Nicky Toothy

Our little Elf on the Shelf, Nicky Toothy, keeps bringing little surprises... And it's so cute to see how excited the kids are to find him every morning!  Of course he brought the annual Christmas Pj's... and for the first time Chris and Addie won't match... I had to buy Chris adult jammies since he's grown out of gymboree and other kid's stores... He loves his "big boy" flannels.:)

 

 Of course every night is not filled with a surprise... Like the morning he didn't hide and left a note... Do ya think Mommy had a hard time at bed time and threw in the towel? Ha! 

Gingerbread Men!

We spent a night hanging out at the house watching Tech lose to WVU- Boo... and making gingerbread men...  I don't think we'll quit our day jobs... :)

Clear Brook Park 2012

We decided it was rather nice out once school night and ventured out to Clear Brook Park in Winchester... This is somewhat of a tradition- You walk through a large park with tons of lights, a light show, munch on cookies and drink hot chocolate, and visit with Santa in a real log cabin... There's something that is just so special about small towns and I love it!  This year they added special glasses for $2 that made all the lights appear as Santa!  The kids loved them and now wear them in our neighborhood when we walk around at night looking at lights.  The kids both said they wanted Ipads and Santa told them they have to do school work on them if they get them and use them to learn!   Brendan and I both enjoyed it, but wondered if in eight years when baby #3 is Chris's current age, if Chris and Addie will be happy to go on family outings like this when they are teenagers- or if it will be like pulling teeth!

 

LOL..

Addie:

Dear Jesus,  Please let the poor people know that when I'm older I will sell them my money.  Amen.

Ha!  Girls got the most caring spirit... but we might need to work on that one! :)

My Family xoxo

Sunday was a chillax day... We went to church, Brendan and Chris volunteered and did the church recycling, and I took Addie to a birthday party at Pump-It-Up- where she sat at a table full of boys while her girl classmates sat at another table... Hmmm little Missy! 

 

After that, we attempted to get Christmas card pictures... We got some adorable picture of the kids... but let's just say my Dad might need work on his camera taking skills- we either had a house in the picture, a head was cut out, ya or I looked like a heifer... so we'll try again.:) 

 Oh- and ya see this little monkey.,.,. Last night Addie woke me up at 3am... I just happened to notice a light coming from Chris's room.. BUSTED... he was awake playing video games.  He claimed he couldn't sleep- but he knew he was in deep doo doo- He hopped in his bed soooo fast and I could see the look of fear in his eyes...  Let's just say he was warned and if we ever catch him doing that again he loses his xbox in his room!  LITTLE STINKER... Oh- but he is really growing up- He was reading tonight and I couldn't believe how well...  It's crazy how fast these kids learn!

The terrible, horrible, no good very bad day!

Saturday was supposed to be a wonderful day... We had plans of going to hunt country- to see the Middleburg parade and then eat at the Red Fox Inn and be fancy...  Well, we never made reservations, but decided to head out to the 'burg to see the hunt run through town.  Nona and Papa got Mage and Jack and we got to Middleburg and hour early.  Unfortuneatly, they didn't have enough shuttle buses running- so we decided to follow some others lead and started to walk the mile and a half to town to catch the parade...

 

Note to self- Walking along Highway 50 with four kids is no fun.  At all...but at least they never complained- ONCE!

 The didnt' even complain when we got to town and the policeman told us we just missed the entire parade- that it headed to other way out of town... and we MISSED everything!  I'm not sure if the kids even comprehended... We walked the streets of Middleburg and the kids had fun dodging the leftover horse crap.  Oh the joys.

 We then decided to go more our speed and Nona and Papa treated us all to IHOP.  Uncle E and Janet met up with us and we had plenty of laughs- like when we looked up and Mage had the entire bottle of Strawberry syrup that sits on the table in his mouth and he was sucking on it... I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to eat at an IHOP again- because I'm sure that's not the first time that's happened!

And let's just say the day didn't get any better... Chris had a swim meet at George Mason- he did great... but on the way home, we were hit/rear ened by a car.  Brendan's bumper is hanging on by a thread and Chris and I had to be checked out at the hospital... Just a little whiplash and headache... We had the baby monitored for an hour and Thank GOD that everything was okay.... But let's just say this is one day we'd like to forget!:)

So sweet...

Not gonna lie... I love my little Addie Tay and LOVE the phase she is going through right now- She wants to be "just like Mommy"... wants to like everything I like, do everything I do, and tells me a hundred times a day I'm her girlfriend or her BFF.  I'm just loving it- and cherishing every second of it WHILE IT LASTS!:)

Friday Night...

Yep, our Friday nights are wild and crazy now-a-days... The kids were soooo excited for "Movie Night" at their elementary school.  We dressed the kids in jammies and met up with Danielle and the girls at Sycolin Creek to drag our pillows and blankets into the gym to watch the Lorax.  The kids each got popcorn and water, sat with their friends... and actually watched a movie beginning to end.  I have to admit I was dreading it- and never thought they'd actually sit for the movie- I pictured pure chaos- but it made for a really fun night!