Visit with Santa

Getting Ready for Christmas

Making their paper chain to countdown the days until Christmas

Waiting in line to see Santa

Emily writing her letter to Santa at Macy's.

Noah really got a kick out of this jack-in-the-box.

Here's the letter Emily wrote.

Enjoying some hot cocoa on a chilly day.

"Cheers!"

Emily performing in the Christmas Musical as one of the wise men.

Rileigh came to see the performance.

Gazing on the Baby Jesus

ICE!

Here are some pictures from a recent outing to the Gaylord Palms hotel to visit the ICE exhibit.

They were dancing on snowflakes on the ground.

Playing on the ice slide.

A life-size nativity made of ice.

Afterwards we enjoyed some hot chocolate while listening to Christmas music in the lobby of the Gaylord Palms.

Then we went on a scavenger hunt to find holiday gnomes hidden all around the lobby. Some of them were really hard to find. One of them was hidden inside this birdcage.

Only a Florida hotel would have alligators in the lobby.

Green Meadows Farm

We recently went on a family outing with our Mom's group to Green Meadows Farm.

Gobble Gobble. "Kids, this is what you'll be eating in a few days."

Pony Rides

We love miniature horses. They are so cute. We pass one every time we go to church and the kids get so excited when they see it.

They got to hold chicks and ducklings.

They got to milk a cow.

Noah caught this duck all by himself. Poor duckie.

We ended the day with a hay ride.

Painted Oaks

Our Mom's group had another fun outing. This time we went out to the country to visit a farm and ride horses. It was a beautiful, fall November morning.

Noah saying hello to one of the horses.

The baby goats were so cute.

Noah loved this bunny. He sat down beside it for the longest time.

Getting ready to ride.

They had this really cool saddle swing.

Patiently waiting their turn.

Checking out the stables.

Hay ride!

After the hay ride, we had a picnic and played on the playground. This is how filthy Noah was when we left. He had so much fun. It was a great day.

Gymnastics Fun

Our Mom's group went on a field trip recently to a Gymnastics training center. We had been there once before and Noah had a blast. This time I made sure to bring my camera.

Spooky Halloween Dinner

For some reason, I really got into Halloween this year. We had a speaker at our Mom's group at church talk about creating family traditions. She said that a favorite tradition for her family was the dinner they had before they went trick or treating. She said that her kids would never eat a good dinner Halloween night because they were so excited about going out and getting candy. So she decided to create a fun Halloween themed dinner so they would actually want to eat something. While they were out playing, she would decorate the kitchen and table with all kinds of fun Halloween props. I decided not to go all out decorating. I only bought Halloween plates and cups, but I did decide to make some spooky dishes for their meal. I did some research online for fun recipes and here's what I ended up making.

Lil "mummy" smokies

Spooky vegetable dip. It's supposed to be a hand coming up out of the dish. (If you can't tell)

Pumpkin face pizzas

It worked like a charm! The kids loved it and ate a good meal.