Merry Christmas!

My favorite Christmas present!
What a great stocking stuffer!
Ruby's favorite gift (thanks grandma retta!) Matt is learning how to woo me on the ukulele.
Coopers favorite gift (thanks guncle and lissy) Matt also loves this one. You'll shoot yer eye out!
Our nativity play. The NINJA shepherd, a very fair Mary, and the sweetest little baby Jesus! It is so fun having a live baby Jesus for the play. It has been a sacred experience having a baby boy at Christmas. I have learned a lot.

We were having desert on Christmas night and I asked Cooper if he wanted some ice cream. He informed me that he had already had enough sugar for the day. Now I just need to consume the rest of the treats so I am not tempted by them anymore! Merry Christmas!

Road Trip

We hit the road for the first part of our vacation and headed south to KENTUCKY (again). On the way we stopped for gas and came upon this community service project. In the back is an adult store called the LIONS DEN and up front is a little shack with a volunteer passing out bibles to anyone that enters. Someone (usually a cute little granny in pink curlers or this cute little man with summer teeth (some are here, some are there)) is manning the fort 24/7. Way to be proactive! And NO we didn't stop in!
Speaking of teeth, Ruby was the winner of our dirty teeth contest. These were THE yummiest candy cane oreos, you can almost taste them can't you! The things you do to keep your kids entertained on a road trip! We sang hours and hours of songs.

Our first stop: Louisville Slugger Baseball Bat Factory and Museum.
Coop was ticked to find out we were going to a baseball bat museum instead of a vampire bat one. He was ready to turn around the minute he found out. Once he got his own little baseball bat he decided it wasn't so bad. Play ball! Now we just need Cracker Jacks!



Next stop: Mammoth Caves
In the middle of Kentucky is one of the biggest caves in the world. It was MASSIVE! It was nice to go inside and warm up. I almost had a panic attack thinking about how many bats were in there with me. Have you noticed our bat theme?





Last stop: Santa Claus, INDIANA
Cutest little town you ever did see. All the streets are named after reindeer or other Christmas things. We even met THE jolly old elf himself. Rocky tried to tear his beard off to see if it was real; IT WAS.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!!!

Ruby has been taking piano lessons at the Jacobs School of Music (one of the best in the nation) for free! She loves music and has an ear for it. I am so proud of her.
Rocky LOVES to be swaddled at night and continues to sleep through most nights. He is growing so quickly it makes my heart hurt. I want to keep him just the way he is. I have been SOOO blessed to have 3 very happy babies. He is definitely a keeper!
We went to our very first Christmas tree farm this year. It was so much fun picking our our own tree and hearing the chainsaw. I am surprised Cooper doesn't want a chainsaw for Christmas. I watched my kids decorate the tree without any interference from ME! They loved it, they were so proud of themselves AND I didn't have to do a thing!
We LOVE to decorate gingerbread houses. OK, it isn't about the decorating, it is all about getting as much candy in ones mouth before ones momma opposes. Matt asked Coop if he wanted to just eat straight powdered sugar thinking he would get enough of it and never want it again. WRONG! That boy MUST have a sugar deficiency because he acts like he NEEDS it!!!
My 2 little angels ;)
AW, SHUCKS!!! I am trying not to eat those cheeks right off. Can you tell Rocky is NOT starving?
The final house. I don't know what is going on in the background, but it sure made me smile.

We just started our Christmas break. I am so excited for no homework, no spelling test, no swimming lessons, no piano lessons, no soccer, no art lessons, lots of snuggling, hot chocolate, and stories under the Christmas tree.

Louisville

We headed to Louisville, Kentucky to go check out the Louisville Science Center. They had an exhibit that would show you what you would look like as an old person. Looks like I have Clint Eastwood to grow old with! We ran into our good friends, The Browns there. I think they like to follow us, we ran into them in DC last year :)
We traded in our car for this sweet ride ;). Wouldn't this be a great project for a Relief Society Super Saturday? I have always wondered what I could do with all my old Happy Meal toys, Hot Wheels cars, and random doll parts.
Louisville was a fun little place, there are these horses all over the city. It was freezing!!!!! We spent time in the Louisville Science Center (thank you Wonderlab pass!), went to a fun little cajun restaurant, saw the Falls of the Ohio, and checked out Churchill downs (which is located in the slums of Louisville). On the way home, Cooper said "We drove all this way to go to a museum and a stupid restaurant?" One day he will be greatful for all of these experiences we provide him with, RIGHT? His favorite part of the trip was saying "Everything's yucky in Kentucky!"
We love cheap entertainment! We drew on each others chins, hid the rest of our bodies and performed for each other. We laughed until we cried.

We went to the IU womens basketball game and Rocky got us on the JUMBOTRON! He slept through most of the game. I sure wish I could sleep like that. He is delicious, I want to eat him up!

I took Ruby to the Nutcracker (not so cheep entertainment). During the intermission, she was all excited that it was "Half Time"! I love going on "dates" with my kids. I am so thankful to have Ruby so we can do GIRL STUFF.