a date night♥

thursday night barth surprised me with an evening on the town.
i had no idea he had been making plans, coordinating someone to watch our girls and keeping it all a secret.
it has been quite awhile since just the two of us have some time to ourselves.
between juggling our three girls, the busyness of life and his crazy and unpredictable schedule there isn't a whole lot of time to get dates in.
to be completely honest i have been longing, literally, to get in a little time with my hubby.
you can only imagine my excitement when he finally told me. i was simply giddy.

we left the girls cozy in their beds with barth's nurse in charge {thank you amy!}.
i walked out the front door and was greeted by a limo. seriously?! i could get used to this.
we enjoyed a peaceful dinner at a fabulous restaurant at the mission inn. it was delicious.
the hotel was decked out in about a gazillion christmas lights, the pictures really don't do it justice.
we topped off the night with a quick stop at famous casey's cupcakes to take home to the girls.

{hanging out in the limo}

{dinner at duane's}

thank you lovey for a wonderful night...i ♥ u.

oh buddy! {week 2}

it's our second week with buddy and the girls are still loving this elf.
they wake each morning wondering what mischief he has gotten into to. i love watching their reactions.
i am having to get a little more creative each day, the ideas are not as plentiful as they were in the beginning.

here is week two of buddy in pictures.....

{buddy finds our tree}

{the snowball fight}

{buddy's got a new girl}

{buddy hangs out in our new stockings}

{buddy has fun with our toilet paper}

{buddy ♥'s roses..especially red ones}

{buddy ziplines to our christmas tree}

good things...

come in small packages

i hosted the first annual {at least that's what i am hoping for} cookie exchange for all of the orthopedic wives this week.

it was such a fun time.

i have felt led for some time now to start a support group for this special group of girls.

i pray that it will be a time of good fellowship, encouragement and prayer for one another.

being the wife of a doctor can be very lonely at times and it is such a blessing to have these ladies to lean on. 

the evening was a balacing act of hostess and mommy to three combined into one, not one picture was taken. 

of course i am bummed, but here are the goodies i brought..... 

the outtakes

the christmas cards are just about all sent out.
i had so much fun with them this year.
a few weeks back i took the girls out to capture some shots for our cards.
i was going for a more playful, uncoventional feel.
here are a few that didn't make it on the card...not cause they weren't equally as cute.
figured a card would be more pratical than a christmas book.

let it snow!

snow in southern california?!

seeing is believing....

♥

ella's christmas program

last night was ella's christmas program.
the evening was a bit more chaotic then i had hoped for.
this is barth's call week and i was praying all would be quiet friday evening.
the day started out looking good. all cases were scheduled to be done in time.
he called just as the girls and i were heading out the door....he would be there just in time. what a stroke of luck!
as we pulled into the school parking lot we were greeted by barth who had a less than plesant look on his face.
it didn't take any explanation on his part to know the girls and i would be on our own for the night.
thankfully the girls were so caught up in the excitement of being at school, in the dark, with their new dresses on that their disappointment didn't last long.

ella did a great job. wish i could have taped it for daddy. i am just thankful we made it through the night with no meltdowns despite going to bed at 10pm.

i got a few pictures of the girls looking pretty cute...

{there was just enough time to get one picture of barth before he headed back to the hospital}

{ella post performance, she was exhausted}

{my girls...so blessed}

Oh buddy! {week one}

our elf buddy has made himself right at home.
the girls are LOVING it.
they wake each morning ready to find out what buddy is up to and talk to him often. it's pretty cute.
much to my surprise they have not touched him once..i thought for sure chloe would not be able to keep her hands off of him. she has been very good about it.
they were very concerned when grandpa (not knowing the story of elf on the shelf) touched buddy.
they sat in the room watching buddy, scared that somehow he would disappear.
we assured them that grandpa didn't know and that it was okay just this one time. that was close.

here is our first week with buddy...

{day one: buddy greeted the girls from way up high on the fan}

{day 2: the north pole was cold, buddy warmed up and made a new friend name taffy}

{day 3: buddy is an artist. ella was so concerned that the picture was ruined}

{day 4: buddy tried to be helpful and get the girl's breakfast ready}

{day 5: buddy left love notes for the girls and a peppermint kiss...they loved this one}

{day 6: buddy has a sweet tooth. the girls think we should lock the pantry so he doesn't get a tummyache}

{day 7: buddy makes a snow angel}