Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Once upon a December...(part 2)

 
Christmas weekend was a blast, as well. We spent Christmas Eve with Nanny and PopPop, and enjoyed a tasty meal (As always) and some super fun present opening. To top it off, it snowed! The kids just couldn't resist, and had to go run around in it. I love the pictures of them running around like crazy, completely not caring about how cold it was, just truly enjoying the fat flakes coming down!



SO much fun in the snow!

My favorite...Paxton was surprised it was snowing!

They could almost be siblings...
 The next morning, we got up to enjoy our little Fellers family Christmas celebration! I absolutely love seeing Mollie first thing on Christmas morning...still half asleep, yet so excited, adorned with fabulous bed-head. So cute! She loved seeing what Santa brought, seeing that he ate her cookies, and the reindeer ate her Reindeer Food. We've also been doing "Elf on the Shelf", and it was a neat ending to all the fun the Elf brings! While we don't want to miss the true meaning of Christmas, that Elf sure keeps her in line :o) After presents, we ate a yummy breakfast, and trekked through the snow to the Christmas morning service at church. Jason and the rest of the praise team did an awesome job playing more a more folk/bluegrass/rock set; such a great way to celebrate on a Christmas morning! 

Reindeer food, Santa's snack, and the notes they left for her!

New panties, a Christmas tradition :o)

Yes we went sledding in our front yard even though the snow had already melted...wet grass works just as well :o)

Decorating a gingerbread tree with Daddy!

Concentration...

Finished product...lovely :o)
Then we headed to Gigi and Papa's house for even more fun. Dress-up clothes were a big hit, and provided entertainment for the rest of the day! The little ones had a blast playing together all day, and we had a blast spending time with the fam. It was kind of sad to see all the fun come to an end, but we're so thankful for our family and the time we were able to spend with them all!

Princess and Batman off to save the world!

I love that we have a kids table now!

Once upon a December...(part 1)

Only semi-excited about seeing Santa at Daddy's bank!
December has been full of fun! First of all, we got out of school on the 16th and Mollie and I have thoroughly been enjoying our time off! While I have been SO BLESSED with my job this year, it was definitely time for some rest!

We started off our Christmas break celebrating with Momma Shelly, Poppa Kelly, and Uncle Kyler. They came to our house for the "Livingston Christmas" and Mollie was more than thrilled to have her favorite people staying at her house! We had lots of fun with them opening presents, watching football, eating too much, and then ended the weekend on the Polar Express...
Making memories with Momma Shelly
We love our Poppa Kelly!

We met up with Mollie's Gigi, her cousins Maddox and Paxton, and Aunt Lacye for our 3rd annual Polar Express Extravaganza! The kids were all decked out in their new Christmas pajamas and were so. stinking. excited. I have to say that this year was the best one yet...the hot chocolate mugs were cute, the elves and workers were very interactive and friendly, they played more music, danced with the kids down the isles, and just really did a great job. The kids really had a great time, and we all had a great time watching them enjoy themselves! Looking forward to next year!
So ready to see the North Pole!
Mommas and Kiddos! Minus Paxton...he wasn't quite up for all the excitement
The kids and their Gigi!
Us and  Momma Shelly!

Checking the tickets...
In awe...almost to the North Pole!
Having a heart-to-heart with the Elf
Mollie's first "happy" picture with Santa!

  
Meeting the Conductor! So exciting!



The whole gang aboard the Polar Express

To be continued...

Thursday, December 22, 2011

November...

Well, since it's December 22 and I'm just now getting around to posting about November, I bet you can imagine how busy it's been around here! I definitely have not managed to balance teaching, parenting, being a wife, having any kind of a social life, and blogging. So for the few of you that care, here is an update on what happened at our house in November: 

- Some of our favorite people in the world came to stay with us! The Boyers, our friends since my freshman year in college, brought their two boys for their yearly return to the LBK. Living in Ft. Worth now, we don't get to spend as much time together as we used to, but we surely look forward to any chance we can get to see each other! Also, our visits are getting more and more entertaining with more kids in the mix! There's Mollie (almost 3), Levi (2 1/2), and Joel (about 8 months). The older ones played so well together while little Joel looked on and smiled! Mollie had so much fun having a playmate stay the weekend with her, and was just a ball of excitement all weekend. We loved having them stay and can't wait till next time! (Thanks, Jocelyn, for the pics!)

Mollie and Levi
...they seriously were a blur the majority of the time
 
The whole clan at the TTU football game
Lots of girly things to play with at this house!

- Thanksgiving! Goodness, I love Thanksgiving. What a great time for a nice break, time with family, and some yummy food! And with so much to be thankful for, we had no trouble counting our blessings this year. We headed out of town to Shamrock to spend Thanksgiving with my family this time. It was great being out in the country where it's quiet, and just away from the daily grind. We hadn't been out of town since JULY so it felt sooooo good to leave for a bit!
The Livingston Fam
Gotta love uncles!

Fun with Uncle Kyler
Painting ornaments!
Bread dough ornaments!
Jason went hunting and came back with a turkey!!!
 
- School for me is crazy busy and in full swing! I sure love my little firsties, but they wear me out! I never have trouble getting to bed in the evenings or having a shortage of things to do. Teaching is for sure a never-ending job, but I sure feel like it's what I'm meant to do! It's exhausting, yet fulfilling. 
 
- Jason is training for a marathon in February, so he's right in the middle of his training program and working hard as usual! He follows a plan and runs anywhere from 7-20 miles a day, but rests on Sundays. It still baffles me that he does it with nobody telling him to do it, but he really is not himself without a good long run! It's just what he does! He'll be racing in the Cowtown Marathon in Ft. Worth, so that means another Boyer/Fellers weekend! Yippee! Jason also recently accepted a new position within his bank! He'll be moving to the loan side of things and learning a whole new aspect of banking. He's really excited and should be making the official move right after the new year. On top of that, he's working on his LAST CLASS of grad school!!!!! He's almost done!!!! Wahoo!!!!

- Mollie Moo is growing like crazy. She weighs about 30 lbs, but has for quite a while. However, suddenly everything is becoming too short and her belly is hanging out of most of her little shirts. She's certainly growing taller and her hair is growing longer. She looks more like a "kid", less like a toddler. Mollie also still continues to baffle us with how MUCH and how well she speaks. She can really talk your head off at times, and says the funniest things. Her latest funny saying is "That is not a laughing matter!" She picks up a lot of vocabulary from the stories she reads/ listens to. Her favorite app on my I-Phone is one that reads a story to you as it highlights the words being read. She listens to stories over and over till she can repeat them back to you. Our favorite part of the day is still bedtime...all three of us pile in the chair and read together. She'll sit through a number of books and asks for more. I'm so glad she has a love for reading!!!!! 
Beautiful girl :o)
Reading with Grandma Anna