Christmas Eve Surprise

Every year the kids get a fun and silly gift on Christmas Eve.  Last year they got two sets of "Nightmare Before Christmas" ornaments (they were SO cool!)  This year had a "Nightmare Before Christmas" theme as well.  They really love their new friends!  Jack and Sally ROCK!

Oh you didn't think we'd forget the gingerbread?

We were so happy to have Daddy home on Christmas Eve!  So we took advantage of this and baked and decorated our gingerbread cookies!  They had a lot of decorating to do!

I sometimes wonder if I should cut my gingerbread recipe in half!  But then again, I do make awesome gingerbread, lightly crunchy on the outside, but totally soft and wonderful on the inside and the frosting ain't too bad either!

Here are the kiddos showing off their awesome creativity!

And now to taste the finished product!  YUM!

I have to admit, this is one of my favorite holiday traditions!  I LOVE making gingerbread with my family!

Wimberley Trail of Lights

I may have mentioned in a previous post somewhere that the City of Austin has ditched the "Trail of Lights".  It's really quite a bummer, we always had a nice time at that particular event.  They still have the Zilker Tree, but I'm a Scrooge and there is no way I'm going to drive down to Zilker to see that tree!  It's just not THAT impressive.  Anyway, the kids LOVE Christmas lights and I had to figure something out.  Last Christmas we did Johnson City and the PEC lights which are always impressive, but this year a friend of ours took her kids to Wimberley and had a great time, so we figured, what the heck, let's give it a try!

Honestly, it was kitschy, REALLY kitschy, but there were thousands of twinkly lights and the kids were happy!  Here are Ian and Ainsley "elfing" themselves.

There was a huge yule log burning and they were handing out hotdogs and marshmallows for people to roast.  We passed on the hotdogs, but both kids partook in the marshmallows.  They were also handing out free hot chocolate, so we enjoyed our cocoa while watching what could very likely be the "Worst Band in Central Texas"!  They were relentless!  

Once we finished our warm beverages we continued on to look at the lights.  We came across a skiing polar bear!

And we were all impressed by this tree, which was made entirely of recycled water bottles!  It was REALLY pretty!

Obligatory pic of me in my awesome leopard hat!  Cause nothing says chilly weather like a puffy coat and a leopard hat!  ;)

But the one thing we came to find was SANTA!  And what a jolly, old, elf he was!  I love Santa's with real beards!  Of course the kids know this isn't the REAL Santa, he's just a helper, but they were happy to see him and tell him their wishes so he could convey the message to the real deal!

And yes, Mommy still believes!

There was quite a bit of the trail left to explore after we found Santa, in fact the last of it was where I found my favorite things!  I MUST find these before next XMAS or my life will not be complete!

And if a XMAS pig wasn't awesome enough, check out the pig lights!

And what in the world was Nana up to?

I think the folks had almost as good of a time as the kids did!  I mean they look pretty happy, right?

And last but certainly not least... NOTHING says Happy Holidays like life-size replicas of Quetzalcoatlus and Parasaurolophus!

I have to say, this was one of the weirdest Christmas light displays I have ever been to.  That being said, it was free, the kids got to have cocoa and a roasted marshmallow, we got to hear a horrible band, the kids loved all the lights and we got to see Santa, so whether it was weird or not, I think we all had a pretty good time and that is all that matters!

A Super Fun Day in San Antonio!

For an early Christmas present, sort of, Brady managed to swing 6 tickets for a San Antonio Spurs game.  We loaded up the folks and the kids and headed south.  But since it was an afternoon game, I talked everyone into going early so we could see a special Egyptian exhibit at the San Antonio Museum of Art.  I had to try to infuse at least a little bit of culture into this outing!

First we stopped at a cute little restaurant called Cheesy Jane's.  It was a little 50's-style diner with a train track that ran around the ceiling and they boasted BIG burgers and BIG Malts.  Ainsley took the opportunity to color the menu and what do you know?  Even burgers are rainbow colored in Ainsley's world!

After we all had our fill of burgers and sweet potato fries, we headed over to the San Antonio Museum of Art.

We had never visited this particular museum before and I was really quite impressed!  The building was lovely and the exhibits were very nicely done.  They had a great Greek and Roman room with all of that lovely orange and black pottery.  And Ian and I managed to find a whole section on the Sui and Tang Dynasties which was really timely as that was what we were studying that week!  Sadly, no pics.  They kind of frown on that in museums!  But one of the most impressive things I saw was an insanely intricate sand drawing.  It was huge, full of bright beautiful colors and just amazingly detailed.

We had our fun at the museum, but it was time to head out for a Spurs game!  Yea!  Sadly, our tickets weren't all together, so Brady took Ian and sat a couple of rows back 

and Ainsley and I hung with the folks, AND ate cotton candy!

It was a good game!

The Coyote made us laugh!

The Piggy was unimpressed!

But the Spurs WON!  Woo-hoo!

And the next morning I came downstairs to find my two children, wrapped up in their "death shrouds" and displaying their headpieces!  I'm glad they enjoyed the museum too!

Holiday Card Photo Shoot

I have been taking holiday pics of the kids every year for years and this year was no different.  Well, actually, it was a little different as I had a backdrop, a kick-ass camera and some lighting!  It definitely made things less frustrating than in years past.  But like always, there were just too many cute photos and only 3 slots to fill on the card, so I thought I'd share some of my other faves!

Crazy Kids!

Goofy Boy

A Piglet of Many Faces!

It's 2011 and I've got a lot of catching up to do!

As always, the end of the year snuck up on me and bit me in the butt!  We ended 2010 with a bang, but I just haven't had the time to tell you about it!  So, it's time for a little catch up!