Christmas Festivities

The kids in their snappy Christmas outfits - thank you Grandma!

Abigail's PreK Christmas Program. She did awesome!

Christmas with the Sprungers...

Thanks, Sam!

Thanks, Kyle! ;)

Abigail loves her some Gracie!

There was essentially one theme that summed up all of Jackson's Christmas gifts this year...trucks!!!

Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma!

Jackson loves these puzzles! He will sit for hours doing these over and over!

The kids had a ball playing in this cupboard at Grandma Sprungers - they were playing "office". 

Christmas Morning!

Abigail reading one of her new Princess books.

One of Abigail's larger requests this year was Stompeez. They are these slippers that when you step down the ears come up. I thought they were a bit silly, but they weren't that expensive. I have to admit though - they really are cute. :)

More truck puzzles...

At Grandma Gudemans - the girlies getting their nails painted with their new fingernail polish while the boys napped...so the fingernail is supposed to also smell like Dairy Queen blizzard flavors. :) A bit of a stretch I must say, but I did think I faintly smelled Strawberry Cheesecake. :)

Watching a video during quiet time...I thought they looked so funny all lined up in chairs. :)

Singing some Christmas carols...

Cars!!!!

Tractors!!!!

The other thing Abigail was passionate about this year was a pink razor - just like Morgan's...thank you, Morgan!

Grandpa and Grandma got all the kiddos their very own, monogrammed bean bags. So cool!

The crew...:)

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Prepping for Christmas

One of my prayers this year was that I would be able to savor the season and really celebrate Christ. I didn't want to be burdened or bogged down by all the "busyness", rather I wanted to be able to just focus on Christ and enjoy the season. God really answered prayer. It's such a blessing doing Christmas with little ones - fresh, excited eyes and smiles over all the little moments. It's precious celebrating the birth of Jesus with such innocence. Little Jackson could hardly speak 10 words but he could sing (the tune - words were mumbled) Away In a Manger, with motions no less - he would hold his arms like he was cradling a baby. So cute!

We had lots of time at home during the month of December because we had so many viruses running through our house! We had lots of time to get messy, bake cookies, do crafts, etc. Abigail was really fun to bake with this year. 

By the way...we washed our hands A LOT while baking. :)

The best part...the frosting! Yum! 

We had a sleepover with the Gudeman kids. I found this cute idea on Pinterest (surprise, surprise). The girls and I decorated ice cream cones to look like decorative "trees". We then had some yummy ice cream cones later for dessert! I would totally do this again - it was easy, fun, and tasted great! :)

Morgan was so sweet to read to Jackson :)

The kids watched The Incredibles movie for our movie night - they then spent the rest of the night/morning acting like superheroes. So funny the things they come up with - the things they use for "weapons" and costumes. :)

My treadmill actually rusted (ahem - yeah I guess I use it and sweat that much...gross). Anyway, SOLE guarantees the frame, so we got a new treadmill which was great for me! Not so great for John and his college guys who had to carry the old one up the stairs and the new one down (eeks - it's heavy!). So we had this HUGE box, and John decided to make a "house" out of it. And quite the "house" it was. :) Abigail loved it - that's what counts.

November

Cowgirl

Abigail had the cutest program at her school for Thanksgiving. She did great despite a slight costume malfunction with her feathers. :)

Abigail with her very good bud - Ava. 

October

We started the month of October thinking it would be a mild month (as far as schedules go), but it ended up being FILLED to the brim with blessings, opportunities, lots of fun, and MUCH to do! 

As I was behind in my blogging, I decided just to capture the month all at once.

Jackson right now is just obsessed with clothes/attire. Every time we get dressed, change or go somewhere he is so intrigued by all the items of clothing everyone is wearing. Along with his piqued interest he is also fascinated with trying on everyones shoes. The shoe "situation/organization" by our back door has always been a bit of a hot button with me as the mess or lack of organization drives me crazy. This has simply been escalated with Jackson's newfound interest in shoes - as he loves to go through each pair (destroying what little organization there was) and try them on.

A little pre-Halloween dress up.

We had some GORGEOUS days in October - which were such a blessing. One day Liam came over to play with us and enjoyed the weather with us. 

West Lafayette/Purdue hosted their first half marathon this fall. It was AWESOME! It was well run and lots of fun. It was HARD - the last two miles were essentially uphill, but I had a great time and had a PR. John - the awesome husband that he is - hooked up the bike cart behind his bike and biked the kids throughout the course, cheering me on at several different spots. In fact, he rode with me for several miles. It was so much fun!

There was also a kids run after the race, so this was a treat for Abigail as well. She just loves it when there are kids races.

Two of the CUTEST fans.

The kids both got medals as well - they were from the kids' run, but they graciously gave Jackson a medal too.

We had such a fun Halloween! Abigail especially loved getting dressed up and racing from neighbor to neighbor for candy. We met up with our neighbors and trick-o-treated with them, which made for a VERY fun evening. 

Crazy Cheerleader

Jackson had a real love-hate relationship with this dog costume (well - it was mostly hate for him and love for me). I just thought it was the cutest thing. I kept trying to get him to wiggle his bottom (to wag his tail). He, however, wanted nothing to do with the like.

All in a day...

Gum + hair = peanut butter! We got gum in the hair...again. For some reason I don't remember this being such a big deal. I feel like peanut butter worked great. However, it must have been more intense this time because it took much more work to get all the stickiness free from Abigail's locks. She however kept herself entertained by taking advantage of the open jar of peanut butter...snacking away while I worked.

Jackson on the other hand is (for whatever reason!) in love with these Mr. Potato Head glasses. He loves to wear them - and upside down no less. The other day he was so frustrated that they would not stay on his head. I was then quite frustrated and put them on Mr. Potato Head (where they belong!) and tried to explain they were Mr. Potato Head's! He however wanted nothing to do with this truth and continues to wear them though no longer complains because he knows I will return them to their rightful owner if he does! :)