Christmas Morning

This Christmas was extra special for us because we got to have Santa come to our house. My parents, aunt, uncle, and cousin were nice enough to make the journey to Abilene to make this possible. We had such a wonderful time and it was so fun to wake up Christmas morning at our home.

Before we get to that I have to post pictures of one of the girls favorite gifts...electric scooters from Papa and Nana. They had the best time riding these on the golf course path Christmas Eve. Can't you tell from the huge smiles on their faces? I don't know if Santa can top this one.

After a day filled with food and fun, along with our tradition of looking at Christmas lights it was time to prepare for Santa's arrival. The girls put out the reindeer food.

 Then they snuggled up in bed to listen to their Daddy read The Night Before Christmas to them. I think they were all giggles and smiles in anticipation of the big guy's arrival

 The girls had several things on their list this year and most of them were electronic like new itouches, Beats headphones, and a WiiU. They did however include a few games, an American Girl doll for Campbell, and other novelties. I think they were pleased with the loot Santa left for them.


 Kaylee with her blue set of Beats.

 Campbell with her McKenna American Girl doll.

 Here are the girls with my Uncle Don, Aunt Trudy, and Duncan before they headed home to Bay City.

 Papa and Nana with the girls.

Kaylee and Campbell playing the WiiU.

As you can see from the pictures above we all had a wonderful Christmas together. The best part was being able to have everyone to our home. It was nice to be the one hosting and spoiling those who usually spoil us for a change. The only downside was that time seemed to go by way too quickly after the month or more of preparing. We are way more blessed than we deserve. Thank you Lord for the gift of family and holidays where we can slow down and just enjoy each other.

Beard Family Christmas

Well our year finally arrived, our turn to host the family Christmas for the Beard side of the family. Cary's sisters and their families made the journey from Edmond and Austin to Abilene to celebrate with us. ( There were 7 adults and 10 kids counting our family too.) It was so nice to not have to travel but there was definitely a lot to do to get ready for everyone. Since I am an organizer by nature I got all the menus ready and then tried to decide the best sleeping arrangement for the next few days. I am always thankful for Sam's Club but I think after two trips there to get all the groceries we would need, I had a whole new appreciation and a hole in my wallet too. The beds were arranged, food was prepared, and presents were wrapped all in preparation for their arrival just in time.

Once everyone was settled in on Friday we decided it would be fun to have the kids wake up Saturday morning and do Christmas presents so that way they would all have something new to play with and occupy them for a day or so. There would also be fewer hours to ask "when are we opening presents" which is always a plus. I must say it worked well with a combination of great weather ( thank you Lord) and a lot of outside fun including a football game in the field behind our house the kids had a blast. I love the way these cousins enjoying spending time with each other and there is rarely an argument either. 

 Here are Londyn and Aunt Tiffany opening her gifts. Adalyn was already down for her morning nap when we were opening so no pictures of her.

 Catch is very excited over the Nike Elite socks we gave him. I do not think I would have ever been this excited about socks unless there was a cute outfit to go with them. lol.

 Crew with his Cars stuff. I really think this kid is going to be the next Bill Cosby. He is hilarious all the time!

 Kaylee excited to get a gift card so she can go shop without having to use her money. I swear she has more money saved than I do.

 Campbell still trying to wake up and process what we are doing. She is so much like my nannie when it comes to waking up int he mornings.

 Chenna with her Nike socks. Evidently they were some special kid I was unaware of. I just liked the colors, just trying to be a cool Aunt.

 Third time is the charm with the socks. At least they were all happy. I think Cane is hoping these get passed down to him eventually because he is looking so intently over Colt's shoulder. However, he could be wondering why all the excitement over socks.

Devon with a Thomas toy. I promise he was more excited than his face shows.;-)

After the presents were over I popped back in the kitchen to cook while the rest of the family played and talked. It was so nice to have a house filled with laughter.

On Saturday night we went to a local place with a light display and a Santa to sit with. I must say it was pretty funny to watch all of the kids with their different personalities sitting on his lap. 

First we have Kaylee and Campbell who are old pros at this and old enough that we only have to take two pictures and be done.

Here are the twins, Adalyn and Londyn, with their big brother Devon. I love the sweet smile on his face while the girls are having none of this picture taking with a strange man.

Then we have the Davidson crew ranging in ages from 10 years to 2 years. You can see that Cane is not into this experience at all but the rest of the family is giving it their best try. 

Back row: Adalyn, Catch, Colt, Kaylee, and Londyn

Front row: Cane, Chenna, Campbell, Crew, and Devon

This is our attempt after church on Sunday to have a family picture of all the kids together before everyone headed home. At this point we were just glad they all seemed to be looking at the camera and giving what little energy they had left for the picture. It was so much fun to have everyone at our house! I did not get many pictures because I was preparing food or playing with my nieces and nephews when I could. That is okay because I have all the memories in my head and I am sure my sister in law (the photographer) is going to share the moments she captured.  Thank you all for coming! We are looking forward to Christmas 2013 in Oklahoma!

Christmas Parties Galore

Well during the month of December I felt like I lived up at the girls' schools. It was a great thing though to be able to go to so many celebrations and see them interacting with their friends. A little bragging from their teachers is always good for a Mom to hear also. 

 Here is a picture from the BIG 2nd grade Gingerbread House Making Party! This happens each year for the 2nd graders and they all look forward to it. Imagine 12 second grade classes lined up in front of butcher paper lining the floors with everything they need to make a gingerbread house in front of them. Remarkably it was relatively calm because they were all so busy making their creations. Campbell had a blast and I have to say I was a little sad to never experience this again. I just love her personality and the way everything just had to be in the perfect place. She was one of the last ones to finish.

 Here she is with her completed masterpiece.

 I also got to attend Kaylee's class Christmas Party. I just love the sweet young lady she is becoming. The party was filled with BINGO, a lot of Treats, and some fun prizes. I cannot believe this was her last Christmas party at school since they will not have them in 6th grade. made this Mom sad to think about all the time that has gone by and what time I have left. I am not going to think about that too much right now though. Just living int he moment and enjoying days like these.

 This girl is always enjoying life. Look at that big smile!

 Also during the same week as the parties we had a special lunch for Campbell's class a few of the Moms put together. It was also pajama day so they were living the good life. Love the picture of me and Campbell with the inflatable Santa. It just would not be Christmas without some fun holiday decor.

Here is my sweet girl in her Christmas music program. I did not get many pictures because I was in charge of the video camera since Cary was at a meeting out of town. She got to dance, sing, and play an instrument so I suppose you could say she is a triple threat. I love that she has a good time performing. Notice she even had to have a necklace on that day.

Here is the whole group in the music program that day. I think this was just three of the second grade classes. There are so many they have to break up the performances over a 3-4 day period of time.

NYC at Christmas with my Sweetie

 Well, my wonderful husband got invited to a seminar in New York City so believe you me I packed my bags very quickly to tag along for the fun. I make it a point never to pass up a trip to NYC! I booked a few reservations before we left but mainly decided to try to hit some spots I had been on the girls' trip and some we had never been to before. After checking into the hotel and Cary attending an evening reception we headed out for a little sight seeing. It is the city that never sleeps.

 Our first stop was Serendipity to have a bite to eat but most importantly try the frozen hot chocolate. I suppose the third time was the charm for me since I finally made it inside on my third trip to NYC. Let me just say that the frozen hot chocolate was well worth the wait. I think it is one of the best things I have ever tasted. 

 Me posing with the amazing menu. So many choices and so little time. After such a delicious meal we headed back to the hotel to get some rest.

 On Friday Cary was in his meetings all day so I wandered magically around the city. We were only a block over from the shopping on 5th Avenue so my day went great.

 That evening we enjoyed dinner at Park Avenue-Winter before heading to see Jersey Boys. The meal at this restaurant is worth the trip to NYC alone. If you ever go get the pork chop dish off the menu, it was amazing! The only down side to our evening was the 20+ blocks we walked after our meal to get to the theatre Evidently 7:30pm is a popular time for the cab drivers to switch from on duty to off duty and the new drivers are no where to be found. We will definitely remember that for next time and schedule a cab ahead of time. I guess on a positive not we walked off the calories from our dinner.

 As you can see we were all smiles after the show. Jersey Boys is definitely one to see if you ever have the chance. The music and notes the lead actor could reach were very impressive.

 On Saturday we went to Grand Central Station and ate at The Oyster Bar for lunch. The station is so pretty and bustling with activity.

 After lunch we walked to 5th Avenue and looked at some window displays on our way to Central Park. All the window displays were decorated so beautifully. Such talent!

 Central Park

 A little shopping/ looking at one of my favorite stores. Can you guess where I am?

 We saw this shirt in FAO Schwartz and could not resist the humor in it.

 The soldier at FAO Schwartz was in the mood for fun when we stopped by. He was such a friendly guy who you could tell enjoyed his job and the people he came in contact with.

 Rockefeller Center

On Saturday night we went to Macy's then to eat at my other favorite NYC place, The Mesa Grill. Bobby Flay never disappoints here. The sweet potato tamale that I remembered from my last trip was still just as delicious so my stomach was very happy.

Sunday morning we packed our bags and left the Waldorf -Astoria after grabbing some authentic NY pizza and fitting in a little more shopping. I always hate to leave this magical place, hopefully we will return again soon. Two trips alone with my husband in a month was so nice. I cannot wait to take a trip again...unfortunately that may be a while.

Living Nativity & ACU Fun

Well if you read my blog very often you will see that I have some great girlfriends that I travel with fairly often and love every minute of it. As luck would have it our husbands are all great friends too! After years of them saying they were going to plan a trip together they finally did. They drove to Dallas, rented an RV and went to the K-State vs UT game in Kansas. Definitely not the kind of trip their wives would plan but they had a blast and we were happy for them. All that to say this blog contains a few of the activities the wives got together to do that weekend.

After having Kaylee's slumber/birthday party on Friday night and our Christmas pictures taken on Saturday along with painting our yearly ornaments we were off for more fun.

 First we met up for the living nativity at a local church. Campbell's teacher actually mentioned it and I thought all of our kids were at a great age to enjoy it and I was right. They loved seeing the story of Jesus' birth play out in front of them. 

 Here are most of the children watching intently before heading to the petting zoo and then for cookies and punch.

 My girls with SJ feeding the animals at the petting zoo at the end of the story.

 Kaylee all smiles.

Once we were done everyone went to our house for dinner and play time. It was a great night!

Me and my girls

On Sunday night we went to eat at Cracker Barrel with friends before heading up to ACU for Christmas activities. We enjoyed talking to Santa, watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon version) on a big screen outside with hot chocolate and cookies, and then listening to Aaron Watson in concert. After the jam packed weekend I think we were all ready for our heads to hit the pillow that night, after welcoming Daddy home of course.

Christmas is a coming!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... at least around our house.

Here is our mantle and tree in the living room.

The hutch in the kitchen all decorated for the season.

The tree in the playroom for all the girls' special ornaments.

This Santa was at my grandparents' home and I always loved seeing it. I am so glad to be able to add it to our Christmas decor now.

The dining room all decked out. I decided to take some Pinterest inspiration this year a get festive with the chandelier. 

Kaylee's tree in her room with a baking theme.

Campbell's tree in her room decorated with everything girlie.

Our house lit up at night. The lights on part of the house were on the roof so the picture is not the best. I appreciate my husband spending a day getting it all put up even though it is not his favorite thing to do.

I love all things Christmas and the merriment of the season! Let the holiday celebrations begin.