More Gingerbread Houses!

Apparently it was the week of gingerbread houses. After Addie got to make one at school, we had the gang over for our annual Christmas get together to decorate gingerbread houses and sugar cookies, to play, and to most importantly- get messy with flour. (According to Emma) Trust me- this crew has no trouble making a mess. :)

We were so excited that this time Rachel, Hank, Maggie and Clara made the trip to Raleigh to hang out with us.

The older girls wanted to get right to work because there was some artistry about to happen...

Luke was super excited to decorate a gingerbread train which was not actually that easy to do...

Honestly, none of them are easy to assemble! We learned that the first year of this party. But lots of candy is involved so the kids don't really care if they fall apart.

Sugar kicking in...

So why not add more sugar? This is where Emma was happy to let loose with some flour.

The tiny people loved cutting out the cookies, and did a great job with it...

Sweet little Kate just watched all the action unfold...in her new hat. :)

Mandy's sweet Mom made some for the whole gang...

After dinner everybody played and enjoyed their overly-sprinkled cookies...

This is one mischievous grin if I've ever seen one...

Kid group shot not happening...

but happy to pose as models...

Okay, group shot attempt #2...we'll take a crazy hat picture!

And now for the final mess of the evening...this one was a doozy thanks to this cutie.

Thought this was an appropriate and funny way to end the night...wrestling! 

Love this Christmas tradition and these fun friends so much.

Kindergarten Gingerbread Houses

That is a LOT of candy to let the kindergartners loose with! But they had heard about this kindergarten Christmas tradition and were ready to make some sweet gingerbread houses.

 

All eight kindergarten classes got together in the cafeteria, and here comes Ms. Spink's class...

They did a great job decorating their houses, restraining from eating too much candy, and being well-behaved in the cafeteria. It was a really cute event.

On my way out, I caught sight of the kindergartners self portraits. Love Addie's view of herself! It was a fun morning with my girl. Love any chance I get to spend with her at school.

Capitol Tree Lighting

The Capitol Tree lighting has become a December tradition for us, and it was made even more fun this year by making it a fun downtown night. Since Brian can now see the Capitol building out of his office window, we met him at work and then walked over for burgers at the Raleigh Times. Then we headed over for a good place to see the light show.

After seeing the pretty tree lighting, we headed inside to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Once again, Luke was not sure about this guy!

Downtown was so pretty all lit up! It was a chilly and festive night- the perfect way to get excited about the holidays. We finished up our night at Brian's office which was looking quite pretty as well. A fun tree lighting!