Things that Make Me Smile

My favorite place in the house is walking by our Christmas tree and the table across from it that has our Christmas cards. Emma brought home an ornament from school with her picture on it and Juliana made a hand print this year. Makes me smile every time I walk by. Seeing all the cards from family and friends... makes me smile every time I walk by.



Emma drew this yesterday. Mommy is the big snowman in the middle. Emma is next to her on the right and Daddy is the one on the far right. Jules is "the snowman rolling away" on the far left! And that makes me laugh every time I walk by.

Happy Birthday Sammie

Emma talks about Sam from school quite a bit, so when we were invited to her birthday party, she was very excited. And when she found out it was at Chuck E Cheese, she was even more thrilled! It was pretty fun to see her in all the chaos of Chuck E Cheese with all her friends from school. I'm pretty sure every kid had a blast that afternoon. Thanks Sammie! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!

This picture of Jules looking at this man cracks me up... She's intense!

As most know, if there's music, Emma is probably dancing. Five seconds after she saw some friends by the music, she had them jumping up and down dancing together. It was so cute!
I think a little crush started between Juliana and John

"Happy Birthday to you!"

Ballerina Christmas

Emma and her ballerina class had a little Christmas song prepared for the parents during her last class. First we watched their regular class routine and then they finished off with Frosty the Snowman! It was pretty entertaining!




Jules enjoying her first candy cane

School Christmas Party

Today was Emma's school Christmas party. It was a chilly day, perfect for celebrating the season! The kids sang songs and then headed in for some juice and cookies. As usual with these parties, they were bouncing off the walls by the end, and by that I mean they had a fun time showing off for all the parents.


I put this picture in because, as many of you know, it's a huge struggle every morning to get Emma to wear anything with long sleeves, much less a jacket. She always says she's hot, but here, in rare form, she's shivering! She actually was whispering "mom, I'm so cold" in between songs. Maybe I'll show her this picture tomorrow morning.
Back inside for some delicious Christmas cookies

Marilyn's Birthday

This past weekend Emma's friend Marilyn turned 4 and she had a fantastic birthday party planned! The kids first got to play with bunnies, goats, ponies, chickens, ducks and pot belly pigs. Then it was off to have a turn swinging at a pinata. As if that wasn't enough, then they went inside for cake and play time. I think everyone there had a super time! Happy Birthday Marilyn!
(my camera ran out of batteries after the first 10 min, so check back later for some more picture from Marilyn)

To Houston We Go

A last minute trip to Houston was just a great little getaway to see my family. It was so nice to spend some time with my mom, my dad, my brother, Rachel, and the boys. What a fun few days!

Here we are in Kemah riding the carousel, the ferris wheel, and the train


Emma loved looking at the fish at the small aquarium, and was so excited about the catfish because "they have whiskers"

Juliana's first meeting with Santa... didn't go so well
But the train ride made it all better
Music + Papini girls = dancing

Why Not Turn on Your Favorite Song and Dance?

New Friends

Emma had some new friends come for a playdate the other day, and it was a hit! Madeline and her little brother Henry fit in just perfectly with Emma, Jules and Braxton.

It's Time to Decorate!

I love Christmas, and it's so fun to watch the girls open all the Christmas decorations. Emma is really into it again this year and she remembered a lot of the things from last year and was excited to find books, snow-globes and certain ornaments in all the boxes. Jules is a little bit crazy, as usual, and just hugs or throws stuff around. But she loved all the lights and ornaments on the tree when we were done! (And only one broken ornament!.. so far)