Beginning of December 2017 - let all the festivities begin!

One of like 20 (I'm not kidding) Christmas outfits that have been passed down to us.  I don't even know if we ended up wearing them all.

All the kids playing outside

Emmalyn had a play date at her friend Hudson's house (his mom is Katherine - my walking buddy).  She's been really wanting us to get our Christmas decorations up.  Well, I get a text from Katherine that when Emmalyn walked into the house she said, "Oh, your house is decorated!  Our house is not decorated yet."  Yup....shamed by my daughter.

I had to go out of town for my last trip of the year.  It sure is nice to be able to say goodnight to the kiddos with facetime.

Still committed to walking!  After our team dinner, I put my workout clothes on and walked the halls of the hotel before I went to bed.  I'm in a good place with staying committed to the walking, which feels good (Both physically and mentally)

Proof of the walking - BOOM!

We had our Perfetti end of the year meeting at the Bengals stadium.  

Peter sent me this pic of Emmalyn all dressed the next morning

He did her hair - way to go, dad!

Me and my friend, Oscar, the airhead.

I found this eggnog made from almond milk.  It's so delicious!! (and only 50 calories a serving!)

Maxwell brought home a book to read from school that was a recipe book for making salsa, so we mad it.  He did a great job!

We finally got around to putting up the tree at the beginning of December.

Never a shortage of helpers when it comes to putting up the ornaments.

Good job kiddos

Whew - the tree is done!

Ugh...now for the rest of it (so many boxes of stuff!) 

I finally got a set of stockings that all match.

Emmalyn bit me!  She's never done it before.  She wasn't doing it out of anger but holy moly it hurt.  

We took the kids to see Santa at a local church.  You have to buy tickets to get it but it includes breakfast, crafts, and of course seeing Santa.  The best part is that there are a ton of volunteer teenagers that wait inline for you - they text you when they are getting close to the front.  It was great because we were able to eat and do other things while a poor teen just stood there for us.

Making a beaded bracelet

Ta-da!

Group shot!  Emmalyn is standing next to her friend, Hudson and her other friend Michael is sitting on Santa's lap. (I don't know the rest of the people)

More holiday fun - we decorated Gingerbread houses with my friend and old boss, Michelle.  She brought Baby Jack who just hung out in the high chair and watch us.

Maxwell did it all on his own

Decorating the little tree in his room

We went to see Santa again (for our usual photoshoot) so the kids prepped some letters.  I wrote Emmalyn's and she decorated it.  She would like Peppa Pig toys, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Trolley (she rarely watches the show), and something from "Shimmer and Shine" (All tv shows)

Maxwell wants a karaoke set, a drone double wing, a pokemon book, electric ripstick, some type of wheels, and a delux morpher.  I don't even know what all of that is.

Ready to see santa

I snuck a couple shots - Maxwell was so excited

Emmalyn hung back and watched Maxwell go first.  She wasn't scared at all.

The boys

Seattle Day 2: More Easter Fun

Our first morning was an early morning!  The kids woke up around 4:30 am (which is 6:30 am our time) and we were able to keep them in bed/quiet for about an hour and then they were getting stir crazy.  We went up to the bonus room where we were away from most of the bedrooms and the kids could play.  

Maxwell loved playing Pac Man!

After everyone finally woke up (what a long morning that seemed!!) and had breakfast, Maxwell and I went with Ashlee and her family to their neighborhood egg hunt.  Peter stayed at home so that Emmalyn could take a nap.

Playing on the playground while we waited for the hunt to begin.  Even though the sun was shining, it was still chilly!  

The ground was sopping wet...like full on swampy.  My shoes/socks/pants were all wet by the time we were done.  Ashlee was far more prepared in rain boots - - - I should have looked to the locals' example! :)

I think his favorite part of the cupcake was the egg ring on the top.

It's almost time to hunt!

He had a great hustle and run around like a pro.

What beautiful scenery for an egg hunt, right?

Rocking his egg ring

The mud!!

We had fun watching the girls hunt for eggs, too.

After the hunt, we all went to Cafe Rio for lunch.  It was delicious!!!

It wasn't sunny anymore but it wasn't too cold so we headed to a park to burn some energy.

Maxwell connected with the girls quickly, especially Sam.  He loved playing with her and she was so great with him.

He played tag for a long time!

Emmalyn tried to make friends with this little boy and kept following him around and trying to tell him what to do.  She can certainly be bossy!

Time to dye Easter eggs!

We dyed with Ashlee's kids and Steph's kids too

The night Clay and Leanne came over for dinner and Ashlee's cousin Darcy and her family came too, they were in town from Utah.  We hung out, watched sports, played games, and the kids had fun playing together.  I tried to get Emmalyn to bed pretty early because I didn't want her to get used to the timezone since we were only there for a few days.  She's really loving going up and down the stairs (makes me so nervous) and someone brought something over on a motorcycle and she can't stop talking about it.  She thinks the motorcycle is so cool.

Maxwell loved watching the big kids play games with Uncle Clay