Mama's favorite picture of the season

We usually take a picture of the kids in front of the tree every year while we're decorating it but mommy was SO crazed with Casino Night that Daddy spent an evening decorating the tree with the kids without Mommy. Needless to say Mama was devastated and we missed taking a picture earlier in the month when the tree went up but of course this doesn't mean the picture was missed altogether. We got these great pictures of the kids in jammies right before we headed out to Preston's birthday breakfast and I just love our family and I love how the morning light is coming through the window shining on them:) They are our angels!

A new tradition...

We started a new tradition for Preston's birthday.  We eat breakfast out wherever he wants in jammies  on Christmas Eve morning to celebrate his birthday and our Christmas festivities don't start until his breakfast celebration is over!  Of course, he loved every minute! He woke up to balloons, his special plate, and presents(just like we do for all the kids) then we headed out to the Junkyard where he was served pancakes with  candles, sang to by the waiters, and ended with birthday ice-cream(yes in the morning!).  So fun!!! His birthday is so special to our whole family and we want to make sure he knows that! Mommy had a VERY hard time with Presto turning 5.  I got these 2 last photos of him as a 4 year old.  They are so sweet and very fitting seeing as Phia is in them.  He doesn't do much without her.  I just love them:) First thing Presto said when he woke up as a 5 year old as he's frantically putting on his 5T pants "why are these still too long for me if I'm 5 now Mama?"....uh...I melted.

Christmas Eve 2014

Christmas is our most favorite time of year.  We make a big Italian feast on Christmas Eve. This year Daddy made chicken parmigiana, Nana made her famous italian turkey meatballs, Mommy made mini pies(and they turned out super yummy...shocking really!).  The kids love sprinkling reindeer food on the lawn so of course we did that before they went to bed to assure the reindeer know where to land.  We made reindeer food as part of the party favors at Preston's b-day party so we had plenty left over for our own house:)  The kids wrote their final letters to Santa and we placed our cookies and carrots out.  Phew...a lot to remember but of course we skipped nothing.  We hadn't seen Grandma since she had her surgery so the kids LOVED seeing their Tees grandparents and were so sad to see them leave.  Such a perfect Christmas Eve.  Phia was really stuck on wanting a puppy this year as seen in her letter to Santa.  Preston wanted a remote control car and super heros and Bentley was easy...he wanted anything and everything:)!!

2014 Christmas card

This is our 2014 Christmas card. We love how it turned out and cannot believe how fast time is flying.  This year has gone by too fast.  We see how long Preston's legs are, how quickly Sophia is catching on to reading, how Bentley's vocabulary is expanding before our eyes, and how our sweet Olivia is blending right into our family with her outgoing personality and her love of big ole hugs; it amazes us all. 2014 was the year Sophia made the dance team, Preston got his yellow belt in karate, and Bentley started preschool and amazed us all with the ease in which he took it all in.  Olivia literally learned to walk on her own two feet and said "I yaw you" for the first time which melts us a little more each time we hear it...it truly never gets old.  Some days feel more chaotic than others.  Some days are just a big blur.  We have a VERY loud house.  We turn heads whenever we leave the house as a family.  When either of us are alone with all the kids out of the house we are almost guaranteed to get at least one person who asks us "Are they all yours?(and usually the timing of this question isn't the best) an it usually includes a bewildered look(like "why on Earth would you have so many kids?", followed by them trying to calculate all their ages.   It's always fun to confuse nosey strangers:) There is never ever a dull moment and yet we'd have it no different.  This is the life we always wanted.  We are blessed.  God is GREAT!

Preston John's 5th Birthday party!

 We cannot believe our boy is 5.  He's 100% boy 100% of the time except when he's sleeping of course.  His new love is Lego's and thankfully he got a lot of them for his birthday! We had a Scooter's Jungle party and this was his first party inviting friends from class and he was very excited to have them all there.  He also loves Despicable Me so he choose that theme for his party:) He's our most treasured Christmas gift.  He's very inquisitive "Mama do planes fly higher than the sun?", "Does a train go faster than a jet?"and it goes on and on.  He's still attached to his older sister's hip.  They play together nonstop.  He's doing really well at school and can write "Preston John Tees" on his own! Preston is also very passionate and does everything boldly and loudly.  He rarely cries unless  he's REALLLLLLLY hurt and even then he's very brave and barely sheds a tear!  We love you so much Presto and are having a blast watching you grow right before our eyes!