Christmas Parties, Programs, and the Nutcracker

I'm going to rewind about a week to when the kids got out of school!  We have been out a week now. Both girls had class parties and unfortunately this time they were both at the exact same time.  Not ideal for this Mama but I made the best of it.  I went to the elementary school for Cohen's brunch first.  At elementary school there aren't a lot of class parties to come to so I wanted to be sure I was there.  We were there about 30 minutes then we headed over to Kate's.  Bryce loved the party scene and sat with Cohen the minute we walked in.  He was interested in all of her snacks!  Kate had finished her snacks when we got to her and they were all into the stockings they each got with goodies in them!  She had been looking forward to getting into that stocking all week!

That night Kate had her Christmas program.  She and her best friend Nolan were going to be the donkeys.  Now let me back up a little.  They had the option of being Mary & Joseph (wouldn't that be sweet), but if you know Kate at all you know that flew over with her like a lead balloon.  She wanted nothing to do with that and had her heart set on being a donkey from day 1.  So a donkey it was!  She was a super cute donkey too.  This girl can really sing and I love listening to her.  She is so loud!  IT is so stinkin' precious!  They all were.  It was definitely the cutest little manger scene!

On Friday after school had gotten out on Thursday, we had our Christmas with Nana in Athens.  Of course the kids were so excited to get to open a present!  We had yummy food and got to see everyone.  At one point we were trying to get a picture of Nana with all of the great grandkids since little Owen was just born.   Well Bryce wasn't feeling a picture!  This pretty much sums up a lot of our days right now.  Mr. Terrible Two has entered the building.

 The girls sure did like little Owen!

On Saturday we finally got to do some Christmas baking!  We had some sweet people we visited that we wanted to take cookies too, and of course we had to have some for Santa and for us!  Baking in pjs is a bonus!

On Sunday we went back to Athens to see the Nutcracker.  Pop had bought tickets for everyone as part of Sug's birthday.  This was a first for the girls.  I think Cohen understood way more than Kate did, especially since this is a show with no talking only dancing.  She watched the entire show though so that was a win.  Afterwards we went to eat downtown.  I love Athens any time of the year but I really love it at Christmas.  It is so pretty and the lights in the trees are my favorite.  No where has such pretty lights!  We went to Amici's and sat at the window so we were loving it!

It was pretty cold leaving the show so these 2 decided to share Sug's coat together

This picture was from earlier in the week on Sug's actual birthday.  We had ate in Athens and had cake at Nana's house.

We started this week off with a little Christmas party for Cohen and a few of her friends.   The girls all made Christmas bracelets, ate pizza, and just played.  They got outside in the "secret hideout" and they were having a ball.  I had to make them come in after a while because I thought they might need to thaw out a little!   IT was a sweet group of girls and I loved having them here!

Bryce didn't mind being the only boy since pizza was involved!

Santa Claus & the Pink Pig!

This week we finally made it to see Santa!   Kate is the only one who has seen him and every mama reading this knows you have to have a Santa picture with ALL the kids, right?!  Tuesday we headed to Atlanta to Lenox Mall where we saw Santa and got to ride the Pink Pig.  This is one of our Christmas traditions and has been for years.  I will say that we will never wait this late again to go though.  We will go before school is out and avoid a lot of the crowd.  Normally when we go we don't wait in hardly any lines but this year Santa had a short line and the Pink Pig had a long one!  We almost didn't ride but we did and the line did move pretty quick.  I will just make it a point to find a week day before school is out next year!   Cohen is starting to enjoy the Pink Pig a little less since she is older but Bryce and Kate both loved it just as much as always.  Now Santa on the other hand....Bryce was not a fan.   I knew he wouldn't but I was going to be that Mom that got the picture of him screaming anyway.  I had told the girls that even though Bryce would cry they needed to look at the camera and smile big.  After we got a picture we would move Bryce and they could actually talk to Santa.  Poor Santa, he has the tough job of holding a screaming baby.  Here is one for the books!

After we saw Santa we got to meet up with one of my best friends from college, Betsie and her kids.  Each year we try to do this if schedules can work.  I am so glad it did!  I love catching up with her and seeing her sweet kids.  This was my first time seeing Emily Ann in person, and she was just a doll!  Jack & Andrew had a lot of fun with Bryce and the girls.  Jack was full of love for them and it was so precious watching them.  It wasn't near long enough visiting but so glad we got to spend some time together.  Life sure looks different for us now than in college!

I love how Jack is looking at Cohen

After lunch Hubby & I split up to do some shopping and Bryce and I met back up with him and the girls to ride the Pink Pig.  Bryce was all about a train ride and had no care what color the train was, despite the fact that Daddy seems to think he shouldn't love a pink train.

We were ready to head back home after our ride.  Three kids can really wear this Mama out!

Cohen's 3rd Grade Field Trip

Last week was nothing but a week of fun at school for Cohen.  Each day was something different!  Monday was the 3rd grade field trip and she was excited for that.  They were going to the Georgia Aquarium.  We have been to the aquarium several times but I don't think you ever get tired of seeing it again.  The kids were all wound up for sure!  We toured the entire aquarium, watched the 4D movie, went to the sea lion show and ended the day at the dolphin show.  IT was a day packed full!  She had a fun time and I have to say it was probably my favorite field trip that she has been on so far in school!  We left around 3:30 and had to head straight to the rec dept for Kate's first basketball game!  That is another post entirely but definitely something cute to watch!

The crazy kids all thought it would be fun to sit on the front row so they could get splashed!

And we got back in time to watch these 2 best buds play their very first basketball game together! Go Lions!