Christmas Eve Eve

The day before Christmas Eve we had my mom's side of the family over to our house for a little Christmas celebration. You would think a party with 13 adults, 2 teenagers, 3 children and 2 puppies would be a recipe for absolute chaos... but the evening was actually quite lovely!

2 of my boys in matching shirts

Grandma holding baby upside down... per his request

lots of family fun

My brother-in-law Simon, sister Emily, and their puppy Hank

the puppies were worn out! So they "smuggled"

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day posts to come!

The Day After Christmas

Wow! What a fun Christmas we had this year! I hope every one of you can say the same! I plan to do a full Christmas recap with photos but have to wait for my camera to get back home. (It is in the car and Max and Daddy are out on a Daddy date). The little kids and I are having a quiet morning at home. Jack is napping, Sophie is playing with her new Disney Princess castle (which is only half put together because I gave up!) and I am rotating between attempting to get my house back in order after Christmas exploded, playing princesses, and reading this book...

Check it out here

Oh my goodness! I am not really into fantasty/sci-fi type stuff but I heard good things about this book so I asked Nick Santa to put it in my stocking. And now I can't put it down!

Anyway, I hope you all are having a fabulous Post-Christmas day! I hope to be back later or at least by tomorrow to share all of the Christmas fun!

The look on this guy's face...

just screams... "I know how cute I am".

Our new addition

Meet Scout Ramsey...

He was our little Christmas present to our family! And we couldn't be more in love with the little ball of fur.

Nick and I had started having the dog talk when Max started begging for a dog. Nick who had been extremely anti-dog up until this point was starting to really soften up so I started doing some research. I really wanted to find out what would be the best dog for our family. After lots of research I decided that a shih tzu would be a really great match for us. I thought maybe we would get one in the spring or summer. But, then my sister sent me a link to a really cute shih tzu puppy named "Mickey" at a local animal rescue. 

Nick and I fell in love with his picture and decided we had to have him. Unfortunately, right before we left to go visit him we called and found out he had already been adopted the evening before. Honestly, I was a little devastated. Nick convinced me that we should go to the place anyway and look at their other dogs.

When you go there they have pictures of all the dogs they have up on the wall and then they bring you the one you want to the visiting room. There was a picture of a super cute lhasa-poo named "Kenny" and we asked to see him. They told us that "Kenny" was super shy so they were going to bring his brother "Kyle" in too so that he would be more outgoing. We ended up falling in love with "Kyle" and decided he was the dog for us. We liked "Kenny"'s size, he was most likely the runt of the litter. But, "Kyle" was much more friendly with the kiddos. 

The place we got him from rescues puppies who are going to be killed from puppy mills. I guess the pet stores and people who buy from puppy mills only like a certain type of dog and when they don't sell them they just kill the rest. So sad. I think ours didn't make the cut because typically people prefer white faces on this type of dog and he doesn't have enough color variation. But, we think he is just adorable...even if it is hard to get a good photo of him with his dark eyes and face!

Max had already named our dog Scout so that was already settled! Scout is settling in well here at the R home. He is a very good little dog. He loves to snuggle and is doing pretty well on potty training. Not perfect... but pretty good! I think he is just the perfect fit for our family!

Run Run as Fast as you Can...

Am I the only one who {HAS} to say this everytime I see a gingerbread man?? Ha!

My kiddos are so into Christmas this year. They want to be involved in every last detail.  I am hoping to have them help me make wrapping paper tomorrow. But, for some of our gifts we handed out earlier I had them help me by making these cute little gingerbread men and women from a little kit from Michaels. They are supposed to be ornaments but they also make super cute gift tags. The kids were able to add their own personal touch to the gifts and added to craft paper and a ribbon the gift still looked festive!

Just say {no}

I can't believe Christmas is getting so close! This year our family has really been enjoying the time leading up to Christmas. I love our Advent Activity Calendar and think we will have to do it every year. It has provided so many fun evenings for us. Here is a pic from our shaving cream drawing the other night...

Had to give the blog a little shout out! But, in all reality, it has been an amazing last few weeks. Whenever I hop on to Facebook or read blogs or talk to people there is so much complaining about business. And I totally get that. But, I think us moms need to step up and take back the Christmas season for our families. Use what you learned in middle school and "just say no"! Ha! Don't bake cookies, don't go to that Christmas party, don't buy your kids 20 gifts each... unless that is what you truly love to do.

Some people like being really busy this time of year and that is great. Business is a different standard for everyone. I have friends that could go to a Christmas party every night for the 24 days leading up to Christmas, bake two dozen cookies everyday and still feel refreshed and festive. Great! And I have friends that if they get more than a few things going on in one week they feel out of sorts and run down. That is okay too. Figure out your own limits and what works for you.

Just enjoy the time with your family. I know that I will treasure each precious memory made this month for the rest of my life and I pray that these are the memories that will shape my children.

Sophie the Ballerina

 Saturday was a very big day in our house. It was Miss Sophie's very first ballet recital! She was so excited... although I think the word had no definition until after her first time on stage.

 Sophie had a full row of supporters for her stage debut. Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Grandma June, Uncle Simon and Aunt Emily and Cousin Lauren were all there to cheer on our little dancer. I think someone loved all of the attention even though she was a little nervous at first.

 After the first song she was totally into it and couldn't wait to get back on stage. Her group got to dance twice and I was very surprised at how well she did.

 Even if she did spend the second half of her last song just playing with her hula skirt. But honestly, who can blame her? And she looked super cute.

 Of course like any ballerina should be she was showered with flowers after such a wonderful performance. Which may or may not have been her favorite part of the day!

 Mommy and Daddy couldn't have been more proud of our little girl! She was wonderful for her stage debut!

But, being such a wonderful ballerina can really wear a girl out...