Happy New Year!

I hope your 2015 has gotten off to as a wonderful of a start as ours! Derek had to work Christmas Eve, but then he's pretty much been home with us since Christmas Day with the exception of a few half-days of work here & there. And it's been GLORIOUS!! We aren't going to know what to do with ourselves when he goes back to work tomorrow morning. ;)  Derek has spent a lot of time watching college football the past week or so, and the girls have really gotten into it. When Shelby wakes up from her naps & comes downstairs to Derek watching football, she'll ask him: "How's the game going, Daddy-boy? Which color team do we want to win this time?" :)

Cheering on the Dawgs in our bowl game

The bowl games were good background entertainment one evening while we took down the Christmas decorations. We had planned to take everything down after the girls were asleep b/c we thought it would be quicker/easier that way, but Shelby insisted she wanted to help & she was actually really helpful! She took down every last bit of garland (even though it took her quite a while!), and it was so much more fun with them helping!

I'm sad to see our card tree come down!

Shelby taking down the garland with Hadley right under her feet ;)

I felt like this Christmas break has been the perfect mix of productivity, fun, & down-time! We got lots of stuff done around the house (including adding a gallery wall to Shelby's room, yay! Will post on that soon!).

Hadley helping Daddy fix the dryer ;)

Hadley got to paint with a paintbrush for the first time while the rest of us crafted
for Shelby's new gallery wall :)

Everyone painting!

Both girls were really into it! :)

Hadley's first ponytail :)

Derek & I squeezed in a date night one evening--we went to dinner & Painting with a Twist, so fun!

We got in a few family runs/time at the playground (but not as much as we would have liked b/c it was cold & wait for like five days straight!!), and the girls & I got to enjoy a few playdates with Angela & Casey and their kiddos, which was such a treat! The big kids' school schedules are conflicting, so playdates aren't as plentiful as they once were. So it was really fun to be able to do that while the kids were all on Christmas break.

Shelby took this picture out her window as were pulling into the park! This was the 2nd group of deer was passed by, crazy!

The big kids said they were building a camp fire, and of course Hadley couldn't miss out on the fun!

 

Hadley & Grace

We also had a few fun family outings to the zoo, the new aquarium, & Chuck E. Cheese, and Shelby & Derek had fun afternoon at the indoor swimming pool on base while Hadley & I did some shopping at Hobby Lobby. But most of our time has been at home relaxing, playing in the playroom, reading, & watching movies. It's truly been such a wonderful break!

Both girls sporting pigtails today! :)  It was Hadley's very first pigtails, she kept
grabbing her pigtails and yelling "I have two!" ;)

Back to reality tomorrow! We'll be missing our Dada!!