5 days to go...

Five more days until Christmas! We have taken Audrey to see Santa twice and it was a no-go both times. She screams and will not even go near him. Last year she just gave a mean face while on his lap but this year she can't even get within a foot of him. That is until he bribes her with a candy cane in which she grabs it and bolts.

Last night we went to the "Magical Christmas Forest" here in town. It is basically just lots of different light displays. We went with our friends Carol, Randy and thier son Brandon. The kids had a blast just running around seeing all the pretty lights.

Today was my birthday and it was a very relaxing day. We took the girls to the park and had a picnic. Paul got me red tulips which are my favorite flowers. Also, Paul and I finally finished the toy bins for Audrey's bookshelf. He made the frames for them and I sewed the covers.

Our plans for Christmas day are to go up to the mountains and go sledding and I will be making a yummy Christmas dinner. I have some new recipes I am going to try so we will see how that goes. If they turn out horrible we can always have Denny's right??? Haha

Almost Christmas

I finally took a picture with Peyton smiling! I'm sure there will be lots more to come as well. She is making some cooing sounds and it's adorable! What makes her smile the most is when her big sister is giggling in her face. One of these days I will get it on video.

As you can see from the picture Audrey is loving the Christmas season so far. Her favorite activity has been decorating Christmas cookies. She also liked putting ornaments on the tree. Although with her 2-going-on-13-year-old-attitude she demanded they all go on one branch. So Paul and I just waited until she went to bed and then finished decorating the tree. It seems like this year she really understands what is going on. She keeps telling us,"Santa is bringing my presents soon."

Next week Audrey's preschool is doing a Christmas song night. We drop the kids off in their classroom and then go to the Sanctuary where they will come in and "perform". It should be really cute. I keep asking Audrey what songs they are singing and all she will tell me is something about a bear hunt. Ha! She is so funny. Also next week Paul's work has hired a Santa to come in just for the IFTA employees and their families so we will see what Audrey thinks. Last year she did not like Santa one bit. I will make sure to let everyone know how she reacts. (And of course post pictures!)

I have been very busy signing up for my college classes! YAY! I am going to take 3 classes this semester and see how I do. I am hoping to get my Bachelors in History or English and then a Masters in Library Science. I know, I finally decide what I want to do and of course it has tons of schooling. I really think it will be a great career for me. I tried thinking of something I am truly passionate about besides my husband and kids and the biggest thing I could come up with is reading!

Paul has gone over 1000 hours total time!! I thought that was very exciting! I also thought I would share how much Paul wanted to go chop down our Christmas tree this year instead of buying one. Obviously there is nowhere close to Bakersfield that we could do that so I started asking around my mom's group. Sure enough there is a farm right outside of Bakersfield that grows Christmas trees and lets you pick out a saw and chop one down. Audrey was thrilled because there was a train and Paul got to chop down our tree. It was a great day!

Check out my picasa web album for the rest of our Christmas pictures so far this season.