i hate january and February.... there I said what was on everyone's mind! I hate the short days, I hate the cold, I hate the cabin fever that sets in because of the previous 2.... I'm just really not a fan. this year was made a tad better by the 6 or so inches of snow we got in the past 2 weeks but still I cannot wait for spring. Not much has been happening... oh except for that my best friend had her 2nd- bennett was born Feb. 2nd and in mom's exact words "just perfect"! love it
can't you just eat him up? he is precious...
big sister drew came over to play a few days ago and I got a few pics of the girls together.... although a good pose by both in the same photo would be WAY too much to ask

i got a few pictures with my phone from the first round of snow while we were in Searcy with Mr. Frosty

Then a couple more over the weekend before it all melted with my new camera lens (hopefully I'll be more motivated to take some)

The only thing getting me through this season is knowing that we will be here in less than 2 weeks! This pasty white skin needs some sun like nobody's business!

christmas catch up

We had a wonderful and busy christmas season this year- we actually just had our last celebration yesterday so I guess it's officially over. Fin is still thinking she "needs" more presents.... but i assure you she had PLENTY!

It was so much fun seeing christmas thru the eyes of a two year old. We did the elf on the shelf, spread the reindeer food, made cookies for santa and had all the decorations up which she all loved, but we tried and celebrate the birth Jesus throughout the season. Her new favorite song is away in a manger and the other day as we were singing i asked her who was in the manger and she stated bluntly "the hay". she knows the name of baby jesus' mom and dad and the angel so i guess we can call that good enough for this year.

All went smooth with all of our dates we had to keep except for the flooding on christmas day and eve when it took 2.5 hours to get to and from searcy... finley kept yelling "we're swimming in our car!" which did not help my anxiety about the situation at all- i guess she just tells it like she sees it!

our holidays in photos:

peace out ya'll!

cousins

trying to get a decent picture before church but heaven forbid we stand still and smile!

deciding to push cause she was going from wall to wall down the hall- ha!

it was too cold to ride our new barbie jeep so we went up the the church gym to try it out

a combination of princesses going on here

finley's stocking bucket

the aftermath
We went to garvan gardens with the famers the night before christmas eve and it was awesome
the 3 musketeers

Busy times since Halloween

November and thus far in December have been crazy busy! Thanksgiving was wonderful with family and friends and the week before Richard and I took a short trip to San Fransisco, Sonoma and Napa! Much needed for mommy and daddy~ so beautiful!





We just got back from our annual Branson trip with Richards sisters and their families. Although it was so much fun, it was pretty cold and fresh outside! We bundled up and headed out to Silver Dollar City all day Saturday.










We got to have lunch with Santa and all the elves which was a highlight!







Last year seeing Santa was horribly traumatic for this little girl...
but this year was much better! Although not totally warm and excited to see the man in red she knows now that he brings the gifts so she was not about to meltdown in front of him.




'll leave you with this photo of Finley and santa.... for all those who know her it's pretty classic!
We call it the "Santa told me I was on the naughty list" picture-ha

Halloween Festivities

Oh how much fun we had this year on Halloween. Like I said before we were supposed to have something Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights but Thursday's Spook City downtown got rained/monsooned out which was a blessing in disguise. We had plenty to do to make up for it.
Thursday Finley had a Halloween party at MDO/"school" that I made cookies and treats for. She had so much fun and is still talking about it. Ms. Sheila and Ms. Flora are the best....


the cookies I made for Fin's class

Then Friday night we had our Sunday School party at the Farmer's house and it turned out to be perfect weather by that night. It rained most of the day Friday but then about 4 the clouds broke and by the time we walked down there it was absolutely wonderful. The hayride got cancelled cause they wanted to still have a yard, but they improvised with indoor activities and we still got to roast s'mores over the fire pit. Everyone had a great time and almost everyone there was dressed up.... even the adults. Richard went as Paulie Bleeker and I went as Juno.... one of our favorites!

sweet Sophie

Richard as Bleeker

the superheros were talking stratagy!!- ha

Evie and Finley cracking themselves up

Drew

they set up cookie and cake decorating stations in the garage and it was a hit!

Saturday was a laid back day. It was perfect Halloween weather... cool, crisp and clear!! We knew that night would be exciting so we tried to take it easy during the day.
Finley and her 3 best friends were Superheros and I have to say that they turned out super dang cute! They were Super Finley/ Super Drew/ Super Evie/ Super Megan. We never got all 4 of them to be still long enough to get a good picture but we'll try maybe this week when they are not on a sugar high!

She really got into character


trying to get a decent pictures with our cousins Thomas and Emily(AKA- Hans solo and Ariel)


There was no one home at this house and they didn't understand... it was so funny cause they just kept standing there and looking inside!
cousin Emily
Laci and Finley
awesome full moon that night!

The night ended with us coming back and passing out candy then running out of candy and having to turn out the lights. I think Finley loved that just as much as trick-or-treating but when she found out we were out of ring pops she had a slight nuclear meltdown... I almost did the same when I found out we were out of chocolate- ha!!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween