Christmas 2014

Wow…what a nice long holiday.  I took a little over a week off for Christmas this year to spend with the family.  It was such a great break!  

I started off the Christmas break the Thursday before Christmas by going to the girls Christmas musical at school.

Here is the best picture I could get of the group.  It was a really cute preformance!

 

Stuart and I went to the girl’s school for their Christmas Party’s the next day.  Their classrooms are across the hall from each other so we did a little tag teaming so that we could both spend some time in both classrooms.  The party’s were so well organized (I was impressed), and they seemed to have a lot of fun. 

Molly making a Christmas craft...

 

Taylor playing a marshmallow pickup game...

 

When they got out of school we took them down to the ice skating rink, which was closed for a private party, so we just walked around downtown…it was a cold afternoon and a great start to our Christmas break. 

I love playing tourist in our own townJ

 

 

Saturday we headed to Nana JJ’s house for our first Christmas celebration.  She made some really good snacks/food for us to munch on while we played Christmas Bingo.  She had wrapped several little gifts to give away as prizes which included everything from Barbie makeup to Duck Tape. 

Sunday we made a trip to visit Stuart’s Mamaw that is in a nearby nursing home because she is getting to old and fragile to make it to anymore family get-togethers.  She was glad to see us, but really laid on the guilt trip about not coming to visit her often enough.  It’s always hard to see how difficult everyday tasks are getting for herL.  After our visit we went to Stuart’s dads for lunch and to exchange gifts. 

 Here is a picture of Molly and Taylor with Stuart's sisters children...these kiddo's are getting so big!  I love how Molly and Taylor love their cousins.  They have a special realationship with each one of them and are always so excited to get to see them!

 

Monday night we spent our 3^rd Christmas with Stuart’s mom, his sister and her family and his brother and his family.  We all came in our pajama’s and made it sort of a traditional pot luck dinner.  After dinner we opened gifts and played a few rounds of the Ellen DeGeneres’s heads up game.  If you have not downloaded this game already you should!  What a funny game to play with the kids. 

Tuesday was Christmas Eve and we spent the day at home.  Made some Christmas cookies and then went to church around 6.  This was the first year that the girls were not in the Christmas pageant at church and while it was always cute to see them dressed up as angels, it was nice going to a mass that was not so packed. 

Experiencing the thrill of Christmas through your kids is so much fun!!!  Stuart and I even had trouble going to sleep the night before because we were so excited for them to wake up and open their gifts on Christmas morning. 

Stockings stuffed....

 

and the presents organized under the tree…I'm too excited to sleep!!!

 

It was an American Girl Christmas in our house this year!  I think I was just as excited (or maybe even more excited)for them to open these dolls.  I remember when I was about their age I got my American Girl Doll ‘Kirstin’….Molly and Taylor were so amazed to hear that AG was in existence way back then.  I have always loved these dolls, and I have looked forward for them to hit the right age to get into them. 

After careful review of the AG magazine, they decided on asking for Kit and Sage...

 

We went to my parent’s house on Christmas afternoon where we got together with my sibling’s, nieces and nephews.  We had a great time, ate a great dinner prepared by my parents, and opened gifts.  I think we all hit the point of exhaustion that night as we could barely make it through another Christmas move. 

I love Christmas and I especially enjoy the time that we get to spend with our families this time of year, but I have to say that I’m ready for things to go back to “normal.”  My decorations are put away, my house is clean, and I’m ready for 2014! 

Happy New Year!!!

It's been a while......

Well it’s been over two years since I last posted on this blog. Molly and Taylor are now 8 years old..YikesL. Stuart’s grandmother has printed out this blog and gave a copy of it to his mom. My girls just love to look through to see all the cute pictures and to read all the funny little stories that I wrote about them. They have asked me several times why I don’t do it anymore, and truthfully I don’t know why I stopped....I hate to use the excuse that I got busy, because really who isn't? I started this blog for them to have as kind of a scrapbook for when they are grown, seeing how much they enjoy looking at it already, I thought I’d better start updating it a little more often.

So I’m going to do a little catch up on the past two years and then do my best to keep it updated.

2011

August 2011 – Wow! What a blur….I see from my last post the girls had just started Kindergarten. Stuart decided to go back to school around this time to work towards getting a degree as a Physical Therapist Assistant. I switched positions at JB Hunt and ran my first and last half marathon that December.

From flipping through my phone I see that we made a trip to the Christmas train in 2011. Aren't we lucky to have these little devices to keep a log our lives!!! They were still so little....

 

 

 

Molly and I went to Christmas Eve mass alone that year because Taylor was home sick. Here is Molly all dressed up for the Christmas Pageant….

We rang in the 2012 with two of our favorite little people…

2012 was a rough year, and one that I will not forget. My sister Kimberly Ann Charlton unexpectedly passed away in April 2012 of a Heart attack at only 35 years old. It was a shock to my whole family and we miss her and think about her every day.

Stuart started selling cars and did this through the entire summer while on a break from school. It turns out he was not cut out for this type of work, so he took a job waiting tables at Red Lobster when he returned to school in the fall. He is still plugging away at school and working. His schedule is set up to where he is able to pick up the girls from school most days. They all love this time together and I’m glad that we have been able to keep them out of afterschool care.

Speaking of afternoons at home with their daddy…I came home one day after work to find out that Taylor took a fall off of her bike and broke her little wrist. She sure was a trooper and I think she enjoyed sporting a pink cast for a few weeks.

 

Molly and Taylor graduated Kindergarten in the Spring of 2012...

I love the way Molly is looking at her dad in this picture…so sweet!

 

 

With Stuart being in school, we decided to downsize and move into a cute little house in downtown Bentonville. It works for now, but I’m not going to lie, I will be ready for more space once Stuart finishes up with school settle’s into his career.

Molly and Taylor started the 1^st grade…

 

They turned 7 years old on a very cold October day. We had planned for a fun outdoor costume party for their birthday and ended up having to move it to McDonald’s very last minute due to sleet! Taylor dressed up like Alice and Molly was a cheerleader…

 

There were many costume changes on Halloween day between these two girls, but the final decision came down to Amelia Bedelia (Taylor) and Batgirl (Molly).

 

Molly and Taylor walked in the Christmas parade with their daisy scout troop and got their first taste of public embarrassment from their dad. As they were coming down the street Stuart started yelling their names and Taylor covered her eyes trying to hide. If you know my husband, you can probably imagine how loud he can be and about how this rolled out. The people surrounding us were all laughing so hard at Taylor’s reaction...those poor girls don’t know what they are in for as teenagers.

 

 Annual trip to see Santa…

 

Our crazy elf Pingo making his way through the house…

A visit to the Walton 5 & 10 and lunch at the Station on a winter afternoon…

Sometime after the holidays and early in 2013 we took Molly and Taylor to their first Razorback basketball games. They are natural’s at calling the hogs and loved keeping track of the score.

 

We went to my parent’s house for Easter and took my sister’s kids and Molly and Taylor to the Church’s annual Easter egg hunt.

 

Spent a day at spring feast in Fayetteville with some friends of ours that we don’t see often enough. Their girls Colby and Zoe are two years older than Molly and Taylor and my girls just think they are the coolest. I wish we spent more time with them because they are the sweetest girls!

 

On our way home from the farmers market one morning Molly and Taylor tried to steal the luggage that sits outside 21C.

 

A visit to the splash park on a hot afternoon with Jack and “his girls.” This is one of our friends little boys who has always referred to Molly and Taylor as “his girls.”

 

Taking a break from an afternoon bike ride….

 

Doing some rock climbing at first Friday….

 

Molly and Taylor started second grade at a new school this year. The first day was there were defiantly some nerves, but they did great! I was able to leave work early that day to take them for ice cream so that I could hear all about their first day.

 

Shortly after school started we invested in reading glasses for both Molly and Taylor that they sure look cute in, but never wearJ

Taylor

 Molly

 

We had a small 8^th birthday party at Lawrence plaza...the theme was Hotel Transylvania.

 

Pumpkin painting at the church… 

Molly

Taylor

 

My mom and I took Molly and Taylor to the craft fair out at War Eagle…what a beautiful place!

 

After much discussion and a little convincing, Molly and Taylor agreed to let me make them their Halloween outfits this year…A pumpkin and candy corn.

 

Well that’s the update….boy how time flies. We are right in the middle of our 4 Christmas’s for 2013, so I will post an actual up-to-date post very soon!