Christmas Vacation: Part Two

**I thought I had posted this 2 days ago and then just got on here and realized it was a draft. Whoops!**

We are back to a NORMAL week around here and I could not be more happy about it! I love breaks and obviously Christmas, but I also really love January and February for the quiet and normal routine (except for that we leave on Saturday for another trip....thankfully it is a beach vacation that will hopefully be relaxing).

So, back to my novel on our Christmas vacation...

Sunday was Christmas Eve and one of my favorite days of our stay at my parents. I slept in, the kids watched Christmas movies, and once I was up we started making Christmas cookies for Santa, complete with Laura's very good Christmas music playlist going in the background. At some point Bryan took the boys sledding again so I could actually get the dough and icing made and rolled out uninterrupted (and also because if I remember correctly, there were two little boys bouncing off the walls, and they weren't my Dad and Bryan ;) but once they got back we were ready for showtime with sprinkles and what ended up looking like icing soup:

We were able to FaceTime with my Mom's side of the family down in Lufkin during all this, too!

After our packed morning, we all got ready for Christmas Eve service at my parents church (the church Bryan and I met at many years ago).

We managed to make it out the door on time (!) and enjoyed service with everyone but my Dad who wasn't feeling good that day (bummer). I always love getting to go back to our old church....it is full of so many of our all-time favorites memories from youth group and dating and just growing up. Service was great (any service with Christmas carols and candlelight is a good one in my book) aside from the usual toddler antics and Parker did a great job holding his candle all by himself (Hayes and Lily not so much).

After church and getting to catch up with a few of our old friends we headed to eat at Breckenridge Brewery which is one of my family's favorite restaurants.  They made this cast iron skillet bread that is to die for! I need to get a knock off recipe to make at home.

By this time my Dad had joined us, too!

Oh! And we got to go by my sister's adorable new house that she just moved into near right by downtown Littleton. It's such a great location and suits her cool self.

Once we got home, the boys were worked up and EXCITED. We got our jammies on, watched a little bit of It's a Wonderful Life, and then let the children open one present from Nonnie and Pops before bed.

After what I would call a rambunctious early evening, we sat out cookies, coke, wrote our letter to Santa (written by mostly me ;), and threw some greens and reindeer food out in the yard.

Bryan took the kids upstairs to read their last Christmas books of the season (ending with The Night Before Christmas) and then me, Bryan, my Mom, and Julie played Santa's Elves until the week hours of the morning.

On Christmas morning, Parker woke up and I about died of sweetness. "It's Christmas morning! Merry Christmas!" The kids tore into their presents and then did their "big gift" letter from Santa scavenger hunt (a tradition from the Roberts side) which was a trip to Great Wolf Lodge (more on that later).

Hayes had fun with his Dum-Dum suckers (like why do we buy toys)....

I honestly don't remember much of Christmas Day other than the kids played with their toys (Parker built one of his LEGO sets right away and drew on hisnew light up tracing pad)....

The boys made a trip to the sled hill again....

And we cooked!

We worked in the kitchen for most of the morning and afternoon (Well really my Mom did, but I helped! Ha.) I also got the table set and decorated which is one of my favorites things to do.

Christmas Dinner was amazing! My Mom is a really good cook and she always does a good job of making holiday meals that aren't too done up but will pretty and delicious. My favorite was either the turkey or southern style green beans.

After dinner, we had dessert and then opened the rest of our gifts from each other. I wanted everyone to go one at a time because I was sad that the day was almost over and that this would be our last round of gifts. :(

(I know my sisters with both thank me for that photo 😂) 

After dinner we sat around recovering, playing with SEGA, and eventually for the children to bed. Amen!

I'm still not sure why as I was 100% exhausted but we went to see the movie Darkest Hour after the kids were in bed. Thankfully I'm a sucker for any historical drama (as is Bryan) so I managed to keep my eyes open for it!

Also it was VERY cold outside...

Whew! Tired. 

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Christmas Vacation: Part One

I’m up late, enjoying the last night of our Christmas tree lights 😭, and have August Rush playing (love!) so I thought I would use my extreme night owl capabilities to write a post (or three) to recap our Christmas break. 

Christmas was so great! We were with my side of the family in snowy Colorado and it was the first white Christmas for me and all the kids which was an awesome plus, too.

We kid of last minute decided to drive through the night to beat a bad snow storm in between Lubbock and a Denver. The kids were champs in the car, as is the case 95% of the time since they are pretty used to road trips and we have a tv and DVD player (what I would have given for one of those things as a kid!)

We got to my parents at around 3am the Thursday before Christmas, just in time to sleep (barely) and wake up to a pretty snowfall which required a trip to my high school’s soccer field to go tubing. The boys had a blast, but I think my Dad had the most fun. 

On Thursday night we made a trip to Hudson Gardens (which is where me and Bryan were married!) to see alllllll of the lights which were very luckily surrounded by snow and so pretty. It was FREEZING but we were good and bundled thanks to a Target trip earlier in the day (we are turning into the unprepared for cold weather Texans). Everyone had a lot of fun except for Hayes, who was completely exhausted and cold and totally 3-years-old. ;)

Parker finished his scavenger hunt! (And so did Pops—they both were rewarded with a piece of candy. 😂 )

 

The whole family (!), including Jeremy, Julie’s boyfriend, who is, according to Parker, “my favorite grown up”. 

We ate really good Mexican food at Los Dos Potrilos (CO is finally improving their Mexican food options!) and ended the day exhausted but happy. 

On Friday, we had the well-intentioned but maybe not brightest idea to take a trip to the mall. 😬 We expected it to be crazy, but it was CRAZY, and Hayes were ready for naps like 10 minutes before we got there, ha! I love love love Park Meadows when it is decorated for Christmas though, so it was still fun to see (it’s such a pretty mall—built like a giant ski lodge) and I loved getting to be in the hustle and bustle of Christmas one last time before the big day.

Parker was in heaven admiring everything in the LEGO store, too, and Hayes was happy to throw pennies (like 30 of them) into the little indoor pond. 

The above photo is literally the only one I got from our mall trip 😂😂😂, winning!

On Friday night, we had SUCH a treat: we went to my best friend from high school’s house and got to see her, meet her fiancé (!), and eat dinner with her parents who were like a second set of parents to me back in the day! It was a really good night and her house brought back so many memories! Also, my best friends’ name is Katie and her fiancé’s name is Brian. How funny is that? They are getting married in April in Mexico and I am so excited for them!

We went to a late movie that night with my baby sister (she’s 25 so not really a baby but I will always think of her as a 10-year-old) and saw the Justice League movie. We all enjoyed it and Bryan and I were thankful for a mini date night (sister and all). 

On Saturday, it snowed a bit more so the boys played outside and then we got ready for our big drive to Canon to ride the Santa Express train. Parker has been excited for this for months since he is our train fan (like mega fan, he was on our local news last year for his Halloween costume choice which led to a seperate news segment where he got to be a guest conductor on The Polar Express). 

It didn’t disappoint and is really fun for any kid. Also, the views were beautiful (you ride through the mountains) and they had an open air car that you could go out on which the boys loved. AND they had a full menu and bar which was 👍🏻.

Parker loved seeing Santa and has been really good at talking to him this year. He was also so funny because he knew the drill... “Oh yes, Santa is going to come on the train and give me a bell.” And, “Mom, don’t lose our tickets because the conductor will need to punch them for us to stay on the train.” 

Hayes was not 100% into everything but he did have a good time, especially in the open air car and also while playing with his (accidentally) stolen light up toy from the gift shop (don’t worry Nonnie went back and paid for it!)

We stopped and ate at a pub in the cute little downtown and then head back to my Mom and Dad’s, once again, exhausted but happy!

My parents (especially my Mom) went all out making sure we had a lot of fun activities lined up which I am so thankful for! She also made the house look extra festive—and I wish I had gotten a photo of the outdoor lights because my Dad spent a lot of time on them for the kids. 

Here’s the tree in the kids room. Do you see a theme? Hint: 90’s collectible toy that we just HAD to have. ;)

Will share more of our Christmas later! Running out of steam...

Friday Favorites

We’ve had a fun last couple of days here at the Roberts house as things are finally starting to pick up after a slow and restful recovery week.

On Thursday, I took my favorite bitty girl to Dr. G’s for her 15 month well check. She is doing great in all areas and cried when Dr. G left the room which is saying something about our favorite pediatrician! She had to get shots afterwards though so she was was ready to leave once I put her through that. 😭 

She was 25th percentile in both weight and height (she did not get those little numbers from her mama) and as always, 90th percentile in her big ole head —obviously needed for her big ole smart brains. 

On Thursday night we went out with family to celebrate my favorite husband’s 31st birthday a little early at The Plaza! I don’t have any photos, because usually when we are having the most fun I forget to take them!

Have I mentioned we just started officially potty training Hayes? Well, yes, we have. And he pottied in his pants at the restaurant. And I forgot an extra change of pants. So that was super fun! But not my favorite. ;) We also had not one but TWO drinks spills via our youngest children which I’m quite sure left my precious mother-in-law wondering how we take these crazy children of ours out in public so often. ;)

In all seriousness though, we had a great dinner, great conversation, and a really fun time celebrating that husband of mine! He had to wear a sombrero, too, which was obviously his favorite part of the evening.

Yesterday I got to go to lunch at Sugar Baker’s with my sweet friend, Tara (also no photos—obviously a blog failure). We had such a good time talking and I am so thankful to have gotten to know her so well in this last year. She is definitely a new favorite! 

The boys were driving us both crazy yesterday afternoon (I mean constant fighting) so that was not my favorite, but we ended the night with some BBQ chicken sliders and a nice long FaceTime with our favorite Nanny and Pawpaw! These two mean so much to me, I really admire them, and was reminded, as usual, that I need to be better at calling more often! 

We also watched Mulan and finished off the last of the chocolate chip cookies, so obviously = favorite. 

Oh! I’ve also been on a bit of a clearance shopping frenzy this week with all the sales trying to stock up for this next year. I got the Lily Mae the cutest back to school dress:

And Hayes the cutest little short set for Easter!

I mean, as far as favorite things, classic children’s clothing like thus is extremely high on the list. 👏🏻 I’m going to get Parker a coordinating button down and get them matching monograms. Planning East Sunday outfits is truly one of my favorite things to do all year!

Oh! I also got this bad boy this week! 

(And yes, I got under the covers where is was WARM to enjoy my new watch. It’s been so cold!)

Thanks Mom, Dad, Nanny, Pawpaw, and also Bryan because I decided to upgrade to a Series 3 since all the 2’s were discontinued and sold out. 

It’s so pretty but I’m don’t know how to use it. 😂 Any tips? I should probably figure that out but the Apple Watch is already a new favorite!

P.S. Don’t know how I feel about using the word “favorite” so often, but I did want to link up to Friday Favorites with some of my favorite blogs!

Parker Reed

Last night I had to run some errands before everything closed so I missed bedtime. Parker was still awake when I got home so we sat on stairs to talk for a bit. 

Usually when this happens, I sit and listen to him tell me (very thorough) stories about Tranformers or LEGO cities or the Polar Express, but he said he said he couldn’t think of anything so he started asking questions like, “what kid of house did you live in when you were five and where is Arkansas and what kind of car did you have and will there still be little kids in our family when I grow up?”

I answered everything and to the last question I told him yes, hopefully, and they will probably belong to him and Hayes and Lily.

“But how will I get the kids?”

I said that he would grow up and find a girl who he would marry and she would have babies and be the mommy and he would be the daddy. 

“But who is she?!”

I told him I didn’t know but he would meet her when he was older. He is apparently holding out for his cousin Hensley because he told me then that he was old enough for Hensley right now. I had to laugh at that and told him that he wouldn’t marry Hensley (which he frowned at) but he would marry someone else. 

“But I don’t know her!” 

I told him that I don’t know her yet either but God knows her and has her all picked out just for Parker and that we can pray for her in the meantime.

He seemed satisfied (or bored) with the conversation by then so we moved on to what I would be doing before I went to bed. I told him I’d most likely watch tv to which he replied that he couldn’t WAIT to be a grown up so he could stay up and watch Transformers. I laughed and said that he could do that all he wanted but his wife may want to watch something else from time to time. ;)

Also, Hayes filled one of my boots full of pretzels and a whole cookie....so that was a fun little find!

The Chrome Mixer and Geico

I’m thinking this may have been a bad week to start my blogging resolution as we are pretty boring around these parts. I am having a major Christmas/travel hangover and we have been in our pajamas the last two days. Actually I take that back. I have been in my pajamas the last two days. Bryan was Saint Dad yesterday and took the kids to the Science Spectrum and then to play at McDonald’s (these are literally my children’s favorite indoor activities...we live a wild life). This was all a favor to me for some time to clean and unpack, which I did not do. 😬 

Instead, I framed our family photos (I really want to take photos of our little rental...I actually enjoy it a lot!) 

And  I made a new cookie recipe (the Charmina cookies on The Modern Honey blog) with my new “CHROME” mixer. 

I was shocked to open this and then even more shocked to find that “Caribbean Blue” was indeed labeled on the giant box. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Me no good at reading item descriptions on boxes. It’s the brightest blue I have ever seen in my life but it makes some GOOD cookies and was fun to use so I don’t mind.

Lilybug enjoyed them with a side of kisses. 

I also made the salsa verde pork tacos for dinner from my freezer meal party with MOPS and they were delicious! Definitely a new favorite.

-1.5 lb pork loin 

-1 jar salsa verde

-1 T cumin

-1 t onion powder (You could use 1/2 chopped onion but Bryan hates onions so I always omit that.)

Combine in crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. Shred pork about an hour before serving. Serve with corn or flour street sized tortillas, cheese, tomatoes, avacado, Mexicorn, you name it! We bought a 3lb pork loin and cut it in half and then doubled the other ingredients to get two freezer meals out of it. 

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I’m struggling this week. The house is still not unpacked and the laundry is just sitting...staring at me...taunting me. I pretty much just want to eat and sleep though so that’s fun! I’ll get it all done eventually and probably at 3am like any sane/normal person!

We have all been very distraught that Bryan didn’t put Christmas lights on our townhome this year (What a humbug). Bryan has defended this decision by saying that he couldn’t hang lights because we gave all of ours to another family who needed them (...Sooo Goodwill? Because thats where the lights went). Anyways, Parker was watching that Geico commercial with the guys hanging their Christmas lights with Bryan last week and after it was over, Parker looked over at Bryan and said, “Well, I think we need to switch to Geico so we can get more Christmas lights.” 

I just thought that was cute.

Also, P is quite the card shark when playing Go Fish and I kind of think it’s adorable. 

Happy 2018!

One of my New Years resolutions (I only have like 3) is to blog every day of 2018.  I downloaded the blogger app on my phone with a goal to write a quick post on my phone every night (or morning) to recap our day (and bonus, all of my photos are already on my phone!) so I’m hoping these little changes help especially since my track record of keeping resolutions is pretty weak. ;)

I am also a horrible writer on my phone....like I can’t string along good sentences in my head. Something about the small screen and tiny keys, but I am on a time limit and therefore do not have the time to care!

You have now been warned about any and all upcoming grammatical errors. 

Yesterday (New Years Day) was the coldest day of the year. Also the warmest. (Bryan’s joke, not mine!) I was able to go the Dillard’s sale kid-free and with my favorite youngest sister-in-law. I snagged some awesome deals on many smocked dresses for Lily and then maybe some other things...

But aren’t these cute? Christmas Future clothes galore! (For like the next 3 Years. I plan ahead.)

The store was NUTS but I loved bumping into people we know and having some lively activity to start the year! 

The kids and Bryan were at my in-laws all day I believe mostly watching football and building legos. Parker is such a pro at legos, he has completed every set he got for Christmas by himself (except for when Bryan “helps” because he secretly wants to build legos too). 

(This was not taken yesterday, but it is one of his new LEGO sets from a Christmas.)

I was a total slacker mom yesterday and pretty much shopped and then showed up to talk, play with Lilybug, and eat my mother-in-laws food for dinner. (I did open some cans of green beans and black-eyed peas. Does that count as helping?)

I didn’t get the dime. I actually don’t think anyone did but we all got some dime-soaked juice so hopefully that means we will still be lucky. 

I mean how cute is that little ponytail girl watching kitty vidoes on her big girl phone? (I can not be sure but I think Judy and Abby are trying to make her into a cat person which I am not a fan of!) 😉

We left after watching OU lose to Georgia and once  two of our three kids were freaking out (aka fighting with each other). I was so tired I could barely hold my eyeballs open which sounds bad because I did pretty much nothing but shop and sit. Oh also, I pulled into the garage but not far enough and so the garage door tried to smoosh the bumper of the van which made Bryan SUPER happy. It was an accident! I maybe didn’t get enough dime juice. 😬

After I got the kids in bed and Bryan (we think) fixed the garage door, I fell asleep on the couch while Bryan watched the Alabama/Clemson game and that was pretty much it because I didn’t wake up till 5am. ;) 

Alright, kind of a boring day blog-wise. Here’s hoping today is more eventful!