Here comes Santa Claus

HO HO HO!!!!!

Merry CHRISTmas!!!!

Friday night Santa Claus arrived at the NWA mall.

What better way to kick off the holiday season by 

watching Santa arrive in his sleigh? 

We had some good friends of ours, Rowan and Grayre

come over to hang out friday night so we loaded all

the boys up and headed to the mall. 

Before Santa arrived we were entertained 

by a Dance company. They preformed the nutcracker

along with several other performances. The boys

were entertained initially but soon started asking

"where is Santa Claus"? They came for one reason

and one reason only, to see the big man for themselves!

Here is little Grayre bear watching the 

dancers. He had so much fun and was

such a good boy.  

 

     Trev was so excited to hang out with his

friends. He had a great time but was very

anxious to see Santa. While the dancers were

preforming he yells "where is Santa Claus,

when is he coming"? After a nice little chat

about being respectful while someone is

preforming, he seemed to settle down a bit.

He really is such a funny boy!!

 I told the boys to scoot together so I could

snap a pic. Rowan leaned in on Trev and knocked

him over so T was saying "ouch" in this pic. I think

its funny!!! I love how Grayre is looking at them 

like ????

 After the performances, a man read us

Twas the night before Christmas

 The kids loved this part. They were so still

during the story!!! First time for everything.

lol

 Even baby Cruz enjoyed it.....

 but it made him very sleepy!!!!

 The boys kept watching for Santa on the roof

of the mall. It was adorable!!! 

 Trev was pretty sure he spotted him.

"Look, look guys. There he is"! he kept

saying!!

 And here is Mr. Claus himself. All the boys

were so excited. Trev kept screaming in 

typical Trevor fashion and Grayre kept saying

"there is Santa" and Rowan just stood in amazement.

 As Santa came by the boys on his sleigh,

he waved to them all. Of course the were

all waving right back!!! They've gotta make

sure to get on that nice list.

That was definitely their favorite part. Seeing

how excited they were to get a wave from

Santa was precious. It totally made my night!!!

 We then came back to the house to play.

 The super hero squad!!!

 Trev was giving Grayre a little hug.

 Rowan and Trevor.

Rowan is so awesome!! He would

do the best poses for his pictures.

I turned on some super hero music

and he can play an air guitar like no body's

business. He was so fun!!!!

 Baby Cruz had fun trying to keep up with the

big boys. He ran around behind them trying to

do everything they were doing. He crashed hard

that night.

 One of Rowans infamous poses.

We had such a good time with the Graham boys

over. They all played very well together and had

a blast. Can't wait to have them over again.

Our week

On Sunday after church, Trev and I baked

 

cookies

 together!!

 

 My post got all messed up somehow so hang

in there with me!! Saturday we went to a friend

of ours little boys first birthday party. Cruz got his

first pinata experience and loved it. He just laughed

every time he swung the bat. They were all so cute!

Trev busted the pinata so he got to take the bat he 

 busted the pinata with home. Very Cool!!

 Saturday we had friends over to watch the HOGS

play!! The boys played and had a great time as 

you can see in the pic. lol

 They really were having a good time in 

this picture!!! They are so cute!!!!

 Cruz is Mr. Independent!! He has to feed 

himself or he won't eat!! He is a little stinker.

Here he had his macaroni EVERYWHERE!!!

But he's still adorable as a macaroni monster!!!

 Cruz also learned to brush his teeth this week.

Mommy does a quick brush first, then puts more 

toothpaste on the brush and lets him brush away!

He really did a great job and was so proud of 

himself!!  I can't believe how big he is getting!! It's 

happening so fast.

 Good job baby!!!!

 Sweet baby boy

 Trevor fixed his hair all by himself this week

too. I was leaving to go to mimi's and started

looking for Trev. He said "I'm in here mommy

fixing my hair". I thought oh lord,what has he 

done? When I got to the bathroom he had daddy's

paste out with a lot in his hair, on his forehead and

all over his hands just smiling so big!! He was proud

of himself for being such a big boy and fixing it all

by himself. It was a really cute moment for me!!!

 This is how we went to mimi's that day. 

Great job dude!!

 This was earlier that morning. He pretty

much fixed his own sandwich that day!!

He only had minor help from mom!!! He

has really enjoyed doing things on his own

lately. He normally just likes for mommy to

do most things for him so it's something we've

been working on and he his doing a great job!!

 My sweet busy Cruz!!! He just goes and goes

and then crashes!!! I was finishing up my hair

one morning and stuck him in the exersaucer to

prevent another morning Cruz disaster. I looked 

back to check on him and he was passed out!!!

The boy's gotta crash sometime!!

 These pics should be at the top but....

there from Sunday cookies. Trev thought

they were good!!

 REAL GOOD!!  He kept sneaking cookies when

I wasn't looking. Silly boy, he is such a sugar

fanatic!!!

There's nothing like a Sunday afternoon nap.

 This is the birthday boy Karter, and the

rest of the birthday pics!!!

Crock pot recipes

3-Cheese Chicken & Noodles

• 3 cups cooked chopped chicken
• 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounces)  condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 (8 ounce) package wide egg noodles, cooked and drained
• 1 cup monterey jack cheese
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 can (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves  

Combine all ingrediants into slow cooker. Stir to

coat evenly. Cover and cook on LOW 6-10

hours or on HIGH 3-4

 

 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

 

• 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilis, drained
• 1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 corn tortillas, sliced into 1/4 inch strips and baked until crisp
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
• 1/2 shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1 avocado, peeled, diced and tossed with lime juice to prevent browning
• lime wedges
• Salt and Pepper to taste

 

1. Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine tomatoes with juice, 

chilies,1/2 cup broth, onion, garlic and cumin in small bowl.

Place over chicken mixture

 

2. Cover; cook on LOW 6 hours or on HIGH 3 hours, or until chicken

is tender. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with 2 forks.

Return to cooking liquid. Adjust seasonings, adding salt and pepper

and more broth if necessary.

 

3. Just before serving, add tortillas and cilantro to slow cooker. Stir 

to blend. Serve in soup bowls, topping  each serving with cheese

avocado and a squeeze of lime juice. 

Cruz 12 month

This is an entire month late but better late

than never right?

My sweet baby turned 1!!! Holy Cow!! You

have grown into your fun personality

and we just love you!! You put such a 

smile on our faces everyday!! For your 

birthday, I  decorated the house with

streamers and balloons for you so when 

you woke up in the morning you would

feel so special!! You loved running through 

the steamers hanging from the door way.

I also took you to Boingo Bounce

with your cousins. You are all for being

able to just run around so you loved

it!! We went to McDonald's for lunch because

you love their cheeseburgers. After you took your 

2 hour nap we just hung out and played for 

awhile. For dinner we fed you macaroni and 

cheese, your favorite! I didn't want to feed

you cake before your birthday party so we

opted for ice cream instead. We went to Shakes

with the whole family and stuck a candle in your

ice cream and sang happy birthday to you in the

middle of Shakes. It was so much fun and you 

loved everyone singing to you!! We had the best

day with you little man. 

  Mommy and Daddy love you sooooo much and 

have had so much fun with you this past year.

Watching you hit so many milestones has just

been amazing!! Your so much fun and your so 

sweet I could hug & kiss you all day long.

Your a precious little baby and we can't wait for all the 

memories we'll make with you in this next year.

Here are some fun facts about you......

• Your busy busy busy
• very determined
• loves to run all over the place
• such a momma's boy
• gives the best opened mouth kisses
• love your paci
• picky,picky eater honestly, I've never seen a pickier baby
• you'll eat anything with cheese-macaroni, grilled cheese, quesadilla
• love facing forward in your car seat
• still not into t.v-that's a good thing
• still love playing with tools and taking things apart so you can try and put them back together
• love to play in the trash can- you put things in the trash can that don't belong and take trash out of the trash can to play with....silly boy
• you love to "fish" in the toilet
• you put everything in the toilet-silky pillow,mommy's makeup,toys etc....
• your smile gets you just about anything you want
• you still take a little snooze in the morning and your 2 hour nap in the afternoon
• only take a bottle of warm milk at bedtime
• you love to play in bubba's room with him
• your favorite thing for breakfast is your little fruit bars
• you love to play ball-you have a great arm 
• you try so hard to keep up with your brother
• you say momma, daddy, bath, bubba, hi, bye bye, 
• you can sign more and please only your please is just like more, you rub your hands together instead of rubbing your hand on your chest!!
• you love music and you love to shake your tail feather
• you love playing with the remote and cell phones
• your favorite place to sleep is right by mommy in her bed
• you are SO MUCH FUN!!!!
•   

Cruz's first birthday pictures

I can't believe my little Cruz is a whole

year old. I feel like I brought him home

yesterday. To get ready for his BIG FIRST

BIRTHDAY, I took him out for a little photo

shoot. He isn't big on getting his picture

taken,you wouldn't think so considering he's

had a camera in his face since the second

he came out of the womb, but he did a 

really good job for me!! Here are just a 

few. I have yet to edit them (I'll get 

around to it someday hopefully) but in the

meantime here is a sneak peak.........