Polar Express train ride

All aboard the Polar Express! We're off to the North Pole! Poor baby Lake was sick so daddy stayed home to care for her. Coco & I took Stryker on the train ride this year. Hoping the rest of the family can join us next year. It was a rainy night but that didn't spoil our fun. Stryker was wide eyed as he explored the train & played with other kids. On the way to the North Pole (rode on the C&NW cart which is the first to reach the North Pole, the last to leave the North Pole, & first to see Santa), we sang Christmas Carols & heard the Polar Express story. The lights were turned off so the kids could hold their glow sticks & see the Christmas lights out the windows. On a side note, our train had to back up so sand could be applied to the wet track in order for us to make it uphill to the North Pole. On arrival to the North Pole, we were able to see Santa's workshop along with Santa, Mrs. Claus, & the elves waving outside the window! Santa & Mrs. Claus boarded the train to visit the kids. Stryker jumped up in his seat & hopped right into Santa's arms! Yay for excitement & no tears! He gave him high five, told him bye & Merry Christmas. He kept the big smile on his face the rest of the night while grabbing my phone to look at his Santa picture & tell us ALL about it! Love my boy's enjoyment! Santa's elves distributed golden keys & train ornaments to everyone. We also received cookies (choice of double chocolate & white chocolate macadamia nut) & chocolate milk. Stryker gobbled down his double chocolate cookie & insisted on eating the white chocolate macadamia nut cookie we were saving for daddy. On another side note, our elf has a son who is a senior at Ole Miss! Hotty Toddy! The Polar Express arrived back home as we sang & danced to more Christmas carols.

M&M teachers!

I made Stryker's teachers an early Christmas gift. Stryker was so excited to give it to them this morning. Each teacher received a Christmas canister filled with M&M's along with a poem which described what each color of M&M meant.

Green is for the inspiration you give me each day.
Blue is for your patience in showing me the way.
Orange is for your warmth & caring style.
Yellow is for the way you always make me smile.
Red is for my life that you have touched this year.
You place knowledge in my hands, that melt into my heart & live forever! You are a "Magnificent" & "Marvelous" Teacher! Thank you for being my M&M!
Love,
Stryker

Christmas cookies

We had the pleasure of spending time with our wonderful friends (Nick, Stacy, & Lucy Helland) at their home. Stacy had baked sugar cookies this morning for us to decorate, reindeer cookies to assemble (a gift for Lucy & Stryker's classes at school), & a Pinterest inspired Mistletoe painting of footprints. Baby Lake even got her feet painted for the picture! Lucy was more interested in eating the icing & sprinkles! Love that girl! Stryker wanted mostly sprinkles on his cookies. Hey, let kids be kids right?! Thanks so much for the invite. This will be a fun tradition to keep.

Griswald Christmas tree

I highly recommend getting a Christmas tree from Clear Creek Christmas tree farm in Jasper. It's family owned & operated. They have beautiful trees. We hiked through the woods (about 2 min on a trail) to a large seemingly endless field of Christmas trees. We finally chose our tree so Stryker "helped" daddy cut it down. The tree was loaded onto a tractor's trailer filled with hay. We all hopped in to ride back to the cabin where the family would shape, measure, & load our tree. The tree was bigger than expected. Felt as though we were living the Christmas Vacation movie! We'll definitely be returning next year!

Huntsville Christmas trip

Coco decided we would experience Christmas Village & the Galaxy of Lights in Huntsville this year. Our adventure began around lunch on Saturday, December 1st. I know we picked a bad day because of the SEC championship game but don't worry, we had it recorded! As you can see in the pictures below, Stryker nicely insisted that Coco sit by him. My tahoe has bucket seats in the middle causing her to enjoy the hour drive in the floor! Oh what she sacrifices for her grandchildren. We ate an early dinner at Red Robin located in the Bridgestreet outside mall. After filling our tummies, we walked around outside enjoying the nice weather. Santa surprised us by the water fountain so Stryker told him he wanted heroes & big heroes. Stryker rode the outdoor carousel twice (first w/ Coco & then w/ daddy). On our way to the car, a middle school aged drum line was playing by the fountain. Stryker focused in amazement at them. When they took a break, one of the boys offered Stryker his sticks to play! What a selfless boy! The little boy watched Stryker as he played & them gave him high five at the end. He will never truly know how unbelievable that gesture made our son feel. Now, it was off to Christmas Village. Stryker made a Christmas ornament, visited w/ elves & Santa (he actually sat in his lap this time), played in Santa's workshop, petted live reindeer, & decorated cookies. Thank you Coco for such an exciting, fun filled Christmas experience!

Winter swimming

Yes, we went swimming in the winter! Well, it was an indoor pool. Stryker's friend had a swimming party on Friday, November 30th at Cullman Aquatic Center. Logan & Stryker had a blast while Lake enjoyed being with me & watching her bro splash around. Stryker even went under water on purpose after seeing some big kids swim! Swimming lessons are definitely in the near future for our little water boy!

Diamond girl

Daddy's in trouble...our daughter loves some diamonds & sapphires just like mom!