Christmas Day Take 3

We managed to get all of the presents from the morning put away before my Uncle Don, Aunt Trudy and cousin Duncan arrived with round three of gifts. We always look forward to seeing them because this is the one time of year that we can count on getting to catch up with each other. After eating lunch it was time to start the fun all over again. Of course the girls had to first show Oliver off a little.

This year it was so much fun to watch Kaylee open gifts because with each package she would let out a "whoo-hoo" like it was the gift she had wanted the most in the world. Campbell on the other hand is more like her Mom and just says a quite "Thanks" and then moves on to the next one. Too funny!

It was wonderful to be able to spend time together. The rest of the day included, eating, playing games, talking, more eating, and at the end of the evening the girls all went to look at Christmas lights, one of our favorite traditions. We are all truly blessed and thankful for our time together and safe arrivals to our homes.

Christmas Day Take 2

Once we had all filled our stomachs it was time for round two. We went ahead and opened presents from all of us to each other. My Mom even had a Santa gift for Cary and I which is always fun! You are never too old for Santa, or at least that is what I think. The girls again were excited and surprised by their presents from Nana and Papa. I think they were most excited about their ipods and American Girl dolls. (Kaylee has a nicer ipod than me and the only way I got one was because Cary won it at a conference. She already knows how to work hers better than I can operate mine. Talk about feeling old!) I may have to borrow hers while she is at school;-)

Thanks to Nana and Papa for all of the time, love and preparation they put into our day to make it special for all of us. We all look forward to the spoiling that we receive while we are there each Christmas. Notice Papa was the only one looking away from the camera, but I love the expression on his face. I also think Kaylee has had that smile plastered on her face since Oliver arrived.

Christmas Day Take One

Christmas was yet again a very eventful and magical day for our girls. They were so excited for Santa to arrive and he definitely did. This picture is of the tree after Santa had unloaded the loot. In those packages were the desires of Kaylee and Campbell's hearts. This year their lists included Zhu-Zhu pets, a baby doll that walked, a pony, the Mindflex game, Wii games, Legos, a guitar and Lulu the animated cat.We tried to get the girls to only ask for the things that they really wanted this year and not everything they saw on the television or Target aisle.Once the girls had opened all the presents Nana got busy working on breakfast while Papa, Cary, and I worked on getting all the new things unattached from their boxes so they could actually be played with. There really should be a class on this. I think we only had one casualty this year when Papa cut his hand with the end of a screwdriver trying to free an animal.

The famous Zhu-Zhu pets.

Campbell with the pony she asked for repeatedly from Santa.

Kaylee with her Legos.

Christmas Eve II

After the excitement of the puppy we did get the girls calmed down enough to enjoy an early Christmas with GG and Great Papaw. They both arrived within moments of the girls getting Oliver. Here are the girls with their Great Papaw. They both love him so much and were looking forward to his arrival for the whole day before he got there. I love watching them play together. There is nothing like the blessing I feel when I see them enjoying a game together like I did with him as a child. We love you Papaw!!

Kaylee and Campbell were also looking forward to seeing GG since we only get to see her a few times a year. They could not wait to see what she got them either since she always does such a great job. I love my grandmother's sweet, quiet spirit. She is so precious to the girls and laughs on cue at all of their funny stories and performances. Another blessing!

Once we had eaten, opened presents and played a few games it was time for the girls to make sugar cookies with Nana for Santa. They love anything that involves baking and frosting. I can't blame them either. santa was very lucky to get some of these delicious cookies with egg nog.

We also had another Christmas surprise when it started to snow in Waco on Christmas Eve. Campbell had said for weeks that Santa would not come till it snowed. I suppose she came to this conclusion from all the Christmas movies we have watched the past month with snow in them. Imagine our surprise when her wish came true too. Thank you Lord for taking care of the desire of a little girl's heart. It truly made her night even though it did not stick to the ground. She was just happy to feel it coming down and so was Kaylee.

We all went to sleep that night feeling very blessed and looking forward to another beautiful Lord's day filled with the magic of Christmas!

The Big Surprise

On the day before Christmas Eve we packed up the car and headed to Waco to spend some time with my parents. I am so glad we did not wait till the next morning because we would have had to stay put in Abilene since we got lots of snow here for Christmas. That would have been a problem since several of their presents were in Waco along with the most important one.

Once we arrived at my parents' home the girls immediately went to their room to look for presents under their tree. Each year my Mom buys a few things for the girls to open as a kind of countdown to the big day. Both of them look forward to this so much. I am so glad that my Mom started this tradition for them to enjoy. This year they opened Snuggies for each of them and some adorable leopard print dresses from Gymboree. They also got matching Christmas pajamas and two games. One of them was Toss Across, I do not know who was more excited about that one Kaylee or me?

We woke up Christmas Eve and spent the morning relaxing along with playing a few rounds of Toss Across and My Little Pony. Next we loaded up in two cars and went to Fudrucker's for some yummy lunch. Cary and my Dad left the restaurant to go pick up a surprise for the girls while Mom and I ran a few errands with Kaylee and Campbell in tow. Upon arrival at the house the girls found a BIG surprise waiting on the back porch with a note attached from Santa. Apparently, sometimes Santa's sleigh is a little too loaded down so he chooses to drop off a few live animals early.(For my friends who I told Kaylee was not getting a dog, she wasn't but I caved a few days before Christmas and brought Cary down with me;-) I do not think Kaylee or Campbell minded that at all!

The girls finding their surprise.

Two very happy faces! Kaylee claimed it was the "most amazing and awesome Christmas ever!"

The looks on their faces just made my heart fill with joy. I am so glad that we decided to add Oliver to our family. Thanks Santa!!

Gingerbread Houses

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned how the 2nd graders at Kaylee's school make Gingerbread Houses for their Christmas Party, well Kaylee did not have enough time to finish hers so we made it a project on one of our Christmas vacation days. Of course, Campbell had to get in on the action too. The three of us had a lot of fun making them and they even turned out pretty cute. I helped Campbell with hers, in other words she told me where to place all of the candy.

Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours

Santa Clause is coming to Christmas Lane

Last night we had the honor of delivering some food to a few refugee families here in town who attend our church. It always fascinates me to experience a different culture. Both families were very precious and so hospitable. The girls learned a few things while we were there too. What a great gift that experience was to our family. Thanks to Kelly for the great idea!

Next on the list for the night was Christmas Lane. The State School here in town puts this together each year and there are dozens of Christmas displays set up thanks to the sponsorship of local businesses. The one pictured here is one of my favorites. This is a tradition we started once we moved here and the girls cannot wait to go each year. I always look forward to it too;-)

At the end of all the Christmas displays is the main house where they have a concession stand, telephone booths to call the North Pole, some more Christmas displays, and most importantly Santa. We love taking our picture here each year because they let you use your own camera so you are sure to get a great picture. This was our first trip to see Santa this year so the girls had their lists all ready. Both girls actually talked to him this year so he definitely knows what Kaylee and Campbell want for Christmas. (On a side note: Why is it that each year after the shopping is done children always come up with one more toy that you knew nothing about? It is always a little random around our house.) This year Campbell has busted out with the fact that she wants a penguin. What?? We will have to see if Santa pulls that one off. We also were surprised to see several of our friends while we were there. Glad we were not the only ones making a last minute rush to fit it all in. After our visit with Santa we went around town looking at lights before returning home with two very tired girls.

Family Christmas

On Monday night we decided to go ahead and have our little family Christmas to each other at home so that would be a few less gifts to have to pack up. Each year I take the girls separately to shop for each other and this year they thought very long and hard about what the other one would like. It is good to know that they love each other.

After looking on the toy aisle for a long time Kaylee decided to get Campbell a Barbie Mermaid toy. Campbell was so excited by this gift and now begs to take a bath each day so she can play with her new toy.

Campbell had actually asked Kaylee what she would like to have so our trip to Target was short and sweet. She picked a Magic Treehouse book and a Christmas movie that has a dog in it. Since Kaylee had been asking for a dog for Christmas, Campbell felt the movie would make her happy. I believe that it did! They were both very pleased with their good shopping.

I just love this family tradition and I love my precious family.

A Big 2nd Grade Christmas Party!

Well the big day Kaylee had been waiting months for finally arrived. Ever since the note went home in October about them making Gingerbread Houses at her school Christmas Party she has been counting down the days. Evidently, at Kaylee's school it is a tradition to have the 2nd grade make Gingerbread Houses in the cafeteria all together at the same time. This picture mainly shows Kaylee's class but if you can imagine 11 more strips of butcher paper on the floor (yes, there are 12 second grade classes at her school) with at least 20 students per sheet all in school cafeteria you have a big party. Then you add teachers and a lot of parents and siblings to the mix. Whew! I am glad it only lasted one hour because it was crazy. Controlled crazy, but crazy just the same.

Here is my sweet girl getting started on her gingerbread house. I am just thankful that

Kaylee still wants me around for all of her parties. Her only request this time was that I come alone, without Campbell. Thankfully a friend had Campbell over to play with her daughter so that I could have some time to just focus on Kaylee. I know that she needs that too.

It is also great to get to chat with other parents and get to know all the children Kaylee talks about all the time. Several parents came up to me to say how sweet Kaylee is when they have been up there working in the class or helping around school with something. That made my heart smile. I am so proud of the precious spirit that she has towards her friends and the respect she shows for adults. It is always nice to know when I am not around that she is still using her best manners. One parent asked me how I still got Kaylee to wear a bow. I thought that was funny till I looked around the room full of children and noticed she was one of the few with a bow in. I just replied that it had never been an issue yet. I am sure the day is coming. Another parent said every time her daughter sees a bow it reminds her of Kaylee. She called it Kaylee's signature look. So funny! I have never even given the bow a thought.

At the end of the hour all the parents started to gather up their children to take them home so I did too. Kaylee and I got to run a few errands together before picking up Campbell. Then we all joined Daddy for lunch at Red Robin. What a great end to the semester! Now I just have to figure out what we are going to do to keep my girls busy the next few weeks.

Crafts and Cookies

We managed to fit in a little Christmas fun after both the girls had an early release from school yesterday. Two of their sweet friends came over and I had some activities planned. We cut out, baked, and frosted sugar cookies. Then we painted some ornaments. Luckily the weather was pretty nice yesterday so they were able to paint and play outside. The sounds of laughter and sweet conversations brought joy to my heart. I just love watching their friendships with their friends grow each year and it is even better when their good friends are the children of my good friends.

ICE at the Gaylord Texan

Well we had a busy but Wonderful weekend around the Beard house. Since our Wylie Bulldogs made it to the state championship game and it was in Dallas we decided to get there a little early to take in some Christmas cheer.

I have always wanted to go to the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord and since it was the Grinch this year I just knew that the girls would love it! So I purchased our tickets and off we went on Saturday morning. We arrived at the Gaylord early enough to look at all of the beautiful decorations.

I felt a little like a kid in a candy store. It also brought back some wonderful memories of going to the Gaylord in Nashville one year at Christmas with my Papaw and Nannie. I was in grade school and I still remember just how magical it was. I hope my girls have this memory as one of their treasures.

Notice the huge gingerbread house. The girls thought it was so cool! There was even a place to make your own gingerbread house and ornament. They just think of everything here.

Once we were done wandering around we went to get in line for the ICE exhibit and I am so glad we did. Our tickets were for the 2:30pm experience, but they were so behind we did not actually enter the exhibit until around 3:30pm. Kaylee and Campbell were so excited to see all of the sculptures so it made the wait a little worth it. I was in awe of the talent it took to sculpt all of Who-ville along with the Manger scene at the end.

I think the girls loved the ice slide the most. Yes, I even ventured down the ice slide myself. This picture shows Kaylee venturing down the slide.

Can you believe that is ice??

Look at this beautiful Manger scene!

Hope you are all enjoying the magic of the holidays. It is so great to see it through the eyes of a child.

Happy Holidays and all that Jazz

Just a little shout out to my sweet friend Traci for the festive design. It pays to have a best friend who is amazingly talented. Love you girl!!

Campbell's Ballet Class

Well today was the big day Campbell had been waiting for since we started ballet in September. The teacher had the girls put together a little performance for the parents so we could see what they have been learning. The tune they chose for the dance was "Jingle Bell Rock" and it was so cute! Can you tell she was excited to have Daddy there too? All the girls did well and I am so glad that Campbell is getting to do something that she loves so much!

You can tell in this picture she is concentrating so hard on the performance they are about to do.

Kaylee's Birthday Take 3

After the Wylie game on Friday night we drove to Waco so that my family could celebrate Kaylee's Birthday with her and we could celebrate Papaw's Birthday too. How fun to have three Birthday parties!! Both girls were so excited to wake up Saturday morning at Papa and Nana's house. Since we were only going to be there for the day Kaylee got to choose what she wanted for lunch. She decided on ribs from a local BBQ place there in town. Believe me none of us were complaining about that!

Once we had finished lunch it was time for the cake. Papaw let Kaylee blow out the candles for them. I just love watching my Papaw and my daughter celebrate their birthdays together. It is one of those memories I will always treasure and I know that she will too. Then it was time to move on to the really fun stuff. Opening the presents!!

Kaylee was so excited to get the American Girl doll that she had been wanting. What a fun surprise!

Of course, Papa and Nana made sure Campbell did not feel left out so she got a treat too.

We did let Papaw open some gifts too;-)

Thank you Papa Papaw, and Nana for making the day special for both of my girls!