Captain Buddy Shenanigans

Dec 1: Captain Buddy's arrival

Dec 2: Spa Day

Later that day there was an altercation in the bathroom...and I found Buddy like this.

 Ryan confessed. 

So December 3rd Captain Buddy had to rest at the North Pole - his friends a note to remind them about not touching him. 

Dec 4: Camping

They loved the glowing candle!

Dec 5 : Playing music for Tips! 

After I read them the note Grayson ran up to Kevin and said "Daddy can you get one of those pennies from my ear so I can give it to Captain Buddy" ha!!!

Dec 6: Sugar High

I saw these at Target and couldn't resist. We watched Elf the night before so they thought this was awesome.  

Dec 8: Elf Rocket

Dec 9: Snow Angel

Dec 10: Growing Candy Canes

Dec 11: Painting Ornaments

Captain Buddy made ornaments for the kids to paint. They loved it!

Dec 12: Lazy Day

Just placed him in a stocking. Ryan asked where his note was so Kevin said....oh I read it earlier and accidentally threw it away. He made something up to tell him...and that satisfied Ryan. 

Grayson in the Middle

This little guy cracks us up - he is so sweet and lovable. I am obsessed with his pronunciation of "sharpener". Whenever I need a quick laugh I have been playing this video...or I just ask him how to fix a broken pencil.  It kills me. 

Don't you just want to gobble him up???

Christmas Program

The boys school Christmas program was on Sunday evening, so we headed up to their school after a quick bite to eat. 

This little man was so handsome in his bright red cords & bowtie! 

I videoed both boys performances but it seems as though they may have been erased. I have an inkling that someone was playing with the video camera and accidentally erased the memory card. So all I have is a few pictures from after the performance. 

Loves his little candle.

Trying to get a picture of all three but clearly someone was too busy....

On Tuesday, the varsity classes put on "The Littlest Christmas Tree" play for us and it was ADORABLE! Ryan was a Shepard and he did such a good job!

Children's Parade

For the past few years I have had the Children's Parade on our Christmas events list but we have never managed to make it. Although I seemed to have come down with a little something Friday night I was determined to get out with the kiddos and do something fun - so away we went!

Reindeer ears and Rudolph nose - check!

So glad Gigi and Papa were able to join us!

Little H enjoyed the big floats...and running off...

Curios George and the Man with the Yellow Hat...aka Ted.

Octonauts

Peppa Pig!

Waving to Batman!

Sweet boys watching the parade

   

 

There were a lot of superheroes, cartoon characters, bands, horses, clowns....such a great parade for the kiddos!

Even Star Wars made an apperance!

And of course - Santa showed up!

What's Up Wednesday

1. Thanksgiving project fun

I loved this little turkey that Ryan made at school. He was so proud of it!  And Ms. Kim is so sweet to give us extra supplies so that Grayson could make his own at home...

I also loved this cookbook that his class put together. 

In his defense, I have never actually made a turkey so I'll let this slide ;) And apparently everyone in his class cooks their turkey in the microwave. 

And this little turkey helped make these cookies! So proud of his work!

2. Thanksgiving Eve

Every year (if we are in town for Thanksgiving) we head over to the Hales house the morning before Thanksgiving to help make centerpieces for the table. We use store bought flowers but also add any "fall" pieces that the kids have found on nature walks...sticks, leaves, pine cones, ect...

I am not so great at flower arrangements so I hung with the kiddos most of the time. Seems right since I probably brought the majority of them :)

Hayden playing a little football

Pretty impressive! These ladies could totally sell these!

Before we headed out we managed to get a group pic of all the kids. You really should have seen all of the moms while trying to snap this picture. There was singing and dancing...oh my!

3. Little Reindeer & Birthdays

The weather in Dallas was h o r r i b l e for the rest of the long weekend. Cold and rainy. blah.

We ended up heading to the mall Saturday morning to burn some energy. 

 Lucky for us they had a Christmas show for the kiddos in one of the main areas. I was able to sneak away and get a little bit of shopping done. 

This girl was wild. She wasn't interested in sitting still...

And we also celebrated a couple of friends birthdays over the weekend. Friday night we went bowling with a high school friend of Kevin's. On Saturday we went out for Megan's birthday. Great time with great friends!

4. Elf Kit

I bought an Elf Kit from a local lady via facebook and although part of me knows this is totally something I could do myself, I really really love have it all done for me. And I don't regret purchasing it. Every year I always start off strong with our elf, but after a few days in and I am already over it. ha! The kids are totally in to Buddy so this is totally worth it. Maybe next year I will get this organized myself....

5. Captain Buddy & North Pole Breakfast

Captain Buddy (formerly just 'Buddy') arrived yesterday.  (Ryan decided he needed a little more to his name, thus Captain was added.) 

 The boys LOVED this. They also were so excited when I read the note that said "Have you checked the mailbox?". It was like a movie...they ran to the front door and when I pulled a letter out they ran it back inside to Kevin screaming that Captain Buddy had sent mail. It was adorable. 

 We had a "North Pole" breakfast to celebrate Captain Buddy's arrival - christmas tree waffles! And mini reindeer and snowman donuts.

And day #2:

The boys loved that Captain Buddy was camping out! And mama loved how easy this was to set up!