Holiday Happenings

December was a fun month filled with holiday activities for us! I have fallen behind on the blog and wanted to do a recap of our shenanigans leading up to Christmas.

The Nutcracker

For my mom's birthday back in November, my sister and I gave tickets to The Nutcracker at the Winspear Opera house. The tickets were for early December, and we had a great time taking her to the show, a fun happy hour, and a delicious dinner to celebrate. 

Love these ladies!

Toddler Birthday Parties

Mason has a lot of friends right around his age and had six birthday parties (eight including his own home and school parties), to attend in December! My nephew also turned thirteen on the 13th so it was an exciting month of  birthdays. We didn't get pictures at all the parties, but snapped a couple!

Having fun at his school birthday celebration

Watching cousin Matthew play basketball against HP around his birthday

Riding a train around the neighborhood with his buddy Hutcheson at Hayes' party

Holiday Parties

We certainly had plenty of fun opportunities to spread the holiday cheer this season! It started with Sean's company party at Hotel ZaZa. We took some silly pictures in the photo booth and Mason likes to keep the print-out in his kitchen. Mason had several Christmas-themed playdates he attended with his weekly play group and our PTA group. Caroline hosted a fun afternoon happy hour playgroup/gift exchange at her home that the moms and kids all enjoyed. My parents held a Christmas party for my dads office and invited us to join as well. We had a wonderful time hanging out with my dads co-workers and eating the amazing food my mom made, as well as indulging in some creative festive drinks! My friend Lindsay hosted an ornament exchange at her beautifully decorated home where I had fun hanging out with my girlfriends and swapping ornaments! The Pfeiffer's threw their annual Christmas party and we had a blast celebrating with a fun group of couples. Mason came with us to this party and thankfully went right to sleep in his pack n play when we got there. The cold weather hadn't hit Dallas at this point so we were able to spend a lot of time out on their gorgeous patio. The night after the Pfeiffer's party, we attended the PTA Christmas party. My parents graciously offered to have Mason spend the night at their house that night so we didn't have to worry about coming home for a babysitter. We dropped him off in the afternoon and had time to knock out some Christmas shopping and catch a movie before heading to the party! Finally, Pete and Dorrie had us and the Emanuels over for a fun and kid-friendly happy hour that led into a delicious chili dinner. Mason had fun playing with their two boys and the Emanuels sweet daughter Beatrice, and we had fun chatting with Dorrie's parents and treating ourselves to their always delicious spread!

Photo Booth fun at the HL company party

At my parents Christmas party

Play date HH

Christmas play group and lunch at Amanda's

4 kiddos squeezing in a 2-seater wagon. They had more fun than it looks!

Pfeiffer's Christmas Party

Mason's class Christmas party

Checking out Christmas lights with BeBe and Papa while we had a night off!

Christmas get-together at the Andrews

Breakfast with Santa

The school Mason goes to put on a great Breakfast with Santa event that included singing and dancing with the Kidville band, hot and cold breakfasts, auction items, craft activities for the kids, and of course, Santa! The line for Santa was about 15 minutes long so I used that time to help prepare Mason for what to say when he sits on Santa's lap. I can't be sure, but I'm pretty sure I heard him saying he wants a 'choo-choo' for Christmas! So sweet. Sean donated one of his picnic tables to the event for the auction, and we took a peek at what the bidding was at before we left and were very pleased with the going rate! We were glad to be able to give back in that way to his school. 

Breakfast with Santa

"I'd like a choo-choo, please"

Dancing with the Kidville band

Sean's donated picnic table

Stella & Dot

I am so excited to announce that I decided to sign on with Stella & Dot as a stylist. I would  never think that selling jewelry through a trunk show would be my thing, but the more I talked to my sponsor about it and the more I learned about the line, I really fell in love with the product and now find myself really looking forward to the time I put in working. It all happened very quickly - I first met my sponsor at a PTA event in early December, signed on as a stylist in mid-December, then turned around and held two launch shows in time for customers to place orders before Christmas! It's been a whirlwind of an experience so far, but I'm finally feeling like I'm getting settled with this new venture and look forward to what the new year holds. You can check the line out by clicking here!

Looking back, it's hard to imagine that all this happened in just a few weeks, and it doesn't even include the week of Christmas (or decorating, gift buying, treat making, card mailing, etc.). It's a very busy, but very fun time of year and we loved every moment. More on Christmas week to come!