Marley had lots of cute outfits to wear for the holidays, so there are lots of pictures to document! I managed to get most of the house decorated around Thanksgiving, so that helped as we jumped into December.
December started out unseasonably warm. I took off one day of work so I could get all the outside decor done and was out there in a tank top and shorts. I got the treehouse all lit up again this year!
Then, the next day, we had an ice storm! They say that if you don't like the weather in Texas, just wait a day! So true! We got several inches of ice and it shut down most of the area. The limbs on our tree were touching the ground. Many lost trees and a lot of damage was done with this storm.
We lost power at 7am that morning. It was freezing!
The ice storm postponed lots of school events and even cancelled church that Sunday.
Polar Express Day was one of those days that was rescheduled. Madden got to wear his pajamas to school - they watch The Polar Express and have hot chocolate. Always a fun day!
Spiderman and Marley looking at a book together! :)
Marley started taking baths sitting up like a big girl! Now, Madden even hops in there with her and it cuts down on having to bath 2 kiddos separately!
She also started playing in the "kitchen". She LOVES to pull all the play food out! Maybe a future chef?
Marley hair is getting longer and starting to curl! Love my curly headed kids! 
We went to look at Christmas lights in our town one night. Madden doesn't like hot chocolate, so we stopped and got him an ice cream treat!
And you can always find a superhero of some kind at our house! Today it was Robin..
The other postponed event was Madden's Christmas performance at school. This is his last year to be in it since he will be in Kinder next year - and last year, Marley was still inside my tummy! His class were reindeer this year and sang 4 songs....another cute performance!
Loved this outfit that Marley wore over the holidays. I bought this from a friend while I was still pregnant - glad it worked out! 
Right around this time was December 11 - and we celebrated our 9th anniversary. No pictures to document. No babysitter - so we loaded up the kids and went to Mi Cocina for dinner. We laughed about the chaos of our lives right now with 2 kids out of eat! Marc surprised me with a new North Face jacket. I've never had one and I LOVE IT! Best give ever! It is so warm and comfortable. ......and I got him NOTHING. Not even a card. Bad wife! I'll have to make up for it next year - #10!
That weekend, we went to Christmas Chili Party at Marc's aunt/uncles as well as a party at our friends, The Coopers. Love all the fun parties!
Dressed in our Sunday best! :)
Madden had his class party in the middle of the month and requested that we attend! :) We got to meet their class elf, Buddy. We heard stories all month about Buddy and places the kids found him each day.
Another Sunday - all dressed up!
Friday night, the 20th, we went attended my work staff party at our minister's house. It was a lovely evening with delicious food and a fun gift exchange!
A couple of years ago we started doing a Candy Making Party with Marc's family. It has turned into an annual tradition. We split up into teams and have to come up with a candy treat to make. This year, we even had judges come for a taste test. Hayden & Sara Beth won with their "pizookie" with ice cream!
We added two more people to the party this year - Tanner and Sara Beth! 
Since we always have fun making candy with family, we thought it would be fun to have a party with friends too! The next night, we invited a few families over and introduced them to the fun!
We served the same food anddrinks, so it was super easy to throw together. We hired a couple of girls to come babysit the kids too. I think it was a success. There were some good things - and some not so good things - but hopefully it is something we can do again! At one point, some of the kids were piled on our bed watching a movie. From what we hear, Madden even gave his friend Katherine a kiss on the cheek - ha! Her response? "Seriously???" Classic. Will be a funny story to tell them one day. They are 3 weeks apart and Katherine's mom and I have been pregnant at the same time with both of our kiddos!
We served the same food anddrinks, so it was super easy to throw together. We hired a couple of girls to come babysit the kids too. I think it was a success. There were some good things - and some not so good things - but hopefully it is something we can do again! At one point, some of the kids were piled on our bed watching a movie. From what we hear, Madden even gave his friend Katherine a kiss on the cheek - ha! Her response? "Seriously???" Classic. Will be a funny story to tell them one day. They are 3 weeks apart and Katherine's mom and I have been pregnant at the same time with both of our kiddos!
One last day of work after the parties and the it was Christmas Eve. We finished up shopping/wrapping and headed to our church for the Christmas Eve Service. No childcare, but we managed to all sit together quietly for the whole service - with the help of some snacks and toys! :) After church, we headed to Marc's aunt/uncles house for their annual Christmas Eve party. Madden and his cousin Jack played together - and Marley and her cousin, Sydney played! Fun that our kids have second cousins their age! Another fun round of the gift exchange was played and we ended up with some good things!
It was late and we headed home to get ready for Santa! Marley went onto bed and Madden handled getting everything ready. Hopefully next year, Marley will be able to participate. Madden got cheerios to put our for the reindeer - just dumped them in a big pile on the front porch!
We said GOODBYE to our beloved Scotty (our elf) until next year! He moved all around the house "most" nights in December and left a good report with Santa.
We left yummy treats for Santa - one benefit of having a candy party 3 days before Christmas is that you don't have to make anything else special for Santa! Ha!
One last picture before going up to bed. This kid - what a treasure! Can't believe he is nearly 5 1/2!
Thankfully Santa had wrapped everything the night before, so he was quick to get things out and head to bed! Madden had a BIG Christmas this year - didn't really keep a good track of things - ha! A new (free!) bike, Batman Lego Batcave, Spiderman City were the highlights! And Marley had a nice little pile with some books and bath toys. :)
Our kiddos love to sleep and got up at the regular time - 8:00! Love it! I keep thinking one of these years, Madden will get up extra early for Christmas....but hasn't happened yet!
Spiderman City was the item he had asked Santa for - and Santa delivered! :)
Marley girl wasn't so sure about everything going on. She loved the paper/tissue most of all of course! :)
Christmas Day was spent playing, resting, napping and packing - nice to be home with nothing more to do! We enjoyed sausage pinwheels from Marc's mom for breakfast - our Christmas treat! That evening we met Marc's family at Benihana for dinner together. This was something new this year - an idea that came from the movie Christmas Vacation. It was perfect! Someone else cooked and cleaned up! It was a bit chaotic with my kids, so I have no pictures. Neither of them liked having to wait for the food to be cooked in front of us - ha! But, we managed. Afterward, we went to Marc's brother's house to open presents and have a yummy dessert from 7-11 (that was all that was open - ha!) It was late and kids were so tired for all the late nights and parties. We opened many, many wonderful gifts and then headed home.
The next morning we headed south to San Antonio to spend time with my family. Ben was home - but leaving the next day, so we wanted to get a chance to see him. We got there in time for dinner all together.
After a delicious Christmas dinner - and after wrestling an exhausted baby girl - we took some pictures and opened a few gifts while Ben was home.
Marley loved getting acquainted with Holly. Poor Holly has been missing her cousin, Lucky. My parents had to put Lucky down a week before Christmas. He had gotten so sick and frail. He was our first dog and real pet for the family. We miss him - but glad to still have Holly around! :)
Oh Boy! Another Lego set! :) Can't wait until this kid can put these together himself!
Saturday - December 28 - Marley turned ONE! Hard to believe a year has already gone by. Among the chaos of December, I decided to delay a party for her until January something. Too much going on in December and she'd never know - ha! But, we did go to The Guenther House for brunch. Waited 1 1/2 hours - and I'm not sure it was worth it - but I was determined we would eat there. We shopped some and admired the gingerbread house - and devoured a couple of their famous cinnamon rolls while we waited.
After brunch, we headed home for naps (I think we were all tired). Madden watched Home Alone - a "new" movie we introduced him to this year! We ordered pizza for dinner and picked up a cupcake for Marley while we all enjoyed the many pies my mom made. We ate, sang Happy Birthday and Marley loved her cupcake! Madden helped with presents - I think Marley was so confused as to what all this present opening was for all these days!
My parent's tree - it real and flocked. My mom said she would have to make her own snow! It was really pretty....
These two - probably playing candy crush or something....ha!
After presents and all the birthday fun, Marc got Marley to bed and the rest of us went to look at Christmas lights. There is a house in their neighborhood that is loaded down with airplanes/balloons/etc - and we also found one with a skating rink with mannequins skating!
The wreath (or gigantic hula hoop as it's been known as!) at my parent's house. Very pretty!
.....and doesn't little Miss look thrilled to be getting her picture made??!! Ha!
Happy 2014!
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