100th day of school

Morgan's 100th day of school as on Friday the 31st. Being the genius that I am, I pulled the shirt Addison wore last year out of the closet, added a few missing flowers and voila! 100 flowers to show her friends.

They had to count out groups of 10 for their snack. They were excited that some of it included candy. I made her special quesadillas for lunch.

I go to have lunch with my sweet angel and this is what I get.

One thing is for sure. She always makes me smile. Oh, and yay for pudding Friday!

a typical christmas in florida

The weekend before Christmas it was hot. Like, sweating hot. So we spent a lot of time at the park. The girls spent hours on the merry-go-round. I'm not sure how they did it without throwing up.

you want to watch sunday night football?

You're out of luck at my Mom's house.

This is my favorite picture from the holidays. 

christmas lights

My mom lead us out to the middle of BFE to look at this awesome Christmas light display. There were so many twist and turns and dark roads that I had no idea where we were. And then no cell phone service to get back home. We made it out safe.

The girls had a great time running around the property and checking everything out. 

We started a new tradition this year. We headed over to a neighborhood in town that is famous for their lights. All of the homes participate and it really is something to see. We let the girls hang out the sunroof while we drove through. I can't wait to do this each year.

christmas visit in gainesville

At this rate, it may take me until St. Patrick's Day to get through all of the Christmas posts. But I will do it so I have these records.

This year we all took some time off and went home to my mom's to spent some time with her and the family before Christmas. One night we went to a concert that my good friend's son was singing in. It was held in Gainesville at a neat place called Cymplify, which happens to be owned by one of the members of Sister Hazel. It was really cool when Ken Block got up to sing with the kids during the last song. Before the concert the girls had ice cream. Morgan did not want to be bothered with pictures.

On Saturday we took the kids to the Hippodrome Theatre to see A Christmas Carol. This is the same show at the same theatre that my mom took me to as a kid. The girls loved it! I had warned them about the potential scary parts and they both understood that none of it was real. It's such a small theatre that your so close to the action. The best part was Morgan giggling loudly three seconds after the rest of the theatre had already stopped.

My mom and Jim went with us and Jim snapped these pictures after the show. I just love this one of Addison handing him the phone for an Instagram picture. 

We had some time to kill after the show before meeting Allison and Cole for dinner. We headed to the mall to get the official picture with Santa. (You may need to click on it to view the larger version.)

And since we had more time to kill, I asked the girls if they wanted to get their ears pierced. I was SHOCKED when they both agreed to do it. Addison sat on my lap and went first. They did both ears at the same time and used some special code to trick her and I when they actually pulled the trigger on the gun. When it was done I heard some noise coming out of her that I thought was crying. It was actually a giggle as she looked at herself in the mirror.

After seeing Addison go, Morgan chickened out. Then as I was paying she was back in. She too sat in my lap. She didn't cry, but she wasn't giggling. She immediately turned to me for a big hug. Within 30 minutes she was back to her normal self.

After dinner we went over to North FL hospital to walk the pond and see all of the Christmas lights. This is another childhood tradition that I enjoyed experiencing with my own girls. 

Me and Cole. I can't believe how big he has gotten. I've enjoyed watching him grow and turn in to the sweetest young man.

 Me and Allison. Friends since babies. That makes it 36 years. Not very many people can say that.

Then there's my mom. She doesn't do pictures. At all. But I forced her too and this was the best we got.

My sweet family.

Sunday morning we went to church. Afterwards I made them take pictures.

 I'm trying really hard to be IN more pictures. Even if they do hate me for it.

I had so much fun creating these memories with my little family. I hope it continues for years to come.

polar express day

You know it's going to be a good day when you get to wear your pajamas to school. It's an even better day when you get to have breakfast for lunch and hot chocolate with your snack. Mmmmmm, pancakes.

Morgan and her best friend Ruby. They're going to be sad next year when they're not at the same school.

 You know, just typical Morgan.

 One quick, normal looking picture.

I'm pretty sure the highlight of her day was wearing her Stompeez in the classroom. She loves those freaking slippers and was so happy to show them off to her friends.

morgan's christmas program

Morgan's school had a little Christmas performance for us. There's just something about all of those four year olds standing on a stage and singing. It just pulls on your heart.

They did Silent Night, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Trying to get her to hold still for a picture is nearly impossible these days. If there is a wide open space, like this courtyard at the church, all she wants to do is run.

Maybe I bribed her for a few good ones.

Addison loves being a big sister. She was front row with me cheering her on.

I wanted to treat Morgan to a fancy dinner afterwards, but her choice - Zaxby's. Ugh. It was kid's night and the food turned out okay. They had cotton candy, balloon animals and face painting. The guy doing the face painting is seriously good at what he does. Butterfly Morgan.

Christmas tree Addison.

This is just what I needed to put me in the Christmas spirit.

so, yeah

This is how we felt about those trips to the mall.

Blue lollipop teeth and all.

visit to santa

Let's get down to business with the Christmas posts already. I'm ready to get caught up on the blog and get everything in order for the new year.

I don't know how Santa lines have been in your neck of the woods, but here in our hometown they were miserable! One Saturday we headed to the mall, checked out the line and then turned right back around for the car. Plan B was the train musuem in Jax Beach that was having Santa on the train, hot chocolate and crafts. Score! No line.

Here's Addison reading Santa her list. She was serious about Christmas this year. There were 10 things on that list. Santa did good to get most of what she wanted, but I had to draw the line at the dog.

Morgan's list was a lot simpler. And a lot funnier. She wanted a toy penquin, a toy cat, a fairy set and the movie Barbie as Rapunzel. And she wrote it all by herself.

The train.

Since Santa was so busy with all the kids, he asked that they mailed their letters so they were waiting when he got back to the North Pole.

Morgan's turn.

Afterwards we went to lunch at Grom. These sweet girls had a good morning.