Christmas in Fort Worth

Our Christmas holidays started off in Fort Worth, as usual! First stop, Mom's house. The girls were so excited to get started on the presents, so we wasted no time at all. I was lucky enough to get a cute picture of the 3 of them before things got crazy. Brooke's favorite toy was a cute Barbie magic set and Adilyn and Kacy's favorite was the awesome school set that Mom gave to everyone. We ordered pizza for dinner and hung out for a bit. That night we headed to Dad's house. The Creasman's were there, so it was a full house. Adilyn and Kacy slept in Dad and Kris's room with Walker, and Brooke stayed in the room with us. The next day, the house got even fuller when everyone came over around noon. Mimi and Pops surprised everyone when they came out with some awesome Christmas sweaters! We had fun singing Christmas songs and dancing around the tree, which is a tradition from Kris's side of the family. Everyone opened their presents and played for the rest of the day. We also were lucky enough to get a picture of the whole crew - all 21 of us! Luckily, the weather was decent, so we hung out outside and let the kids run off some of their extra Christmas energy!

School Holiday Parties

The school parties are always a little chaotic, and every since I decided to be the homeroom mom, they are a little more stressful. I don't ever get as stressed as some of these other moms do, but there's just a lot to make sure you have the day of the parties. The kids made a little thumbprint reindeer ornament and made trail mix this year. It turned out pretty cute! I love being able to be a part of their classrooms, and being able to go to their parties.

Brooke's School Christmas Party

Last year, Brooke never seemed to truly love school. I feel like she was a little upset everyday that I dropped her off. This year, she is so happy. Of course, there are days that she doesn't want to go to school, but most days she is super happy to go! I think her favorite part of school is her teacher. She loves her so much. It was sweet to see her in her element with all her friends for her Christmas party! They ate lunch and decorated cookies for dessert. She was so excited to give us her gift - a handprint picture of Jesus in the manger - so cute!

Preschool Christmas Program

I absolutely love that Brooke is old enough to have some of her own things finally! It seems like she has been dragged around to Adilyn and Kacy's stuff forever. She had her little Christmas program at the preschool tonight. It was really cute because she sang the same songs that Kacy sang two years ago, so we all remembered them. I didn't know how she was going to be because she doesn't really like people watching her. I really thought she might be the one kid that runs off the stage, or the one that doesn't do anything but stare into space. Boy, did she surprise me! The girl did all the moves, sang all the songs, and smiled the whole time. She was so proud of herself, and the girls and I made a big deal about how great she did. Sweet girl is getting so big! Her favorite song to sing was "Happy Birthday, Jesus!". I will never forget that sweet voice singing, "The tinsel and lights, and the presents are nice, but the best gift of all is you! Happy birthday, Jesus!"

Belton - Nature in Lights

Every year, my mom likes to meet somewhere for a fun Christmas adventure! This year we decided to meet in Belton and drive through the Nature in Lights at the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area. It was really fun! We got there right as it got dark, and it was not busy at all. There wasn't much traffic, and we could go at our own pace to enjoy the light displays. The lights were spread out over 5.5 miles all throughout the park. About halfway through there was a Santa's Workshop area were we got out and looked at some crafts and had some snacks. I think Adilyn and Kacy's favorite part was going on the horse rides at the barn. The people that were walking the horses were so awesome, and they told the girls all different stories about the horses and how they used to be racing horses. Kacy's horse loved Doritos!
After the light tour, we went to grab a quick dinner at Taco Cabana, and for whatever reason the girls were crazy! They were so hyper and driving me absolutely nuts! We ate quickly, and then we headed to the hotel. Unfortunately, the craziness continued. I swear, we probably woke up our whole floor with their silliness and my yelling before I got them to sleep. :) The next morning we went to breakfast, and then came back to the hotel for a dip in the indoor pool. They loved swimming inside! I love making these holiday memories with family!

Martin Dies, Jr State Park Camping

Camping is always fun! No matter who we are with, we always have a great time being outside and hanging out. It's especially fun when you are with people you love :) We hadn't been camping with the Hrobars in forever because of volleyball and soccer games, so we just had to get in one trip before the holidays. Unfortunately, when we started looking, almost all the parks within an hour or two were either full, burned, or flooded! We decided to look east, which we never do, and we found Martin Dies, Jr State Park. We thought the name was super weird and it kinda creeped us all out for some stupid reason, but that didn't stop us from going. So glad we did! It was awesome! Our site was right on the water in a slough, and the park was practically empty. We rented a canoe for the day, and the kids took little trips out on the water throughout the day. They rode bikes, played games, did arts and crafts and hung out all day long. The weather was fantastic for camping - a little chilly at night, but great during the day. We took a long hike around a little island during the day, and we found all kinds of cool trees and nice views of the water. The fall colors in the trees were beautiful, and it was overall a great weekend!