Yesterday we went sledding at my mom & dad's house with a few of our neighbors. Such a fun time. I can not wait to do it again & again with these kids. They all had so much fun & I just love their little faces while flying down the hill!

Above is one of Gary's runs down... doing okay, then mid-air & snow in the face!

Below the girls are on the toboggan with their friends. So many giggles!

 Our little Columbia model covered in snow!

 Our neighbor Cooper & all the ladies! lol I am so happy my parents kept the toboggan. So many great childhood memories on that sled & now our kids will have the same.

 Daddy & Margaux taking a rest at the top of the hill. Of course her eyes aren't looking at the camera!

 It's been forever since there have been people sledding at my parent's house. It was so fun to see my dad sledding & giving pushes to all the kids at the top of the hill. He even made paths with the 4wheeler for the kids before we got there. Next time we're having a fire too!

 Love this picture of Marin. Her little smile is just priceless.

 I believe the adults had just as much fun {if not more} than the kiddos. I'm pretty sure Gary was using some choice words in this photo!

And little Maeve stayed in the house with Grandma. It was soooooo cold out {15 degrees} so I thought it was best for her to stay inside. She had just as much fun hanging with her Gama! We're prepping for New Year's Eve tonight. The kiddos are excited! xoxo

 Miss Margaux's 1st Christmas Program! It was cute as ever! I look forward to watching it on dvd once things slow down a bit. She did a fantastic job & sang right along. So fun to see her with her classmates. I can't believe how big she's gotten. {almost 4...insert my sad face!}

 Here she is with her friend Karis after the concert. They  have so much fun together & are SUPER goofy. Totally make us all laugh when they're together!

 Margaux telling Karis all about her Candy Cane Garden that Merry brought. She was soooo excited!

 I was so glad I was standing by with the camera to hear the story & snap her excitement. It was so cute. Love her!

 Santa surprised us all & Maeve just happened to be standing right where he walked in. She was TERRIFIED! Shaking & screaming. I felt so bad for her. Once she calmed down, she wouldn't go near him. Here she is standing back with Gary...

 And here is Margaux with Santa. She was so great this year with him. She never wanted to sit on his lap but she loved talking to him about her elf Merry!

She's growing up so fast & really enjoying school. We're so proud of her! xoxo

Christmas Morning... so much excitement! Look what Santa left in our Candy Cane Garden!

 The girls were sooo excited to start opening gifts. Marin esp. had a hard time waiting 10 mins. for Grandma & Grandpa to get here. {they wanted to watch the girls} The one day a year they could care less about breakfast!

 Maeve's first present was a new outfit for Lily, her Bitty Baby. Once she opened it, she didn't care about anything else. She was soooo happy!

 Then the big girls went straight for the big gifts that Grandma & Grandpa brought. American Girl bunk beds for their dolls Samantha, Lanie, Darby & Lana! They look amazing, my dad made the beds & my  mom sewed all the bedding. The girls were thrilled, they just love them!

 One little one not so thrilled was Maeve. She cried so hard because she didn't have one! Who would have thought? We all felt so bad... My dad wanted to make three of them but where on earth will we put all the beds??!!! Maeve may be getting a bed of her own sometime soon :)

 Another big hit was the microphone. It's pretty cool.. hooks up to the ipad & ipods so the girls can sing away to all their favorite songs. Maeve was the first one to give it a try. She was singing 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. It's been fun watching them sing & dance! Lots of concerts over the last few days!

 Maeve with her ELMO slippers! Her favorite!

 Sweet little Margaux in her Christmas dress...

 Love this sassy little face....

 All three of the chicks dressed & ready for dinner at my aunt/uncle's house.

We had such a great time. The girls did so well in church & are really enjoying all of their toys {scooter, Lego Friends, games, jewelry boxes, slippers, charms, Cabbage Patch dolls, etc!}

Hard to believe it's all over. I have some more to post from the past week - stay tuned! Up next on the calendar.... Margaux's Birthday!!!

Look what our cute little elf Merry brought for the girls this morning...

 A Candy Cane Garden Kit! 

The girls were thrilled when the woke up this morning & saw that she brought us this kit. Margaux was overly excited because her friend Karis's elf also brought a magic garden to her house. {thanks for the idea Kari} M & M couldn't wait to get their garden planted...

 Little Maeve missed out on the planting because she was still sleeping. I think something may grow for her anyhow! Here the girls have already dumped out the magic "dirt," added the magic "fertilizer" and are planting the candy cane seeds...

 The garden will only grow if the girls show good behavior & go to bed well. We'll have to wait and see what happens/grows from this magic garden.

Fingers crossed that we have good little girls here this week! xoxo

 The Australians are here! My great friend Shanna & her son Brody are visiting for the holidays. The above photo was taken before they got here, the girls were just waiting for them to arrive & love wearing their I {heart} Melbourne t-shirts.  We look forward to their visits & enjoy the time we have with them while they are here. Friday we took the kids {minus Marin} to the public museum to see the holiday windows from the old Prange's store. These are Shanna's photos from her phone...

 The exhibits were very old but the kids LOVED them. Brody & Maeve couldn't get enough of the moving animals dressed up like people. It was a great place to let them get a little energy out! The two of them are only a month apart & have a great time together.

And then there is this little one who thought it would be fun to draw on her face...

 I tried so hard not to laugh at her but it wasn't an easy task. She's just too darn cute! They've all done it, so it was only fitting that she gave it a try as well!

 She is getting a bit naughty at times {mostly throwing things & climbing up on the counter where she shouldn't be} so we've begun giving her time-outs in the mud room where the big girls have their time-outs. This photo was taken a few weeks ago during her first ever time-out. I felt like I had to take her picture & love her serious face. After I snapped the photo, she got right up & followed me out like it was no big deal. I had to sit her back down & tell her to sit there for a minute... and then the tears started!

She's had her share of time-outs since then...she's such a busy little thing. Always into something & definitely making us laugh. Such a cutie! 9 days until Christmas! xoxo

 Here are our girls all bundled up for the night time holiday parade in our town. They were so excited to see Grandpa Jerry in the parade {he was in with all the fire trucks}. The great thing about this parade is all the lights & the fact that it only lasts about 20 mins. It get's cold!!! Love this picture of Marin dancing to the music on one of the floats....

We had our neighbors Gary & Cooper with us as well as Marin's friend Olivia and her family. The kids had so much fun & brought home a TON of candy. They were all so hyper together, it was funny to watch them all running around with excitement.

Maeve was not as excited about the parade as the others. She really was not a fan of the loud horns/music/sounds. She stayed close & was most content back away from the road. So I stood back with her. We ran up close to the road when Comet & Prancer came along... that got her really excited!

  After the parade we went to a house near by that always has dozens of inflatable Christmas decorations. It is so fun to see them all lit up & most of them are moving as well. There's even music playing. The kids just love it. Marin thought the out-house inflatable was hilarious {above} The top of the door said "occupied" and there was a little elf inside. She had to have her picture taken with that one!

Look at how tiny Marin, Margaux & Cooper are next to this HUGE santa! It's fun seeing which ones are new each year. He always adds a few to the mix! 12 days until Christmas! Can.not.wait! xoxo

 Here are the girls with their advent calendars for this December. Something new, we've never had toy advent calendars before. They were super excited & have been having so much fun opening a door every morning to find a new piece of their princess collection. Each day they get a few pieces that in the end will create the whole castle full of people/things. There's a princess, a queen, a prince, a king & all their castle accessories. Fun stuff! {gotta love Marin's cheesy smile!}

 Gary working hard to assemble the castles...

 Maeve eating crayons again! You'd think she'd stop after figuring out not one, but many times that they do not taste good! But no, she continues to chew the heck out of them. She has fun coloring with the girls though. She's content just as long as she's doing what they're doing. She's such a big girl! This night she colored while the girls, me & Gary made their paper countdown to Christmas chains...

 Here is Margaux with the start of her chain. She even made a pattern! She was so proud!!

 Marin did a great job as well. She was really excited to be able to use the stapler by herself to make her chain. She worked so hard to make it just right.

It seems like their chains are getting small already! Hard to believe that Christmas is only a few weeks away already. LOVE this time of year. So much fun. Tonight is our neighborhood ugly sweater party... Gary wore his sweater to work! ha! Photos to come! xoxo