Cookies with Santa!

Last weekend, my girlfriend Kate and her family had a group of us over for cookies with Santa. We had so much fun decorating cookies and visiting with friends until Santa arrived. I did not tell Addison that Santa was going to be at Mrs. Kate's house so she was quite surprised when he walked through the door. In fact, I wish so badly that I would have had my video camera with us because when she learned that he was there, she literally jumped up and down screaming "Santa!!!" and squealed sooo loud. No fear of Santa for this little girl! Everyone got the biggest kick out of her!


The "cookie table" :)




As you can see, Addison enjoyed hers

I was able to get some of the sweetest photos of Addison and Santa. She LOVES him and it has been so much fun to experience the Christmas "magic" all over again with her this year.


Looking for Santa out the window. I can only imagine what she must have been thinking!


SO very excited to see Santa!


Making sure Santa knows exactly what she wants...




She stared at him all night...she was amazed by him!


Cheese!


Our 100th attempt at a family shot... :)


The Varn family


Ethan telling Santa, "Look Santa!! It's you!!" It was priceless!


Santa even loves Mommies!


I adore this photo of Ethan and Hudson...Ethan was way over having people scream "Smile!" at him! :)


All the kiddos!


Sweet Hudson!

Thanks to The Varn's for such a fun night!

Santa came to Ivey Chase!

Last Saturday, Santa Claus came to visit the kids in our neighborhood and everyone had a wonderful time and was on their BEST behavior! ;)

Here are some cute photos I got of Addison and the big guy!





As you can tell, Addison LOVED him and was soooo excited to see him. She even got to see the jingle bells off of his sleigh and Santa let her shake them so she would know what to listen for on Christmas Eve. :)


I love this photo of Addison and I. What a special memory of such a fun stage in her life.


Addison really enjoys making crafts lately so she was very excited that she got to make a candle holder for us to have at home.

And I'm sure I will receive a big lump of coal in my stocking for this photo and comment but I couldn't pass it up...doesn't this photo of Santa remind you of exactly what you would envision a Santa in Dacula, Georgia to look like??? Missing tooth and all! (Just for the record, and as you can see in the other photos...Santa had all of his teeth!)



Merry Christmas!! It's getting closer! And Addison hopes after her Mom's last comment that Santa still stops at our house! :)

Oh Christmas Tree!

We had a weekend full of Christmas festivities this past weekend at the Skalon house. First, a girlfriend of mine gave me this idea and I thought it was too cute to pass up. So I tried my hardest not to think about the mess icing, sprinkles and mini M&M's can cause when in the hands of a 3-year old and last Friday night, the Skalon's made mini Christmas trees. I think they turned out adorable and I have to say...we had a lot of fun!

Step 1: Spread icing on the ice cream cone (notice the concentration on Addison's face!)



Step 2: Put sprinkles on top!



Step 3: More sprinkles and mini M&M's



Step 4 (and the MOST important): Stop along the way to eat the goodies...we were GREAT at this part!!!



And the finished product...



Last but not least, the Skalon tree farm! Don't worry...we will be taking orders for next year! ;)

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me...

A big hawk in a pine tree!

Yep! This lovely bird has taken a liking to one of the trees in our backyard. Yes, he is pretty but I'm pretty sure he thinks Belle looks pretty tasty so we are hoping he finds a new home SOON!

I took these photos from our kitchen window which should give you an idea of just how close our new friend is to our back door. :)

Addison's 3rd Birthday Party! (And another new post below)

We celebrated Addison's birthday this year at The Lollipop Shoppe and the kids had a great time. This is the cutest little candy shop here in Dacula and Addison just loves to go in there. The owner was nice enough to allow 20 3-5 years to have free run of his candy store and I have to admit...he was much more calm throughout the party than I would have been if it was my store!


Addison with Mom, Dad and Adam


So glad Uncle Adam was able to come!


Me and my Daddy :)

Soooo excited her "party day" was finally here (and wearing her birthday dress my Mom made her)

Addison LOVES Dora the Explorer this year and requested that she have a Dora birthday cake. Mom always makes her cakes and this year she made her an INCREDIBLE Dora cake! Addison LOVED it! In fact, she loved it so much that she didn't want us to cut it.


The Cake!


Thanks Mom for working so hard on this! It was perfect!


Make a wish!

Besides being a great candy shop, the store is full of stuff animals that the kids can make. At the party, all of the kids got to pick out an animal to "stuff" and that was the party favor to take home. It was neat to watch and see what animal each child chose and sweet to see the parents help them make them. Addison and a bunch of the little girls chose pink poodles...which I just think are the cutest things!

Here are some pictures from Addison's special day...sorry there are A LOT of them but I figure you'd rather see photos of Addison than me ramble on. :)


Some of the kids getting ready to hear all about the "stuffing tree"...


Addison chose the pink poodle


Daddy started out making the poodle with her but quickly turned it over to me...


Here we go!


Still working...


Picture break!


So sweet...


Ready to take her home!


Cousin Melette and Aunt Nadine with Cousin Michael's Frosty


Even Ethan's Daddy Cliff got in on the action! ;)


Cousin Gina and Ryan


Abbie, Addison and Laney...such sweet friends!


Cousin Michael loved the Jelly Belly station!


Sweet baby Hudson made it to the party!

Aunt Bridget and Jake!


Cheese! Maw-Maw, Aunt April, Aunt Bridget and Uncle Brent!


Checking to make sure all of these presents were for her! ;)

As you can tell, Addison had a wonderful birthday and we are so thankful to all of our friends and family that came to celebrate our sweet girl turning "3" with us. It was a wonderful day!