Christmas Festivities

All of our month-long fun Christmas traditions and activities lead up to the main events:  family get-togethers and Santa's arrival.   Our annual Christmas at Nana and Poppy's house was wonderful, as usual.  I cannot believe how these kids change from year to year.  We will have two babies to add to the group next Christmas, which will be crazy but so exciting.

These two are my pride and joy.  Oh, how God blessed us with the sweetness of all things girl and rowdiness of all things boy.  I am so thankful!

A few days later, our Christmas Eve traditions took us to Auburn (again) for Christmas with my White and Hughes extended families.  It is such a long day, but I so love being with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I love that my children get to experience that as well.

Santa's arrival brought insane excitement to our house.  Santa left a few bites of his cookies, and we found Canaan eating the leftovers.  That's our boy. Hadley loved the Frozen dress Santa brought her. I loved how sweet and excited she was about every single gift.  It was as if every present was exactly what she had wanted her entire life.  I wished it could have gone on for much longer than it did.  Santa does not overdo at our house....at all.

Santa went with boy toys such as tools and drills this Christmas.  Canaan loved ripping in to his packages and needed no help.

After the excitement of opening our presents, we donned our Holiday attire to head to our Stinson family.  A delicious breakfast at Ma and Papa's and presents galore at Granna and Grandads awaited us.  

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  What a wonderful year 2014 has been to us.  Can't wait to see what 2015 holds!

Christmas Card Pictures

I asked my precious friend, Lacey, if she would snap some Christmas card pictures for us this year.  She was more than willing to help us out, as she always is.  We met up with her on Glasgow's square and took advantage of the Christmas decorations on display there.

I thought she captured the kid's personalities just perfectly.  One second sweetness, the next naughtiness.  With Canaan, that's for sure true.  It's amazing how totally different two children can be, but how fiercely and passionately you can love them both.  I never understood that until Canaan came along.

A five and two year old Christmas is the best yet!  Haven't I said that every year?  Well, I really mean it this year.  Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

All Aboard the Polar Express

Our second year at Polar Express was even more magical than last year.  Canaan couldn't stop talking about the choo-choo train and Hadley wanted hot chocolate and cookies for days before going.  Being able to do anything non-basketball in the middle of a week, during basketball season, is a rarity.  So the fact that we can make this work makes it even more special to me. 

      We broke out our matching jammies for such a special Christmas festivity as this.  It really is so nice that the public library offers this free activity at the historic train station.  Since I love anything historical, I get completely giddy over this event.  I totally should have lived when horses, buggies, and trains were the main modes of transportation.

Just like last year, cousin Levi joined in on the fun.  Next Christmas, his little brother will be with us too!  The kids enjoyed sweet treats from Bowling Green's most popular bakery, Riley's.

We were able to talk Hadley in to taking a picture with the train conductor, but Canaan was just not feeling it.  They really do a fantastic job of making this experience seem so real.  We patiently waited for our ALL ABOARD announcement and got our tickets punched before boarding.

As you walk out of the train station to board the train, snow blowing wildly only adds to the excitement of the evening.  Even though it is a snow machine, it makes the whole experience so much more fun.  The oohs and aahs of children and adults alike is contagious.

The kids listened ever so intently at a local radio station's disc jockey's rousing rendition of Polar Express.  We were super impressed that Canaan sat still and listened to the story.  There's a first time for everything.  It really is so sweet to watch all the kids hang on the reader's every word.

Just like last year, Santa Claus made an appearance in the very last train car before we exited the train.  He handed out a jingle bell to all the kids.  Canaan doesn't take to strangers very well at this point in his life.  So he wasn't impressed with the whole Santa thing.  Hadley was in Heaven, though.

We had such an awesome time at Polar Express and can't wait to book our tickets for next year!  All Aboard!

North Pole Breakfast 2014

I was more excited than ever for our 3rd annual North Pole Breakfast, welcoming Rudolph the Elf back to our house for the Christmas season.  Rudolph prepares a special breakfast for Hadley and Canaan when he returns each year from the North Pole.  This year, he made one of Hadley's favorite breakfast dishes:  monkey bread.  He also tries to make the table look somewhat festive for the occasion.  That sneaky Rudolph ;)

Rudolph left Hadley and Canaan an ornament for each of their bedroom Christmas trees as well as a pair of Christmas socks.  Just a little something to get them excited about the Christmas season.

I scored these Elf on the Shelf pj's at consignment this year and thought I just had to have them for our North Pole Breakfast.  Amazing how we just happened to wear them to bed the night when Rudolph returned to our house.  Rudolph and I must be on the same page.  We are so excited about the Christmas season around here!!

Thanksgiving 2014

Count your blessings, name them one by one

Count your blessings, see what God hath done

Count your blessings, name them one by one

Count your many blessings see what God hath done.

God has blessed me far more than I deserve, but I am so very thankful for his love, mercy, and grace.  I am thankful most of all for my salvation.  I am thankful that God led me to an amazing, Godly man to be my mate in life.  I am thankful for my healthy, beautiful children.  I am thankful for our families (parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins).  I am thankful for friends who love and encourage me daily.  I am thankful for a job that I am passionate about.  I am thankful for a warm, comfortable home.  I am just so thankful to God for his many blessings.  Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Hadley's 5th Birthday

I cannot believe our sweet first born is five years old.  Half a decade; how does that even happen?  We are Frozen crazy at our house right now.  I mean, who doesn't love Disney's newest amazing movie?  I really wanted to keep Hadley's birthday a little less stressful this year and take it to a fun venue for the kiddos.  Extreme Gymnastics, here in Glasgow, is such a fun place for birthday parties.  You can rent out the entire space, complete with inflatables, trampolines, beams, bars, and an awesome pit to dive into.  It seems that I wasn't the only one with the idea of booking a birthday party on that particular Saturday.  By the time I called, the only time available to rent was 9-11am.  As strange as that seemed, I actually thought it might be kind of nice for people to be able to get it out of the way and be able to go about their Saturday business.  So, I decided to roll with it and plan a breakfast themed Frozen party.

We decided to make Olaf waffles or "Olaffles" as we called them.  We set up an Olaffle Bar, complete with waffles, chocolate chips, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, cool whip, and bacon for the arms.  We also brought our coffee maker from home, and plenty of sugar and creamer for our grown-up guests.

The teacher in me had to lead our breakfast activity.  

Hadley had all her sweet cousins (even the ones who had to drive a long way so early in the morning) and plenty of friends and grandparents on hand to wish her a happy birthday.

Canaan sat with all the older kids and felt like such a big boy.  It amazes me how much he tries to keep up with his big sister.  I think it helps those little siblings develop faster, though.

The obstacle that I struggled with the most when planning this party was whether to have a traditional birthday cake or not.  I mean, I've always had either cupcakes or a real cake for my kids on their birthdays.  But waffles, orange juice, and birthday cake?  Really?  Then it dawned on me how much Hadley LOVES monkey bread.  I asked her if it would be alright with her if that served as her birthday cake at her party and she was totally cool with it.  So we put candles on the monkey bread and sang to our birthday girl.  Couldn't have worked out better.

Drum roll please.....our finished product.  Our very own Olaffle.

After breakfast and gift opening,the kids had a ball playing at Extreme.  I heard several adults say they wished they could run and dive into the pit.  We really had a wonderful time at our breakfast birthday party.  We loved getting to celebrate our big five year old and just how special she is to all of us.  We love you so much precious girl!   

Highland H.E.R.O.

Our school, Highland Elementary, implements a program sponsored by our Guidance Counselor called Highland H.E.R.O (Honesty, Effort, Respect, and Optimism).  We were so proud to find out that Hadley had been chosen as the Highland H.E.R.O. for her classroom in October.  Teachers are asked to notify parents a few days prior to the ceremony, so that parents and/or grandparents can attend if they would like to.  I asked if my co-teachers could cover my class for a few minutes so that I could make it downstairs to see my girl receive her award.  Justin's parents were able to come watch, as well.  Can you tell that we are just a little proud of her?  

We are so incredibly thankful for Ms. Brittney, and everything she does for all her students.  Having 3-5 year olds at extremely different learning levels must be incredibly hard.  Some of the barely three year olds still struggle with talking and pottying, while the five year olds are getting prepared for kindergarten.  I just can't imagine how hard it must be to reach all of the kids on their levels.  But Ms. Brittney does it all fabulously, while expecting baby number four nonetheless.  We appreciate all she has done to help our little Highland H.E.R.O. be successful this year.  Way to go, Hadley!

Happy Fall

Well, Canaan is officially two years old and Hadley will only be four for a few more days.  We are quickly approaching the busy-ness of Holiday season, but I'm trying to hold on to Fall's splendor for a bit longer.   



Happy Fall from the Stinson's!!!