Mama's Sweet Peas

Thursday, December 22, 2011

A Visit to Santa

We had a lovely evening looking at lights (aka "Sparkles" according to Bren). We got in a visit and picture with Santa. Both kids anxiously told Santa what they wanted this year. Brenley wants a Puppy and babydoll. Beau wants a basketball goal and video games.... Hmmm.....hope Santa comes through!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Brenley's Christmas Program at NRA

Now it was Brenley's turn for her Christmas party and program at NorthRidge. I was so excited for her because this was her first year in "the gym" where the grown up kids perform. And I had heard plenty of stories about her not wanting to wear her Santa cap or reindeer ears......"Ms. Anderson said I didn't have to wear them" was the story she kept repeating when we kept asking.

So I had readied myself for that part, but the teachers also kept telling me that she performed the songs and actions really well, so they didn't mind that she REFUSED to wear the coordinating head gear. Okay. Fine. Your rules.

She partied it up with friends, wearing her new DKNY silk dress and black cardigan with black suede boots. Yep, that's right. Fashionista. And I was proud of it.

Here she is with her bud, Jack, snacking away.

And now it is time to open gifts - a book exchange. Perfect idea for these precious little readers.

Me and My girl

Guess she likes her book!

Bren and Kaitlyn

This is her new pose. She tilts her head down and in. Not sure where that came from, but it's cute!

Waiting patiently for their present

And once presents were open.......off we went down the hall to the program portion of the morning. Oh, the ever waited program.....

Here she is happy girl sans the Santa hat

A little motion here. Jingle bells.

It looks like she is having a good time, but I'm not showing you all the other pictures I took....

Where did Cooper go?

This is Arianna. The sweet girl who was resting between her screams for Mommy. Jack has his back to us in the green shirt. He is tired of hearing her scream.

Here all her friends (minus Rylie front row in purple skirt who was the other "Mommy" screamer) enjoying their Reindeer games, especially her cute boyfriend Cooper (blue shirt, yellow tie). Notice AGAIN how Brenley has nothing on her head.

Having a great debate with Cooper? Dale happy. Rylie still screaming.

More of the same. What is going on with these two?

Sweet faces. Trying to follow along.

And here is the video of the Reindeer song, or should I say it was aptly renamed the "MMOOMMMMYY!!!" song, according to Beau

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Levings' Family Christmas - December 17th, 2011

Okay, first of all.....I am way behind in getting my blog posts caught up. So sorry for all these entries. I still have a few more to go to get caught up, so hang in there with me.

Secondly, I got a new camera for Christmas - thanks to QVC and Easy Pay. They got me - hook, line and sinker. So let me set the stage of what made me pull the trigger. They got me the night my beloved O-State Cowboys lost to Iowa State. I was crushed, and what makes me feel better.....retail therapy. But what is open at midnight? QVC is! Channel 23. And what did they happen to be showing???? The EXACT camera I had been doing a lot of research on. I already knew which camera I was going to buy - and this was it. I was just trying to make it to Black Friday to find out who had the better deals - and actually - I even knew the Black Friday deals thanks to a squealer website, so I really was just waiting on Black Friday to arrive. But then OVC stepped in and offered the same deal I was going to get on Black Friday without me having to step into a dreadful store on that dreadful day. So when I found out I could do Easy Pay and get it shipped to my house for free before Thanksgiving - I was in.

So what does all this mean? Well, it means I know NOTHING about my camera, except to keep it on automatic and let it do the thinking and the work - and so far - I LOVE IT. I love getting these awesome face shots of subject matter that I hold dearest to my heart - my family.

Back to Christmas.....we celebrated the Levings' side of Christmas on Saturday, December 17th. We certainly haven't spent a lot of time together this year, so it is always such a joy to get together. It's crazy and chaotic, but it's expected, so anything less would be disappointing. This year my oldest niece asked Me Ma if her boyfriend could come with her. This must be true love, because this boy not only survived the day, he fit in really well. Ahhh...cute. Our little Mak is growing up.

And we also celebrated Courtney's 13th birthday a few days early. 13? Say it isn't so. The kids are just growing up so fast. So after an afternoon and early evening of munching on yummy dips, chocolate, and having the traditional hamburgers and hot dogs.....it was time for opening presents. And unfortunately, in our now annual Dirty Elephant game (yes, that's right - I didn't mess up the words - that is what us Levings' call our game), I didn't capture any pictures from it because I was too busy playing.....so next year, I have to step back a minute and capture pictures of our game madness!

Here we go....pictures of some happy kids opening their presents, and one VERY sweet 1st Christmas for Ryan James, who managed to nap through most of the madness, and then wake up to have his own special time. And these pictures loaded out of order.......so I did my best to explain each one.