You better not pout, You better not cry...

I'm telling you why...

Santa is coming to our house!!!

We were all hanging out together after dinner, watching a bit of Jazz ball (by the way, Jazz won and it's about time.) when all of a sudden Santa came walking into our house, He was in the neighborhood and wanted to make sure the kids knew that he was watching and he would be back in a couple of days. What a great surprise!!!
Each kid took turns and told Santa what they wanted:
Lanie wants an easy bake oven and a tutu
Kenzie asked for an American Girl doll with a bed and doll scooter
Cassie a baby and Carson wants superman.

There is something about Santa that brings the magic of Christmas.

Watching the kids with him brought back memories when I was a kid and all you had to do was ask and be good and Santa always did the rest.

Feef and Kory were even here to enjoy the moment with Santa

Merry Christmas from the Springers and Santa

Nana and Pappy even made it in time to see Santa...Their flight came in today from Oregon.

It is good to be together again for the holiday.

Santa came and we sang songs, he gave us our Christmas jammies, (watch for those pictures, we ALL have matching jammies; thanks to The Children's place. It is something we do every year!!)told him what we wanted. He told us to leave some more yummy cookies and that he would be watching us. He of course gave us candy canes and then was on his way.

What a evening full of magic and fun. It is something the kids and I will remember for a long time. Merry Christmas to you all!!!

...While visons of sugar plums danced in their heads...

Here is my in-laws tree, notice all the yummy treats on it.

Dan can remember these ornaments when he was a kid, so they are really old. :)

One day while they were watching the kids for me for a bit, my mother-in-law witnessed the cutest thing...
The twins walked over to the tree oh so quietly, looked around to see if anyone was watching and took a lick of the treats...
...that one didn't taste good, so they went to try another one...

again they were disappointed, no taste. So they walked away and went back playing as if nothing had happened.

The funny thing is, Dan's mom can remember Dan doing the same thing as a kid.

Dan and his daughter Cassie; two generations of the yummy treat ornaments.
Carson still went back to try one more time. He was determined to eat those treats.

Enjoy the holiday and make some memories to hold onto for generations to come.

Santa's little helper...

Meet our newest helper... He comes from the North Pole and his name is Jr. HO; that is what the girls decided on.

On December 1, the girls ran into our room informing us there was a present under the tree with no name on it..."who's it for?" the girls wanted to know and how did it get there?

Well, we ran our errands (using the gift at home as a bribe) and went to see Santa and he told the kids that the gift was for everyone to open. (those pictures of Santa will come soon, but no tears from anyone this year.)

After getting home, we let the kids open the gift.

This is what they found...

It was one of Santa's elf's from the north pole. Santa himself had delivered it during the night with a special book telling us the instructions to do with the elf.

We were to name it and put it on a shelf. During the days, he would watch the kids and then at night, he flies to the north pole to Santa and gives him a report of the Springer kids, and then in the morning, he will be in a new place ready to watch the kids.

Every morning it is a race to see who can find Jr. HO first.

There is one rule though, no touching him, if so, he will lose all of his magic and not be able to fly and see Santa; that means Santa would have no update on the kids and he wouldn't know what to get them.

So far, this has been a lot of fun for the kids and for Dan and I to watch. I why didn't I think of this sooner, for two reasons: the magic of it all and the bribes of Jr. is watching.

Being a parent and knowing certain things about Christmas, it is fun to know that the magic of Christmas can still be seen and felt. I think no matter how old I get, I will always love Christmas and what it brings to people young and old.

To be a child and to really truly believe in Santa is something I enjoy watching now in my own kids. I hope that this new family tradition will be able to happen again for years to come and that Jr. HO will be able to share in some great family memories.

These are some of the places the kids have found Jr. HO...

Where will he be next?

May the magic of Christmas find your family this year.

Merry Christmas!

Our cruise to Paradise; it wasn't long enough...

I have had some request for the pictures of our latest adventure: The Caribbean Cruise

Come and relive the cruise with me:Friday Nov. 9th - We are heading for the airport bright and early

On the plane and off to Dallas, TX. for one layover then to San Juan.
Let the vacation begin!

a picture about 30,000 feet above ground. Almost to Paradise...

This is what we wake up to the Following morning; this is the view from our hotel room in San Juan. It was something you would see in a movie and it was HOT and Humid. Beautiful!

We went out sight seeing in San Juan and there were pretty stores:

The story about the pictures is: First notice what store it is...Louis Vuittion, I wanted to go in, but even more so get my picture on the stairs. Now, look in the door way, see the man, well, he won't let me go in. I must have been TOO GOOD to go in there is what I wanted to think. How dare he, I so wanted to pull a "pretty woman" and show him he made a mistake.
Anyways, I will Never buy anything L. Vuittion again, it just proved to me just how spoiled celebs are and how they are so snobbish.

Anyways, I was on vacation and I was out to have fun.

Sat. night: the first dinner experience on the ship. Oh my, first the food is so great. It is 5 star quality and you get all you want of whatever you want. Not only did it look pretty, it tasted the best. When people talk about food on a cruise, they are not joking it is good!

On the first night, they go over safe rules and what to do if the ship is going to sink, Can you tell Dan and I are really listening. This is what we would have looked like if the ship was going down. Can you see the fear?

Sunday Nov. 11 This is what we saw when we opened the door to our balcony from our room. We sailed all night from San Juan to St. Tomas.

Our first excursion was helmet diving:

this what under the sea looks like:
and this is what Dan and I would look like as Tellie Tubbies

We got to walk along the bottom of the sea, we were about 30-40 feet down. There really is a whole other world down there. It was amazing, something I will always remember.

Later that evening, Dan is really enjoying his tropical drink. It tastes better there then at any local restaurant, it is made with the freshest and yummy fruits of the local island.



On the ship, every night they have Vegas styles of shows, well this night I was in the front row and it was a Motown music show, well I was the one and only pulled up on stage. My moment of fame, I loved it and wasn't going to let it go to waste. They sang me "'My girl" and poor Dan was the most embarrassed of all. It was the night my inner entertainer was born.

The remaining time on the ship, people would recognize me. I was not-so famous on a Cruise ship. Simon from American Idol would have been so proud.




Monday: Golf Anyone? Dan got to play on one of the most beautiful course ever and while he played, I relaxed at the spa on the ship.

Monday was the island of St. Kitts

The "Princess" herself.
This was home for the week, I think we ruled the seas in this thing.

Wed. We were in Grenada, this was Dan's favorite island.

Here is Dan ready to go and explore the seas of Grenada; what will he see?

I was feeding the fish above and Dan was in the water, This is his view.

Desserts that night at dinner... There was 6 of us at the table and we ended up with 15 desserts between us! Yummy for us!!!

Wed. we were at Bonaire!

This is how we spent our Wed. afternoon; rough I know!

The water was like a bath tub and so clear. You could see all the way down. We were able to find some fun and beautiful treasures in the waters there.

One of the desserts plates on Wed. night.

Me enjoying the desserts on Wed. night

Thursday morning; Aruba!

We shopped and walked around the city.

This was us on one of the formal nights.

We are so happy and so in love with each other. I am one lucky girl.

I got the best man out there, and I am not just saying that because we are on a cruise, I say it because it is the truth. Love you Babe!



A post card view outside our balcony on Saturday morning.

We are back in San Juan.
I want to wake up to this every morning!!!

Like they say; "All good things must come to an end."

Dan is walking off the ship onto dry land where reality awaits us.

Well, that was our week of Paradise in a nut shell or a sea shell in this case.

What a fun time we had and made some great memories. I would recommend a Cruise to anyone, in fact every time we look at the pictures we long from another one. We want to go again soon.
Anytime anyone wants to go, we are game and count us in.

Ok, so in cause you wonder where were the kids, I had the best babysitter of all time watching them. Thanks Jenny. The kids loved you, I love you, and just to let you know, I could have stayed another week. You truly are the best, there are not too many people like you out there.

Cruise anyone???

Christmas in our home...

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St.
Nick would soon be there."

Christmas has taken over our home and I love it! If I could, I would have it up year round.

I love the colors, the sparkles, the ambiance it brings.

There is something about turning off all the lights in your home and allowing the glow from the lights on the Christmas tree to make house feel more like a home.

I love the music and the smells of the season. Currently, our home smells like yummy candy canes and it invites the feeling of Christmas, plus covers up all those nasty diapers that I change daily. :)

Here is the entrainment center and believe it or not, for the most part the twins don't touch.

I have Christmas lights all over our downstairs; the cabinets, the banisters, mantel, the tree, and entrainment center. They all are on those handy remotes. Well, the twins think they are so cool, they push a button and the lights all come on and their faces light up as well. "Magic" is what Carson says.

Our Christmas Tree: I have always used red and silver, but this year I added black, I really am pleased on how it turned out. I am not sure this picture shows, but on the tree, there are mini frames on it, it has some of my favorite pictures on them.


Like I said before, I love Christmas and everything it brings with it.
I wish nothing more for you all a happy and safe holiday with the ones you love.
Make Memories!