Gingerbread house

Brenna made her first gingerbread house. It was fun watching her creativity. Natalie really didn't help much this year. She was just interested in the candy! I am really trying to put on my craft hat for homeschooling. We are going to do hand and foot angels this week, and of course we have to make cookies!





Concentration!

The finished product.

The Nutcracker

We took Brenna to see the Nutcracker for the first time last weekend. We went to the performance in Louisville so we could go with the entire family. My mom watched Natalie for us, but we got an awesome family shot before we left. Brenna really enjoyed the ballet. It was so much fun watching her face light up while she watched it. I look forward to when Natalie is old enough to join us for the fun. Enjoy all the great family shots we took.

Anthony Thomas Candy Company

We went on a candy factory tour on Friday last week with our new home school group. It was the Anthony Thomas Candy Company in Columbus. Brenna and I had a great time. There were over 85 of us on the tour! We unfortunately couldn't take pictures in the factory. They were already putting together Easter Milky Way packages. We could take pictures in the store. They had a 235 pound Buckeye! It only costs $3500.00 and was 7 years old! We found out that they seal the tops with a white chocolate cap for consistency and to lengthen the shelf life of the peanut butter. We had to buy some Buckeyes to take home and some of their caramel corn.

The 40 pound Santa. He costs $295.00.

The tree

We went to get our Christmas tree last Sunday. Actually, Ben and Brenna went to get our tree. This is very unusual for our family, because we always go together. I was preparing a meal for our friends who just had a baby, and Natalie was still napping. It was supposed to get down to like 5 that night, again. We thought it would be a better idea to have the two of them go, so we could be all cozy in the house for the evening. It turned out to be a great plan. They picked out a beautiful tree! We usually have white chili on the night we get our tree as well. That was a little different this year too. Ben was totally in charge of the food, and we had quite a spread! He boiled and peeled all the shrimp himself just for me. We had cheese, summer sausage, mozzarella sticks, potato skins, buffalo wings, you name it! It was a wonderful evening together as a family.



The spread!

Our yummy shrimp!

Desserts

They look so much alike to me here.

Helping decorate

Putting on our cinnamon ornaments

Snow bunnies!

Our first snow of the year has come, and lots more have followed already! I think this is going to be one cold, snowy winter. Brenna couldn't wait to get out in it. There really wasn't more than a 1/2 or so when the girls played, but you would have thought it was several inches. They had a blast, and Natalie is really enjoying it this year. She has all of her snow gear, and can actually walk around in it this year. Last year was a little tough for her. She would just fall over when she attempted to walk! I love watching the girls play together. Their relationship has really blossomed lately. They are really able to do a lot more activities together which is great. Natalie has really gotten into coloring lately, which Brenna just loves of course. Enjoy the pictures of my adorable little bunnies!

Brenna making a snow ball.

I just love how cute she looks in her snow suit!

Mommy's make-up

The girls were pretending to put make up on each other tonight. I thought I would make it a little more fun for them and let them play in my real make up. They were hilarious! Brenna looked like a street walker at one point! Natalie loved all the lip gloss the best. She would close her eyes any time she put something on so it was all over her! I just love having little girls. They may be a little more dramatic but their worth it!





Lots of red and shadow!

I did her make up in this one. We were trying out hair styles for our upcoming Nutcracker.

Daddy and his beauties.

Really the big 3-0!!!!???

So I turned 30 on Sunday! I just can't believe it. It seems like I should still be a teenager back in Indiana. I would never have dreamed I would be married to a military man, traveling around with two kiddos! We headed down to Indiana on Thursday last week. Ben and I went to a dinner theatre Friday night and saw a murder mystery. It was a lot of fun. Then we stayed in a hotel in Louisville for the night. We had a yummy breakfast the next morning and enjoyed some Christmas shopping. We celebrated with the entire family Saturday night at my in-laws house. My mom took pictures with her camera so I will have to upload those later. We had a great weekend! Thanks to Ben and all the grandparents for a wonderful birthday celebration!



Headed out to dinner.

Pumpkins

We had fun carving our massive pumpkins for Halloween. Brenna really got into it this year, and actually carved the majority of her pumpkin. Natalie really enjoyed watching us, but really didn't want to get her hands messy with the seeds! We roasted hundreds of seeds after we finished our carving. Here are our master pieces...Brenna's funny face and my owl!

She could totally fit inside of them!

Our fall mobile for school!

Mamaw and Brenna.