Christmas in Texas Part 2- Mimi J's

Our first stop was Mimi J's house.  Well, before we actually made it to Mimi J's house we met Uncle Brandon and Katie for breakfast somewhere between Waco and Dallas.  They were on their way to Minnesota.  We celebrated Christmas on the 22nd with Mimi J, Ninny, Uncle Trent and Zayden.

Katie made us all scarves.

The daddies tried to help the little ones learn to use their new "tablets".

Lyric showed off Uncle Trent's cheesecake before she cut into it:-)

Cadence saw this snowman at a neighbor's and had to have a picture with it.

Christmas in Texas Part 1- The Drive

We made the trip to Texas for Christmas again this year.  We have found things go so much smoother when we travel at night, so we left shortly after dark.  The glow sticks from the dollar rack at Target- BEST INVESTMENT EVER!

 

Our drive was pretty uneventful, which is always a good thing when traveling with 3 children and a guinea pig!

We did have one hilarious event.  It was early in the morning after we had traveled all night.  The girls were watching movies on their little DVD players.  Story had her headphones on, but they weren't plugged in, so we could hear her movie.  She had no idea!  I tried to tell her, but she couldn't understand what I was saying, so we just left her alone.  Devon and I were dying because she really thought the sound was coming through the headphones.

We were probably all delirious by this time of the trip:-)

New Tradition- Homemade Gifts

This year we decided to start a new tradition with our family.  We drew names between the five of us, but your gift had to be homemade.  Sadly, I didn't take any pictures the night we exchanged gifts:-(

Cadence had Lyric's name and I helped her sew Lyric a pillow.  She also made a book for her.

Story had Daddy and she gave him her frame she made at Home Depot.  She painted it and had me print a picture of the two of them.

Lyric had my name and Devon helped her make a comedy CD for me.  It was so cute and funny!

Devon had Story and he made her some air freshener with essential oil.  That may seem like a strange gift for a seven year old, but Story loves that sort of thing.

I had Cadence and I made her an apron and chef hat.

It was so much fun for everyone to plan out their gifts and then make them.  I know we will be doing this again next year.

Santa Came!

Since we are going to be in Texas for Christmas Santa came to see us today. 

 When we first got home they noticed their stockings were full!  They had a great time finding all the goodies!

Story Bell was moving around too much to get her picture with her stocking.

After their stockings, they noticed a present under the tree.  It had all three of their names on it.

 They opened it and found another present. 

 They opened that one and found a note. 

It led them to another present in the laundry room.

 The note in the laundry room led them to the freezer.

 They eventually ended up in the bathtub where their final note led them to their room.

 

 They flipped a coin to see who was going to sleep on the top bunk the first night.  Cadence was the lucky winner.  Surprisingly, she actually slept there!

Cadence Loses a Tooth

Cadence is growing up!  A couple of nights ago we were eating and she said her tooth hurt when she took a bite.  I asked her if she had a loose tooth and she said no.  But she let me feel and it was REALLY loose!

The next day she designed her tooth fairy pillow and helped me sew it.

This afternoon we were sitting at the table having a snack and I noticed her tooth was much taller than the others.  I told her it really needed to be pulled, so she let me pull it.

That little bitty tooth had the longest roots I have ever seen!

She was very excited once it was out!  It went straight into her tooth fairy pillow.

Kissing the Broom

Story and Cadence just walked into the room...
Story said, "We kissed the broom... We pretended it was a boy and we kissed it!"
Cadence added, "Yea, we pretended it was the boy of our dreams and we kissed it!"
I asked who they were pretending it was.
Story, "I pretended it was Justin Bieber!"
Cadence, "I pretended it was Jack.  A boy named Jack."
Story added, "She doesn't know who she wants to marry, but she just knows she wants his name to be Jack."
Those two crack me up!

We Care for Kids Day

Vanderbilt had a festival for the kids today.  We went hoping to see some of our old nurses, but we didn't recognize any that were there.  We did get to see Amanda, the amazing child life specialist.  The girls had a great time!

Story wanted to climb the rock wall as soon as she saw it.  I wasn't surprised because that kind of thing is right up her alley.  But I was surprised when Cadence said she wanted to do it too.

They also went in the jumpy houses, painted pumpkins and participated in lots of activities at the different booths.

History Club Drop Out

I don't know if you remember, but I posted in August Cadence started History Club with sisters.  She went that day and seemed to really like it, but when it came time for class in September she refused to go.

  

She said, "All you do is sit and do what the teacher tells you to do."

So, I let them know they could give her spot to someone else because she would not be returning.

Today while sisters were on at History Club she and I went on a date to Chick Fil A.  She was really excited to be on a date, just the two of us.

I think she liked History Club, but she likes time without her sisters even better:-)