Our First Winter Show

Penny participated in her first Winter Show at school. She sang three songs with her classmates- Snowman Surprise,

 Two Warm Mittens, and Jingle Bells.

 The kids were adorable! It was so much fun to see each of their personalities shine in the show!

 Godmother Kellie and Sarah joined us for the fun :)

 We got to see Penny's classroom. She showed us the calendar- her favorite job is calendar helper!

 Porter stayed in his classroom during the show- I was torn on whether or not to bring him up and his teacher gave me some wise advice- "Go mom, this is her thing. Go focus on her. He'll have his own show someday."

And he had just as much fun with his cousins after the show was over!

Gingerbread 2012

Penny's recipe for Gingerbread Success...

Step 1: Mix it!

 Step 2: Roll it!

 Step 3: Cut it!

 Step 4: decorate it

 With a few bites and licks every step along the way :) Penny had so much fun making & rolling the dough. Because houses are hard, this year, Penny decorated a tree with some help from Grammy.

 

The rest of us went to work on our houses (check out daddy's double decker)

And Porter enjoyed watching all the action!

 Mommy's house

 Daddy's house

 Our houses and Penny's tree:

 And who could forget the coolest cookies ever!

Porter can't wait to really dig into all the treats next year! Yum! Another fun year of gingerbread happiness!

The Snowy Day

Our little snow baby had a snowy day today :)

She ran down the sidewalk to hug her "snow friend". 

She helped me shovel the driveway.

She had a blast playing with Liam...

...while mommy, Jason & Lisa built them a snow friend.

 Porter slept through most of the fun, but when he woke up from his nap, we took him out to see what we had done :)

Happy Snow Day! Stay safe & warm!

God Gave Me You!

Aunt Meggie got me the coolest reminder of the meaning of Christmas! God blessed us with these two amazing kiddos and a great holiday!
One of my favorite traditions is to take a photo near the manger on Christmas morning. Penny loves to wish Baby Jesus a Happy Birthday, so we sing to him :) I love experiencing Christmas through the eyes of my two little ones. Yes, there were presents, but mostly there was love!