Queen (and Kings) of the Kitchen

I don't know about your family, but ours LOVES to eat around the holidays. So that meant a lot of prep time in the kitchen. Of course, Emerson wanted in on the fun so we found a safe place for her to help out so we could be all hands on deck.

These cheese balls were excited to work some magic in the kitchen...

with Uncle Beau. I know this is a rare sight. Beau normally just eats the food...this time he was cooking with the kids (I forgot what) but they were excited. I love Hunter's napkin dew-rag.

Of course we decorated Christmas cookies. We didn't get to decorate  as many as we expected (one of the dogs ate an entire batch of cookies off the counter) but we had MORE than enough. We should probably thank our K9 friend for saving us the calories.

I think Sawyer enjoyed his cookies.

Very serious.

Lip smacking good!

O Christmas Tree

It's always fun to search for a REAL tree. Back home, in Oregon, there are tree farms everywhere. The kids did a great job and it looked beautiful!

Ho Ho Ho

 I love the excitement on my nephews faces here! This was really Santa's helper...not the real guy. This is really my dad (aka Papa). He got sucked into playing the man in red for the local firefighters kids/grand kids. So we tagged along what ended up being interesting to say the least, but Santa still showed and the kids LOVED it!

Emerson didn't seem to mind. She was clueless that it was Papa...or maybe she had an inkling. Stella was under the weather so she missed out.

 No worries...a couple days later it was off to see the REAL Santa. You know the guy downtown with elves and a REAL beard. Well, Emerson wasn't sure of this guy. He definitely wasn't Papa. And Stella wouldn't even stand near the guy.

 The Hart boys had no problems with Ole Saint Nick. They must know who is charge of the presents. But Santa wanted to hear from everyone so he gave up his "special" chair and viola we have a picture with Santa.

Then all of a sudden it clicked...this is the guy in charge of presents and EVERYONE was loving on Santa and making sure he knew what they wanted and that they were "good" this year.

10 Months

 Where has the time gone!?! Happy 10 months sweet girl.

Not much has changed in the last month, BUT you are NOW SLEEPING through the NIGHT!
Best update yet! Of course, our trip has thrown her off a bit, but I'm thrilled.

We love you Emerson Kate. Thanks for keeping us on our toes!

$1,200 Haircut

Ok, we didn't really pay $1,200 for a haircut. That's crazy, BUT Tom did make a deal with his viewers that if they helped him raise $1000 for the Salvation Army he would shave his head live on the morning show. He raised quite a bit for his online kettle, but here he is raising the bell at a local store to top off his kettle.

 Stella emptied the change holder in the car and went to town. I wasn't a fan of Tom shaving his head, but hey, it's all for a good cause.

Stella enjoyed ringing the bell. I do think she got a few nice folks to empty their pockets.

And here you go...proof that Tom's co-anchors shaved his head just before his vacation to Oregon.

I think this shot is Tom questioning his deal.
NO turning back at this point.

Here's the done deal! I had a better close up, but it wouldn't load. It's slowly coming back in...he's back on the anchor desk Monday so we'll see :)

Thanks to all that supported him. He had fun raising the money. He ended up with a little over $1,200...that's an expensive haircut.

Merry Thanksgiving

 Our Thanksgiving was CRAZY. It's all our fault because we celebrated Christmas too! Since we'll be in Oregon  we decided to knock out both holidays with Tom's side of the family last weekend. It was super fun! Stella and Emerson love their Grammie and Papa.

 The amount of gifts for the girls was crazy. Here's Emerson with her HUGE present! She was all smiles during the opening of presents.

 Laughing with Papa...notice the mess we've made in the background.

 Stella was very serious about her presents and opened them all by herself :)

 Too busy to smile.

 Emerson just figuring out her new toy.

 Checking out her PRINCESS Castle! It's the real Cinderella castle with all the princesses and their princes...big hit :)

The fam!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you're enjoying the gear-up for Christmas. Let's not forget the reason for the season!

Girls Night

 The other night Stella and I ditched daddy and Emerson for a night on the town, just the two of us. It was such a sweet time. We started the night with a yummy treat from Bliss Cupcakes and then off to THE show.

 A local theater group, Arts Live Theatre, was performing Cinderella. Oh my word...this princess was excited. She just HAD to dress the part.

 Stella's sweet friend Ashlen also came. Arts Live Theatre was so fun. It's made up of local actors...kids in the community and they are sooo good. After the show...the girls got to meet the actors during "Cinderella's Ball!" (ok, it was very similar to a junior high dance, but they LOVED it)

 Meeting Cinderella

 Ashlen dancing with the evil step-sisters. It was cute...they kept saying they aren't really mean, they're nice girls.

 Stella dancing with one of the mice. Please note that this girl is in first grade and Stella is not much shorter than her. HA

Stella looks so serious here, but she LOVED Gus and by the looks of it this little actor was fond of my princess too  :)
We had a great time and I'm sure we'll be checking out Arts Live Theatre again. I love the fun things I'm finding in Fayetteville for our kids.