Happy New Year!

Lanterns for New Years! Eat your heart out, Disney.

Early Christmas Morning!

There's nothing better than happy children on an early Christmas morning!

Waverly was very happy with her lot! 

She had asked Santa for a doll house.  Wishes really do come true!

Harlan was excited to see the Pie in the Face game 

that he had specifically asked Santa for.  

He also got a super nerf blaster and a race car that he can put together

and take apart all on his own.

In true Christmas tradition, we watched A Christmas Story

while playing and having breakfast.

Ella the Elf said her goodbyes last night, but left a fun little pile of 'snow' (ahem, powdered sugar) and hershey kisses behind.  

Until next year...  happy christmas! 

Cold, hard cash

This year we decided to have a dirty Santa gift exchange at Pappy's.  I had the luck of the draw to get Uncle George's name.  What would he like for Christmas?  Cold, hard cash! 

As in, change and a couple dollars that I froze in layers of ice....  

Santa was here

Wavy and Harlan must've made the nice list! Ella the elf left with Santa, but she had a nice little goodbye note! Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Cookies for Santa

Carrots for reindeer, cookies and coffee for Santa. (We thought he'd appreciate the caffeine.)

Twas the night before Christmas...

 
The children were nestled, all snug in their beds...

Goodbye Ella!

Saying goodbye to Ella the elf. Until next year, Ella!

Letters to Santa

Each year, I write the letters to Santa from each kiddo and

they are published in our local newspaper.  

I'm hoping by next year, at least one of my kids will be writing their own letter. 

Until then, they get a little help from Mom. 

Party on

I'm not sure what kind of party they're having, but I wasn't invited.

Ella's Antics

Everyone's favorite elf hasn't let us down this season!

She's been up to all kinds of trouble!  

She finds a new place to hide each night upon her return from 

updating Santa on our behavior.  

Sometimes she's good, sometimes she's naughty, 

but she always makes us laugh.

Santa...

I keep finding secret notes to Santa hidden everywhere. I hope she was planning to finish this sentence with "cookies"...

On top of spaghetti

Lunch of buttered noodles before Christmas Shopping! 

Christmas Pictures 2015

My apologies that I am so far behind on the blog!  I have high hopes for playing catch-up over the holidays.  It seems I'm forever 6-months behind!  Since there is such a delay, I thought I should go ahead and share the link to this year's Christmas photos.  

http://www.dmhargisphotography.com/Clients/Family/Lickliter-Fam/

(You're welcome, Heather.... Love you!)

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth

Tooth #2 is out! After a freak out (major/minor, depending on your point of view), we're ready for another visit from the tooth fairy!

Happy Birthday, Harlan!

Happy, happy birthday to my favorite little man! Harlan, you are so smart and kind, protective, hilarious, and I love watching you grow every day!

Harlan's favorite show of the moment is PJ Masks, 

a team of super hero kids that fight crime.  

Little does he know, but he is my super hero!

Teach them young

Learning the intricacies of tic tac toe...

One slick elf

It took awhile to find Ella this morning. She usually isn't hanging out in a marshmallow bubble bath. W said, "Shew, that girl is slick!" #elfontheshelf

Get this party started!

Ella partied hard with the tooth fairy... #elfontheshelf

Oh, the sugar..... 

Does the tooth fairy leave a receipt?

Wavy lost her first tooth! Tooth fairy, get ready!

Hurry, hurry, bake the cookies!

Tonight we baked cookies to take to the local firehouse and police station.  

The kids are super excited to visit and 

show some love to those community helpers 

that we often times forget are there to help us. 

Harlan has an imaginary firehouse, 

so I think he's most excited to visit the firefighters.

Cake Smash!

Celebrating Harlan's birthday a few days early at Pappy & Nana's.

Luckily, we'd already handed out pieces of the cake before this

stinker made the giant mess...

He knows how to have a good time, that's for sure!

Happy early birthday, bub.  

Santa Express

We are so lucky to be able to attend the holiday extravaganza hosted by the Kentucky State Police.  

The kids had snacks, made crafts, and wrote letters to Santa.

They even got to meet the man himself!

I hope they told him all their Christmas wishes...

(and I hope he tells me!)

Gobble it up!

Our family gobbled up the turkey! We hope you enjoyed thanksgiving too!

Full of bologna

All this thanksgiving food and my kids eat bologna... 

Christmas Wishes

Wavy would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas.

R.A.C.K.ed

This year we are doing all kinds of things to show people that we care about them.  We're learning about Random Acts of Christmas Kindness, or RACK'ed.

We've left a dollar and popcorn taped to a redbox, dollars taped to the snack machine, bought supper for the people in drive-thru behind us, and handed out candy canes. 

It's a blessing to learn about how great it is to give to others, 

not to just receive. 

Wishing you a happy Christmas!

Selfies and Smiles

Selfies before school this morning! 

Selfies before school this morning! 

Paint Happy!

Wavy did a FANTASTIC painting of Elsa! 

H refused to turn around, but he painted snoopy!

And this one is by me! 

Let it be Christmas

For those that know us well, 

it's no surprise that we love Christmas. 

My favorite thing is Christmas trees. 

My red tree  is extra special this year. 

Many of the ornaments belong to a friend's mother, 

who passed away a year ago.  Everytime I look at this gorgeous tree, 

I think of the love between a mother and daughter.  

The kids were very excited to help decorate our trees. 

They each have one for their rooms, then we have the red tree, the pink 

tree, and the tree on the front porch. 

The pink tree turned out beautiful as well! 

She found her "big sock".  

.

Telling secrets under the tree. 

Tutu turned Hat

At least we're creative and resourceful.... 

My Peanuts

Watching the new Peanuts movie with my very own peanuts.  

Trick or Treat!