It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We decorated a bit early this year. I have to admit that we had our trees up before Thanksgiving. That's a first for us! I really did enjoy coming home from Thanksgiving day in OKC knowing that my decorating was done.

Notice I said trees! We put up two trees this year.

There's a Mommy tree and a kid tree.

My tree is decorated in black, silver, and red.

I have always wanted a fancy tree and this year I got it!

The kids decorated their tree with all our family ornaments. It's so special to see all the ornaments that we've collected over the years. I have a lot of ornaments that were mine as a child, which my Nony made. They are super special to me. Then we have all the ornaments that Jake and Paige pick out every year. It's fun to see each year how their interests have changed by the ornament that they pick. This tree is by far more fun to decorate!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care....

My Willow Tree nativity, which I bought this year.

The Little People nativity set was the only nativity we had,

so I figured it was time to get a grownup one!

My display of Santa pictures starting from Jake's 1st Christmas.

The holidays have definitely begun in our household!

I'm looking forward to all the family celebrations.

Thirty-Four

Today has been a spectacular day. Becky had lunch at her house for all our girlfriends, and she served banana creme pie for dessert.....My favorite! I always think of my Grandma Faye when I eat it, so it's extra special that I got to have it on my birthday. My dear Grandma always made the best banana creme pies!

For dinner we went to the Rusty Barrel with the Poets, and it was so delicious! They have the best steaks around. Yes, my day has pretty much revolved around food. That's how it should be on your birthday. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

The only downfall to the day is that my Paigie still isn't feeling well. I'm keeping her home again tomorrow from school.

Naughty List

My baby thinks she's on the naughty list. She spilled her milk and had a complete meltdown. "Mommy, I don't want to be on the naughty list....tears, tears, tears."

Her over-reaction could be due to her being sick.

She stayed home from school today with a fever.

Or, it could be due to her parents over emphasizing the naughty list. Apparently, it works.

Either way, I'm sure this princess will have lots of presents to open Christmas morning.

T-Town Quickie

We headed to Tulsa on Friday afternoon and made our annual stop at Montag Photography for our Santa pictures. I just can't help it. Yes, it was worth the 2 hour drive. We've taken Santa pics there since Jake's first Christmas, and the kids get to spend "quality" time with Santa. The picture turned out really cute! To my surprise both kids were really shy and didn't want to say much to good ole' St. Nick, but finally Paige told Santa she wanted a wooden donut....not sure where that came from??? Jake said he wanted Luke's Landspeeder from StarWars.

After our Santa visit we ate at Pei Wei. This alone was worth the drive. Since it was Friday night the line was almost out the door, but I stood my ground. We were eating there no matter what. I thought about Pei Wei all week knowing we would eat there, and it did not disappoint. YUMMY!

Since we had to pack in as much as we could in our 24 hour visit, we went to Bass Pro after dinner and let the kids play. They had games set up and little places to take pictures. It's so unlike me, but I didn't bring my camera, so the fabulous grainy picture that is below was taken on my iphone. We topped off the night with icecream from Marble Slab before heading to the hotel.


Brad worked doing physicals on Saturday, so the kids and I were on our own. I was able to celebrate an early birthday lunch with some friends at Los Cabos while J&P went to Hannah's for a playdate. (Thank you Joy for sharing your sitter!) It was great to see everyone and catch up.

It was a whirlwind trip to T-Town, but it was filled with good food and great friends!

Busy, Busy

I realize that I've not been blogging as much as I used to. Funny how when you move to a small town you seem to stay busier. At least that's the case with me. So, I'm going to try and update more often, even if it's just about our uneventful day.

Today was a good day! After both kids were at school I headed to a committee meeting, which I'm super excited about. Mary Fallin is going to have a pre-inaugural ball right here in Ponca City! This is so exciting because Tulsa and OKC are the only other cities that are hosting one as well. I'm on the food committee, which is the perfect job for me! Ponca City has so much interesting history behind it, and this will just add to it. I can't wait to be apart of history when we host this event for the first woman Governor of Oklahoma!

Then I headed to Jake's school to help out with Santa's Shop. This is where students get to go buy little gifts for family members. It was so much fun helping those little kiddos pick out gifts, and to see how excited they would get when they found the perfect one.

Jake just happened to be on the playground as I was leaving, so I got to watch him play. He was so excited to see me, and that felt good. My heart aches at the thought of being ignored someday. It will happen. I'm certain. But, not today!

When Brad got home from work we took the kids to eat dinner. Paige is so much easier to take out then she used to be. It reminds me that she's not a baby anymore. She's a big girl that can actually sit through a meal and not get in trouble. Just look at her sweet smile!

A night in Ponca is not complete without going to the lake to look at Christmas lights. There is a beautiful display that you drive through, and I do mean beautiful! At the end they give everyone in the car a candy cane. This has become a family ritual.

Busy Day=Good Day

Thanksgiving Day

My favorite holiday did not disappoint this year! We had a fun filled day with family, food, and friends. We started off celebrating with my family at lunch, and then headed to Moore to eat dinner with the Liston's. Our tummy's were FULL!

Paige and her cousin Addison bonded over chips!

Jake always seems to find a dog to play with.

My precious Nony and Mom.

Nana with Jake, Paige, Kyson, and Brylee

The whole family

Thanksgiving night with Papa.

Grant, Paige, and Jake in their Christmas jammies.

Happy Birthday Grammy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMY!