It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

Tree: check
Ornaments: check
Wreaths: check
Elf: check
Nativity: check
Garland: check
Lights: check
Stockings: check
Nutcrackers: check

So now what do you do with 3 sick kids ...

Gingerbread house!

I know it was little early, but what else was I to do?!?! So, out came the left over Halloween candy, gingerbread walls and roof, and we began to mix the icing. Messy, messy ...but fun!

Building our traditional gingerbread house actually turned out to be the perfect Christmas activity for my 3 sick architects. However, I must warn you to nibble at your own risk when you stop by . Our house was made with lots of love and germs : )


Wait at least an hour for the icing to dry. Yeah right! Try telling two anxious preschools we can't decorate our gingerbread house. Not going to be very merry! So mommy had to improvise. Thank goodness we have a little invention known as the hairdryer!



But even the hairdryer wasn't quick enough for my little builders. So once again we had to figure out a way to keep our house together while we worked on the fun part ... candy decorating.

All it took was a tall vase and we were good to go! No more waiting for icing to dry. We could dry and decorate at the same time. We just had to remember to keep the heat away from our chocolate doors : )

Our final creation! A gingerbread house Hansel & Gretal would be proud of!

So Thankful!

We spent our Thanksgiving in North Carolina with The Barker Cousins (Ryan, Kevin & Eric), Aunt Judy & Uncle Chip, Grandma and Aunt Elaine. The girls started counting down "sleeps" since the first day of November. To say they were excited is an understatement! In fact, they each had pictures of Ryan, Kevin, and Eric in their rooms and would talk to them. Sophia was especially excited about seeing Kevin. She would hug and kiss his picture and would say she "loves Kevi because he does magic." Joe and I just hoped the feeling would be mutual when we arrived, otherwise our little turkeys would be very disappointed.

Luckily, the boys were happy to see the girls too so that was one less obstacle we had to face. However, our Thanksgiving still didn't turn out as we had hoped. Alexandra had come down with a terrible cold and by turkey time on Thursday, all three kids (and Joe) had a horrible cough and fever. Alexandra was the worst. She was on round the clock Motrin and Tylenol and would still get up 3 to 4 times a night. Lucas was sleeping but when he was up all he wanted was mommy. Sophia dealt with it the best (until we got home). She was just thrilled to be with cousins.

Needless to say we cut our trip a day short. Still, between Thanksgiving dinner and trips to the medicine cabinet, it amazes me how we were somehow still able to celebrate Alexandra's birthday and Christmas! I guess cupcakes and presents make everything better! So, after a long 5 days, we're just so thankful everyone is finally feeling better!

Truck and Cars make everything better!


The best seat in the house!


Go Tigers Go! Uncle Chip was very proud!


Clemson's #1 fan!


Shadow doesn't typically hang out but I guess he felt comfortable around Lucas.


Happy Birthday Alexandra!


The purrrrfect Christmas present!


More trucks! So excited he could take these home!


Sophia and her books!

Thanks for having us Barkers! For all the wonderful gifts but most of all for the memories! We love coming to visit!

Birthday's Galore

Not only has our Fall been filled with all the typical fall activities: Festivals, Pumpkin Patch, Apple Orchards, Hay Rides and Halloween but we've also had back to back to back birthday parties, 8 to be exact! Needless to say it's been busy!

Here are just a few ...

ANSLEY
The birthday party marathon kicked off with Ansley's 3rd birthday. A baking party!

The birthday girl busy at work!

This was SO perfect for Alexandra! Long after the rest of the clang was off playing inside or on the playset, Alexandra was still at the table baking away. She came up with some pretty interesting concoctions! Maybe there's a Top Chef in our future?!?!

MAGGIE

Maggie's 2nd birthday party had the cutest "rugged but girly" little petting farm theme! As expected, it was all about the details! Pretzels were turned into hay bales. Fresh veggie tray was a garden. And guests munched on pigs in a blanket and cow tails! Everything was almost too cute to eat!


Maggie's farm was stocked with a sheep, goat, rooster, donkey, llama (or alpaca not sure which of the two it was), pony, rabbit, piggy, and cow! ( i think i got them all) And yes, this is a cow Alexandra is standing next to!

WESLEY KATE

Wesley Kate's 4th birthday was the most adorable Alice and Wonderland inspired Tea Party! Not one detail was left unnoticed! From the ice cream cone tea cups to the Mad Hatter top hat craft. Everything was simply precious!
Even my five kids ... The Zimmerman's and Micca's arrived wearing coordinating brown corduroy and blue gingham outfits! Later we were told the birthday girl, Wesley Kate and sister Bradly almost wore the same outfits too! Goes to show you, great minds really do think alike : )

OLIVIA

Olivia, one of Sophia's classmates and close friend, had a jewelry making party fit for a princess! The hot pink zebra theme was perfect for an all girl afternoon.

Here's Sophia getting ready to make her necklace. Then they decorated a jewelry box to put it in! So cute and girly!

LANDON

GO Landon GO!
The final touchdown was Landon's football theme 1st birthday party!

All the guests were asked to show some team spirit! Everything from Michigan to Florida State was represented. So, how could Joe pass up the opportunity to show off his 3 little DUKE Devils!

So now that all the Fall birthdays are behind us we can relax! Well except for: Thanksgiving, Alexandra's birthday, Santa, and a handful of Christmas parties coming up!
So much to look forward to!

Cars

Lucas spends all his down time playing with cars. He races his cars, lays on his back and spins their wheels, lines them up, etc. I just can't get over how different he is from the girls. And watching him play with all his vehicles just confirms how men and women are just born different.

This pictures says it all ... my little man loves his cars!