Week 52

The last and final week! I have completed another photography project! I've decided I will do another P52 in 2015! I love documenting our everyday lives and posting once a week. It has become a habit and one I don't want to stop! So……. here is our last week for 2014…..

Christmas Eve. We spent it at my grandparents house. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, everyone was there. It's a big celebration. We had a huge meal and opened up lots and lots of gifts. 

Christmas morning. We were surprised the kids weren't up earlier! They actually slept until 7:30! Which we weren't complaining about, they needed the sleep, and so did I! They raced down the stairs to see all their presents and we wasted no time getting to the opening of gifts. Luckily I had my camera ready to go and waiting on the table the night before. We decided that this was the year we were going to start making our own family traditions. So we decided to spend Christmas day just us 4, at home. After presents I made a big breakfast. Then Cory and I opened every single box and put the toys together and stocked them with batteries. We watched the Disney Christmas parade and I cried. (I'm sure that has nothing to do with my pregnancy hormones.) We set all the toys up in the living room and the kids had a hay day. Cory made a ginormous lunch (ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, rolls, and even PIE!) We didn't eat until 2:30 in the afternoon and still in our PJ's! It was calm, relaxing, and so much fun! This is definitely a tradition we will continue in the future. 

(we had a very snowy Christmas and the kids loved watching it come down!)

Since we got so much snow and were getting a little stir crazy stuck inside, we decided to walk down to a hill in our neighborhood and go sledding! The past few years Paxton has always been afraid and never really enjoyed it. I was prepared to sit with him and build a snowman. BUT as soon as we got there that boy jumped on a tube and headed straight down screaming WAHOO!!! We laughed. We stayed for hours, until we were so frozen and couldn't feel our fingers or toes anymore. I think it's safe to say they had a blast!

My BIG girl turned 6! We had her birthday party with her friends at the beginning of the month but wanted to make her actual birthday special too. She got breakfast in bed (a tradition!) and then said she wanted to go to lunch at Panera and go to Fly High Trampoline Park. We were happy that some of our family could join us. She had a blast! Our 6 year old…

We have had below freezing temps and snow every single day. But we still have over a week left of winter vacation before the kids head back to school and before my hubby goes back to work. I didn't want to waste this time sitting at home. So we came up with a small activity for each day to get us out of the house for a bit. Day one- we went to see the movie Penguins of Madagascar.

Day two- we took the kids bowling and ate lots of pizza! 

and that's it, the last day of the year. 2014 has been very good to us. I hope you will follow along for another year. Happy New Years everyone!

Week 51

Are you guys ready for a major picture over-load? This week was CRAZY busy and there was so many things to document.

We'll start with a few fun festive pictures. Paxton said he would let me take his picture if I gave him 5 M&M's. He won.

Paxton had his Christmas PJ party at preschool. They made snowman cookies and did a gift exchange. He got a pack of markers that smell! We had fun smelling them all and decided peperoni pizza was not our favorite.

While I was at Paxton's party Cory was at Kindergarten with Alexis. He brought cupcakes so she could celebrate her birthday at school. I really wish I had pictures and I was so bummed to miss it. But a mom can't be in 2 places at once. Luckily her teacher text me a super cute photo of her later on that night. Phew…

After we got the kiddos home from school and fed they ran out to jump on the trampoline. It was a beautiful December day. I love winter days like these.

While they jumped and played I set up my backdrop with christmas lights so I could get these annual pictures taken. It's nothing original or creative, but I love them!

Next up was Alexis' Kindergarten Christmas party. I helped plan the whole thing with another mom. In August when your so eager to help with everything I signed up for all sorts of things. But then it came and I wanted to pull my hair out. I love volunteering and helping as much as I can, but why did I think doing the Christmas party would be a good idea? Ugh. It did turn out super cute and the kiddos all had such a great time! We now have 3 whole weeks of no school, I am excited!!

Usually I throw a big gingerbread house decorating party at our house each year for all their friends. But this year….. I just couldn't add another thing. With Christmas, Alexis' birthday, all the school parties, working full time with my photography buisness and being pregnant and tired, I just couldn't. So we did them just ourselves instead. It was a fun morning decorating!

Later that night we had Christmas with my family. My family is big and we all live so close together so there are lots of Christmas' for just my family. This one is with my parents, brother and sis-in-law. Our car decided to break down on our drive there. My dad came and picked the kids and I up while Cory stayed with the car for the tow truck to come. About 2.5 hours later he was finally able to join us! Our car on the other hand…. it's needs some major work.

Alexis told me that she wanted to take her 6 year old pictures at a castle. I was determined to find something that looked castle-y and I stumbled upon this gorgeous mansion that totally looked like a castle! We planned this day for her pictures for a long time. Cory even took the afternoon off work to make the drive with us. We got there and it was cold! I mean really really cold. AND windy! 33mph winds! Our hair was going crazy. I decided to make the most of it. At the end the wind died down and we were able to get some great shots. I can't believe she's going to be SIX!

ZOO Lights!! We love the Denver Zoo and we love the fun events they put on. This one is by far my favorite.

We are all ready for Christmas!