The annual Estes Christmas Party

The Sunday before Christmas, the Estes family hosted their annual Christmas party. All were in attendance except for the Bayers - who were already in St Louis. This year with so many of us now parents of little ones...Neil and Ramona (the hosts) included...the party was held during the daytime. Neil and Ramona hosted everyone for brunch - with food and drinks and all the trimmings.

Christmas Party at School

Today was the Christmas party at the kids school. Derek and I both took the day off to finish holiday prep - but was sure to start it off right. We spent the morning at the spa getting massages and then went to lunch at a Thai restaurant where of course we can't take the boys. A bit of shopping, in cold miserable rain I might add, and some present wrapping and then off to the holiday party. Hatcher and Aidan both have been helping me prepare since we were selected to bring cookies for the classes. I decided early on to enlist their help...so throughout the week we made sugar cookies that they decorated and candy coated pretzels with chocolate. I even had them help me get the teacher's gifts together. They each had candy (Hatcher mints and Aidan Hersey Kisses) that they had to divvy up in the teacher's bags. They were great little helpers. So I nearly fell over when my phone rang at 2:40 today and it was the school calling. Pam, one of the directors, was calling me because Hatcher insisted they find out where Derek and I were - since we told him we would be there at the party with gifts in tow...AND...we had the treat bags for his friends! HA - seriously! I thought the party started at 3 so in m mind, we were right on schedule. But alas the party started a bit earlier in his room...2:30 to be exact. But, as I have told many of you before - it never fails - even when i have all my ducks in a row - somehow I will be late. Well, crisis adverted. Hatcher proudly handed out his treat bags filled with cookies and chocolate coated pretzels and wished his classmates a Merry Christmas. Aidan did the same in his room- although with not quite as much vigor or Hatcher-spunk! Then they both gave their teachers the presents. It was a nice party and I could tell Hatcher and Aidan really enjoyed seeing people smile when they gave them their gift. On the way home Hatcher asked when we could do that again...thankfully, we still have Christmas to celebrate with each other and family. There will be many more gift giving in the coming weeks.

Monday was Award Night at gymnastics

Too fun...watching these kids grow up. Hatcher attends gymnastics class weekly with Hailey and Ava Mei. He looks forward to it all week long. This night was no exception. It was award night...in all honesty - I had NO idea what that meant. Hailey and Hatcher were up for the night's activities, but poor Ava Mei was beat. Two days without a nap and then falling asleep on the car ride to class just did her in. Jodi and Dave tried to get her interested...but after much effort they had to bail. So this recap is for them too! The kids did their usual practice rounds but instead of ending up jumping into the large foam pit, they got to take part in the game of "parachute" - where each child helps raise a parachute while one runs under it and to the other side. They had a blast. Afterwards, it was time to get their progress report and ribbons. Of course everyone took home a first place - "I gave it my all at gymnastics" - blue ribbon. After the praise and clapping - Aidan ran out to Hatcher to give him his support - I got a photo of it. Tomy (Hailey's brother who is the same age as Aidan) wanted to take part too and got on top of the podium as well. Loads of fun. Here are some photos.

Building the Gingerbread House

Okay, so we didn't really BUILD it. I found a pre-built gingerbread house again at Costco and the kids just love them. They have been asking me to let them decorate it for a while now, so last Sunday afternoon we pulled it out and let them have fun. Derek helped them put the majority of the icing on and then we let the boys decorate. Between sneaking candies and getting icing EVERYWHERE - they had a blast. They work and play so well together and Hatcher always offers Aidan assistance. They have this new thing where Hatcher fondly refers to Aidan as his "baby brother" and Aidan replies "my Hatcher." I am not sure if it is the holiday spirit or just that they are bonding more each day, but they are so sweet and loving to one another. Derek and I often find ourselves beaming with joy and pride - it just fills your heart to the brim. Super lucky...we are such lucky parents and people to have been given these two amazing gifts and loving spirits to raise. It is the best thing in the entire world.







I had run into Mandy while running errands over the weekend and mentioned getting together on Sunday. Well - we were able to pull it off. It was nice seeing as we both have jam-packed Christmas plans and the kids hadn't seen each other in a while. The whole Riley family came over and we had chili. No - the kids didn't partake...they had hot dogs and chicken nuggets...SHOCKER! Anyway - it was nice to spend some time with them before the holiday is upon us. I had hoped that Madison and maybe Carter would have been able to decorate their gingerbread house with us...but the time went by too quickly and we just didn't get around to it. I am sure we will see the final product soon!

Good times with dear friends...gotta love this time of year!

Every year we get together with our dearest friends, the Estes Family and Bayer family, to share Christmas. We did it a bit early this year as it is the year that Derek, Cynthia and Maddox head to St Louis for Christmas and we didn't want to miss celebrating with them. So last Saturday, we all gathered at Neil and Ramona's home as they graciously hosted AND cooked a wonderful holiday dinner for us all. Hatcher and Aidan were mostly excited to see Maddox and baby Sophia but they also knew there would be presents! As always, we had a great time. The boys played hard and ran around for what seemed like hours - until we got them interested in watching Jungle Book. The big boys had a great time catching up and us Mommies stayed busy coralling the little boys. Such wonderul friends...we are so blessed.











I nearly forgot. We started off our Saturday by heading out to Monroe to celebrate Madeline's birthday. She turned 1. It is hard to believe time goes by so fast. It was great to catch up with the Colemans and the Frankes. It was a quick visit as we left there and stopped by Snellville on the way home to see PBo and Marma for a bit. Marma and PBo were having 14 very large trees taken down that day and the boys...and Derek included...wanted to watch the action. I didn't get any good pictures of the boys...but got a couple of Madeline. Happy Birthday sweet thing!

James turns 3 - a jumpy party!

The kids were stoked. A jumpy party - their favorite of all. And...Derek and I were stoked as it enabled us to visit with many good friends we haven't seen much of this year. It was a win-win for everyone. Little James turned 3 - but is heads above Hatcher (the oldest of the group) in height and is wearing 5T clothing. Everyone had a great time...here are my favorite photos.