This is 3-5!

I am excited to be 35!  For real.  Life is good with the best husband I could dream of and 4 healthy, happy kids.  My child baring days are over and I am not too sad about it, only a few more months of breastfeeding and I am not too sad about that either.  Babies are oh so wonderful but can put you in a tired, bloated, body ache, fog and I feel like I am making my way out of it.  My family and friends spoiled me for my birthday, like always.  It isn't so bad having your birthday 3 days after Christmas after all.  Cheers to the New Year, I am hopeful as ever.

They let me 'sleep in' and brought me coffee and saved me one donut with a candle in it.  Selfie with my crazy big boys.

We hit up Defy Gravity with cousins in the morning and jumped till we peed our pants.  Easy to do at  3 and 3-5.

Hit up Chic-Fil-A for a birthday lunch (see we don't always do jmikes).  Winnie was begging for one more lick of that oreo milk-shake.  Home girl got her mama's belly.

Got rid of the kids (most of them) and hit up JuJu in Durham for dinner.  One of my favorite spots.  Winslow family of four, what what.

My girl.  The best blessing from this past year.  She wasn't old enough for the drop-in care so she got to come along.  And she comes with me everywhere anyways.  You should see my right bicep and my broke back.  I don't even care.

More Christmasing!

Happy Birthday Jesus! Thanks be to God for all these blessings he has given to us on this Earth.  

Santa! Theo don't care nothing about him or presents or bribes or stanking candy canes.  

Christmas Eve morning. Already checking out the Santa tracker. 

Neighborhood cookie decorating.  Bless them and their kitchen.  Theo may not like Santa, but he will hook him up with all the sprinkles.  

Cruising the hood, littering the streets with sprinkles.  Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas Eve service.  A favorite of mine. Not as relaxing as it used to be, but a lot of love and Christmas cheer.

Fowler family made it to town.  Drove all the way down from Chicago to be with us and pass around the stomach bug. I am not even kidding. 

After the Christmas Eve service, we come home, have dinner, get in matching pjs and open just our family gifts - maybe my favorite part of Christmas.  This year we had a new addition, her big brothers were super excited to help her.  Love!

Christmas morning!  Santa came!  Highlights were a guitar, a 'bike wif no training wheels,' a cool watch and a real reindeer bell from Santa!

Baby girls first Christmas.

We headed to Goldsboro for Christmas Day lunch with Billy-daddy, cousins and extended family.  Winnie got to be in the GIRL picture!!

Rolls and soft veggie casseroles and cakes galore!

Christmas at Tat and Will's house was postponed to the 26th night, because, stomach bug. We thought everyone was finally well and then Hannah spewed everywhere during the gift exchange.  It will be a good funny story one day.  Merry Merry!

And To All A Good Night!

Merry Merry Christmas!  Mrs. Clause surprised everyone with the first 'gaming system' in the Farris household.  An old school Super Nintendo.  And this is exactly why we have not had one until now...

Soaking it up

We love a sneaky 70 degree December day around here.  They are soaking in the sun and I am soaking in these little brothers.

Merry Merry!

You gotta love a Pre-School Christmas 'concert.'  All the good cows show up for the birth of Jesus.  'GOOO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN!'

Christmas Elf

I asked the boys to keep an eye on Winnie while I ran upstairs and got everything that they could not find so we could get in the car.  After approximately 1 minute I ran back down the stairs and all three were sitting on the couch and I literally had to say, 'WHERE IS WINNIE?!' We found out that she can crawl backwards and the tree is sturdier than I thought and pine needles do not digest.  

Round 1

Merry Merry Christmas, round one!  We headed to Wilson on Friday to get the party started at Grandmama and Granddaddy's house.  We wined and dined on grandmama's cooking Friday night, got very little sleep and woke up at the crack of dawn for some sausage balls and present opening.  Everyone had a blast.  And then Nash threw up so we rolled out and left our family behind so they could throw up.  Just keeping it real ya'll.  It is like our own little family tradition.  

Winnie and Sophie!  I remember when Sophie was this young and we were newlyweds and we were tired because we had to get up at 8am after a full nights sleep and get ready by ourself and drive to work in silence.  

All the sweet cousins, in our Christmas jammies.  Eating pop rocks at 8:00am, hmm this could have been our first sign.

Everyone got nerf guns.  Sounds like WAR!

Insect

Bragging on my sweet, smart, happy oldest boy - because he deserves it and makes me proud.  They had a class spelling bee a few weeks ago and Jackson won!  He got to attend the grade level spelling bee yesterday morning.  I was nervous.  I am a really bad speller (you have probably noticed).  Thankfully he only gets his looks from me and smarts from his dad.  He was not nervous or worried or stressed but just his smiley self.  Unfortunately, he got out in the 3rd round on 'insect.'  He kept his cool, smiled and went back to his seat.  After we walked him to his classroom and he let it flow.  'Insect wasn't even on the list! Why do they spell it like that? It makes no sense.  I need the big list for next year.'  His teacher walked right up and said what's going on Jackson.  He told her and she replied 'Well that's life dude, lets move on!'  His grin returned and he headed back to class.  Today I got a text from our carpool buddy.  'Jackson is the sweetest, he asked Winston if he could help him with the spelling bee list and called out words to him.'  And that is why I am so proud.

8 is great!

I always seem to forget, but it gets better and better every single month.  (Until they are three, yep, three is hard)  We love every single thing about you Miss Winnie Lou and you seem to be pretty fond of all of us too.

Ladies who lunch.  She likes everything by the way, no surprises there. 

And by everything, I mean even the smallest little dirt piece on the floor.  I have thrown away about 12 bouncy balls in the past week.  Sorry boys.

Giggling at my funny LOUD brothers.

Fa La La La Laaaa

It is cold outside and Christmas countdown is in full effect!  A few festive pictures from the weekend for your (my) enjoyment.

My elves helping with Christmas cards.  Whew, this really tested my long lost type A personality.  

Cousin sleepover at Grandmama and Grand-daddy's house!

Breakfast with Santa in Wilson.  Theo wasn't having any of it.  And why does everyone look so BIG.

Church Christmas party.  My girl likes a chocolate chip cookie.  Like mother like daughter, so they say.

SaveSaveSaveSave

Gingerbread houses

Well look at these beauties!  Grandmama visited Wednesday afternoon and brought these with her for the boys to make. Grandmama STILL comes to visit almost every Wednesday afternoon.  Sometimes I sneak away to Target by myself for an hour, which is exactly what I did during these creations. I only saw pictures, so they must have been pretty good.  They also informed me that 'ginger' is good for you and your belly so it was fine to eat the entire thing... hmmm.  Love love love these brothers.

'Tis the season

Well, you can't please everyone.  

O' Christmas Tree(s)

Last Sunday after church we stopped by the TROSA Christmas tree lot and picked out this beaut.  Actually, I fed Winnie in the car and the boys selected the first one they saw.  Then they ran back and forth to the car begging for a small one for their room, I said 'We will think about it.'  Mom code for nope but I just don't want to hear you whine right now.  We 'decorated' the tilting tree and lets just say it is very kid friendly.  We all forgot about the small tree and that was that.  Well... Aunt Natalie lives down the street and sometimes brings the boys home from school and they go and get a special treat.  She just had Nash the other day, they got ice cream, and then I got a call, 'Nash said you told them they could get a small tree so I am going to get it for him.'  Me - 'Ok, that is fine, as long as it is small.' By small I am thinking, fits on the bedside table.  Think again, back to the store we go for more lights.  Thanks Aunt Nat, we love you. 

The star pic!

Wait a minute? A tree in their room? Yeesssss!

December!

'Tis the season for chubby, naked, snotty, slobbery babies in Santa hats!  Winslow Louise Farris is my current favorite!

Happy Thanksgiving!

'Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving.' - W.T. Purkiser

Kindergarten party with my Nash.  Turkey cookies.  I need to step up my crafting game.

Theo's preschool has been closed because of plumbing issues. (I'm about to take a plunger over there tomorrow and do some work, myself!)  Some of us met at another church downtown, brought what was in our cabinets and feasted!

Prepping our bellies.  We love it when family rolls through town and stops for lunch at the one, the only, Jersey Mike's!

'What mom? You did it.' 

'Can I lick it now?' Impatient little bakers we got over here.

'Thanksgiving was good to me!'  We spent Thanksgiving day in Goldsboro at my Nana & Papa's house for one last hurrah.  I grew up going here every Thanksgiving and love being able to have my babies there for one last time.  What a special place with lots of memories and traditions to pass on.

First we eat, then we play FOOTBALL!

About 1/2 of the oppspring of Carlton & Jo Frederick.

We continued on to Wilson the next day for more turkey with cousins!

Kids table.  Plates are looking a little boring if you ask me.

Winnie got to sit with the adults.  Because this girl was loving all the soft buttery vegetables!

Thankful for these blessings from God! Still working on a Christmas card picture.