Don't eat the gingerbread man

It was girls day out at the Discvoery Musuem for their annual Gingerbread House decorating activity. The mommies got quite a lesson in creativity while the girls had more fun eating the candy off the house.

Andrea and Callen... notice how neat Andrea's house is.

The Eggert girls... old pros at this.

Big smiles for all the candy!

The finished product!! I must say by Christmas there wasn't a whole lot left on the house.

Makenzie's Chocolate Extravaganza

Makenzie turned three and she, I mean her mom, celebrated with a chocolate extravanza.

All the treats were delicious and the kids got to decorate their own cupcakes... a big hit!!

Madison took her cupcake decorating very serious...

Christmas at the zoo

For the last three years we have headed to the zoo around Christmas... they get a special delivery of some reindeer. This year since Christmas has taken on a whole new meaning for Madison she was very excited to see who were these creatures who were going to guide Santa's sleigh. Madison and Makenzie peeked over the fence and sang them a few Christmas carols.. the reindeer didn't move an inch.. they might have been sedated.

Madison didn't want Sadie to feel left out so she gave her some kisses. It's fun to see how Madison and Sadie have bonded and Jack and Makenzie have bonded.

The girls swinging high on the "big girl" swings.

This is the smile you get when they are bribed with a lollipop.

We finished the day at the merry-go-round and said good bye to the characters.

Reese's Baptism

On December 13, we celebrated Reese Brinker's baptism. Mark was the Godfather so it was especially special for our family. She wore the gown we were all baptized in and the same gown that now all her cousins have been baptized in.

Fr. Mario did the honors and did a wonderful job as usual. Jen and I spent most of the baptism in the corner trying to shove "crunch munch" in the Jack and Chloe's mouths so they wouldn't make noise.

Afterwards... we headed to the courtyard to take some family pics....

This was my parents Christmas picture this year... so fun!!

I love this picture and plan on keeping this until they are 13.

Is there such thing as a perfect Santa pic?

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You take what you can get..... It's a right of passage.. "everyone" gets dressed up and goes to see Santa, right? This may be true but it doesn't mean it's a pleasant experience. Here, we have "stoned" Jack who just wants the whole thing to be over... and Santa's strange hand placement on Madison. Probably wouldn't have been so strange if Santa hadn't just gotten done telling Mark and I how he got kicked out of 3 karoke bars the night before and "mrs clause" made him sleep in the doghouse because he smelled of booze. Not to mention he practically passed out on the kid before us.

On the second try for that perfect picture... Jack is just now thoroughly annoyed that he is on a strange man's lap who smells like a dive bar AND he has a combover AND his mom made him wear a white turtleneck!!

Broderick Street Christmas Party