in our pretend stern voices, "Tessa Grace! You're in big trouble for that!" And then she runs around screaming and we try to catch her. And everyone has a grand time.

Until......back to Gambino's.

Like I said, we were waiting for our pizza and Tommy and Tessa were playing a rhyming game. Tommy would say a word and Tessa would say something that rhymes with it. It was entertaining them and I was having fun listening to them. And then Tommy randomly said the word "goochy." Tessa yelled at the top of her lungs, "COOCHY!!!"

Now.

Tessa has no idea what that means. And I NEVER say that word because....ew (in Jimmy Fallon's voice). I shushed her and said, "Tessa Grace, we do NOT say that word. It's not appropriate." Well, she apparently thought we were playing the game I described above where she gets in "pretend trouble" and then gets chased. Because she screamed it again. And again and again and again. And then started dancing around in our booth while she said it.

By that point, everyone in the restaurant was staring at us (it's a small restaurant, so there's not way they didn't hear us). And she was just laughing and giggling and dodging me. I was trying to scoop up all of our junk and get her and Tommy out the door because she would NOT stop saying it!!

Finally, my sister brought out our pizza and I freakin' high-tailed it out of there. I was walking so fast that my kids were running after me. I was SO embarrassed. Like.....beyond embarrassed. Tessa was still saying it as we were walking out the door, thinking the whole time that I was just kidding about her being in trouble.

I felt kind of bad because when we got in the car, I totally flipped out on Tessa and used my tone of voice to let her know that I indeed was NOT joking and to make sure that the next time I tell her to stop doing/saying something, she needs to STOP! She was looking at me like I was a crazy person and I totally understand why.

Lesson from all of this?.............Don't ever get onto your kids "for pretend" because they are far too young to understand when you're joking and when you're not. And don't let them play the rhyming game in public because only Heaven knows what they'll come up with!

I mean, can you imagine THIS sweet face screaming "coochy?!?!"

Thanksgiving 2015

I figured I better write about Thanksgiving before I forget about it. I was in a food coma for most of it, so who knows how accurate all my details are, but is there really anything anybody wants to know about thanksgiving besides how the food was???

For the record, it was delicious. My lips said, "Mmmmm...." while my hips said, "NOOOOOOO!"

Nick was off work all the week of Thanksgiving, so it was nice for him to have some extra time with the kids. He got to do a little hunting (even though it was freezing cold) and got to do some special things with them, like bowling. They LOVED it. The first morning he went back to work, Tessa came into our room after he'd already left, saw his side of the bed and said in the saddest voice, "Why did daddy have to go back to work?"

I tried to explain that it was because we had to work to have a few things.......like a house and food. But she didn't care. She just wanted her daddy :)

Anywho, on Thanksgiving day, we hosted Nick's family at our house for lunch. The space was tight, but there was SO. MUCH. GOOD. FOOD! And company! We ate until we couldn't eat anything else.....and then we ate pie. Then we watched a little Shocker basketball on TV and after everyone left, we napped! It was lovely.

For dinner, we went over to my mom's house, where we had the traditional mish-mash of random foods that everybody likes. One of my favorite traditions. We had to loosen our belts to make room for more food, but somehow we managed to eat another meal. We played a game after dinner called Worst Case Survival Scenario.

Uhhhh........yeah. It was dumb.

Some of the "Worst Case Scenarios" were SO ridiculous! One was like, "If you're driving over a frozen river, which way should you turn your tires?"

Our answer was........"Don't drive over a frozen river."

But for some reason we kept playing and me and Nick lost (thanks a lot, babe (he's going to roll his eyes and say, "WHATEVER!" as soon as he reads that because he thinks it's my fault we lost)). (Is it okay to do a parenthesis inside of a parenthesis?) #justdid  #rulebreaker 

After we finished our game, we headed home and hit the sack for a good night's sleep with full bellies! It was such a wonderful day filled with family and food--what could be better?

Halloween 2015

Halloween was great this year! It seems like EVERY Halloween, I have these costumes planned and then they end up being a huge flop. This year, they were going to be a cowgirl and a cowboy. But Nana found gave Tommy a ninja costume she found last year on major clearance that he LOOOOOVED, so he decided to be a ninja. And I decided to pick my battles and let go of my cute little "cowboy/cowgirl duo" idea. I had bought Tessa a pair of cowgirl boots specifically FOR Halloween and that morning, they were NOWHERE to be found (we still haven't found them). So she wore Tommy's size 13 boots after we tore the house up looking for hers. 

But I digress.......

We met up with these fun folks in Augusta for Trick or Treat Street.

 

I can't say I was CRAZY about Trick or Treat Street. We'd never been before and it was VERY crowded and VEEEEERY cold! It WAS fun to see all the cute costumes people had come up with, but we waited in line forever and didn't get a ton of candy. But at least we can say we've been and know not to go next year!

And, there was the sexiest red-neck/cowboy there.......

After we froze our tooshies off at Trick or Treat street, we went to lunch at Las Palmas with our ninja and cowgirl. They were so good during lunch! It's nice to feel like we can finally take them places and not have to constantly worry about what they're doing or how they're acting. They're growing up so much!

After lunch, we just relaxed at home for a bit and then headed over to Nana's for chili! Perfect Halloween dinner. We met up with some cute cousins and this was the best picture we got (Tommy refused to be in it because.....well, he's Tommy).

We trick or treated around Nana's house for a bit...this was their first house!

We made our way down a few blocks and over to Aunt Brooke's house! Tessa insisted Aunt Brooke dress like her, so Brookie was a cowgirl too!

The loves of my life....

My little ninja....

My cute cowgirl hitchin' a ride on her horse....

After we finished in Nana's neighborhood, we headed over to Grandma's house to meet up with our other cousins. I got one picture of all of them and it's so dark, you can't even see their faces.....bummer. But they looked great in their costumes! We all headed out around Grandma and Papa's neighborhood and got a bunch more candy! I have to say though, I was really surprised because it was only 8 o'clock and EVERYBODY had turned their lights off. WHAT?!? At 8pm on Halloween?!? I couldn't believe they were all shut down for the night. But oh well--we went to the few that were still waiting for Trick or Treaters :)

This year was another great Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch with Tessa 2015

The day after I took Tommy to the pumpkin patch with his class, I got to go with Tessa! I was excited to get to go on her first field trip and she was excited too (or as excited as Tessa ever gets!).

 Yes, this IS her excited face....

Right after we got there, we rode the tractor out to the pumpkin patch. She took awhile to pick the PERFECT pumpkin. But she did pick a good one!

 After we had all picked our pumpkins, we went to play on the swing set until everyone else was done. These cute cousins have so much fun together!

After everyone had picked their pumpkin, we all broke off to do our own thing. I think the girls could've jumped on this HUGE trampoline alllllllll day if we would've let them!

Tessa wanted to do EVERYTHING we could do. 

She rode the zip line.........

She ran the rat race..........

They took a train ride.........

She even got to practice her roping. Let's just say I was NOT the best teacher. At all.

She slid down the slides and swung on the swings (say that sentence five times fast)....

 

She  rode the trikes foreeeeeever. She acted like she'd never been on one before. Granted, this trike was MUCH cooler than her trike at home.......

This was as close as she wanted to get to the goats! It was so funny.....you could tell she WANTED to feed them, but she was so scared. I had to to take hold of her hand and shove it by the goat's mouth. She finally wanted to do it on her own and of course, the machine ate our quarters and wouldn't give us any more food! But we scrounged up a few pieces off the ground and she fed them with that!

We had SUCH a great day at Applejack pumpkin patch! I loved spending time with my sweet girl and watching her interact with all of her friends!

 And Tessa loved all the huge pumpkins!