Gingerbread Cookie Night!

We decided Sunday night would be the perfect time to bake up some gingerbread cookies. Merit was super excited about helping Mommy with this. We have used cookie cutters with play dough many times so Merit already had a good idea of how to do this. I really couldn't believe how well he did! After the cookies came out of the oven I got the decorating supplies ready and we all decorated cookies together. It was a great evening!

 

Happy 4th Birthday, Ashleigh!

We had  a wonderful time celebrating Ashleigh's 4th birthday. Merit absolutely loved the gymnastics center and literally cried because he didn't want to leave. Ashleigh looked like a little princess in her pink tutu. What a joy it has been to watch these two cuties grow up together!

 

Story time and a little shopping too!

 

Merit and I had a couple of items already picked out for Ashleigh at Barnes & Noble. So, Saturday morning we went to story time and then picked up Ashleigh's birthday gifts too. Merit enjoyed listening to the stories and it was a great way to start our day! We can't wait to give Ashleigh her gifts later today!

 

Our Santa Calendar

Aunt Nancy gave us this cute Santa calendar last year. Merit didn't really understand what it was for last year but he does this year. I've been letting him change the date for us. He thinks this is a really big kid thing to do!

 

New Room!

I decided I wanted to get rid of the large desk that was taking up most of the room in our study and get a smaller desk. My mom and I did a little brainstorming while driving home from Houston and by the time we got home I had a plan! I used a beautiful black desk from my bedroom and made that the new computer desk. It looks great! I then moved Merit's black table and chairs from his bedroom into the study. We are going to use the table for crafts and games. I really like the extra room in Merit's bedroom now that the table and chairs is gone. I have a large shaggy rug picked out to put in the center of this room which I think will make the space a little more warm and cozy feeling. Merit is already enjoying playing in this new space!

 

My Race Car Tree!

Merit was pretty anxious to find his race car ornaments in the Christmas boxes. So, we found all of them on Tuesday and he proceeded to tell me that he could decorate his tree all by himself. He did a fantastic job! I folded laundry while he hung the ornaments. He couldn't wait to show Daddy when he got home from work!

 

Northpark Fun!

On Monday Merit and I went to Northpark to watch the Scrooge puppet show. He thought it was pretty funny but he didn't quite get all of his humor. I think he liked the end of the show the best when Scrooge squirted all of the crowd with water from his water gun. While we were at Northpark we did a little shopping at the Disney store too!

 

Decorating with Mommy!

My little helper did a super job this year helping decorate the Christmas tree. He carefully unwrapped each ornament one by one and then placed it on the tree. I had warned him that some of the ornaments were breakable so he had to be really careful with them. His reaction to seeing the ornaments was priceless. After he saw the ornament he would say, "Mommy, wow! Look at this one! This ornament is beautiful!" He was quite expressive about the beauty of each one. What a sweet boy!

 

Fun in the Sun!

The title of this post certainly sounds like a post about a summer day but it was December 1st. I think the high was around 80 in Houston. Merit and I went for a short walk to Alicia's neighborhood playground. We watched the ducks swim, played on the playground and got to see a family release three 10 year old turtles into the pond. It was a fun morning!

 

Fun Times with the Birthday Boy!

We had so much fun playing with the boys on the morning of Luke's birthday. Merit couldn't get enough of the Sock Monkey jack-in-the-box and Luke clung to Alicia every time the music started to play. It was hilarious! Alicia also showed Merit the story of Jesus' birth using the Jesus cube. I need to get one too! He really thought it was so neat! What great memories made today with my family.