Little "Angels"

The Barrois family had us over last night for some delicious gumbo homemade by Will. It was SOOO good. The kids all had a great time playing together...We don't get to see them as much now that the girls aren't in school together, so we always look forward to any time we can share. They had the prettiest and biggest Christmas tree I think I have ever seen! Gorgeous. It was pretty funny because when we drove up last night, opened our garage, and saw our little tree waiting to be decorated, David and I simultaneously started laughing! We definitely have a Charlie Brown tree this year! But, it will be decorated with love and that's all that matters! Speaking of, better get to decorating....

Starting the celebration...

We went to our first big Christmas event this morning- breakfast with Santa! It was organized by the Moms of Multiples and was at an adorable little cafe in Old Mandeville. All of the kids ate breakfast and then patiently waited for Santa to arrive....

Lila wasn't so sure about the sausage...

Bennett LOVES pancakes- his favorite!

Elise actually ate some pancakes as well!

Soon after breakfast Santa arrived to meet all of the kids! I wish we had been able to video the kids' reactions (no free arms!), especially Bennett's. He was SOO excited! He started pointing and saying "ho, ho, ho" and stomping his feet. It was precious...

After Santa made his rounds he found his seat and the kids all waited in line...

Bennett was thrilled to sit on Santa's lap, and even more excited when he got a toy car!

As you can see below, Elise was also excited to meet Santa, and thankful for the stuffed Santa she received....She told him she was going to be extra good until Christmas...but, judging by how hard she fought her nap this afternoon, she wasn't being 100% truthful with Santa!

To digress just a little, I must say that it has been a very interesting first few weeks of Christmas season with a very inquisitive 3 year old. She has tons of questions, and I never realized how complicated it was to explain the Holiday season. I'll think she "gets" it, but then she'll say something (for example, she told my Mom that it was going to be Jesus' birthday and he was going to be 2 this year) which then informs me that she really doesn't...It is difficult to try to keep her focused on what Christmas is really about when everything that you see and hear is about Santa and presents...So, we are working hard on that...Kids are great for this reason, having them reminds me more and more of what I need to be focused on, instead of spending so much time worried about what we want for Christmas. Easier said than done, but I've set that as a goal to work on...Anyways, back to our family day today...

Lila, on the other hand, was not so much into Santa. From the second he walked into the room she was not happy! She is VERY hesitant with strangers, and I guess Santa just seemed strange to her.....The stuffed teddy bear didn't even seem to help!

We finally ended her agony after we got a picture!

It was a great morning spent with lots of other Moms and Dads who, like us, have multiple blessings! Helps to keep in perspective all of the craziness of this time of year...

After the breakfast we were off to Home Depot to get our tree...

Success!!! Should be interesting with a tree this year. Since Bennett thinks he is Superman, Spiderman, and the Incredible Hulk combined I'm not guaranteeing that the tree will survive until Christmas. But, it is worth a try.....

Happy Holidays everyone!

Sweet Lila

Yesterday I had a sweet surprise when I went to pick up Lila and Bennett from Mother's Day Out. When I walked up to the door I could see Lila sitting on the floor with one of her classmates laying down with his head resting near her leg. He was hugging his little "lovey" and she was "reading" a book to him (no matter that the book was upside down!). It was sooo cute. It was even cuter when the teachers told me the back story. Apparently the little one was upset and so Lila went and got his lovey and handed it to him on the ground where he was laying. Then she sat down and scooted herself up to him with the book and started to read. They said she is definitely the care-taker of the class! I just had to tell this story, because I know I give my feisty "middle" child a hard time for how rough and tough she can be...deep down she is just a little sweetheart! She such a special little one!

The secret life of a soccer mom

I was reflecting back on my day today, and I have to make fun of myself for a few minutes. I have been looking forward to this day for quite a while. Why? Sadly, it is not one of my children's birthdays, or a special anniversary, or some other important day. Today, December 2, is Britney Spears' birthday. I have had the DVR set for over a week to record her on Good Morning America, and as soon as I had a free second I bought her new CD (released today) on itunes. So there...I love Britney. Now, don't worry, I don't love her in a "I want to share this great love with my daughters" type of a way. They don't know who she is, and I plan to keep it that way as long as I can. So, I patiently waited until all the munchkins were down for their naps to run into my room and watch GMA. I felt like I was doing something kind of sketchy, or a little evil even! I have enough "Mom guilt" as it is, and now I can add loving Britney to the list. But, I can't help it. There is something about a small town girl from Louisiana that can't sing all that well, but that can dance like crazy. I just love it! As for GMA, it was worth the long wait until naps. The old Britney is back!!
Tonight, after dinner, David took the kids upstairs to read some books before bed, and I stayed down to vacuum (and listen to my new CD--OF COURSE!!)....After he put Lila and Bennett to bed, he and Elise came back down. She loves to come down, drink some milk, and watch a little of the adorable Goodnight Show on Sprout- it is her "big-girl" routine...Anyway, I was still jammin out to my ipod and kind of clueless to the fact that they had come down. I saw Elise staring at me (and actually kind of making fun of my dancing - to be honest) and so I took my ear buds out. (I forgot to mention that today was one of those days where I still had my work out clothes on from this morning.)
She looked at me, and said, "Mom...........are you about to just open the door and run?"
David and I just looked at each other and laughed.
I thought to myself, and then said out loud to David, "Sometimes I think about doing that..but, not tonight sweetie."
She wasn't even trying to be funny this time, but she just is. At least to us. Her timing is priceless.
On another note, the best husband in the world is already trying to figure out how he can get me tickets to go see Brit when she opens her tour in New Orleans in March. How fun would that be?? Glad he is willing to indulge my guilty pleasure....

Happy Thanksgiving

Bennett and Lila were super excited about their Thanksgiving cookies!

Lila and G

Elise and Aunt Mo

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Hope you all had a wonderful day filled with good food and family! I am especially thankful that I was well enough to at least eat some of my Mom's awesome food yesterday! YUM!

Obviously, much more importantly, we were feeling especially thankful yesterday for all of our family and friends..it was great to spend time with Grandpa and Virginia, Mo and Phillip, Jared and Erinn, Ms. Ann, Austin, and Shannon, and of course our three very special little pumpkins!

So much to be thankful for...

In other news, our special elf (elf on the shelf) arrived from the North Pole yesterday. Elise named him Red last year, but this year informed David and I that he is actually a she. Hilarious. So, we now have our little elf watching over our munchkins so that she can report back to Santa....

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!