Santa visits the boys school!

The original Santa scheduled to appear at the boys school had to back out for one reason or another, so Miss Kim asked if Todd would like to dress in the bright red suit and white beard and play dear old Santa! And he rocked it...and enjoyed it so very much!

Here are a few of the pictures of the 900 million that I took!

Santa! We had him wear sunglasses for certain kiddos, including Brody and Wade, so that they would not know it was Todd!


They started from youngest to oldest...



The one and two year olds wanted NOTHING to do with Santa!



B-man and Wade seriously had no idea they were sitting on their Daddy's lap! And we were so proud of Wade for actually sitting on Santa's lap this time! Wade, you told Santa you wanted a FAST lighting McQueen bike and jumped off his lap after about 20 seconds...


Oh Brody...Santa would tell each kid that they have grown since last year and that they were heavier. When he told you that, you snapped back at him, "No I Am Not Heavy." We all giggled...I just think you were nervous! You actually smiled the whole time but I just got a kick out of this picture:


And a few more:








Ho Ho Ho....Meeeerrry Christmas!

Christmas hat day at school!

This week, the boys school has a different theme each day, ie. crazy socks, fun hats, Christmas jammies, etc...The theme yesterday was 'fun winter hats' and Miss Kim had a blast taking pics of Rylee and Jack in the infant room!




Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Pop's (20th) and Aunt Lowie (21st)!

December Happenings (LONG post!)

We attended Whitney and Scott's Ugly Christmas Sweater Party this past Saturday and the kiddos were invited! I found this as an opportunity to get all "tacky crafty" and had an absolute blast decorating for our family of five: sweatshirts, turtlenecks and a little onesie...


Wondering why Wade is holding a bottle of BBQ sauce and smiling? Well, Jimmy Kimmel asked parents to give their kids a terrible present and to film it and submit it.  Watch it here

So, we sat all of the kids down and they opened their horrible presents...BBQ sauce, a banana, tunafish, napkins, etc...we expected a better reaction, but all of the kids were actually thankful for their canned goods!!! It was funny, nonetheless!

Hey look! Karo Syrup!!

We finally went to see santa! The boys were extremely excited...started talking about all of the toys that the were going to discuss with the jolly old man. Wade even wanted to bring him his Toy Story puzzle to give him...melt my heart! When we got there, 2 out of the 3 Harrell boys ended up sitting on his lap...maybe next year sweet boy.




After our visit with Santa, we played around the Commons for quite a long time. They even lured me into riding the spaceship...oh Lord, you can just imagine the giggles erupting from Todd during our little ride:


Have I mentioned how lucky I am that these 4 guys are ALL mine???


Snuggle time in our bed later that night...(I bought the boys these footed jammies last year and they were waaaay to big, but this year, they fit perfectly! Pretty funny to watch B and W in footed PJ's...!)


Between our activities, we managed to sneak in a little time at Nana and Gator's house too! Thank you guys for giving us a break here and there!!!

Salt dough ornaments and pulled pork and Mini Vans!

Tis the season.........we got even more into the spirit of Christmas by making ornaments this year! The Hipsh girls joined in on the fun (while the ornaments were baking, the adults enjoyed a cold beer and the kiddos played with playdoh):


The next evening, I broke out the old paintbrush and paint, and viola! I will forever cherish these little prints. Check out the boys fun Christmas shirts. From Crew Cuts
Thank goodness we have a Crew Cuts Outlet near by, as I LOVE their clothing, just not the prices!!

We introduced Jack to the grill/smoker/BBQ...wouldn't want to call it the wrong name...he he he...Todd......and enjoyed delicious pulled pork that was smoked for 12 hours and then mopped with homemade sauce. We ate pizza on the back porch, explored our back yard and 'helped' Daddy mow:


And, Ms. Sara Yancey, got a kick out of these cups she found at the party store...her and baby Sal popped into my office last week and hand delivered them!

Now that the Christmas cards have been stuffed, stamped and are in the process of being delivered, I can share our family pics we had taken on November 19th, by the talented Ali, Plumb Photography .

(I have many friends who have chosen photography as their profession, so making that appointment can sometimes cause me a little anxiety, as I never want to make the other ones feel as though I have 'moved on' from using them as our photographer...but I like variety and the different angles and styles of each, so I use many photographers, as opposed to just one. There. I feel better!)

Without further ado...(For my own recollection: Todd 39/ Carly 32/ Brody and Wade 3yrs 3mos/ Jack 1 week shy of 6 mos)
















Thank you Ali...you captured our little family just perfectly!!!

Gearing up for Christmas!!

You tend to forget just how magical Christmas is through little ones eyes. Santa is real, you know. And Pete, our Elf on the Shelf , helps us believe!  We have started going on nightly drives to oohh and aahh over the Christmas lights and the boys even helped decorate the Chrsitmas tree!  (Side note:  Do you know how hard it was for me to relinquish control of MY Christmas tree to 2 little kiddos who tend to drop and break and step on MY precious ornaments??  I eventually made them their own pile of kid friendly ornaments, took a deep breath and enjoyed those 20 little fingers helping decorate OUR tree.  Their eyes sparkled and they swelled with pride after each and every ornament they hung.  Merry Christmas to me! )  We opted to leave the 80 foot(sliggghht exaggeration), pre-lit tree in its box this year and went out and got ourselves a real one.  Like we have always done.  Except this year, it was just the boys.  Well, the bigger boys anyways...While JDH took a snooze, Daddy and his bigger boys loaded up and headed out.  He let them pick out their very own tree and they actually ended up with a pretty nice, full and straight one!

 I.  Cannot.  Wait.  Until.  Christmas . Morning!!!

Gobble Gobble Wibble Wobble

Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmothers house we go!! During our annual trip to Macclenny for Thanksgiving, we helped put up our 1st tent and camped out in sleeping bags with Daddy:

We learned to fill celery, peel potatoes and make a fake chicken poop M-n-M's...not all at once...and Jack even tasted his first real sweet potato!



We were angels on the 5 hours there and 5 hours back, fell in love with the movie Dumbo, had a blast playing with our cousin Caden and pet animals at the Jacksonville Zoo. We hugged on Grandmother, wrestled with Pop's and Uncle Andy, snuggled and cooked with Nana and Grammie. We played with Aunt Marilyn and cousin Andrea, posed for Aunt Allie's camera and smirked when Uncle Scotty came home from the FSU/Gator game...GO NOLES!!! We always hate to leave Grandmother's house and are already talking about our next visit!! Happy Thanksgiving to all...and most of all, Happy 1st Thanksgiving sweet Jack-Jack!

I think these pics pretty much sum up our trip!