merry and bright!

 it has been a crazy week!  yesterday was the mothers against cancer luncheon...such a great group of women working for a great cause...pediatric cancer.  i have been on the committee for 6 years (i think??) this year my fabulous friend, liz, and i were talked into taking over a position on the board.  sponsorship (fundraising)...yikes!  and with 5 children 4 years old and under between us, we have time for that sort of thing, right?  well, we made time...and totally kicked ass :)  Sponsorships start at $300.00 and go up from there.  MAC usually has five $5,000 tables that are bought.  this year we had lucky number 13!!  before the luncheon even took place, our total in sponsorships was $120,000.00  i am exhausted!!  saturday night i was out till 3 a.m. (not for charity- for "holiday cheer").  sunday we were getting ready at the country club for the luncheon from 4 p.m. until 2 a.m.  yowza.  back at the club for 8:30 a.m. on monday and home around 8 p.m.  sooooo worth it though.  i will do a post on the luncheon soon...it was so much fun!!!

and because of the luncheon, i decorated for christmas before december first!!!  i knew i would be too tired after :)  i went totally crazy this year and used pink, purple, blue, green and red.  my kids LOVE it.  i used to do "pretty"...this year- FUN!  candy and loud colors!!!!

since it's now december....

i will do a real quick thanksgiving post!  we headed to austin...and celebrated game day style @ the house...with 50 of our closest friends :)  not so thankful that the aggies won the game...but so very thankful for my family.  beckett thinks texas wins every game so he was extra thankful...

here they are w/ an inflatable turkey my mom bought @ the nutcracker market...

matching aprons too :)  don't worry- emery has one waiting for her!

 my future sister-in-law made cute turkey cupcakes...

 pumpkins too!

 it was cold!  but no rain....

 beckett would live in austin w/ uncle grant if i let him...

 first game of washers...

 emery stayed warm :)

 still proud to be longhorns!

all dressed in white

emery was baptized on sunday morning. she wore the same gown brandon, ellis, and beckett all wore on their special day. sweet, huh? she smiled the whole time :) the kids thought it was quite an adventure. they go to sunday school instead of church normally. and we were all reminded why!! they ask that the entire family go up to the front of the church ...no big deal right??

here they are...in front of the entire congregation...right before beckett TOOK OFF RUNNING to the other side of the altar cracking himself up. the whole crowd was LOLs...and when he knew i was after him, he just kept running.

here is me...on my way back from going to get him...he ran well past where this picture shows. i was probably squeezing his little hand very hard right about now...

and the smiling cherub :) why wouldn't she be barefoot?!?

the biggest stress in my life right now

thanksgiving has come and gone. the halls are totally decked (in pink, purple, blue, green and red i might add), and emery was baptized today. with all of those items checked off my list, this is the biggest stress in my life right now:

her name is "sparkle". we have had her a couple of years now but the name sparkle is new this year. i think his name was "elf" last year. boooor-ing. so i guess santa sprung for a sex change for elf, and here she is. ellis actually wanted her name to be bella. omg. i did my best to steer her in another direction. i mean, there is a little boy who lives in our house too :)

if you don't have an elf on the shelf, you should. the elf comes with a cute book that basically tells little boys and girls that the elf is watching them...noticing the good and bad each day. every night, the elf heads to the north pole to report to santa. and when the kids wake up in the morning, the elf returns to a different spot in your house and the kids get to go find him/her....which is where is gets stressful for me. WHY IT IS SO HARD FOR ME TO REMEMBER TO MOVE HER? we have only had her out for like 6 nights. one night i completely forgot and two other mornings i remembered only because ellis said "ok beckett...let's go look for sparkle". i totally had to stall them and go put her in a new spot. ugh.

but tis' the season...let the stressful fun begin!

and yes- they do sell the above skirt for the elf in case your daughter wants a bella too :)

i am expecting a phone call any minute...

because i am convinced crewcuts will want ellis for their next catalog :)

my wonderfully talented friend who lives in my neighborhood took family photos for us on saturday. i *might* have peer pressured her into it!!! she doesn't have a business (yet)...too busy right now w/ her little ones. but she is SO GREAT. actually, i have only seen a teeny sneak peek...but i know i will love them :) no pressure jill!

and if you don't know what crewcuts is, it is jcrew for little people. seriously, the cutest clothes in existence. the only one in houston just opened a week ago. i have been 4 times already. not good!!!

how can i get me one of these?

we loaded all three kids up a couple of weekends ago and headed west.  only an hour and a half down I-10 to a little piece of heaven called eagle's nest (an AMAZING ranch owned by one of my bff's family).  i am actually surprised every time i am invited back because they have to get so annoyed by me going on and on about just how amazing it is while i am there :)

you know i am all about leaving the kids behind while i go and fully enjoy myself  (and believe me we have had crazy times at the ranch minus little ones) but it was SO much fun watching the kids go totally nuts over every single thing they did while there.  old school fun...the best kind.

five minutes after arrival...they are like animals let out into the wild for the first time...

you can't imagine how pretty it is...

this was emery's first trip to the ranch...she loved it :)

you travel everywhere by golf cart (there is like a fleet of them).  beckett is already in hog heaven.

you can fish in the little lake that they stock...or go by boat in the big lakes (the property borders the colorado river)...oh...and the boys hunt of course!

play a serious game of poker...

jump on the in-ground trampoline...

emery and taylor are 4 weeks apart...and their older sisters (ellis and avery) are 5 weeks apart.  perfect!!

i love babies in a bath together...

just being cute...

emery has shoe envy :)

i think this tree is a record breaker!?!  HUGE.

 mealtime...

they still snuck in some t.v. time.  that monstrosity behind them is the bar.  niiiice.

 smores.

in the summer, you can take a dip in the pool.  the pavilion is still under construction as you can see.  even when they add new things @ the ranch (and there is always something new), it looks as if it has been there always.

the game room....love all of the windows...

the bar again :)

the huge kitchen.  i could go on and on about the house.  it is so picture perfect...i think it sleeps 22 people or something (in just the main house)...then there is another house that sleeps 10 and a "barn" that sleeps a million more.  and they are about to build another house.  love it!

look at all of the swings!!!

just partying...

 ok...this about killed me.  we are in the golf cart:

me:  what is that over there?
rach: oh...that's just the potting shed.  was it not here last time you visited?
me: no.  i need to go take a closer look.  so what is a potting shed for?
rach: well...to do plants.  and we come here in the afternoons to drink wine.
me: of course.

isn't this what your potting shed looks like?

 the tree house.  the air-conditioned tree house.

 w/ walkie talkies :)

 how cool right?

 what happens in the tree house, stays in the tree house.  unless there is proof of it all over your face!

 why beckett?  why would you let them do this to you?  hilarious.

 fun times at the ranch!

as always...amazing!!!!  and these pictures don't even come CLOSE to doing it justice.

color-full

saw this painting at the nutcracker market and immediately grabbed it.  i knew i could find a place for it in my next house (if that ever actually happens!!)...and if i can't, it looks perfect in beckett's room.  the colors are fab :)

you can see in the bottom pic that he still resides in a crib at night...but not for long.  big changes are coming for his room.  2 single beds...for slumber parties you know!!  need to get headboards, bedding, all that fun stuff.  and i know we won't have any issues w/ the transition...he climbs in and out of his crib at will...and already sleeps in a big bed in austin.  he is so grown up...i guess this is the final step :(  no naps, no diapers, no crib!?!?  at least i have my emery :)