January Days

 Eli started basketball last month. It's been just as entertaining as we hoped it'd be! He's one of the younger ones on the team, but he's definitely learning. Our goal of burning off some winter energy has been successful though!

He's more concerned about the fans in the stands and what's for snack after the game, but that's ok :). 

 Daddy never turns down snuggles from his girl.

 Layla got a scooter for a birthday. She's thrilled to join the neighborhood scooter crew!

 We've spent some Friday nights at Island Gymnastics. They LOVE going. 

 Eli and Amelia had a Zaxby's date after gymnastics one night. They looked like a little old couple with napkins in their laps!

 The four of us finally made it to the theater to see Frozen. This was Layla's first trip to the movies, and she did pretty good!

 Layla's princess tent sometimes becomes the "prince" tent when the boys take it over :).

 L did her own hair before church one Sunday. She thought it was just perfect!

 Totally normal around here.

 We went to a cold freezing birthday party for baby Napp at our favorite park. The kids all acted like it was 90 degrees outside. 

We braved a trip to Savannah for some play time and a little shopping. Anything to help keep us busy on these cold January days! 

We're crossing our fingers and toes that Bluffton will be seeing some SNOW this week! Eli said we need to go buy him some "Christmas boots." 

Makin' Memories

We started off the month with a crazy fun visit with our Washington & SC cousins. We so desperately missed our CA family, though! 

12/30/13 - Eli and Jacob had their first and very long anticipated sleepover at our house. They were precious, and had the best time together. 

 They played every single game we own, ate A LOT of popcorn, watched a movie, and played with just about every toy in our house. They stayed up late laughing, and started back up again at 6am the next morning. Too busy making memories to sleep!

Layla tried her best to keep up :)

We got ourselves all bearded up to welcome Jason, Becky, Noah & Colin. We had to show our love for a certain bearded brother in law :).  

 There he is!

We celebrated Layla's birthday this week too! 

 Blowing out her birthday pancake candle.

 Sweet boys!

 The littlest cousins who aren't so little anymore. 

 It was cold and rainy most of the week. Bleh! 

 A fun outing to Island Playground helped though!

There's just nothing better than seeing a great-grandfather right in on all the action! 

Love watching these growing cousins together. Thankful for the time we were able to spend together!

Christmas Part 2 - Virginia

We spent Christmas in Virginia this year. It's not always easy to travel during the Holidays with little ones, but it IS always worth it! It was such a fun visit, filled with traditions and great family time. 

Happy Mimi! 

 Mimi and Papa Tom got a train for under their tree. This was a huge hit! It was even in working order by the end of our visit...I was fully expecting my crew to destroy it in no time :).

 We did a lot of baking, playing, and staying up way past bed time.

We finally got around to sitting on Santa's lap...that clearly went great! Eli talked his ear off and Layla kicked him in the shin until I came to the rescue :).

I love the mall at Christmas time (and every other day of the year). :)

My mom hosted our family/friend Christmas party on Monday night. Eli and Uncle Pat got into lots of trouble, Layla babysat Buffy the dog, and we did a fun White Elephant gift exchange. 

 We got a lot of good Aunt Wiz time! 

 We did the traditional Christmas Eve service, and then went back to the Nichols' house to eat and watch the Grinch. 

 There was a lot of energy to burn off after church!

Santa found us at Mimi's house on Christmas morning! We opened gifts, and then got ready to head over to Grandma's house for Christmas brunch. 

The annual "kids" picture. Love spending it with this crew!

 My grandma got mustache's for all the guys!

We had some very unhappy campers when it was time to leave! We're thankful for very easy car trips both ways, and for the time we were able to spend together.

Christmas Part 1

 It's been another fun December! Busy, but the best kind of busy! Here's a look at our month leading up to Christmas.

The annual Bluffton Christmas parade is something we never miss! The kids love it. 

We attended several Christmas parties (kid free!). 

 We did a lot of Christmas crafting this year. This one was probably my favorite!

 Since we were spending Christmas day away from home, we decided to do a mock Christmas morning at our house the week before we left. It worked perfectly, and the kids got to enjoy their gifts from us for several days before leaving town. 

Wall-e the elf made a lasting impression! It was so fun for both us and the kids. 

 I spent an evening in the kitchen with two of my favorite ladies. We decorated 11 dozen sugar cookies, and had fun doing it!

We hosted a Christmas dinner with Nana, Pop Pop, GG & Goomba at our house. It was nice to be able to celebrate together before we all headed off in different directions for Christmas. I did a traditional brunch meal, and then the kids opened some presents. 

It was a really special time together, and we're so thankful to have family close by. 

We finished up with Eli's school Christmas program. He was so excited to perform for us! GG, Goomba and Nana came to watch, and he was so tickled. He proved again that he has not a single ounce of stage fright, and sang his little heart out. So proud!