Fletcher Christmas Parade

 This past Saturday, we headed to the Fletcher Christmas parade, which is just a few minutes from our house.  Both of our kids loved it!  Levi was all about waving to people in the parade while Addie just wanted to dance.  We went to this parade last year all bundled up in coats, hats, and gloves.  This year, however, we were able to wear some Christmas outfits!

Ready for it to start!

 They really liked watching the soldiers march.

 Such a sweet boy (except when he's not)

 Lots of waving!

 Looking a little bored...probably just waiting on more dancers to come

 That's the best pic I got of the two kids together.

 Taking a break to sit with Daddy

 In action!

As I mentioned above, Addie loved the dancing at the parade.  She copied the dancers as they danced on by.  It was so cute and very entertaining!  We probably have 6 videos similar to the one below because it was too cute not to video!

Singing

Last week, we went with some friends to sing Christmas carols at a local nursing home.  I'm not sure who enjoyed it more...the residents or the kids!

 Levi played the drums

 Our singing group (minus one who didn't want her picture taken)

 In action!

 The first group we sang to enjoyed it so much that we were asked to sing an encore in another room!

 Addie did GREAT!

And in the spirit of singing, here's Levi with his rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  More Christmas song videos coming soon.

Grandpa's 90th Birthday Party!

Last weekend, we had the rare privilege of going to a 90th birthday party...for my (Abigail's) grandpa!  We drove up to Richmond, VA where he lives for the special occasion.

Olivia was there, so Addie loved seeing her (as always)

 The girls with the birthday boy

 The cousins that were there-we were missing 4 Snead cousins, but they had a little too far to travel to make it this time!  Notice the newest cousin slouched down in the chair next to Addie.  Baby Ella!

 Our family with Grandpa.  It was Levi's first time meeting him!

 Addie absolutely loved holding Ella.  This was our first time meeting her and we all enjoyed her very much!

 Grandpa's special request at his party was to be able to eat a hot dog (he is currently on a pureed food diet).  Nate pulled through and brought it to him.  Grandpa took his time eating it (thankfully) and got it all down with no problems!

 Grandpa with his great-grandchildren.  The attempted kid pictures are always a little crazy...show how our kids each have their own opinions on what they want to do at any given time!

 Levi surprisingly loved Ella as well.  Although he can be a very wild and crazy little boy, he did a great job of being sweet and gentle with Ella. 

Gingerbread Houses

An Asheville hotel called the Grove Park Inn has a gingerbread house competition every year, so we decided to go check out all the different houses they had on display.  

Here are the kids, ready to go see some gingerbread houses!

 There was a reindeer-drawn carriage that the kids would have loved to play on the entire morning.

 This gingerbread house would have won the competition if Addie was the judge-she loves princess castles!

 Nutcrackers are a hit too!

 Levi is so modest.

 The girls driving.

 Our sweet girl.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

As soon as Thanksgiving was over, we started pulling out all of our decorations.  Addie and Levi were excited to get the Elf on a Shelf...

 and the Little People nativity!

 Decorating the tree.  There have been LOTS of ornament casualties due to Levi, but that's ok.  He just thinks that every ball should bounce.

 Addie is a little more gentle.

 Finished product!

Rudolph wishes you a Merry Christmas!

Random

 I know it has been a long time since I last posted.  Sorry!  So, here are some random pictures from the month of November.  More to come...hopefully soon!

Addie got some lips on Halloween.  Here she is, trying them out!

 We went for a hike...unfortunately, we were never able to get to the waterfall.  Kind of disappointing.

 But we had a good time!

 It won't be long before BOTH kids get to hike on their own and Daddy's back can get a break!

 These two are best buddies.  Levi and Noah (our neighbor).  They love each other!

 We made a quick trip down to Atlanta for Olivia's birthday party.  Levi got all dressed up for the occasion!

 Addie had a blast at the Tea Party.  Here's her crown:

 They got to use real china at the party!

 Addie with the birthday girl.

Hoopla!

 Our church decided to have their annual Halloween alternative called "Hoopla" on actually Halloween this year instead of having it the Saturday before Halloween, like they have done in year's past.  So, there was no trick or treating for us this year...we spent the afternoon and evening at Hoopla! 

Here are the kids before we left-this is the only picture of them in their costumes without their coats on.  Yes, Hoopla was outside, and yes, it was cold...but totally worth it!

 Jumping (or laying) in the inflatables!

 Levi's new favorite thing is jumping, so inflatables are right up his alley.

 Eagerly waiting to ride on the cow train:

 Apparently, our daughter has a cow name.

 Hay ride!

 Drinking some hot chocolate

 We found a spot to have dinner on the field.

We had a fun time!  The kids are at a great age to do things like this!