Gingerbread Competition

We had a gingerbread competition with Cade and his friends.  Ever since someone gave me the tip of hot gluing the houses before you decorate them, I have loved this activity!  Honestly, that might be the best holiday tip anyone has ever given me.  It's not like you are really going to eat them anyway.  Here are a few pics from that night:

 

Bryce ended up being the judge.  I should have had prizes and different categories....next year! 

 

I love this group of friends.  They always have such a great time together and was happy to have them here for a change.

 

 

On another note...I am truly touched by the comments I have gotten on the blog since I posted the other day.  Honestly, I did not expect anyone to read my blog anymore!  And to answer your questions.... Diana is great!  I have challenged her to start blogging again too :)  And the girls sparkle pants came from Joyfolie.  We LOVE them!

LOVE!

There always seem to be a few pics with Santa that I fall in love with each year.  Here are my favorites.  This first one will be framed and come out each year with the decorations.

 

 

And one with their first true love :)

 

Santa Comes to Town

I have been throwing this party for years now.  It started out as a huge bash in the evening with tons of kids, food and presents.  Over the years, it has progressed into donuts on a Saturday morning, but it continues to be such a fun and special time spent with family and friends.  My favorite thing, of course, is capturing the magic that presents itself when Santa walks in.  We love Santa and he always does such an amazing job at making each child feel special.  Here are some of my favorites from the day:

Not Blogging Stinks!

Ok...here's an easy post to get myself back in the swing of things.  I HATE not blogging!!  So many little memories lost because I can't remember anything past a week that I haven't written down!  I am going to make myself get back into this habit because I don't think I will ever forgive myself if I don't.  One of my favorite things to do is go back and read posts from the past.

So...here goes....
Last night my mom and I took the girls to see the Nutcracker.  Honestly, this is the first time I have ever gone!  They were thrilled and loved it all...but boy are they squirmy!  BOTH of them!!  Regardless, it was a fun thing to do with them for the holidays and I'm glad we did it. 

Ok...that wasn't so hard!  lol...  Maybe I'll tackle the Santa party next!!

First Game Day!

There are lots of firsts happening to Bryce these days!  This weekend was his first college gameday!  The Tigers traveled to Houston for their season opener.  Richard and I could not miss it, so we took off and joined in the fun.  We spent the weekend with Richard's dad, brother and sister.  SO fun!

 

I really don't usually take selfies all the time but I have a whole collection this weekend!  I kept sending them to Bryce and he would send me one back of what they were doing.  SO funny.  Houston was fun, but the transit situation was awful!  We were stuck on the trolley thing for at least 20 minutes while more and more people crammed in.  This was better than trying to get home, though!  That is a story all in itself.  It does include a strange man, 15 drunk LSU fans(that we didn't know) and the back of a pick up truck :) lol...

 

My aunt and uncle were not going to use their tickets so they gifted them to us.  They were perfect seats to watch the game...and the band!

 

I'm telling you...we were those crazy stalker parents!!!

 

A selfie in front of the buses where the band waited to go in the stadium.  lol...  Bryce was watching us from the buses.  I'm sure he was NOT claiming us!!!

 

We claim him, though!  Seriously?  How much do I love this picture.  Just pure excitement to be sitting there with that uniform on.

 

Bryce's friend, Willie is sitting behind him.  They graduated together and are having a great time doing this together!

 

Not every band member gets to march pre-game.  You have to tryout and make it.  Bryce made pregame!!  It was like playing "where's waldo" all night!  I did find him, but never could keep track of him :)

 

If you happened to watch the LSU game, you know that the first half was awful, and the second half was a lot of fun :)  The band is playing the alma mater while the football players stand at the student section.

 

The final thing the band does is put their instruments down and sing the alma mater arm in arm.  I never even knew they did this :)

 

We got up Sunday morning and drove home.  Bryce was on the buses with the band, but came home for the night.  It was so awesome to have all my kiddos in the same house again!!  I think he enjoyed being in his own bed too!  I cooked for him, washed his clothes and prayed over every piece of laundry I folded.  I've never been so happy to do laundry!! 

 

So...he's back on campus and we have a short week!  Just 5 more days and we get to do it all again...  Only at LSU!!

First Day of College Selfie

Since Bryce is living on campus, I wasn't there to take a 1st day of school pic.  He humored his mama and sent a selfie on his way to his first class :)

 

I absolutely love it!!

First Soccer Game

I can't even tell you how funny it was to watch these two on the soccer field!  They have never even seen a soccer game!  Believe it or not, Wesleigh was actually much more aggressive than Gracie with the ball.  Gracie would run after it, but didn't really want to kick it.  She also never quite got the concept that it's not good when the other team scores :) lol...

 

These next 3 pics are a series I caught.  I don't even remember what happened right before this exchange, but Wesleigh decided she needed to give Gracie some pointers.  lol...  Gracie looks sad in the second pic, but she wasn't.  She's used to Wesleigh telling her what to do :)

 

They are such a pair.  They belong together and always have.  God knew they needed each other all along.

Yes...their game was going on.  No...it was not happening over there!!

 

This is my absolute favorite image of the day!  The girls have watched their brothers drink Gatorade's for years.  They were thrilled to have their own!  It was noon, and SO hot!!  As we established in the last post, this one isn't thrilled with the sweating.  She's trying to cool herself off here.  SO cute!!