After Thanksgiving in Houston we dove head first straight into ALL things Christmas, so buckle up, this is going to be a LOOOONG one!
First up was the Nutcracker with Ellis’ BFF Scarlett!
Random silly video of Ellis with two more of her BFF’s Maddy and Grace…
Next up was decorating the Christmas tree in our new Christmas pajamas!
Then on to decorating gingerbread houses!
That tongue!!
Can’t remember if I’ve talked about this on my blog yet or not, but I joined (or got suckered into joining) a tennis team at the country club! I’m absolutely terrible, but having lots of fun! We practice 2 or 3 days a week and our games will start in February, which I don’t feel anywhere near ready for. Sometimes after our Friday doubles practices we go to lunch! I feel like such a spoiled housewife, lol. I seriously CANNOT believe this is my life.
In between baseball seasons we play indoor basketball, because why not?! It’s actually very low key, the boys have fun, and it keeps them active and exercising!
From family pictures in the morning straight to basketball and gymnastics wore these two out, but we still had a full night ahead….
Fancy steak dinner before one of our favorite Christmas traditions!
They were all actually very well behaved!
We had to sit in the bar area because we were in a hurry!
💚❤️💚
We made it just in time for our absolute favorite show– The Gift of Christmas!
We went with our friends this year!
My beautiful besties!
They changed the choreography for the first half of the show this year, and it was incredible! So many fun new songs! This one was from the Greatest Showman, but the changed it to “The Greatest Snow”!
This song was so cute! It was all about the yummy holiday food and Santa having on his stretchy pants!
I’m so glad they still had Santa “fly” away on his sleigh!
Love this girl more than she will ever know!
The classic Drummer Boys flying over head with black light drums is one of our favorites!
There were 18 of us this year, so we had to sit in two separate rows!
I loved seeing Shep and Connor dancing, but not as much as Nancy’s sweet mom! All 3 loved the show!
Snuck in a quick mommy & daughter pic after our restroom break!
Such a powerful and seriously AMAZING performance that has me in awe year after year!
We typically sit on the second floor so we can see the stage better, but we were up close and personal with all the animals and actors this year on the first floor!
My perfectly imperfect whole entire world!
6 out of the 9 kids isn’t bad!
Pretty girls!
Playing cards with Daddy, who hardly ever says no when the kids ask him to play almost anything. He’s also cooking us dinner while he plays, such a good good man!
Ellis wanted me to zip her up in this suitcase and wheel her around the store, lol. Loving our silly one on one time while we shop for our Angel Tree gifts!
My neighborhood women’s bible study brings me so much joy! I just finished reading the entire bible chronologically in a year and I’m so so grateful to this group for keeping me accountable!
I love how all the women in my life love celebrating each other! We take advantage of any excuse for a weekday lunch! The birthday girl, Megan, is right behind me!
Ellis’ practices are 3 hours long and they strongly urge parents to just drop off, which is fine by me, but then I never get to see Ellis practice. She recently started private lessons, which are only 30 minutes, so I finally got to see her in action and oh my goodness was I amazed!!!
Bars are her favorite, but man they are hard!
Can’t wait to see her perform her floor routine at her first competition in January!
This isn’t part of her routine, but she was excited to show me the new skill she mastered– a back walkover on the beam!
A puzzle advent calendar the whole family can enjoy! 42 pieces a day!
Ellis put a lot of time and effort into making this awesome Christmas wish list! She makes it so easy to buy for!!
Brooks joined the 5th Grade Choir and gets to school at 7:15 every Monday morning for practice! I love that he wants to be a part of every single club at his school. Gosh he’s so much like me, yet so much more awesome than I ever was! The choir got to go on a field trip to 3 local nursing homes and I was one of two parents asked to chaperone. I even got to ride the bus with this cutie!
I was so impressed with this 5th Grade Choir!
These McKinney nursing homes are fancy! Not like and of the ones I’ve ever been in!
Such a cute song for the 70 degree weather in December!
Nursing Home number 2…
They asked the residents if they had any song requests and the choir did so good on the fly!
They made hand made Christmas cards and passed them out after their performance and it was the sweetest thing. The residents were so appreciative!
Pizza pit stop for lunch!
Santa came!
Crazy choir boys!
They gave the kids balls of dough to play with! Best pizza place ever!
Third and final nursing home….
I loved watching them smiling and singing along!
Brooks’ singing facial expressions are EVERYTHING!!!
❤️❤️
The sweet residents made these necklaces for them! I felt so honored to be a part of such a special day and forever grateful I have the freedom to be able to go to things like this!
Annual neighborhood Santa visit (that might be our last 😭). Don’t let that mischievous smile on Ellis’ face fool you, she just told Santa in front of her brothers and all the other little kids in the room that she didn’t believe in him (enter face plant).
She’s lucky she’s cute!
Tree lighting ceremony in the best neighborhood ever!
They might be too old for Santa, train rides, and characters, but they’ll never be too old for live reindeer!!
From the neighborhood tree lighting to the neighborhood ornament exchange with my bestie!
The “young” crew!
Robyn was at there and captured the rest of these fun pics for us!
This is Jill, she lives in the neighborhood and is actually my awesome new tennis partner!
We’re so cool, lol!
Brooks somehow turned 11 and had a sleepover with 3 of his buddies!
Of course all he wanted was Pizza Hut and cookie cake!
And to play WWE on his Xbox with his friends!
The next night we made a last minute decision to go to the Christmas parade in downtown McKinney with our friends!
I just love our little town so much!
We got front row seats for the parade!
The marching band with the Christmas lights on their instruments were so awesome!!!
Star Wars!!
And tractors!!!
Grace and Nancy got to walk in the parade with her Girl Scout Troop!
Then we some how managed to go out to eat after the parade with 11 kids…
…and 8 adults (Adam and Keith are not pictured)!!!
All 19 of us!
Brooks’ actual birthday was Sunday!
Sweetest 11 year in all the world!
On the way to church we surprised Brooks with his birthday present. We talked about going to Universal for his birthday, but he didn’t know for sure we were going. We booked tickets for me, him, and his friend Gavin to go in January! Gavin is a YouTuber and so good at making videos, so we had him make Brooks a video that we could surprise him with!
The birthday boy wanted B&B Cafe for breakfast after church!
He loves him some breakfast food!
This kid is obsessed with wrestling and all about all things WWE this year!
Memaw and Papa Joe birthday song 💕
Leftover Pizza Hut for dinner was the perfect ending to the perfect birthday weekend!
Daddy finally signed up to be a “Watch Dawg Dad” at the kids school and Ellis was ecstatic to have him there at recess!
Brunch Babes just doing our brunch thing!
Best part about Ellis knowing the truth about everything is that she gets to help me move the elves!!!
The 5th Grade Choir got to perform in front of the whole school at the pep rally! Those cute elves are our principal and assistant principal! How fun are they!
Once again so thankful I get to be there for all the things!
Mommy and Daddy bought each other new hats for Christmas and then got to go on a date night!
First we went to the famous Joe T. Garcias in Fort Worth for dinner!
We were serenaded by the mariachis!
Not gonna lie, this was the best part of the whole dinner. I have no idea why this place is so famous? They only have two things on the menu, which were both gross, and they only accept cash. Been there, done that, and will definitely not do that again, lol. Houston food has ruined us for all other food, but especially Mexican food!
Next up was the famous, Billy Bob’s Texas, and thankfully that one lived up to its name!
We got to see this cutie, Cleto, the lead singer of Flatland Calvary up close and personal!
I seriously think this might have been the best concert I’ve ever been to. We got to sit down in basically the second row, which was awesome, AND I could see the actual band, not just on a screen! Two things that never happen for this shorty at concerts!
Favorite song!
His wife, Katlyn Butts, was there and they did a surprise duet!
Best date night ever and so very much needed during this challenging season we’re in right now! Ellis is still struggling and even though I’m smiling in this pic, my mommy heart is broken.
Look who finally figured out the Rubik’s cube algorithm!
What do you do when you show up to the arcade birthday party an hour and a half early…..you go bowling with your mom, that’s what you do!
Such a fun day date and extra one on one time we weren’t expecting!
Happy birthday to one of his oldest friends, Tucker!
Ellis is struggling with some OCD impulses but her anxiety is still doing okay and her BIG personality is still shining though! She did a giant sleepover at her gym and did amazing and had so much fun! Something she never would’ve done just a year and a half ago!
I love that the boys let me dress them in tacky shirts for their school Christmas party!
The parties are held in the gym during their P.E. Time, so all the grades parties are at different times. Brooks’ was up first!
The Santa pants snowball toss was a hit!
We have such fun parents at our school! The Grinch was a hit too!
Bouncing giant snow globe photo op was a huge hit this year too!
Shep’s party time slot was up next!
The three musketeers!
We let them borrow our giant snowman blow up every year for the party!
Ellis had to wait so patiently for her time slot at the very end of the day!
The very first day of Christmas break Ellis somehow talked me into hosting a Christmas party for her and her girlfriends! Gosh I’m such a sucker for hosting themed kid parties, lol
Ellis staged the elves for me again!
Such a sweet group of girls that I’m very grateful are in Ellis’ life!
Love, love, love having a houseful of happy kids!
Their first ever white elephant favorite things gift exchange!
At first it was boring and then they finally started stealing from each other. Thankfully everyone was happy with what they ended up with!
Girlfriends Christmas party was a total success!
Now it’s Adam’s turn for a “Christmas” party with his friends! All the golf widows got to join the golfing buddies for a nice steak dinner!
Us widows know how to have fun!
Always a good night when Jen’s there!
Two days before Christmas the Stolarski’s finally hosted their “7 Fishes” dinner! Joe is carrying on his Italian moms tradition!
Joe and Nancy said they’re passing the torch on next year, as I know its A LOT of work for them, but man do they know how to host an awesome party!
Robyn the photographer and Breea the bartender!
Not sure who had more fun, the adults or the kids?!?
My besties!
Nancy even had a video game truck show up as a surprise for the boys!
Lucky kiddos!
We managed to get a group shot of all the ladies, but totally forgot to get one of all the guys!
Love me some Cherie!
Time to eat!
The “7 fishes” pasta was outstanding!
So thankful for this friend right here. Could not do life without her!
Joe made Nancy give the speech this year…
They invited the whole town of McKinney, lol!
Fried shrimp was the third course! I forgot how many courses the Italians eat, lol! Brandy is a dear friend as well and has been such a huge help to me during this hard time. She’s a therapist with her own practice and a full time professor and has some other side businesses too. As busy as she is, she still took the time to counsel me and find me a therapist for myself. So many incredible people in my life and I’m beyond grateful.
This lemon ricotta was to die for!
I love that they get along as much as Nancy and I do!
Love this man so much and how well he loves us! I’d seriously be lost without him.
Here come all the rest of the million pics Robyn made us pose for, but also so glad I have!!
Red hot Italians!
❤️❤️
Besties with their besties!
So thankful these sweet girls brought us ladies together! This 7 fishes dinner with my closest friends has got to be one of my favorite Christmas traditions ever! Hoping and praying the ‘Stolarskis’ change their mind and keep this torch going next year!
I will leave you with this precious pic of me and Aunt Sherry, the best God mother in the world who came to watch me cheer at one of the football games in high school. My cousin was cleaning out her house and sent me this picture he found. I’ve never seen it before and will treasure and cherish it forever ❤️!
Those crazy Dimmick's 
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