Day 17: ornament

We got our new 2012 Christmas ornament in the mail yesterday, and I love it!

Day 16: at home date

Every now and again Dave and I will have a date night at home after the kids go to bed. We'll get takeout and watch a movie. Tonight was that night. Good food, below-average movie.

Day 15: a FUN day

Today was amazing weather, so we decided to take advantage of it. We headed to the zoo first. We got there right after it opened, so the animals were very active, which always makes for a fun zoo visit. And, there were very few people there, which makes it even more fun.

First stop: Gorillas

The Rhino was particularly active this morning...

My personal favorite: the Meerkats 

I do NOT enjoy going in to feed the birds. I normally make the boys skip this, in spite of their begging. But, today I indulged them. They were thrilled!

After the zoo, we headed to McKinley's for lunch-- my favorite lunch spot down there! 

Then we went to the Fort Worth Museum of Science. We love it there! We played for about 1.5 hours...

even Dave loves to play there!

Crew was desperate to get in with that tortoise!

William enjoyed the architect game on the computers

After playing for awhile we met my sister and her family at the IMAX for a viewing of The Polar Express. It was a very fun movie to watch on the IMAX. 

It was a GREAT family day.

Day 14: making progress

Today I finished my Christmas shopping, which was a huge load off. I only had a few remaining items to get, but it was bugging me that I didn't have them yet. With that, I also got a few birthday gifts knocked out. As I've mentioned before, we have an INSANE number of birthdays in our family from September-February. So many, in fact, that I have a list on the fridge, so I can mark them off. It's hard on the ol' checkbook, but it is such a fun celebrating season!

Day 13: I got nothin'

I was sick yesterday. I was out of bed only when required. Consequently, not a single picture was taken. The good news? Today I feel good!

In order to keep with the pic a day theme...here's my mantle again this year. It's the same every year. I always want to change it up, and do something new, but every year I just love it. So for now, it will remain (by the way, it's really starting to grow on me to have the only "girl" stocking in the house):

Day 12: under the weather

This is what dinner looks like when mommy doesn't feel well and daddy is working late:

Day 11: Gingerbread Houses

One of the highlights of the Christmas season for our family is going to my friend, Cindy's, annual Gingerbread House decorating party. This year was very fun, as always, but with the added bonus of HOMEMADE eggnog!