Lights of the Ozarks

About a week before Christmas, we took Mason to the Fayetteville Square to see the Lights of the Ozarks. We first had dinner at Tiny Tim's pizza (which was so yummy) then headed out to see all of the lights. Mason was NOT on his best behavior that night. Tired + Excited = No Listening! He wanted to run wild and was not up for picture posing! (Somehow, he still got to have pony ride!) It was bitterly cold that night, so we made one walk around the square and were ready to get to the car, but it was worth it!

This is one of my favorite photos:
A kind stranger offered to take our picture



"Hi Mom!"



Running...again.

Visiting Santa

Mason was excited to go see Santa and tell him about the toys he wanted. He posed great for the pictures and then started shyly talking about wanting a new big boy bike, a kitchen set, a Chick Hicks truck, and a Mack "without holes." (long story)
After seeing Santa, Mason got to ride the carousel and this time he chose the new giraffe!

Random Cuteness

Here are some random cute photos taken in December...

Eating popcorn
"Handy Mason" (He even has a pencil in his ear!)
Hiding in the closet (ignore the junk!)
Wink*wink
Pondering...

Girls Holiday Get-Together

For the second year in a row, three of my close friends & I got together before Christmas to exchange gifts, eat lots of yummy food, and talk each other's ears off! Amanda, Amber, Heather, and I have been friends for many years since we all used to work together. It was so fun to hang out with these girls at Amber's house! We don't get to spend as much time together as we used to, so we had a lot of catching up to do. We each brought a gift and drew names and we all got some cute stuff! I drew Amanda's gift and got several sets of cute jewelry!
These pictures are kind of funny because I took them with my camera's auto-timer. It took a few tries to get us all in the shot!
P.S. Isn't Amber's tree gorgeous!?! It's all silver & red with a Santa theme.

Holiday Crafts

Mason and I made these little Christmas trees out of colored craft sticks, glue & jewels. We attached ribbon to hang them.


I made about 25 ornaments~one for each of the girls at my work. Here are some of them:

All bagged up & ready to hand out...

Under Construction: Gingerbread House

This was our second year to make a gingerbread house. And when I say "make" I mean of course opening the premade kit and assembling it.
Last year's kit made Mommy a little cranky but this year the kit made all the difference~it was perfect!
Mason had fun decorating with (and eating) the candy and we were happy with how it turned out. Another great holiday tradition!

Our Elf on the Shelf

This year, my mom bought Mason his very own Elf. Mason decided to name him "Elfie" (original, huh?) and he became such a fun part of our Christmas each day!

When you have your own elf, he sits somewhere in your house (somewhere up high~he loses some magic every time you touch him!) and observes your Naughty or Nice behavior during the day. Each night your elf flies home to the North Pole to report to Santa how you acted that day. He then returns to your house (very sleepy, I'm sure) and finds a new place to perch to oversee the next day's happenings.

Mason's first sentence almost everyday was "Let's go see where Elfie is!" He would look all around and be so excited when he spotted him.
Although Elfie is back at the North Pole until next Christmas (and we miss him), I'm so glad he will be part of our Christmas tradition for years to come!

Here's just a few of the places we spotted him:








Our favorite place to find Elfie~Looks like he likes Razorbacks!

See you next year, Elfie!