Cookie Time!

 

It's that time again...Cookie time!! And this year the Bobo house had plenty to go around.  I hosted AB and I believe 14 other little ladies for a Cookie Exchange at our house right before school got out for Christmas.  AB was sooo excited not only about the party but that I would be picking up she and her friends from school.  B was equally excited but for all the normal reasons like eating lots and lots of cookies!!  The invitation to the party is shown below (minus all the personal info) which I am starting to become more aware of just how little of that is needed on a public blog (thanks to the unusual comments I have been receiving!)  So from now on I will try to watch a little more closely what I post out of respect for my children and our personal lives.

So get ready to be so full your eyes my just pop out...proceed with extreme caution for all the mouth watery treats you are about to see!

Don't worry these aren't any of those, who do I know that because I am the one that made them and chef I am not...but I was pretty proud of my pinterest find and for me these are pretty darn good!

The second treat I made were some old time favorites from my grandmother Fowler.  She used to make these "stained glass window" cookies when I was young, so before she pasted away she made a cookbook for me with all her favorite recipes...so glad this is one I get to share with my kiddos as well!

The table was decorated with all the treats a girl could feast her eyes on...we had gingerbread houses and gingerbread men with all the decorations I could find.  I don't know if the decorations all made it to the gingerbread though because most of them stopped of in some hungry mouths first!

I did include a few salty treats on the table just to make sure no one had a case of sugar shock from the party.  I also had boxes for each child to pack up all there goodies to take home.

We also had a decoration station for those that wanted to make their very own ornaments with glitter, balls, rhinestones and everything that sparkles.

and last but not least a reindeer food assembly line.. with all the oats and glitter to make sure they didn't pass up on any of these precious girls homes this year!

We rotated kids at the table making there treats and letting the others play,  which turned out in my favor to be a beautiful warm day so everyone had fun running and just getting to play outside for the first time in what seemed like forever (not having such a good winter this year in our area)

as you can see there was lots of sampling going on..

Mommy's little SUGAR and spice...

and their is my other little sugar and SPICE!!  (notice the capitalization on the two!)hint, hint...

Everyone hard at work...these girls take this stuff seriously!

The goodie table was starting to fill up...

How cute are these blow pop reindeer!!

Lily wanted all the reindeer food left, this is her sad face when I turned her down.  I was afraid if all the reindeer ate all that food they would never be able to get off the ground to make it over to our house!

The gang minus a few...such sweet faces!!

All the goodies lined up and ready to take home (please, please take home cause momma doesn't need that many cookies in the house for fear she will eat them!) 

Thanks to all the moms who participated and those that stuck around to help me out..I sure couldn't have survived with out you.  I think the party was a success and most of all the girls had the chance to play and enjoy each other's company which is truly what it is all about.  (sorry for those that wanted better pictures of all the desserts I didn't do such a good job on my photography seeing as how I was running around like a crazy person, so maybe something to work on for next year!) 

The next morning was AB's school Christmas party and we found (notice I didn't say made after the cookie party and several 2am late nights of hosting parties and work parties this momma was exhausted)  anyways, back to the point we found these precious snowman donuts for the class. how cute are they?!

Ab giving Mrs. Beaty her Christmas gift.

Hanging out with pals in their pjs!

The fun book exchange that had everyone excited to see where their book would land.

After AB's party it was time to move over to B's Happy Birthday Jesus party at her school.  Here she is helping get the candles on the cake.

and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus

Her favorite part though was getting to pass out the goodies we brought to her friends.  That girl just loves to be the helper..if you don't believe me ask her teacher and she will say with certainty that she is the most helpful child she has this year!!

The whole gang this year.  How cute are this kiddos?!!

and after the party was over we packed up the car and left town...Fowler family vacation up next because we are off to our own personal North Pole!



It's Christmas Time..partys galore!

We kicked off the month with the annual Christmas parade.  I wasn't sure it was even going to happen because the weather was so bad, but sure enough at the last minute the kids piled on to the float and off they went with umbrellas, hats, gloves and covered in blankies.  B and I got in the car to watch sister go by..

 The float was fixed up so cute and the girls had a blast.  The parents on the float said AB never quit singing the entire time..and the coolest thing by the time the parade was over it was snowing.  Christmas time is really here!

 That weekend the family was off..and of course we couldn't forget Ely.  The weather was starting to get bad that weekend so we took off early for Memphis because with snow on the way we had to get there for my big first race.  The girls stayed with my parents and Mitch and I braved the weather to get to Memphis. 

 We arrived to some pretty crazy weather but the entire group that came to the race met up at the packet pick up on Friday and had a great time exploring the booths and all the extras they had in store for us.  One of my favorites was this vehicle that was on display.  If you can't tell there are names all over the car...

pretty excited to find mine was one of them!!  The car represented those of us that raised $500 to run in the St. Jude's marathon weekend.  It gives me chill bumps just thinking about how many people did the very same thing and filled up this car ..that is pretty amazing!

 The team Hope group that came for race day.  We had a few others that were running with the group but they did not want to come for fear the race would be cancelled so they ended up in Baton Rouge for a different marathon that weekend.

 Our next stop was a tour of St. Jude's..I really can't put into words how overwhelming this tour was.  As a parent, my heart hurt for each parent I saw coming down the hallways pushing a wagon with a child that was obviously a patient in tow.  It is such a truly wonderful, awe inspiring, and overwhelming place.  I must say that I was so impressed by all the kids there and know they are in the best place that they could be...I just can't seem to put into words the impact that this visit had on me...it made the trip to Memphis so worthwhile race or no race I realized this is exactly where I was meant to be.  These kids are in a race that is so much more important than anything I could do that day.

 These are the faces of some very sad folks when, as we were sitting at dinner eating our pasta trying to figure out how many layers of clothes we would need to brave the 20 degree weather the next morning, we got the call we had been dreading.. the race had been cancelled.  I must say there were several tears at the table that night, all the others had been training for the full marathon so they had been running even further than I had and so it was a tough call to get that night.  However, we all enjoyed our evening in Memphis and left with an appreciation for St. Jude's far greater then any race or finish line.

Now this did bring a few tears to my eyes when I received this note that night via text....I love these two they are the sweetest!

 The next week AB got to go to her first painting party and she had a blast.  She did a great job on her painting all by herself!

 That Ely he was always up to something this year...here he is watching a movie in the barbie play house with Snow White eating popcorn and watching a movie.

 The next day he was being a little naughty and did a little artwork of his own.

That Sunday night the girls had their play at church.  Here is my little angel along with J Coffee.

 and look at this cute children, Miriam and Sarah (I think! )

 They all did such a great job...it was rather funny though because they ended up posting the lines on the back of the church on a projector so the kids were up there nudging each other and staring at the screen.  It was so sweet and I was so proud of all of them..

 Little B included!  This was her second attempt at being in the Christmas play and last year's did not go so well with her running up and down the aisles but this year that little cutie stayed put and her little halo stayed intact, literally!

 The next week started up with a party and gift exchange at gymnastics.

and that's about it for tonight folks... momma is tired and beginning to not make much sense!