Winter Fun and Christmas

We got a ton of snow and we realized Easton had never played in the snow before. We went to Target and loaded up on snow supplies we didn't have and out they went. I thought it would last about 10 minutes but they were out there for about 45.

Easton's hands got cold and she was very over it all.

In Red Oak over Christmas I brought up a ready-made gingerbread house.  Slap on some icing and it was ready to decorate.  It ended up being up a 2 hour project and was adorable when we were finished.

Of course Ryan ended up doing most of the work but I think know he secretly liked it.

 

 

Easton would not cooperate with a "finished gingerbread house picture."

This is the best family picture we could get and at the time I was annoyed at Easton's "funny face" but really, it sums up our family pretty perfectly.  Emerson, prim and proper, doing as she's told and Easton just being squirrley.  I think I'll appreciate it even more in 30 years.

 

This advent calendar is one of our favorite Christmas traditions.  My dad made the tree and I remember Jonathan and me having to alternate nights to pick out an ornament and hang it on the tree.  It's been really special watching the girls carry on that tradition.

Parent Watch Night and Christmas Recital

Parent Watch Nights are my favorite nights at Cathy's- I love seeing the girls in their classes with all the other little girls. It was especially exciting since it was Easton's first one. They have class at the same time so Ryan and I were ducking back and forth between their rooms taking pictures and videos. They're both doing great and loving it.

 

 

Emerson showing off her fancy backbend.

A few weeks later they had their Christmas recital at Truman, which I hadn't been back to in 15
years (!) so it was just crazy being back in the building. It was Easton's first time on stage and you never know if they're going to just stand there or actually do the dance. All of the "babies" do the same dance to "I Love You Santa Claus" so it was adorable to see Easton do the same dance Emerson did 2 years ago. She was adorable and stole the show, in my humble, incredibly biased opinion.

I believe this was "rock and roll."

Emerson's was a princess dance so we got to get some more wear our of her Jasmine costume. She did great and is sure getting to be an old pro out on that stage.

 

 

 

Emerson's Tree

Year 1
Year 2


Year 3

Year 4

5 Years Old!!!

I swear the tree isn't dead and it has leaves in the spring and summer, it's just a runt of a tree.   I'm just happy we've kept it alive.

Paradise Park

I'm a stay at home mom and had never taken my kids to Paradise Park, which is sort of crazy. It's a bit on the pricy side and it just always felt so fancy to do on a regular weekday so we took the girls on Emerson's actual birthday. I was really impressed and the girls loved it- maybe we'll go back in February when Easton turns 3.

 

We made "hand turkeys" with paint- how do you explain to a 2 year old how to spread out her fingers?!?!?!

 

 

They made pumpkin cupcakes in the "kitchen."

And then went "shopping" in the grocery store.

I've always secretly wanted to work at Target or Hy-Vee (seriously) so this was sort of a dream come true for me.

We got Emerson a very fancy Princess LeapPad and she was pretty excited. Those girls are so easy and fun to buy for, I get myself in trouble.

Rapunzel checking it out...

13.1

I don't have a bucket list, per se, but for some crazy reason or another, running a half marathon sounded like something I wanted to do. Since playing basketball and being in the police academy running had always been punishment to me. I've been dabbling in it since going to the gym these past few years and was able to run pretty decent milage. I got up to 6 miles and then got pregnant with Easton so that put the kibosh on that. My sister in law mentioned the Gobbler Grind Half Marathon the weekend before Thanksgiving and so I started training in August. I didn't care about times, my goal was to simply never walk. And in all my training, long runs and short runs and then the race itself, I never did walk. So for that, I'm proud. I set a goal, stuck to it, and did it. Check.

 

 

 

Ryan is the sweetest thing- I knew he and my mom and the girls would be at the finish line but he calculated how fast (or slow) I was running and showed up around mile 8 with a poster that he and the girls had done. I circled around again and they were there at mile 10. I don't normally smile when running 13 miles but they sure gave me reason to.