Some Pre-Christmas Fun

We had some fun in the weeks leading up to Christmas...

anthony still LOVES going to Lowe's to see the forklifts!

we started this in the summer as a cheap way to have fun while staying out of the 110 degree weather, and he still asks to go there every time we drive past one!

Mario and I at the Meyerson Symphony Center--We got to go to a Michael W. Smith Christmas concert here with some old friends from Joshua Expeditions. MWS was accompanied by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra...so beautiful!

pictures my sweet boys made me to wish me a happy birthday on the 17th






They weren't feeling well, so we went looking at Christmas lights and put them to bed. Mario and I quietly celebrated my birthday at home with some presents and some tiramisu--yum!

yay! the immersion blender i wanted! soups and smoothies, here i come!

one week our playgroup had santa and mrs. claus come visit. they were the most sweet couple from our friend jill's parents' sunday school class, and apparently, they make a TON of "santa stops" every season! they played the part so well! this is the first time my kids have ever sat on santa's lap, so they weren't sure what to think! they were fully convinced it was fun after santa let them pull some m&ms out of his big bag of goodies! (thanks, jill, for setting this up for us!)

we went out into the greenbelt behind our house to do a photo shoot to get some good pics for this year's christmas card--here are some of my favorites...

two cuties

lucas kept wanting to put his hands in his "pockets"--it was so adorable--he missed his pockets completely every time, and just shoved his hands inside his overalls!

tried to get some "playing in the leaves" shots--that didn't turn out so well! they sure had fun throwing leaves, but we didn't get any good pics, and then, they didn't want to stop throwing the leaves so i could get a shot of them sitting! guess i should've saved that one for the end--lesson learned!

one of my favorites--and the one that made the christmas card! it captures their everyday personalities so well! these boys just love living life! every single day they are just so joyful!

this was my other favorite!

can't believe my babies are growing up so fast!

they look like little boys instead of babies--i always tell them they better slow down!

i'm trying to treasure every minute of them being little!