Guess I Ended Up With A "Santa" Picture After All....

Amazingly enough, in our 6 years of Santa pictures, this is the first one with a screaming face! We all have to have at least one, right? I only thought I would get the pic below, but I'm glad they added the one with Mattie in it.

Not quite the Santa at the mall (very authentic with a real beard and glasses), but what do you expect for a Saturday morning at an elementary school?

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

It's time for cake!
We hope you have a royal day fit for a king, with your two precious Princesses!

Nothing Like Cutting Down a Christmas Tree When it's 77 Degrees Outside!

Mattie was so excited to see all the animals: chickens, a pig, ducks, sheep, goats, a llama, a donkey, a horse, and the rabbits on the way out.

When she saw the pig she said, "Piggy market. Piggy went home."

She loved getting to pet the horsie. I thought she would be scared of it.

Tractor, take us to the trees!

Which one should we pick?

This one!

The boys take turns helping daddy saw, while Mattie supervises.

Shake it out:

Wrap it up:

Checking out the maze while daddy ties our tree to the car:

Lookin' good!

Not my favorite part. Strands of lights are SO frustrating!

My adorable helpers:

Our beautiful Christmas tree.

It makes the house smell so good.
The only thing missing are the gifts underneath.

Breakfast With Santa

Saturday morning, we loaded up and headed to Noah's school for breakfast, a craft, and a picture with Santa.

Yummy breakfast tacos!

Making Christmas picture frames:

While we were waiting in line to get our picture taken, Mattie found her section of the library!

I think I will be hunting down the "My Big Pink Book of Everything" for under the tree this year. It's pink, it has a princess on the cover, and it's a book - all of her favorite things in one!

You will notice there is no picture with Santa. I will be getting a pic of the boys with him from the school. Mattie, however, wanted nothing to do with the man in Red. She started crying when it was almost our turn. I was so busy trying to coax her to just stand next to the presents that I didn't even get a shot of the boys with Santa with my camera. In fact, I didn't even hear what they asked him for. Looks like there will be no Santa-n-me scrapbook page this year. Hopefully by next year, we will be in the bribery phase of toddlerhood.

Next stop: Elgin Christmas Tree Farm!

On The Frozen South Plains Of Lubbock, Texas!

Pre-game warm ups: the girls watching a princess movie, the boys in Grandma's room playing x-box.

Pre-game meal: yummy food at Jazz!

Pre-game photos:

A little pre-game workout:

Game time!
Texas Tech vs. UH

Mattie loved looking for the "pony" on the sidelines.
She also cheered for the defense. It didn't matter which one!

Texas Tech came away with a victory!
Yay for fun, family time in Lubbock at a football game!

Brenham Thanksgiving

A yummy and wonderful feast!
The kids' table:

Annual hand prints. This year we added baby Lauren to the table:

Look how big these hands are getting!

Cousin Claire:

Lauren (Uncle Rob's Mini-Me!)

Mattie wasn't too sure about it again this year, but when she was finished, she was so proud of her hands!

L-man:

And Noah:

You can't visit Grammy and Grandpa without taking at least one tractor ride. Noah helps Grandpa drive the tractor:

The princesses are ready for their chariot, Grandpa!

We tried hard to get some pictures of little girls in their fuzzy jammies, but Miss M just would not cooperate......

We even enlisted Sophie to help:

We'll try again at Christmas.