Goodbye 2012

"May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and PEACE as you TRUST IN HIM, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

---Romans 15:13

Wishing you a very blessed and wonderful New Year!

The First Snow

 Lily Kate's first steps in the snow

One thing I took for granted growing up....SNOW!  Oh my word...now, I don't miss having months and months of snow and cold but a little every now and then is so much fun!  We were expecting a white Christmas this year and everyone in our area was so excited!  And then Christmas came and the snow did not....it missed us by about an hour South.  The suddenly on Friday Rhonald texted me, "It is really coming down!"  I looked up and I could not believe my eyes...SNOW!  Cole, who loves snow, freaked out!  So, Lily, who had never seen snow, also freaked out because her brother did.  We waited just a little bit, watching the beauty falling outside.  Then, when we had a little bit on the ground we bundled up and headed out to play.  I had not idea how Lily would like it and to my delight....Sister loved it!  She ran and played and laughed right along with her big brother until I forced them to come in and warm up.  The next morning, as soon as they had breakfast, we were all out in it once again.  Those two would have stayed out all day!  And I loved it...loved watching them enjoy something that they don't see much of....enjoyed making memories with them that reminded me of memories from my childhood....enjoyed remembering those friends and those times from when I was young with pure joy.  Once we finally came inside we all warmed up with a mug of hot apple cider and some serious play doh fun!  Ahh...my heart is full.  It wasn't on Christmas but it came....what a fantastic end to this year!

Lily's Bear

One day last week Cole was able to go to "camp" at Little Gym which left Lily and I with a morning to ourselves.  After running countless errands I decided to do something special with her that she had never done....Build A Bear!  She was very timid at first but quickly warmed up to the idea of making something of her very own.  She did not hesitate when picking out her bear...she went right for this one and stuck with it.  Lily really, really warmed up to the idea when she got to "fluff" her bear and pick out an outfit for it.  Lily does like to be girly but when it comes to clothes that girl is all about soft and comfy.  It was so fitting and so perfect when she picked out a pair of bright and "blinged out" tennis shoes and a soft hoodie for her sweet bear.  We dressed it, fluffed it again and then headed out to pick up Cole.  Lily insisted on carrying her bear box to the car...oh, she was so proud!  It was so much fun to have some time with her and oh so fun to treat her to something special!  I can't wait for more days like that!

Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas Eve...a day of magic!  We started out our day by prepping the dinner for Christmas Day.  I did not want to spend my whole day cooking on Christmas so we got done what could be done and ran a few last minute errands.  I will be honest...all of the excitement combined with being home for a few days was making my kids fight....like crazy.....over everything.  Just when I thought I could not take anymore my phone rang.  It was Emily inviting Cole to go to see a movie with Jim and Ben.  Hallelujah!  Cole was pumped, as was I.  Since we were planning on spending the evening with them they even offered to keep Cole all afternoon and it ended up being a fun and much needed break for both of our kids.  Just before dinnertime the rest of us headed to the Burrow home for a wonderful (and gigantic) Christmas Eve dinner, presents, play time, and lots of fun!  Just before leaving we changed everyone into their Christmas jammies and said our goodbyes.  It is so amazing to have friends, who are really more family than friends, to spend the holidays with - especially when our families are far away.  When we got home the kids were so wound up but they did their very best to settle in, listen to stories and head to bed so that Santa would have plenty of time to visit our house!

Prepping For The Big Man

(For some reason the order of these pictures got very mixed up---sorry)

The 2 days before Christmas were full of giddiness and excitement in our home!  Rhonald was working so the kids and I stayed in and prepped for Santa.  We made Christmas cookies (and ate a few), we read all of our Christmas books one last time.  We danced to Christmas songs...oh how we danced!  We made Reindeer food to sprinkle on the front lawn.  We talked about Christmas and the fun it brings and also about Jesus and the real reason we celebrate.  We kind of holed up at home...wearing our jammies and enjoying the quiet.  It was wonderful and exciting and everything it should have been. 

Merry Christmas 2012

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!!!

A Christmas Scavanger Hunt

I found the cutest idea on Pinterest the other day (Pinterest has made me a much more creative mommy for sure!) to do a Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt.  As soon as I saw it I knew it would be something that Cole would love to do...and I was right!  After a busy afternoon and a yummy dinner we all piled in the car, turned up the Christmas music and headed out on our hunt.  Luckily we live near a very festive neighborhood and we were able to find lots of items pretty easily (that always helps to keep the kids interested).  We ended up driving to several neighborhoods to find our items.  We were all getting in to it and Cole kept saying "We have to do this again next year!"  Rhonald treated us all to Egg Nog Milkshakes from a local ice cream shop (yum-0) since it was 65 degrees outside and that made the night even sweeter!  We didn't find everything on our list which really bugged Cole...he actually said, "C'mon guys!  Searcy's never give up!"  But we were all a bit tired from the day so we headed home.  It was a really fun memory to make and something I can see we will definitely do again in the future.