christmas 2013

I love, love, love the Christmas season, but I love it about fifty times more since becoming a Mommy.  I love the wonderment and excitement that Christmas brings and I love seeing it in the eyes of a 1 1/2 year old even more.  We always do a TON of stuff for Christmas, so I tried to take pictures of all of the big stuff :)

My kiddos at school for their Christmas play.  Can you tell which one doesn't belong? :)

Not a fan.

A little better with Mommy by her side :)

 Some early snow and ice before Christmas means that Daddy gets home early!

 

The annual Kane/Lawrence cookie night got started off with a bang!

E loving her shades even in December :)

Cookie Night 2013!

Wild woman got into the icing :)

Ellie loves her new Anna hat!

Lawrence Family Christmas 2013!

Ellie loved all of her gifts!

 Ellie and her best pal, Mamaw opening gifts

 

Ellie and Daddy before the big Lawrence Family Christmas at Mark and Jina's.  So cute!

Oh how Christmas Eve night has changed around here :)

Ellie with her Aunt Weesa at the Lewis Family Christmas.  I was really sick and barely made it through :/

Presents, presents, and more presents!

justin!

We got tickets to the Justin Timberlake concert way back in May and the day was finally here!  We had such a blast with my girls from school, and Amie and I got some much needed BFF time :)

thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.  My whole family gets together, it is the start of the Christmas season, and that means the start of the shopping season!!  We start out the day by watching the parade and hanging around the house until we leave for my Aunt's house.  We get to see my Grandma's entire side of the family and I LOVE it.  This year was bittersweet because my Aunt Doris, who passed away in June, wasn't there with us for the first time.  We had a great time until we noticed that my Grandma Mary wasn't walking too well.  It turns out her toes had gotten really infected and when Caitie saw them, she made her go to the hospital right away.  Once we had gotten all of that settled, we went to Nick's Aunt Pammie's house.  I love seeing everyone over there and eating all of her amazing desserts.  After a few rounds of Mexican Train Dominoes and having Ellie play with all of her cousins, it was time to go shopping.  Black Friday was awesome as always, even though we got started much earlier than in the past.  Stores are opening around 9:00, but we didn't make it out until around 10:30.  Amie and I got finished quite early (around 1:30 or 2) and had a blast as usual :)

Ellie decorating the tree on Thanksgiving Morning.  I just couldn't wait :)

One of my favorite things to do on Thanksgiving Morning... the ads!

 Sitting like an old man in her recliner during Thanksgiving Break :)

sold?!?!?!

Well, our house sold within six days on the market!  We only had three showings and we got $1,600 more than our asking price.  We are so very blessed.  With that blessing also came a huge bearing on us of finding our forever home.  The house that I had originally fallen in love with in Sterling Oaks (Chris and Amie's neighborhood) already had an accepted offer, and that has left me pretty heartbroken.  However, we went and saw a house two houses down from the first one and put in offer in and they accepted that day!  We are set to close in early January, with a move in late January.  This has all happened so fast, but I am so excited to be able to be within very close distance of our BFF's. I know this is the right move to be making in the long run, and I am so happy to have Ellie grow up in a beautiful home, neighborhood, and great school district. 

The flyer that Troy sent out to our neighborhood after our house sold so quickly :)

 

 

conference trip to indy

I had to go out of town for the National Gifted and Talented Conference.  It was being held in Indy this year and our district got a grant for all of those certified to attend.  April and I headed up on Thursday Night (after our school's cabaret performance) and got to Indy around 9.  We stayed in the JW Marriott hotel which is really nice, and it was also where the majority of the conference was.  Nick and Ellie met me up there on Friday evening and got to stay the weekend with me up in Indianapolis.  We went out to eat, played in the park, and went shopping.  Even though I was technically working, it was a great out of town trip for the three of us.  We also put our house officially on the market this weekend... crazy times ahead!

Ellie and Mommy at dinner in Indy

Our house is officially on the market!!  Now to wait and see...

happy halloween!!

Halloween was so much fun this year.  Ellie actually got the concept of trick-or-treating for the most part, but she mainly liked people watching.  We had a few Halloween activities, but I wasn't great at taking pictures.  We kicked off Halloween with the annual Saturday before party at Milesy and MaryBeth's house where Ellie got to be the cutest ghost in the house.  Right before the party, Amie and I ran in our first ever 5K race and actually did really well, which shocked us both :)

Halloween night was actually moved to the day before due to threat of severe storms the actual night.  So, we went trick-or-treating on Wednesday in Chris and Amie's neighborhood which is a blast.  We then went to Mom and Dad's house for Dad's birthday on Thursday, where Mom made his favorite dinner (lasagna) and we got to hang out for a little bit.  My co-workers and I dressed as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which was a huge hit with our second graders. 

Cammie Marie as Doc McStuffins

Ellie helping Pop open his gifts :)

Second Grade Ninja Turtles!

Eliot Ann as the cutest ghost ever!

fall break 2013

We had a nice Fall Break at home.  Our school started a balanced calendar this year, which means that I got a whole two weeks off during that time.  However, I chose to work Intersession, which helps kiddos who are behind in reading and/or math for the first week for half days.  Mom, Amie, and Lisa all helped me watch E-Bear, which was a huge help.  We still squeezed in some time for fun before our BFF's left for Disney World :)

 

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Nick's 10 Year High School Reunion

Before the Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Huber's

Fun at the Zoo with Amie and Cam

Fun at the Zoo with Aunt Caitie and Nan

We got to watch B-Man all week!

Someone got into the apples on the counter before dinnertime. (Brohdi)

 

Fall Craft Pinterest Day at Aunt Jess' wore a kid out!

Mommy's creation for Pinterest Day- Ellie's Halloween costume!

Suite Tickets at the Cards Game with my love

Our first real pumpkin decorating with this cutie :)

Happy 4th Anniversary to this happy guy :) - October 17, 2013

disney on ice

For the girls' birthdays, Ellie and I got us all tickets to go see Disney on Ice at the Yum Center.  The dads went for drinks downtown and dropped us off while we watched the show.  The girls were all mesmerized (except for this little one who fell asleep after the intermission).  They all did so well.  I am thinking maybe a yearly tradition?

parade time!

Ellie got to help her Daddy judge the ClarkFest parade down Eastern Blvd. today and had a blast.  She loved waving to all of the people, cars, floats, bands, and horsies as they went by! Of course I didn't get any pictures of her in action; I did snap this one after it was all said and done and she was tuckered out :)  What a great Labor Day event!

real piggies

Ellie's hair can now go up into real piggies, just not halfway up.  I don't know whether to celebrate or cry!

It is super cute though.

twins?

Nah, just Ellie and Aunt Caitie at one year. 

 



is ketchup a vegetable?

I hope so, because Ellie eats a ton of it :)

Ugh.