cookie decorating party!

Yesterday we headed over to my good friend Brittney's house for our second annual cookie decorating extravaganza! Wow...lots of mommies, kids and babies. After the major baby boom at Parkwood this past year, our little get-togethers have turned into some major get-togethers. :) We decorated, ate pizza, and let the kiddos play and hang out together. Fun times.

 Brittney had it all set up and ready for us...different colors of icing, sprinkles and more sprinkles, M&M's, etc. She is so great at this stuff.

 
 Addison took the decorating quite seriously this year. She did a great job!

 Ashley was helping Kaden here with his cookie decorating...although, he was more interested in eating them than decorating them.

 Little Kaidyn ready to go! As cute as ever!

 My friend Cara's sweet Addy.

 Ashtyn...

 and Ellie...sisters. And so stinkin cute.

 Meghan and Madeline...she needed a little help decorating this year. :)

Kade...someone's been eating instead of decorating I think...just like another little boy...Kaden! :)
{These names crack me up...Kaden, Kade and Kaidyn! Poor kids...we say a name and they all look!}

Check out the little tongue. :)

Landon

Kelly holding little Cooper

Luciana. :)

And...more pics of the kids going all around.

Addy again--having a tea party

Where is Kaden???!!!

Trying to get some conversation in...short and sweet.
These were cupcakes for Jesus' birthday. :)
Thank you Wardlaw Fam for having us...a great time!

lights under louisville

The other night we ventured out to the mega caverns to see the lights UNDER Louisville. Let's just say that Keith has been looking forward to this for months! Literally. He has been talking about wanting to go see these as a fam for a long time. We didn't go last year, but made sure to go this year. Keith even made sure to get a coupon the other day to save $5!! We invited Eric and Chels to hop in the van with us. Eric works some crazy hours right now so he had to catch some zzzz's, but Chelsey is always up for some adventure! I think she secretly loved her seat in the back of the van....

 Check out Adder's face...silly girl. :)

 Front seat drivers

 And...don't forget sweet Payton...aka: the sweetest baby in the world. And...soooo good!

 This is what you see when entering into the cavern.

Then...you are greeted by some great Christmas tunes and some awesome light displays. It was really neat.

 

 

 

 Keith let the kiddos sit with him to get a better view. We rolled down our windows and opened the van door so that our fourth child, Chelsey, could have good view as well. :)

 I love how he is pointing at the lights here. Most of the time he just sat in silence sucking his thumb.

 

 Not the best picture here...but this was a canopy of lights you drove through as you were leaving....very cool to be surrounded by.

 When we saw this we all busted out in song to Jesus...Chelsey joined right in. Addison just loves the birthday song and never tires of it. I loved seeing the smile on her face as we sang.

It was a fun night and everyone seemed to enjoy seeing all of the light displays.

gifts with eric & chels

We packed up the kids yesterday after we both got home from work and drove over to Eric & Chelsey's to hang out for a bit and exchange some Christmas gifts. It was a few days before Christmas, but we like to spread the fun out a little bit...celebrate all week!! :) Chelsey got the kids some great things...well Eric too...she just picks them out. :)

 Posing prior to the gifts.

 

 Addison got this stinkin cute apron that she has hardly taken off since she got it. She wore it to Aunt Leslie's last night to decorate cookies after we left Eric and Chelsey's, and today when we went over to my friend Brittney's house for more cookie decorating. She totally loves it.

 

 Kaden got a new coat which I love...very classy looking. :) He was quite excited as the picture shows.

 He also received a hat that Uncle E helped him put on.

 Then it was my turn...we are cracking up here because of what I opened...

 A Snuggie! We have made fun of these for so long! Chels and I were out shopping last week and I think I said something about them growing on me a bit. She took that comment and ran with it. Keith still thinks it is totally ridiculous! I put it on and showed everyone my new fashion statement. Addison informed me that I looked "like a jaguar!!"

 Chelsey also had an apron made for me that matches Addison's.

 

 Now we definitely have some cooking to do together. Addison keeps wanting me to put mine on and leave it on. She totally loves that we can match. :)

 I got Chels a scarf she wanted and a couple pairs of pajama pants that were too cute...so cute I actually got one of the same pairs for myself as well. Oops!

 Payton enjoyed the view of the gift opening from her favorite spot!

 I LOVE this picture...showing some love to his little sis with a kiss. :) Fun times with the "Hester's"!!!!

Christmas story with a twist

At church Sunday they showed a funny clip of what the Christmas story might look like/sound like today with some of our modern conveniences...such as facebook. Then I found another {more serious} clip today. The first makes me laugh. The second makes me cry. I love it when I am just brought back to reality about what this season is really about. I think we kind of need this modern twist sometimes so that the story doesn't seem old fashioned or out of date to us. It was real people with real lives...real issues, emotions, feelings.
Our Pastor had different people research some of the different characters in Luke 2 and share from their standpoint. So, one was Mary, one was Joseph. Then we had people share from what the shepherds would have thought...ordinary, commonplace shepherds that God chose to reveal the news of his Son to. Wow. And...the wisemen...and what their gifts symbolized.
I have heard and read and researched so much about Mary...even shared at church last year about her...but each year I am moved by who she was and what she allowed God to do in and through her. She allowed herself to be misunderstood and criticized...and God allowed her to be as well. Sometimes we cannot imagine God ever allowing something like that to happen to us...but He did. And Mary's response was simply, "Let it be to me as you have said." (Luke 1:38)  Let all of the whispers, the jokes, the judgements come...because her God was more important to her than what other people thought about her. Convicting.
And...her payoff was getting to be a mommy to her Savior. I heard someone recently say that she did not know whether to call him 'Lord' or 'son.' I have heard the song "Mary, Did You Know" a million times probably, but one of the lines keeps sticking out to me.

"When you kiss your little baby, you've kissed the face of God."

 I can't really imagine...but I try. Holding little Payton in my arms, I try to imagine what that would have felt like...brings tears to my eyes.

All of that to share a couple links and remember what we are celebrating in just a few days. :)

Clip 1 - funny

Clip 2 - serious

little chef????

So...this post is a compilation of many different days and weeks. I have been trying to snap different pics of Kaden playing with his 'toys.' I say 'toys' because he doesn't really play with any toys. Occasionally he will pick up something and play with it for just a little bit, but nothing keeps him more busy or his attention longer than....

...pots, pans, spoons, bowls, pitchers, spatulas, cups, measuring cups, any tupperware container, etc. My kitchen normally looks like a tornado went through it due to him pulling things out of every cabinet and drawer.

Look at that precious face!

 

I think his favorite time of the day is when I empty the dish washer!! He hears me open the door and comes running! He loves to get the large spoons and run off with them. :)

Here he is with his big pots that he carries around.

 

 

 They are about as big as he is....but he drags them around anyway.

 Here...he picked some that were a little more his size.

 He stirs and stirs. He loves to watch us make juice or tea...just fascinating to him!

This is a picture from vacation that I snapped. He even found some things in the cabinets there to play with. :)

A lot of times I will sit him up on the counter with me as I cook and he is just mesmerized. He loves to watch me pour, stir, shake in spices, etc. I watch him do this when he is playing. So--a little chef??? Keith thinks so! :) I know he enjoys eating...but also won't eat anything unless it has the PERFECT taste, texture, and look he desires in every way! Maybe he will be a creator of some awesome food one day. :)

Right now we just get a kick out of watching him.