It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

The second we got home from Thanksgiving, we went into "Christmas mode." On Monday afternoon we got out our decorations & put up the outside lights & our Christmas tree in the living room. Decorating for Christmas is always so much fun, but it's a lot of work. I'm always so happy once it is done though! I just wish it could stay out longer than a month. It was very cold outside, and the girls wanted to watch Daddy put up the lights, so we bundled up and went out for a few minutes, but didn't stay for long.

Every year, I love looking at all of the ornaments on our Christmas tree. We added several new ones this year: a Minnie Mouse bulb that G-Ma gave us from Disney World, a purple Minnie Mouse fairy for Mack, and a Jessie & Bullseye ornament that Madison picked out at Disney World. Also, G-Ma gets us an ornament with all of our names on it & this year's said "Noel." We have one of these type of ornaments with our names from every year since Mackenzie was born. They are my favorites!

As we were starting to decorate the tree, I turned "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" on for the girls. Well, when I heard the first two seconds of the opening song, I burst into tears & cried for a long time. The Grinch was my Dad's favorite movie, and he always called me "Girlie-Who," which he made up from watching the Grinch. Oh, how it made me miss him! He loved Christmas time & especially watching Christmas shows like the Grinch, Rudolph & Frosty. Once I recovered, we put our tree up & then got settled in for the night. Decorating our house was about a 3 day process, but it all got done eventually. I do have a Christmas tree in nearly every room of the house, you know! Oh my stars! I really don't tell her to do this...she just comes up with it on her own most of the time.Such a great guy...I love him! When I told the girls they had to put on coats to come outside, this is what they grabbed. Mackenzie said, "Here Madi, you be Daddy and I'll be Mommy!"One of our favorite things at Christmas...the Little People Nativity set.Daddy was helping them hang their baby shoes way up high.We love the Minnie Mouse bulb G-Ma got us from Disney World!LOVE!Madison was really into Jessie & Bullseye at Disney World, so I wasn't surprised that she picked this one.She tried & tried to hang it by herself... ...but she was having trouble! This absolutely cracks me up...she was very frustrated and about to cry. Don't worry, I came to her rescue! I just happened to snap a picture at just the right moment.I wasn't surprised by Mackenzie's ornament choice at Disney World either...she chose the sparkliest one she could find! Oh yeah, another new ornament this year was our "10th Anniversary Happily Ever After" ornament from Disney World. (Yes, we spent a lot of money on ornaments at Disney World, but I just couldn't help it!) I love that we have an ornament from when we were there on our Honeymoon, and now we have another one, 10 years later.We let the girls hang ornaments pretty much wherever they wanted to. There were several branches that had multiple ornaments grouped together, but we thought it was beautiful.Both of the girls got to take a turn "putting" the star on top.This might be one of the most memorable moments ever caught on camera. We were working on potty training Madison & she had on big girl panties. Well, that was all good and fine until she had an accident right at this very moment. That's right...she pee'd all over her Daddy's shoulders. Look at her...she's not worried about it! (Neither was he at this point, because he didn't realize what happened at first.) He said, "Did Madison spill her juice on me?" I just laughed! Potty training is not exactly going great so far!Here is a little video of the girls dancing to our rapping penguin that Dave Bender brought to the Staff Christmas party several years ago. It continues to be one of our favorite Christmas toys. Dave had surgery back in November & was still in the hospital at this time, so Brian video'd the girls & sent it to him in hopes of cheering him up.

There was a lot of stuff on our tree, but I loved the way it looked!
Brian did a great job putting our lights up! I still love the Mickey & Minnie we got at an auction a few years ago.

Baldwin Thanksgiving

This was the first year that we had Thanksgiving with the Baldwin's at Danny and Amy's house, and it worked out really well. They just bought a new, beautiful home with lots of space for the kids to run around and play. Grandma Baldwin bought all of the girls dresses that were so adorable. She is very generous...always shopping for the kids. I really don't know what we would do without our wonderful Grandma's! I am also very thankful this year for the Baldwin side of our family. It has been great getting to spend more time with Danny & Amy and the kids, now that they are coming to STBC. Mackenzie & Madison love their cousins so much!Madison really liked Mackenzie's pink dress...I ended up finding her one that matched it a few weeks later. Jareck & Madison were having fun coloring!

Cuties

We got ready for church on Sunday morning & the girls wore these cute outfits. Madison even had a matching outfit for her pony to wear, which she thought was pretty neat!

This is what was happening while I was trying to take a picture of Madi & her pony...there was another little girl in the background, posing for a picture too! After church, we headed to Danny & Amy's to have Thanksgiving with all of the Baldwin's.

Black Friday Fun!

I can't believe I am even posting this picture of me, above, but oh well! It was late at night, very cold, and I had been eating all day...what do you expect?! We have never gone shopping on Thanksgiving night, but we decided to give it a try this year. We made it to Toys'RUs a little before 10:00, and only had to wait outside for about 15 minutes. The real trick was waiting in line to check out...we waited 2 hours to check out. It was worth it though...we got every single thing we were after! We were out of there at midnight, and decided to drive over to Target to see what that was like. We took one look at the line...there were literally THOUSANDS of people waiting outside. We didn't want anything that bad, so we headed home to get some sleep before heading out again early the next morning. Going shopping the day after Thanksgiving has always been a fun thing that Mom & I (and Grandma Jean, when she was still here.) do together. I know some people think it is just crazy and not fun at all, but we have a great time. I just like spending time with my Mom, mostly. Brian was gone hunting, so Poppa stayed with the girls while we shopped. On Saturday, we shopped a little more, but we had the girls with us then and realized very quickly that wasn't going to work! We did get to meet up with Leslie & her nephew Devin for lunch at Chick-fil-a. It was so good to spend a little bit of time with my Louisianan friend! The girls and I left Newcastle Saturday evening & drove to pick up Brian from hunting with Jamie. It was a good Thanksgiving weekend...we were exhausted by the time we made it home late that night.Devin & Leslie brought the girls little Star Wars light sabers with m&m's in them...when Brian saw them, he got all excited and said, "Where did these come from?!" He's not used to seeing "boy toys" around our house. Maybe some day...

Thanksgiving Day

There is just one way to start Thanksgiving Day...by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, of course! The girls were excited to see floats of characters they recognized...all except Sponge Bob. Mackenzie is still afraid of Sponge Bob because of a bad dream she had about him back in August. We thought about changing things up for Thanksgiving this year, but in the end, we decided that it just wouldn't feel right to not have Thanksgiving dinner at Mom & Dad's house. Clint & Abigail, Poppa Jim, Grandma Shaw, Rod & Sheila and their kids, and Chris, Carol & Alexis all came to spend the day with us. I will say this...my Mom knows how to make the best Thanksgiving dinner EVER! (Her first turkey turned out great too.)

This has been one of the hardest years we have ever had, but still we have much to be thankful for. I do sometimes wonder why things had to happen the way they did...I lost 3 key people in my life over the past 4 years...my Grandma Jean, G.G. (Great Grandma), and now my Dad. There are always two ways to look at things...I choose to say "Blessed be the name of the Lord!" In good times & bad, He is faithful. I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband, two beautiful little girls, my Mom, who is also my best friend, a wonderful support system of family & friends, and so much more. I have learned that you have to live for today & cherish those you love, because you never know how long you will have them. Life is ever changing. Praise God that we have the hope of heaven, where we will all someday be together forever! I think that is perhaps what I am most thankful for this year. Madison really liked Uncle Clint's beard! She has a thing for hair, you know. Oh, she is so grown up. She just keeps getting prettier all the time! Madison loves corn on the cob!Mackenzie loves it when she gets to spend time with Alexis. It seems like just yesterday that I was at the hospital with Grandma Jean when Alexis was born...now that makes me feel old!This is the only way to end Thanksgiving...by looking at the sale ads! I always used to do this with Grandma Jean, so it is neat to me that the girls were looking through them with Poppa Jim.Mackenzie circled many, many things for her & Madi!