Ahoy Matey Taylor turned 5!

Yo Ho Ho! My sweet little tater turned 5! I can't believe my tiny little 6 pound almost 5 weeks early baby has grown into this amazing little girl. She has the biggest, sweetest, most creative heart of any 5 year old. I know I am little biased but she blows me away all the time.

Taylor has been into pirates for over a year now so when we started talking about her birthday party pirates immediately came up. So a pirate party we threw!

We started with pirates, pirate booty, pegs legs (pretzels), and gold coins!

Add in a fully decked out pirate!

Down to her shoes-

And we have the starts of a successful party!

When Taylor's fellow pirates arrived they got bandanas, tattoos, and did some coloring in the pirate coloring books!

First up was a game of "Walk the Plank"

Followed by "Pin the Parrot on the Pirate"

Next was the treasure chest pinata!

Let me tell you some of these kids have some really creative ways of hitting!

Collecting their loot!

There was a clue that fell out of the pinata that started us on a treasure hunt.

First stop was to find the pirate's extra peg legs (pirate pencils)

All the little pirates listening to the next clue.

which lead us to their own pirate treasure journal

And finally to the big treasure chest filled with swords!

(You can see the chest under the playground equipment)

Finally it was time for some birthday cupcakes!

Everyone refueling for

some swords fights and good-byes!

After cleaning up we headed home to open presents.

It was a really fun Pirate Party.

Happy 5th Birthday Taylor!!!

Sorry for the picture overload.

Happy New Year 2011!

For New Years we hosted a "Minute To Win" themed party.

Ryan came up with this idea- he loves to watch the show. So we did some research and alittle shopping to prepare. We came up with 18 games, and one person from each couple had to complete the task in one minute to get a point. At the end of the competition which ever couple had the most points wins!

The ladies

Paige, Amy, me, and Carly

The MEN

Joe, Jon, Casey, and Ryan (I am not sure what Ryan was doing)

Me trying to pick up all five candy canes with the one hanging from my mouth!

And yes I was successfully!

Ryan trying to stack all five apples on top of each

I can not even explain how much fun we had that night and laughed so hard my stomach and checks hurt.

Happy New Year!

Thanks for all of our great friends for bring in the New Year with us!

Baylor's Bowling!

Baylor made it to the Texas Bowl, so of course we had to go!

The day of the game the weather was TERRIBLE! I mean serious never ending rain. So tailgating was relocated to a bar and grill close to the stadium.

We made our way to the game early so we could catch all the pre-game action. We had a block of seats with a bunch of Ryan's old team mates.

Chad, Danny, Ryan, Joe, Dereck, and Jon

Even though the game didn't turn out in our favor we still had a great time seeing a ton of old friends from back in the day.

Can't wait for next season! Yes, believe it or not I am actually kind of excited about seeing the Bears play (just don't tell Ryan)!

Christmas in San Antonio

So after we did Christmas at our house on Christmas morning we packed up and headed to San Antonio for a couple of days.

Our first stop was Grandma's house for Christmas breakfast tacos with the fam!

Grandmas with her new England flag pillow (she is still a British citizen!).

Some of the cousins- Haley, Laura, Alysha, and Kyle

The girls in front of the tree- probably the only time they sat still the whole day!

Ryan, the girls and I, my Mom, and sister- Jennifer, Uncle Joe, and Avery!

The Fam- not the best pic but the only one we got the whole break together!

Next stop was Papa's and Mama Edson's house for another round of Christmas and dinner.

Papa carving the turkey

The girls always love going to Papa's house. They is tons of room to run and play and I love it because all the younger cousins are there and they totally play and entertain with them the whole time and I get to visit with all my aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I know this sounds bad but it has come full circle. I remember playing and entertaining my cousins when I was younger and now they are doing it but with my kids.

Papa playing with the girls

After eating (way to much), opening presents, visiting, and cleaning up. We were exhausted and headed to Grams to hit the bed.

The next morning we started Day 2 and Round 4 of Christmas! We had not opened gifts from Grams so Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Joe, and Avery came over to open gifts also.

Grams gave both of the girls a robe and slippers (which was high on their want list).

After that we packed up and went to Popeye's and Nanaw's to have Christmas with them (Round 5).

I have talked about Nanaw's cooking before and she never lets me down on her fabulous cooking. I ate my little heart out again. Thank goodness for leggings :)

The girls on the road home- I think it speaks for two full days of Christmas

Santa Came!

Santa came to visit the Gillenwater house!

Christmas morning we were woken up by Kendall telling us what everyone had gotten in their stocking! Apparently, Kendall woke up came down stairs saw that Santa came went back upstairs woke Taylor up. They then preceded to go through every one's stocking and THEN came and woke us up. All without either one of us hearing anything! It was so funny.

You should be able to tell by Ryan's eyes and the pitch dark out the windows that it was EARLY!

So after we all made it to the living room the madness started!

All Taylor wanted for Christmas was a Buzz Light Year tent and sleeping bag, I guess she was a good girl this year because that is exactly what Santa left!

I have been keeping all of Ryan's old t-shirts for years. Not really knowing why but I knew that I wanted to do something with them. So I found a lady to make them into a quilt using one of his practice jerseys for the middle of it. I loved the way it turned out and he loved it also!

Not the best pic because it was dark.

Kendall in her new hat!

Santa left her a "Fur Real" Dog that barks and walks. Marley does NOT like it!

Taylor built a fort around her while she opened her presents.

I love watching the girls eyes while they open up they presents. The joy and excitement is priceless.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Fun!

So over the break the girls and I did our annual sugar cookie baking. This is one of the girls favorite things and Ryan's least! It is just makes a big mess no matter how hard I try not to. So we did it one day when he had to go to work.

I didn't get any pictures of the making progress because my hands where covered in flour (along with my face, clothes, counter, and floor)!

The girls carefully decorating their cookies!

Some of Kendall's finish product- notice they all have a smiley face on them!

Taylor's finish products

Look at the third cookie on the first row. That is suppose to be an angel. I asked Taylor what happened and she said without skipping a beat "I ate it"! Gotta love her.

This year Ryan and I decided that we wanted to celebrate Christmas at our house. So on Christmas Eve morning we took the girls ice skating!

The girls ready to go!

So we all laced up and headed out on the ice- very slowly! Ryan only lasted a couple of minutes. His feet were cramping up and he say "size 14 feet were not meant to a blade that thin"! So he became the official photographer.

At first I took one girl and would do a lap with them while the other would hold on to the rail and skate around and then trade. Pretty soon they were stable enough that I could just hold their hand and we could all skate together.

It was amazing how fast they pick it up.! They got brave enough to skate without my help!!

The girls and I had soooo much fun skating for almost TWO HOURS!

After skating time was up, Ryan got us all hot cocoa and a s'more kit. They had a huge fireplace right next to the rink to warm up next to and roast s'mores in.

The girls enjoying their s'mores and hot cocoa!

It was a fabulous morning and a TON of fun.