Christmas Eve Pt I

Christmas Eve was a pretty busy day for us! We went out for a festive lunch at Qdoba where John Dickson decided to give me the honor of pulling up my dress while standing in line. A little early Christmas gift from him. The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent tracking down a bottle of nail polish. I had just gotten my nails done, and they were chipping pretty hardcore from cooking and baking and cleaning. I never get manicures, and I refused to let it go without a fight, so we went to 10 stores in search of "French Quarter for your Thoughts." Literally ten. I almost lost 1 husband. I finally wound up convincing a nice man to sell me an open bottle - he was very much in the Christmas spirit. After that fiasco was resolved, we headed to a 3:00 church service (3:00 service = genius, by the way)with Granna, Papa, Erin, Jason and Ella. A little pre-service picture:



And yes, the boys did look quite dapper, if I do say so myself.

After church everyone came over for Christmas Eve dinner. Just getting these 3 in the same shot is quite the feat.



Opening their ornaments - a Christmas Eve tradition in our house. John Dickson scoping out Ella's loot:



Henry and the Granna. It was approximately 100 degrees that night, so you may notice the boys gradually stripping over the course of the night.



The massive tickle fight that broke out.

$10 if you can name that turtle!

I came home one night last year (in 2010), and there was a Christmas robot next to our tree. It was the most ridiculously awesome way to wrap a gift card. Adam knew he had set the bar pretty high, and quite frankly, I didn't think it could be topped. Never underestimate the Ad-man. A few weeks before Christmas he drew up plans, shopped for supplies, and sent me out for a girls night. I came home to this:







Note the nunchucks. I love my husband.

Sleepover!

I'm beginning to think that people get annoyed with me. I have this somewhat annoying habit of asking people (daycare teachers, neighbors, etc) if they babysit. But then I never call them. In theory it just sounds so nice - get a babysitter, go to a nice dinner, see a movie, go do nothing... But when it comes down to it, I am extremely particular (paranoid, whatevs) about who watches our kids. So to add to our growing list of perks of moving to the area, we get to trade off sleepover nights with Erin and Jason. Ahhh dinner, movie, AND peace of mind. Love it. And double bonus - when Ella comes over, the kiddos all entertain each other!

Just a few sweet shots from one of our nights:







John Dickson may have been slightly annoyed that I was taking pictures while he was watching a movie.

Ella's Birthday - Part II

Side note 1: Ella get's called "Ella Boo" a lot. John Dickson has now started Henry "Henry Boo" and referring to himself as "John Dickson Boo." Pretty cute.
Side note 2: In the spirit of the Minnie Mouse party, Henry has started to say "Oh Toodles!" and oh my goodness is it my favorite thing he has done to date.

A few more party pictures:

Blowing out her candle!



Enjoying her cake.



After the cake, the party moved out back for the munchkins to play.




John Dickson turned this thing over no less than 3 times. He's skilled like that.



Hard to believe it's John Dickson's birthday turn again, and so soon! These babies just keep getting older. As John Dickson told me just this week, "it's going to take many weeks, but I'm going to grow up!" Sad for me.

Happy Birthday Ella Boo!!!!

When we were having babies, I desperately hoped for boys. I mean, I wanted two boys for as long as I can remember. On the flip side of that though is that I also desperately wanted nieces. Precious little girls to buy things for, to later take to get our nails done, or to do other girly things. Turns out, I am obsessed with this child:



Who wouldn't be? We had the pleasure of celebrating her 2nd birthday with her, Minnie Mouse style. Get ready for several posts on this, because I took about 100 pictures.

Everything was adorable at her party, from the decorations to the food to the coloring and music tables. The boys had an absolute blast!



The Hen with his precious Mickey Mouse ears.



Having fun at the coloring table.



Ella was excited to open her presents!



John Dickson maybe was not.