Christmas

What a fun and Merry Christmas we had! The kids were thrilled that Santa had them on his "nice list" and brought them just what they wanted. And daddy and PopPop were a little less thrilled that Santa doesn't assemble his presents!:) We had a great Christmas and loved sharing it with Mimi, PopPop, Glammy, Papaw, and Uncle Brett. Hoping you all had a very Merry Christmas!

After Christmas Eve church service

Mimi and PopPop with the kiddos

Christmas pjs and a book!

Peppermint Oreos and milk for Santa

Ready to see what Santa brought!

He loves it!

Kate was super excited about her Barbie panties

And Mags couldn't believe that Santa brought her
the Mickey Space movie too

Ben's new bike from Glammy and Papaw

Taking it all in

Lots of great Barbies from Glammy and Papaw

Nanny and Bumps got Ben a Harley Davison motorcycle
rocking bike

Celebrating with Glammy and Papaw

All the great grandkids...Maggie, Coleman, William holding
Ben, Mitch, Preston and Kate

Ben loves his Nanny

December in Review

December is the busiest month always, but it's even busier with all 3 kids in school and their various activities. Throw in a few parties and December becomes a blur. All that said, we love December because the house is decorated for Christmas, the girls and I love listening to Christmas music while we're playing, and it's almost like you're not living your "real" life until after it's all over. Fun!

Annual treat...hot chocolate during our tree decorating

The finished product

Mags asked for a Mickey rocketship,
Kate asked for a Barbie Dreamhouse, and
we asked Santa to bring something for
Ben to climb on (Santa did not disappoint!)

Starbucks run and a walk around
Utica to look at the Nutcracker scenes

Maggie's class visit to the Santa
House at Utica (Mags is standing
in the doorway of the house)

Monte Cassino's Christmas party

Kate and Ava enjoying hot chocolate
during her class Santa House visit

Making Christmas cookies with Glammy

Ready for their book exchanges at school and Kate
was excited to wear her pjs for Polar Express Day

Mags singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"
during her Christmas program

I love this picture...giggling with her friends, Gus
and Liza, because the baby Jesus in the manger
wasn't smiling!:)

Playing Christmas Bingo during her class party

Always climbing on something!

So fun...a Christmas lights limo tour hosted by
her friend, Lexi (Kate is in the second row wearing
a white coat)

SHCC Christmas party with Charlotte and Simon

A great picture with Glammy and Papaw

Snaggle Tooth

Something really big happened last week at the Butler house...Kate lost her first tooth! It had been loose for a long time. In fact, Kate had her dental check up right before Thanksgiving,had x-rays and the dentist showed us that there was basically no root holding it into place but that didn't sway Kate to let us pull it. Instead she said "It will fall out when it's ready." Or it would fall out when she and her friend, Mary Kate, bumped into each other during Creative Movement!:)

She was so super excited and left it for the Tooth Fairy to find it. And she did! Kate got a note from the TF, some nail polish, and $5. Not bad for a first tooth!

She currently is working on tooth #2, which is pretty loose itself. I'm thinking we'll be getting another visit from her again really soon.

Winter Dance Programs

It was that time again...dance programs in the girls' dance classes. We left off during the fall programs with Kate dancing and Maggie burying her face into Miss Shelly and we picked up sort of where we left off EXCEPT Maggie danced!!

Both girls did fantastic and both loved the cookie party after the performance. We're hoping this is Maggie coming out of her shell.:)

Thanksgiving

A little late on the post but Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving filled with family, food, and football!

We celebrated at Mimi and PopPop's with PopPop's entire family...all 32 of us! It was fun catching up with cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. The Waggoners know how to cook and eat and that was what we did - the entire weekend!:)

We had a great Thanksgiving break and are back into the swing of school and everything that goes along with getting ready for Christmas. Enjoy these last few hectic weeks!:)


Thanksgiving dinner at the kids' table

Wow...Ben and Mags look thrilled!

Ryan and Kate enjoying turkey

The boys loved being on the heated patio
watching football

Great Grandpa and Kate

Jaclyn and Ben

Ben is 1!

Ben celebrated his first birthday last Wednesday! Actually, he celebrated it last Sunday night, again on Wednesday, and then again on Saturday. He is really good at eating cake!:)

We had his birthday party at Joe Momma's pizza with our family and close friends. Ben loved his cake and made a pretty good dent in it. He had fun eating pizza and cake and could have cared less who we were there to celebrate!





On his real birthday, we were at Mimi and PopPop's for Thanksgiving so we had a small party for him. Actually, we only had cupcakes but again, Ben didn't care as long as he was eating one!









And then on Saturday, Ben and Mary Grayson (his 2nd cousin who is 3 days younger than him) celebrated their birthdays together. MG was a little hesitant about digging into her cake but not Ben. He dug right in and only had crumbs left to show for it!





Ben's first year has zoomed right by. Last year at this time I was holding a 8 pound, 10 ounce infant and today I'm chasing a 21 pound busy boy around! Ben continues to bring alot of fun, joy, and entertainment to our family. He is one loved boy!

Some hightlights from Ben's 12th month:
*Ben now has 6 teeth
*He can stand alone but once he realizes that he's doing it, he slowly lowers to the ground
*He can take a few steps but is definitely not a "walker"
*Ben celebrated his first Halloween dressed as a dog
*He finally has started waving...finally
*He no longer takes bottles!
*Ben rides forward facing now in the car

Happy birthday to my sweet Benny boy! I love you a bushel and a peck!!!

A Busy October

Whew...I'm just catching my breath from the month of October and also Halloween, which has become days long instead of just one day! Instead of telling you how much we had going on, I'll just post pictures instead. Happy November!

Kate's class field trip to Carmichael's Pumpkin Patch

Kate and Piper feeding the goats

Kate with Mrs. McKenzie

Maggie's Farmer Breakfast at school

Enjoying a yummy breakfast with Coleman

Maggie and Lucy filling their tummies with
pancakes and bacon

2nd Saturday at Philbrook

Daddy took the girls to do art at Philbrook

Happy 30th birthday to Miss Shelly's School of Dance!

Rocking out with Lucy and Miss Christine at Miss
Shelly's party

Octoberfest at Monte Cassino. - Kate wanted her
hair pink and it still has a hint of pink in it!:)

Maggie loving the obsticle course

Wrist corsage!

Pumpkin Town

Of course a pony ride!

Maggie likes the pony rides

Ben's first pony ride and he was loving it

50s day at school to celebrate the 50th day of school

Cleaning out her pumpkin

This was the only time she put her hand in there!

Ben thought his pumpkin was to eat!

Jack-o-lanterns

Ben at Monte Cassino's Trunk or Treat

Mary Poppins

Kate with her friends, Lauren (Barbie a Fairy Secret)
and Piper (Ariel)