Thanksgiving is over and I can barely move...

I. ate. so. much. Seriously, I'm starting this week with no cokes (including diet) and no sweets for a month. Who's with me?! Hang on, let me finish my Mint Oreo.... ok - now I'm ready.

We had a very relaxing and fun time in Lubbock over the Thanksgiving break. My brother and his wife were there too - so we had a house full! I bet my parents were ready to get their house back in order! We did lots of fun stuff: ran the 2 mile Turkey Trot, did some shopping, saw TWILIGHT!!!!!, ate, ate, ate, relaxed, had our annual bowling tournament, Cora got her first haircut, went on walks, took trips to the park, watched movies, got to talk to BRENNA on Skype!!!, enjoyed the cool weather, and ate some more! Here are some pics... I hope everyone had a fun holiday! Now it's time to unpack and get out all the Christmas stuff!

family pic...

crazy claire...

me and brenna (who is in Egypt) just hanging out...

kaitlyn and daddy breaking the wishbone. that girl always wins!!

turkey trot. it was freezing!!

neil and brittany... they finished MUCH faster than me and dad!

she was NOT too happy about this. but she looks so much better with out the mullet.

all ready for bed!

kaitlyn was so excited that she saw "The REAL SANTA" enjoying his lunch with Mrs. Clause at McAlisters.

kaitlyn's fancy photography at the bowling alley..

Happy December!!!

Long overdue update....

I feel like I have had a lot of fun with Kaitlyn the past few weeks. I was able to go with her and her Kindergarten class on a field trip to May Farm.. the sweetest little place ever. Kaitlyn has been talking about this field trip since the summer. I don't know what she was more excited about, the actual farm - or riding a school bus. She absolutely could not wait. And, it did not disappoint! We had a great morning! She loved the bus ride, and had a blast seeing, feeding and holding lots of animals. We even got to take a hay ride and have a picnic lunch out there.

Kaitlyn and I also took a trip to one of my very favorite places - the HEB retreat. The Highland Family retreat is twice a year. We usually all go, but this time James had to work, so I sent Cora and Claire for a fun weekend in Lubbock with my parents, and Kaitlyn and I headed out. It was so fun, and very relaxing! It's just such a pretty place, especially in the Fall when the leaves are changing. We went canoeing, hiking, wading in the Frio river (BURRRR). This year it fell on Halloween weekend, so all the kids had a costume parade and then got to go Trick or Treating to all of the cabins. I already can't wait to go again in the Spring.

Cora and Claire have been doing great too! Claire is just growing so fast. She is 10 months old already! She has taken a few steps - which I am completely not ready for. She only says a few "words." She says da-da, uh-oh, and Boo! She's finally become a pretty good eater, and she always sleeps good! Cora can get the best smiles and laughs out of her.

Cora is at the most precious stage/age right now. She is talking ALL of the time, and most of the time I can actually understand her. It's crazy that she will be 2 next month! She is still my girly-girl. She loves having her fingernails painted, walk around in my shoes, carry my purses, wear lip gloss, put bows on, etc. I love it!

I have started teaching again at the Mothers Day out at our church. It's the same 2 year old class I taught last year. I am really enjoying it! Cora and Claire love their classes -so that makes it even better.

James is still doing his thing at work.. enjoying it and coming up with new ideas for the ARN. We are so proud of how hard he works to support our family! We got to go on a date on Friday night, and had so much fun!

Well, that's that for my update. Enjoy the pictures - out of order. I've become pretty lazy in blogging. I hope everyone has a great week!

Playing in the leaves... Claire is NOT a big fan.

Silly girls with their empty fruit cups!

HEB Retreat. Seriously one of my favorite places on earth.

Kaitlyn had a blast wading in the Frio River. Not me though. They call it the Frio for a reason!

Digging for treasures with Taylor...

Kaitlyn and I hiked to top.. this is the view.

Big girl! I was so proud of her! It was about a 2 hour hike!

View from half-way up.

I seriously hope she didn't smile like this for picture day at school. She's still cute though... :)

Having a little early morning heart to heart with Preacher Mike.

May Farm field trip... holding the baby chick.

First time on a school bus... she was SO excited!

My crazy girls...

cora and her silly nose during music class at school

i just love those ears...

princess, some girl from Camp Rock, fairy.....

girls night out...

UNO!!!

this is the blue wrapping from the newspaper. every morning cora puts it on her hand. strange...

sweet face...

Playing catch up...

So, here is what we've been up to - pretty much in backwards order. I'm too lazy to switch them all around! :)

We went camping with our Huddle. It was a blast! Here's some of the girls...

About to "joust.." This was HILARIOUS to watch.

After the shaving cream fight...

Kaitlyn and I got up early one morning and went to Balloon Fest... It was so cool to be so close to the balloons as they were aired up!

The red, white and blue one was Kaitlyn's favorite. My little patriotic girl...

She lost her third tooth! Sorry, I just realized that it's still a little bloody.....

I got to go with her Kindergarten class on their first field trip to the fire station. My camera battery died, so I didn't get too many good pictures... I actually learned a lot on this little trip!

My mom came down and took the girls to Sesame Street Live. It was so fun! Cora was a little scared at first, but by the end was dancing in the aisle.

One of my roommates from college, Cortni, came down to see her little sister in Freshman Follies and was able to stop by for a little visit! Claire got to meet her future ACU roomie, Avery.

Cora and Claire have been learning how to get along. Cora is a little bully and Claire is the most dramatic, sensitive girl of the three. Not a good combination. But they sure are cute!

Cora tried corn on the cob for the first time. I'm pretty sure she loved it.

We've had a lot of fun the past few weeks! I've just been bad at updating!

Sisters

I have lots to post about, but no time. For now, just enjoy a sweet picture of my sweet girls that I took a couple of nights ago. I just love them.

Smarty Pants...

So, I just had my Gmail open and Kaitlyn said she was going to check on her Webkinz. About 5 minutes later, she asks me to come "see her email." Interesting.... here is what I found.

This is an email that she wrote to James.

Subject: the is kaitlyn saeg i am so mad (this is Kaitlyn saying I am so mad)

Email: i am so mad at mi mom fo not let eg me tac off the cusins love kaitlyn (I am so mad at my mom for not letting me take off the cushions. love kaitlyn)

That would be the cushions to the couch she is referring to. I am such a mean mom.

Tennessee!!!!

(for all of you without Google Reader, there is another post below about my special mom!)

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My best friend from college, Meredith sent me the greatest present for my birthday. A plane ticket to go visit her in TENNESSEE!!! I have seriously been counting down the days since July. I left on Thursday and got back yesterday. We had an absolute BLAST. I haven't laughed that much in a looooooong time. It was so great to see her - it had been about 2 years. Let me just recap what she had planned....

THURSDAY NIGHT: I got into Nashvegas pretty late that night. After we pretty much attacked each other in the airport, we headed back to her BEAUTIFUL house to veg out. We stayed up late eating and talking and then it was off to bed so that our weekend of fun could begin!

her gorgeous house...

view from the back porch...

FRIDAY: I got to sleep until 8:30!!! That is super late for me. We took our time getting ready and went into town for some fun shopping at the cutest stores ever. Then she took me to eat at a really cute cafe called Puffy Muffin. SO GOOD. For dessert, we went to this place called GiGi's that had the biggest cupcakes you have ever seen. The icing was like 7 inches tall. Y.U.M. From there she had set up massages and facials for us - which were amazing. Two hours of being pampered is good for anyone, but we REALLY enjoyed it. After that we hit Target to get a few essentials. We bought the movie "What Happens in Vegas" to watch that afternoon. It was hilarious. After watching the movie, eating Twizzlers and Hot Tamales it was time to hit the town for a fashionably late dinner. We went to this awesome restaurant called J. Alexanders. Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman eat there all the time..too bad we didn't run into them! The food was to die for, and the best part was Mere knew the manager, and he totally took care of the bill. Thank you! We headed back to the house and watched a few episodes of The Office and then off to bed to rest up for another fun day!

at j. alexanders....

SATURDAY: This was supposed to be a restful day, but MJC doesn't know how to do that. We were, however, pretty lazy that morning. Then she suggested that we go walking. Okay, sure! I didn't know it was a freaking 6 mile trail! BUT.. the trail was so beautiful it truly did not seem like we walked that much. I love the beauty of Tennessee. After our walk, we headed back to the house for my first wake boarding experience. They live right on a lake with an awesome boat. Mere and I took the boat out so she could teach me how to wake board. How hard can it be right? Ummm, hard. It took me about 10 times to even get up, and once I got up I could only stay there for about 10 seconds. Okay, let's be real. 5 seconds. It was fun though! I wish I had longer to practice! That night we put on our comfy clothes and headed to the Drive-In movie to see "House Bunny" (do NOT waste your money on this one) and "Dark Knight" (VERY good). This was my first time to a Drive In and I loved it! We had a blast! I'm pretty sure we ate an entire pizza and a funnel cake. Oh, and some peanut M&M's. Y.E.S. That 6 mile walk went right out the window. Anyway, we had a blast and didn't get back to her house until almost 1:00AM.

out on the water... only 2 girls on a boat = dangerous!

after wake boarding...

we got so lost on the way to the drive- in, we asked this random guy for directions, and all he cared about was showing us some deer on the side of the road..

so we like to eat. so?


SUNDAY: Our fun weekend was coming to a close.... We watched a few more episodes of The Office before heading to church (where I got to meet one of Carrie Underwood's songwriters), and then to lunch at Opry Mills mall, followed by a little more shopping and then off to the airport.

i love you meredith! i had sooo much fun!!!