Merry Christmas!

We were lucky enough to have Mimi here for Christmas again this year!  On Christmas Eve, we went to church downtown and the boys loved the live Nativity scene at the family service.  Baby Jesus was so cute! Carter loved the singing and Davis mostly loved the candles/glow sticks during "Silent Night".  Afterwards, we drove past the City and County building to see the beautiful light display.

Santa was very good to us this year--even Macey got a visit from Santa Paws! My wish for next year is that Sean builds me a fireplace so that I have somewhere to hang the stockings with care.  

 Three Beilman boys chillaxin' on Christmas morning.

 

 This boy loves bears.

Just the girls + Carter

 Even more presents to open after Christmas from Aunt Christy, Aunt Natalie & Uncle Josh and Brinley!  Thanks to everyone for the wonderful gifts you sent the boys!

Oh What Fun...

Nothing says "Christmas" like a Lego Advent calendar.  The boys looked forward to seeing what Lego they would build each day, in addition to looking for Alfie (our elf).  

We also got to visit Santa at Daddy's office again this year!  Sean was actually away in Florida on a business trip, but we went anyway...no way were we going to miss the Big Guy! (Sean wanted to make it clear that the trip was not as glamorous as it sounds because he spent most of his time inspecting dry ice ventilation inside a walk-in cooler. Yeah, I'll pass on that.)

So Proud!

Carter's kindergarten class has been doing an Eric Carle theme in reading/writing workshop for the past several weeks and they gave a little presentation today in the school library.  Each of the kids took part in the presentation and Carter introduced each of the three different themes. I was so proud of him!  He spoke very confidently and seemed so old to me.  Yep, I cried.  It was as if I were sitting there watching my little boy grow up right before my eyes.  So bittersweet to be proud of the person your child is becoming, yet also be sad that time is slipping away too quickly.  

After the tears presentation, we headed back to the classroom to see our student's portfolio of artwork related to Eric Carle, and have some snacks--Davis's favorite part!

The school librarian helped the class put together a program of their artwork online and you can see that here.  It is kind of long, but Carter's art is towards the front...then you can scroll to the end to see the whole class.  It is really sweet. Enjoy!

Christmas Party Circa 1920's

It is always such a treat to go to Sean's office Christmas party and this year was no exception. This year's theme was a Murder Mystery set in 1920's Prohibition-Era speakeasy. It was a really fun theme & I'm disappointed in myself for not dressing up because almost everyone else there did! Nonetheless, we had a great time.  It is amazing how getting to dress up for a nice dinner at a country club, open bar and fun entertainment can make you feel valued by a company.  We are truly blessed that Sean has such a great job.

 Family photo before we got our party on.

Sean the Gangster.

Alfie's Back!

Our Elf on the Shelf, Alfie, flew back just after Thanksgiving to make sure the boys stay on Santa's "Nice" list.  So far, he has surprised us by showing up in some funny spots.  We all have so much fun looking for him every morning!  Today he was in the downstairs bathroom and left us a little "surprise" that was not meant to be posted online...I think he ate one too many Reese's peanut butter cups the night before. ;-) 

Estes Park

We headed up to Estes Park on the Friday after Thanksgiving for a little Christmas spirit.  They have a really cute festival every year that kind of kicks of the holiday season.  It was very cold, but no snow this year! We enjoyed checking out the shops and having dinner at our favorite pizza place.  After dark, they have a parade with lighted Christmas floats.  It was a fun day and definitely gets you into the spirit of the season!

 This would have been perfect with a little snow!

 Being careful not to fall into the river...

 Much better view of the parade with a little help from Grandad.

Sean had his own vantage point staked out.

Shameless Plug

I am happy/surprised to say that my little Thirty-One business venture has gotten off to a GREAT start!  I have been overwhelmed by the support from all of my co-workers (No, working with 40 women does not hurt at all...) and YOU, my friends and family! You girls are just awesome! As one of my girlfriends said "Marigny, the bags kind of sell themselves."  ;-)  I thinks she's probably right! 

This is my friendly reminder that orders need to be submitted by TOMORROW night, Dec. 10th, in order to arrive before Christmas.  The special shown below is good until Dec. 20th, but orders placed after the 10th may not make it under the tree in time.  If you are still needing to shop, please click the pink box link, under "Shop With Me" on the top left of the blog or feel free to message me on Facebook or send up a smoke signal...whatever works!

And, just in case you were wondering if having your own Thirty-One girls' night would be fun, let me tell you--it is!  Look, even dogs love the products. :-)  Here are a couple of pics from my friend's party last week.  We had a blast & I have a new mascot.  

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I am getting a little behind because it has been REALLY busy lately, but more on that later...  Here is a recap of our Thanksgiving this year.  We had a great time with a house full of people, just like last year.  We had guests from near and far...our friend, Dezo, came with Grandad and Grandma Nancy.  She is still in Lawrence on her student visa from Haiti, getting ready to start nursing school.  She is just a beautiful person and we were happy to have her with us again.  Macey was, too! ;-)  

Grandma Nancy & Grandad brought presents--birthday AND early Christmas gifts for two lucky boys!

Zach and Taylor helped out in the kitchen & in the playroom, entertaining Davis.  Thanks, guys!

Tyler & Sean catching up over a beer.  

Taylor photo-bombed Kels & Susan. 

Then Debbie did!  Nice face, Kels. ;-)

Love this one!

Two cooks in the kitchen are better than one!

Three generations! 

These were our "Thankful" turkeys...everyone had something unique to be grateful for this year.  Some more unique than others, if you know what I mean. 

Debbie invented a new game: "Minute to Win It, the Home Edition".  It was hilarious!!  One of the "challenges" was to get an Oreo from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands. This was some good old-fashioned family entertainment, folks!

Two of my favorite helpers!

Grandma Nancy & Grandad planning their gaming strategy.

The rest of the crew playing "Telestrations", a holiday tradition.

Once again, we are reminded of how fortunate we are to have an abundance of blessings in our lives. We were so happy to celebrate Thanksgiving day with some of our favorite people.  Hope you all had a great one as well!

Davis Turns FOUR!

I cannot believe our little guy is FOUR years old!  Seriously, where does the time go?!  Davis got his very own birthday party this year, for the first time ever...he was so excited!  We decided to keep it "simple" and just invited his entire Preschool class (16 kids).  Most of them were able to come to the party, so it was a lot of fun to see them interact outside of school.  But, we started the day opening a couple of presents:

 Brothers!

 Getting ready to go to the party! We had a "Turbo" theme (you know, the racing snail). :-)

 Playing on the trampoline slide with his friend, Ella.

 Here is one of the better group pics.  It's hard to get an action shot of 12 Preschoolers!

 (Proof that Carter was actually there.)

 Pizza break with our friends.

 Time for cake! 

We had a great time with our friends and feel so fortunate to have so many nice folks come celebrate with us. It was a fun night!