Oh December...you are here.....and you ROCK! Late Post!

REWIND TO DECEMBER PLEASE I FORGOT TO POST THIS


DECEMBER! Oh the joy of this month. So much love. So much coziness. So much magic!!

Hensley is at the age where the magic of Christmas is in full force! He loves the lights, the idea of Santa and presents. So this year I plan to do as much fun, cozy, Christmas, memory making magic as possible!!!


We went to see Santa :) Hensley's experiences with Santa have been few and far between. His first Christmas we went to see Santa. There was no crying but there was no smiling either. No reaction. Last year we had photos made with the whole family and Santa and....he cried unless I was sitting right beside him. This year was a TOTAL HIT.

Our local Mall :) 

my the difference a few years make :/

We did another yearly tradition today...we got a family ornament :) 

It was our first experience at a parade this past weekend!!! Andy was working which was no fun, but my brother Brandon was eager and willing to tag along so off we went :)
The Greensboro Parade is a huge event (90 - 100000 people!) We arrive early, ate breakfast at a downtown place and walked a few blocks to get the perfect spot to see it all :)

This will for sure be on our annual traditions list!!!


Cinnamon Ornaments are a must :)

During all our holiday magic.....the flu took over :(

Both of these pics were taken after we had to cut our neighborhood Christmas party short because Hensley developed a very high fever and vomiting. :/ We were in the ER FOREVER! It was by far the sickest I have ever seen my boy :(

With December came that start of a new adventure....SOCCER!
We had no idea if Hensley would like it or not but he is a very active boy and he loves most all sports. So...we gave it a shot, and so far so good :)

Our days with these little cuties are few and far between now with the weather starting to get so cold and dreary! I am excited for spring just be outside playing with them again :) 

Hensley has really been into helping me cook and bake and I LOVE IT :)

Our tree is up and we spend alot of time gathered around it and soaking in its beauty! Just another little part of the magic :)

We had a Polar Express night with pop corn and hot chocolate! It was great and Hensley really really enjoyed the movie :) This is one my new traditions list too :)

I am loving the bundle up weather and all the cute scarves :)

Neighbor gifts and teacher gifts are all done :) CHECK!!!

School friends gifts too! CHECK!

I came across a new blog this past week thanks to a regular blog I read  Naptime Decorator. It's called One Project Closer and the lady who runs it Jocie is amazing. I recently commented on a Christmas pallet project she did and I loved it so much I asked her if I could pay her make me one. Then one day.... it appeared via mail at my house with a simple note, "Merry Christmas". There just are many people like her these days! What a special lady!

We recieved this letter from our Pastor and I am instanely reminded how amazingly blessed we are :)

Hensley and I went on a little mother son date last week. We rode around downtown and looked at Christmas lights, decorations and the ice rink. We strolled through Friendly Center and walked around looking at the shops and even snuck in a pet store and loved on some puppies. We hit up Starbucks and shared a warm drink and a snowman cookie :) It was perfect.

As Christmas Day got nearer the stores got more crowded, there was traffic everywhere, and people all in a rush. We however were done. The presents were wrapped, bought, and we felt accomplished. So as the last weekend before came we decided to skip all the crazy hectic places and we hit...THE BOWLING ALLEY! We had it all to ourselves and considering Hensley deep love for the sport it was a great way to spend the day :)  Everytime Hensley rolled the ball and knocked a few pins down he would shout, "YES!!! I GOT A SPEAR!!!"

Our annual family Christmas tree picture was taken this year! :) This is my favorite tradition ever!!!

We had both of our families over this year for Christmas eve. It's something I have wanted to do since Hensley was born and I decided to make it happen this year! It was so worth it. Everyone came. We ate great food. We talked and caught up. We laughed. We shared. We opened gifts. We loved :) This is a must from here on out.

Santa Came! And all the magic that comes with that morning came right on with it.

We spent the afternoon at Granny and PawPaw's house eating lunch, opening gifts and having a ball :)

Out evening was spent at Maw Maw Louann's with Hailey and Kevin! Headed back home and had 4 wonderful days with the kids :) The kids had so much fun!