Christmas Time Happenings

With December flying by, I feel like I just haven't had a chance to document what we've been up to . . . but trust me, we've been doing a lot!!! So here's a quick recap of our Christmas time happenings:

I've been doing lots of sewing! I tried to get our Christmas advent calendar done right at the beginning of the month. I was going for kind of an old-school look, and I wanted to Will to be apart of the process, so I let him choose some of the fabric for the pockets (ahem, goofy-looking reindeer wouldn't have been my first option, but he loved it, so we went with it!). And to make it easier for myself, I just bought stick on felt, pre-cut letters and numbers from Hobby Lobby. It's been fun for the kids to look for little treasures each day this month, although many of the pockets were prematurely emptied by a mischievous little 20 month old . . . :)

I also whipped up a little Bimaa top for Clara, which I absolutely LOVE!!!! That cowl neck just kills me. I'll definitely be making a few more :)

Please ignore the candy-filled mouth and runny nose!

I've also been working on some spiderman Christmas jammies for Will, a little buckle-purse for Clara (that Santa will deliver on Christmas morning), a couple of fleece scarves for both kids, and another Christmasy top for Clara! I'll be sure to share those projects after Christmas :)

Putting up our tree! When we went to pick it up, Will immediately decided on a particular tree and really wanted it to be "the one". So, we went with it, and it turned out to be the perfect little tree! He has an eye for Christmas tree hunting I guess :)

Here Will and Clara are admiring their tree-trimming work. 

We've been doing lots of Christmas cookie-making! In this first two photos, Will and Peter are working on Peter's mom's candy cane cookies that they make every year. And in the next two, Will's whipping up some good ol' sugar cookies (with some help ;)).

Visiting Santa. We've actually visited four Santas this season! First at the mall with a fun playgroup, then at Bass Pro Shop (their pictures are free!), at the zoo, and then at our Church Christmas party! It's been quite funny to see the kids' progression with becoming more comfortable with Santa Claus. At the mall, Clara was screaming bloody murder and I could hardly calm her down, and Will wouldn't sit on Santa's lap; he was content just to stand close enough for him to hear what he was hoping to get for Christmas :) But, then here, by our Church's Christmas party, both kids happily sat on Santa's knee! Success!

And, when we haven't been out shopping, sending Christmas cards, and wrapping presents, we've managed to see the lights and enjoy the festivities at the San Antonio Zoo and Sea World!

We hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season as well! On Saturday we're off to continue the celebrations of the season with Peter's family in Utah (brrrr)! If I get a chance, I'll try and post a couple more projects before we leave, but if not, Happy Holidays and I'll see you in the new year!!

Kickin' it in SA: Sea World San Antonio

For this week's Kickin' it in SA post, I thought I'd talk about Sea World. Here in San Antonio, having Sea World season passes is a must. Especially in the summer. Sea World San Antonio not only has all of the sea life and fun rides that you'd expect, but they also have the Bay of Play, which is an area just for kids equipped with a huge splash pad, and even better, Aquatica, their very own water park. Where we have weeks on end with 100º+ weather, it's nice to be able to escape to a fun water park that is catered to kids. We definitely get our money's worth each summer! It's really fun for the whole family--they've got water slides and rides that are fun for adults, a wave pool, lazy river, and numerous shallow, kiddie pools and play areas.

So, we usually live it up in Aquatica all summer long and then do all of our dolphin feeding and Shamu and penguin watching during the fall and winter (when it's not too hot to be walking around all day). If you're planning a trip out to SA, especially if you'll be coming in the summer, make sure to hit up Sea World! You won't regret it :)

*In case you're wondering, all of our water shots were taken with our GoPro. Most people use their GoPro's for extreme sports, we like to use ours for taking pictures and videos of our kids learning how to swim :) 

Obviously some of these photos were taken pre-pregnancy #3 . . . 

It's fun to go during the holidays as well. This last weekend we went to enjoy their Halloween festivities. They had a bunch of characters dressed up in costumes as well as trick or treating around the park for the kids. Will LOVED it, although they handed out a lot of Lemonhead candy, of which he isn't a huge fan. They tasted great to this pregnant mama though! Plus, I got double because Clarabelle doesn't quite have the teeth to handle those things. Score for me.

In case Sea World isn't for you, check out my other Kickin' it in SA posts; you can always stay in your air conditioned car while checking out the exotic animals at a drive-through safari or meet up for a museum playdate if those are more your thing :)