Balloon on a Spoon

Who would have thought that a balloon tied to a wooden spoon would bring so much join to the littlest Sparkle... days of fun :)

He even slept with it near his bed :)

Mario Kart

The Sparkles love to play Mario Kart before bed (it is quite the motivator :)

 Lillian has shown quite the improvement... moving from her normal 12 position to 6th.

 Celebrating Victory-
1st Place Mama,
2nd Place Madison (Madi plays for Cooper- he does all of the choosing and none of the racing)
3rd place Lillian

A family that plays together Stays together :)

Story Time

Build a Bear

The kids loved visiting Build a Bear and stuffing their creations :)

 Its exhausting to build, dress, and accessorize a new friend.

Because every Ninja turtle needs a Light Saber and a Sleeping Bag

 and a Dog needs a Hairbrush

 Ready for bed with their new friends.

 May the Force be with you :)

CAKE

Sparkle Selfies

Christmas

As promised... here are a few of the highlights from our Christmas Celebrations in Indiana.

I love decorating with my Sparkles :)

 This year our neighborhood lined the streets with lit milk jugs Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

After attending our church Christmas Eve service we returned home for a few more of our traditions...
The Sparkles in their Christmas Jammies (Mama even got smart this year and wrapped the jammies in Special paper to make it easier to find and open on Christmas Eve).

 You know who you are that sent these lovely head pieces :)

 Making sugar cookies with Daddy

We may not do Santa but we still do cookies 

 This one makes me giggle... such a brother thing to do

Then it was off to bed.

Christmas morning we headed down stairs to open our family gifts. Here are just a few of the highlights (in an effort to intentionally be in the moment, many pictures were missed but the memories were experienced.)

Cooper was thrilled to get cowboy boots (he calls them fancy fireman boots)

 More big eye animals- Lillian was thrilled to receive her Mama and baby dolphin

 But not nearly as excited as when she opened her cash register... she was wishing for months for one.

 New speakers for her iPod

 Madison is always thrilled to receive movies- this year her top picks were How to Train Your Dragon 2 and the Hobbit 2

 Police and Fire Trucks from Pops and Grann- this is one very happy boy

 A quick picture after opening presents before eating breakfast and heading to Nana and Papa's house.

 More presents...

We are BLESSED!

Christmas Preview...

Here are a few highlights of our Christmas festivities (more to come soon)

A trip to Christmas at the zoo to see the lights.
It was a rather chilly evening but filled with "Sparkles"

 Watching Home Alone together

 Snuggling by one of the Christmas trees (there were 6 this year)

Check back soon...