London

After four days in Paris, we took the Chunnel over to London for three days.

Buckingham Palace, which was close to our hotel. We went to the Changing of the Guards, which was a little dull (Daniel was not impressed):

Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Oxford & Regent Street, London Bridge, Tower of London:

London Eye:

We missed our kids like crazy and were so glad to get home, but we had an incredible time. There is no one I would rather have spent this amazing, romantic, once-in-a-lifetime trip with! I love you Daniel!! :)

Paris

Daniel took me on a 8-day trip to Paris and London earlier this month! I had never been to Europe and was very excited :) It was hard being away from the kids for so long (and we had to miss all their Christmas activities at school) but they were in good hands. Daniel's dad kept them the first two days, then my parents flew in for the long shift.

View from our hotel room in Paris, if you can believe it:

Louvre Museum:

Notre Dame church:

Versailles:

Gymnastics Exhibition

Aidan had a gymnastics "showcase" tonight and he did such a great job! He started gymnastics several months ago after expressing an interest, and has done really well. Lately he started saying he wants to quit because it's hard (too bad!) and he's not good at it (not true!). For now we are making him suck it up. I had to convince him to sign up for the exhibition and I'm glad he did it. There were dozens of girls but only 5 boys. The boys did all six apparatuses (apparati?), and the high bar and pommel horse were ones that Aidan just started working on in class...but he still did fantastic and we are SO proud of him!

Northpark Santa: Continuing the Tradition!

I took the kids to see Santa at Northpark Mall this past week, something I have done every year since Aidan's first Christmas! I love that they get to see the same Santa every year, and Northpark is such a great place to be at Christmas. Kaelyn and her parents were there too since it was her 7th birthday! Her dad actually jumped through hoops to get me a ticket (you have to get a ticket starting at 9am and that determines your order to see Santa) so we are very appreciative of the Denneys! We saw a puppet show, and then got heckled by Scrooge, another puppet who has been around for years. He's hilarious! He bantered with Avery and Kaelyn, then had a LONG chat with Aidan. I think he really liked him. The kids' Santa visit was great and when asked what they would leave for him on Christmas Eve, Avery said a jelly sandwich :)

This and That

Today Aidan marched with his fellow Cub Scouts in the City of Wylie Christmas Parade:

We kept Logan and Ellie last night while their big sister Sage had a dance recital. Avery had fun taking care of Ellie!

Cookie and Jeff were in town earlier that day, so we got to see them (Aidan was in school and had to miss them).

A few weeks ago I went to Paint & Party class with my friends. Three of the girls had November birthdays, so we decided it would be a fun way to celebrate! My painting of the Eiffel Tower (which I'll get to see in person in less than two weeks!) is pretty lame, but it was a fun night :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving is usually pretty low-key, and this year was no exception. It was the four of us at home on Thursday, so I made a small ham (I don't go to the trouble of a huge turkey when I'm just cooking for our small family!), dressing, potatoes, salad with homemade ranch, fruit salad, rolls, and a cherry cobbler! We watched the parade, football, and just enjoyed being together and counting our blessings.

On Friday my parents came to town (they had been visiting my family in West Texas). We hadn't seen them in several months and were so glad to spend some time with them! They always come bearing gifts for the kids...this time my dad brought two Nerf guns for Aidan, and they used Avery's princesses as target practice. She didn't mind, in fact she helped set them up! I should have taken more pictures during their visit but I'll have to make up for it when they come back for Christmas.

Otto, our Elf on the Shelf, has come to visit for the holidays! He's hidden in all sorts of funny places, and one night even got a little tied up by Aidan's Lego guys :)

I took Avery to see The Nutcracker on Sunday! It was her first time to see it and she loved it so I think this will become a yearly tradition for us :) Our friends Tracey and Kaelyn were also there so it was fun to see it with them!