Mason and Carissa had lots of fun baking Sugar cookies this year. GaGa and Mason made sugar cookie dough and cut it into lots of holiday shapes...Both kids enjoyed shaking the sprinkles into their mouths, eating raw dough when mommy wasn't looking and admiring their hard work as these yummy fresh cookies came out of the oven...hopefully some of these will make it to Santa's Belly on Christmas Eve!!!
We are so excited to be home for the Holidays in Charlotte this year. GaGa and Pa came to us:0 and here are some fun random shots around the house. I will add more as I find them....Breakfast with Pa, Cool Tree Cupcakes Mommy made for Mason's Preschool Holiday Party, Setting the train up with Pa and Playing with the evergreen branches!!! "Funtimes 2009"
Last Tuesday we took the Light rail to Uptown Charlotte to see the Singing Bears at Founders Hall. We actually saw lots of school friends there too. Mason and Carissa loved the singing bears and going up and down the escalators with Pa. We then had a good lunch and jumped back on the lightrail just in time to head home for some well deserved naps and then get ready that evening for Mommy's Cookie Party
Saturday we had a fun time after we picked up GaGa and Pa from the Airport we headed to the Billy Graham Library to see the lights, enjoy the Live Nativity (or Na-Tiffany as mason calls it), have some dinner and watch the horse carriages and watch the choir sing holiday songs. A great start to our holiday season!!!
Our Little Shepard sure did keep busy at his Christmas Program this year:) The costume made it through almost one song as much as he was able to stay put on the risers. Mason did love all of the program's songs and has been entertaining us with Jingle Bells and the Chubby Little Snowman all month. The kids did a great job and we were so proud of them....Daddy was able to capture lots of great memories on video too.....can't wait to see what next year's program brings:) 
We are so lucky to have such great friends and this year we finally got a picture of all the kids under the tree. We also had a yummy dinner of chili, cornbread, cracker candy, and chocolate peppermint pie. It was so nice to let the kids play and visit Thanks Mandy and Thom for hosting!! Kenneth and Ford are both getting so big and are so cute....can't wait for Kenneth to turn the Big "One" soon after the Holidays. Carissa and Ford loved watching the train go round and round the tree, while Mason had lots of jokes to share with all!!
One of Our Friends was so sweet to do some family pictures for us:) It was quite the cold day and lots of little noses turning red and restless children but after many mini snowman marshmallows...we were able to get some fun pictures.
Mason and Carissa have both come to realize that one of the best joys the Holiday Season brings is an abundance of candy canes....Carissa's only reason for sitting on Santa's lap and Mason enjoying one of his after a great visit with Santa this Year.
As the leaves begin to Fall on Our Favorite Japanese Maple tree, we know winter has arrived. Charlotte has really gotten chilly the last week or so and we were lucky enough that mommy let us play in the tree one last time before all the leaves have fallen. They are such a beautiful color this season but it sure did not last long...here are some pretty pictures to look at though.
Our Visit with Santa this year was alot of fun and there was so much for the kids to do....watch the singing mechanical bears, peak at the big holiday village display, write Santa a Letter and put it in the big mailbox, get cookies and hot cocoa from the Elves, visit with Frosty, sit on Santa's lap and tell him what you wish for Christmas, get a cool CD of the singing bears and,of course, enjoy a yummy candy cane, the awesome snow that falls from the North Pole and then sign your name in Santa's Big Book of Good Boys & Girls!!! Mason told Santa he would like a Construction Claw Grabber thing (he has been dreaming about it ever since seeing it in the store) and Carissa wished to get off Santa's lap as fast as possible!!!
After Thanksgiving, we always look forward to putting up our Christmas tree (well the kids and I do anyway...Daddy is not a fan of digging all the Christmas cheer out from under the staircase). This year it was so cute to see Mason and Cari decorate the tree together....despite a few ornaments breaking and Mason decorating only one square foot spot of the tree...in the end it turned out pretty good and Mason knows that our tiny christmas angel is located right under our star and is watching him daily and then reporting ALL his good deeds to Santa.
