Happy Birthday to Doug!

Happy Birthday to DOUG!  We all love Doug so so much!  He really is the best husband and daddy, and we are so thankful each and every day that he is all ours :).

We celebrated his special day by having The Pie, eating cake, and just having fun.  It was a relaxing day, but we had a great time!  

A week later, we got together with Doug's family to celebrate his and Sydney's birthday.  Alli made a fabulous chocolate cake for the occasion, which was so so good!  Good times!

Cuties

I hardly pull out my nice camera lately...I really need to more often!  I snapped these pics of the littles the other day...they are so dang cute!  I can't get enough!  Love them to pieces :).

Lately...

The kids take over my bed *every* morning!

Kate is sneaky-sneaky...

Kate LOVES ice cream, just like the rest of us ;).

Leah had her first dance performance in December...she looked SO adorable in her costume, and even more adorable in her performance.   She is quite the little performer :).

Kate LOVES to look out the window at  all the snow.  

The little gal LOVES bags...she almost always has a bag on her arm.  Cracks me up.

The days are *finally* getting longer, which I am so happy about!  We even went for a little walk this week...it was so nice to get out!

10 Years!

I honestly never thought that ten years could go by so fast!  I feel like just yesterday we were getting married!  I remember every detail of that day...to think that 10 years has passed is unbelievable to me!  But, then I think of all the great things that we have accomplished during our marriage thus far...new jobs for me, new jobs for Doug, Doug graduated with 2 bachelor degrees, we built our townhouse, Doug graduated with his MBA, we moved to our current house, and how can I forget the most wonderful thing of all...OUR FOUR FABULOUS CHILDREN!  My life has been SO enriched because of my marriage to Doug, and our children are definitely the best thing that has ever happened to us!  And I wouldn't want to experience all of these great things without Doug...he is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me!  He does so much for our family and I am grateful for him each and every day!  He is simply the BEST!  I definitely married up when I married that man!

Now, Doug and I hardly ever spend weekends away, but we decided that we had to go and do something special for our 10 year anniversary!  My mom was kind enough to come and spend the night with the kids while we went away for Friday and Saturday.  We really had so much fun just being together and having a conversation without kids interrupting us!  Plus we went shopping and to a movie!  It was a great time away...I kind of wished that it was longer.  

Happy New Year!

We had a fun night celebrating the New Year by having some of our family over to celebrate.  We ate, a lot, played games, and just hung out :).  Around 10:00, we had some sparkling cider, then we all went outside and lit sparklers to celebrate.  The kids had a great time, and that's what counts!  After everyone went home, the kids grabbed their sleeping bags and we had a sleepover upstairs and watched a movie. To Doug and my surprise, all the kids, except for Kate, stayed up until midnight, which they were so proud of!  They were pretty exhausted, and crashed as soon as they had accomplished their goal of staying up.  It was definitely a fun night celebrating the New Year :).

Christmas ~ 2013

Christmas morning *finally* came, and can I just say how excited we all were!  The kiddos even slept in a little bit, which was nice for Doug and I :).  

After much anticipation, we finally dove in and started unwrapping our goodies.  

Our elf, Elfie, decided to spend Christmas day with us, and he even let us love on him all day long.  Well, Kate was thrilled about this and pretty much took Elfie wherever she went.  She sure does love that little elf!

Noah had such a wonderful day and was so happy to get everything on his list :).  He got a Back to the Future lego set...

...a snow cone maker...

...AND a long board!  He was SO happy to have his very own longboard :).

Leah was overly excited about every little thing!  She requested some smelly markers (takes me back to my childhood!)...

...a Digital Makeover thingy, which is seriously the coolest little thing ever!  It looks like your putting on makeup, but your really not.  So cool, and non-messy!

...a jewelry box!

...and...

...and art kit!  She was beyond thrilled for this gift.  She is definitely by budding artist :).

Leah was also good at wearing everything she got and claimed the family game that we got as her own.    This gal LOVES to play games!

All Isaac wanted for Christmas was dress ups!  And he got what he wanted with a football uniform...

...and a Batman costume!  That was all Isaac really wanted, and he was so happy and wore it majority of the day.  He also got a Ninja costume and guitar, which he loves!

Kate had more fun watching everyone open their gifts than her own...go figure.  Although, she was happy with her new little flip phone.

And she took her precious little time opening every gift...this drove us all nutty ;).  

Santa brought her a new baby stroller, since our old one was broken.

And she also got a Build a Bear from Noah, which she loves...almost as much as Elfie ;).

Oh boy...these two were overjoyed all day long :).

They were even happy with their new toothbrushes :).

Christmas is such a magical time, especially when we get to spend it with these precious kiddos!!!!  They seem to make it all that much better!

And the kids had a blast playing with their goodies the remainder of the day!  So fun!

It was definitely a wonderful Christmas in the Smith household.  I think we're already looking forward to next year.  

Christmas Eve ~ 2013

We had such a magical Christmas Eve with my parents this year.  The kids have been SO excited to open presents, so I was thankful that they were able to get a taste of Christmas!  We were able to have a yummy dinner before the party really started, and then the fun really began!  Noah was grinning from ear to ear the entire time!  Doug and I kept telling him that all he needs for Christmas is his 2 front teeth ;).

Everyone got a turn to open their stockings from my mom.  Kate got this darling little apron...SO cute!  And she insists on wearing it often!  It was definitely a favorite :).

And Isaac LOVES to play dress up, and that's what he thought this face mask was when he opened it :).  Love him!

Then each of them had a turn to open their gifts from my parents.  Kate got an awesome pink tricycle and a fun music mat.  We all loved the fact that she spent her precious time opening each gift ;).

Leah was THRILLED with a nail polish kit!  Oh boy...this little gal is all girl!  She also got a darling little outfit for her doll, Charlotte.

Noah was so happy to get the big lego set that he has been eyeing.  

I was so happy to *finally* get the bedspread that I have been eyeing forever.  So pretty :).  And Doug got a coin card...pretty cool little thing!

Now...my dad is the *hardest* person in the world to shop for!  We usually just give him Amazon gift cards because we have NO idea what to get him!  Well, this year Doug came up with the idea to get him the Samsung Galaxy Watch.  My mom and I agreed and my dad was THRILLED!  We FINALLY got him something that he doesn't have and something he was excited about!  It's a pretty cool watch and was perfect for him!  I was happy to make his Christmas even better with this surprise!

And then the highlight of the night came.  My parent's gave Isaac his very own tablet, and Noah and Leah their very own laptops!  Holy cow...talk about SPOILED!  They even gave Doug and I a touch screen desktop computer.  We were all pretty thrilled and surprised.  We owe them big time!

Needless to say, it was a fabulous Christmas Eve.  The kids were even that more excited for the following morning.