Snow Day!

Well, this week has been the longest in my mommy experience.  Pink Eye, stomach bug, UTIs, bronchitis, snow, and NO WATER to clean up the sickness.  bleh!  Finally, the kids were able to enjoy the snow by Saturday, so thankfully there was still some left! It's always fun to get snow in Waco, b/c you never know if you're gonna get any next year. :)

Here are the kids breaking free after many days cooped up...

going on a snow adventure with Daddy 

 fun with Daddy in the snow!

 Mommy needs at least one pic on this side of the camera to show she was there. :)

 snow ball fight!  Daddy doesn't hold anything back!

 so, neither should Jonah...

 ha, ha!  great hit!!

 our little snow bunny. :)

right before the snowball hit my lens. :(

 making fresh tracks in the back yard!

love my little bundled up munchkins!

bear crawl in the snow :)

All in all, a great day....after a horrible week.  I'm not usually a complainer, but Lordy Mercy, this week...let's just say it was a difficult one.  I can handle sick kids, but having no water to clean up the, eh, sickness about did me in.  When child #2 started throwing up on Thursday night, I literally prayed to God asking Him to give us water....and on Friday morning at 6:56 am, it started pouring out!  We were so excited, but then a second later, a little bit mad b/c we realized the pipes hadn't been frozen all along....so needless to say a call to the water department is in store.  Whatever the cause, thank you Lord for caring about the small things like our need to water in the midst of sickness!!

Jonah is SIX!!

Jonah is SIX!!

I can't believe it....how is my baby SIX years old?!  Somehow, it's true.  I still remember his birth like it was yesterday.  I wonder if I will always....I hope so.  It hurts a little bit that he has to use two hands now to tell his age...I honestly want this time to freeze and him always want to sit in my lap and hold my hand and snuggle before bed.  I know very soon those things will be a memory, and so for now, I will cherish every minute!

We had his spread ready for him to wake up on his birthday...

 Here is our Six year old!!

 Happy Birthday, sleepy head!

 A birthday kolache for our boy--he has a protein tooth, not a sweet tooth! :)

 Here is his foot now compared to his footprint in his baby book...see his cute little baby announcement picture, too?  How was that six years ago?!

We quickly moved to breakfast in Mommy and Daddy's bed to watch some shows. :)  

After the new year, Jonah had a party at Chuck E Cheese with his friends....that will come at a later post.  My sweet, stubborn, intelligent, tender-hearted, 110% boy--there is no way you will ever know how much your Mommy and Daddy love you.  You made us parents, and forever changed our lives.  Happy Birthday, Jonah Samuel!

a Holly, Jolly Christmas!

For Christmas this year, we spent the weekend before Christmas with Grammy and Dad G and family in Arkansas, then returned home for a couple of days before we went to Coon Creek to have the James Family Christmas.  It was B-U-S-Y!

Ainsley loved getting to snuggle with Gordy G. I think it helped that he gave her bites of cookie. :)

 our cousins always have lots of love for us!

this was the year of kitchen stuff for Ainsley....a new kitchen with lots of accessories--but this was a classic pic of her that I had to include.  I'm sure she will NOT appreciate this later. :)

 How cute is this little chef?

 The 5 "Guest" cousins....so fun!

 Our family of four. :)

 Playing with new toys and wearing Mommy's scarf.

We headed to the park to ride the train and see Christmas lights, but unfortunately, the train didn't run on Sundays.  What a bummer! :(  Much love from Gordy G and Cha Cha anyway!

While in AR, we also got to have a birthday party for my Mimmy, who turned 93!  All of the aunts, uncles and cousins came in for the day, and it was a lot of fun celebrating a wonderful woman!

On December 23, we headed to Coon Creek for Christmas.  We had lots of fun, as always!  It's a crazy time with so many people, but is always exciting! :)  We made Christmas pancakes with Honey....

 had LOTS of Beyblade battles with cousins (for Jonah this was the year of Beyblades and Bakugans)

 left cookies and Coke Zero for Santa :),

 and gots lots of good stuff from Santa!  Santa brought Ainsley a sleeping bag, a headlamp, and some girly dishes so she didn't have to eat out of Jonah's superhero dishes anymore! :)

 Santa enjoyed his snacks!

 Santa also left a letter for Jonah and Ainsley telling them to look outside for a surprise gift.....

 Jonah woke up SUPER early, so Ainsley had to be awoken.  She was NOT happy about it. :(

 Here is Jonah asking "can we PLEASE come out now?!"  Again, you can see how excited Ainsley is to be awake. :)

 Jonah trying to get Ainsley excited for Santa....

 finally they get to come out and see their gifts....Jonah was helping Ainsley get in her sleeping bag.  so cute!

 and Jonah got Star Wars PJs and a double light saber that spins!

 Then they took a look outside and saw the surprise gift--a four wheeler!!

 Thank you, Santa!!

 Jonah gave Ainsley some pom-poms and she was very excited about them. :)

 Isn't he scary?!

 Merry Very Early Christmas morning!

 Later in the day Daddy and Jonah went fishing and caught all 5 types of Crappie...or some fish.  I think it was crappie.  :)

 We always remember to take a family picture with all the extended family, which is great!

Ainsley and Colt had fun pushing each other around on the little car--having 3 2-year olds at Christmas is FUN!

 Me and my girl on Christmas

 Lauryn had a fun time dressing up the little girls in lots of different dress up outfits....they were so cute!  This one shouldered purple outfit with heels on Ainsley KILLS ME!  Could you not just eat her up?

 Here are the little girls in their matching Christmas outfits from Honey. :)

and here they are playing Ring around the Rosey--this is obviously "they all fall down!"

 Luke and Will are so sweet to the little girls. :)

 Also while at CC, we celebrated my 3-5 birthday. ugh.  It was officially the first time I felt old on a birthday.  Not fun...but, oh well!

Merry Christmas from The James--we are excited to see what the next year brings!