Our own Radiator Springs!

It has been almost a whole month since Carley's birthday party and I am just now getting pictures up!! Pretty pitiful, I know!! ;)

We had such a great party again this year (last year was Dora!)!!! Carley's favorite movie EVER is Disney/Pixar's CARS!! She watches it all the time and quotes lines from it religiously... like "Aw, Dang!" and "She only likes me for my body!" It is so funny to hear her say them and then giggle right afterwards!

So, Chris and I came up with the idea to have a CARS birthday party. Chris made 6 of the characters from the movie out of cardboard copy paper boxes and then painted them to look like each character (Lightning, Mator, Sally, Chick, Doc, and King.) We then marked off a race track and the kids wore the cars as they raced around the track. It was sooooo much fun and the kids all had a blast! We had the party in the indoor practice facility at Chris' school, so there was also lots of other fun things for them to do.... like swing on the rings, role down the practice mats, kick soccer balls, jump on mats, and mainly just run around the place like crazy!

Here are some pics.....

Our baby is 4 years old!

Carley is a big 4 year old now!!!!!! I just can't believe it. Her personality is changing again and it is so funny to watch her and listen to her now. She sounds so grown up when she talks and is starting to pretend play with things like puppets and barbies and such. Our threes were filled with drama-drama-drama... we can't wait to see what the fours bring!! We love you Carley-bear!!!!!

Here are her birthday pictures we took at Kiddie Kandids last week. I illegally copied them off the email they sent me for re-ordering, but considering only a few people actually read our blog (Hi Stephanie and Ronna!) I don't think they will come after me with an arrest warrant. The pics are a bit blurry, though, to keep criminals like myself from printing them, but you can still see how cute they are. ;) (She had a FANTASTIC birthday party! I will post those pictures soon! )

Santa Came!!!!

Christmas morning was so much fun! My sister's family spent the night at mom and dad's also, so there were gifts and toys everywhere!! We were a bit surprised at Carley's reaction to the "trampoline with a handle" (that's what she kept calling it to us and what she told Santa)... she was happy but didn't go crazy like we thought. As she woke up a bit more, she began to get more excited. I had to wake Campbell up, but perked up pretty quick when he saw all the commotion in Nana and Papa's living room! :)



So, after four straight days of opening gifts, Carley and Campbell's loot had our minivan packed to the roof! We even had to leave Steve and Stan with Nana and Papa for a couple of days because there was no room for them. Poor doggies! They brought them home to us when they came up on Dec 29 for Carley's birthday party!!

Christmas is so much fun, I just love it! As hectic and crazy as it gets with us packing, traveling, packing again and traveling again..... it is all definitely worth it!!!!!!

Christmas in the East

On Christmas Eve we left the south and headed north to celebrate Christmas in the east!! Ughh...what? We went to Nana and Papa's house in Whitehouse for Christmas Eve and to celebrate my Dad's birthday (also on Christmas Eve). We actually got there in plenty of time to relax a little before church. Church was really neat because our whole family took up an entire church pew!! How awesome is that! Here we all are... dad is walking through the doors in the back.

Whitehouse United Methodist Church

Christmas eve was fun as always. My Aunt Mable and cousin Amanda and her husband, Danny, can over with their sweet baby girl, Jaycee! She is sooo cute! Almost cute enough to make us want another one ourselves.... but NOT QUITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (No offense, "CeCe"). We celebrated Dad's birthday, went to look at Christmas lights, and then got ready for Santa! Carley almost didn't make it to bed in time, but no worries.... she and Campbell drifted off to sleep just in time!

"CeCe"

Mom, Dad and MableMy other pics of the kids came out too dark! Except for this cutie-patootie picture of "BriBri" (My sister's daughter) refusing to go to sleep Christmas Eve!

Christmas down South

Hello Everyone! The Pawlak's had a FANTASTIC Christmas this year! We were away from home almost an entire week, but it was a great time for all of us!
We started the holiday season with Chris' extended family in El Campo, Texas (an hour south of Sealy).

Chris' mom, Leona, brother Daryl and fiance Danielle,

and other brother Brian's kids Alexis, Claire and Alden

The cutest family in the WORLD!
Great Grandma and Grandpa with ALL the grandkids and their spouses... no do you see why we have a White Elephant exchange on this side verses buying presents for everyone?? ;)

The next day, December 23, we had Christmas with Leona and Chris' brothers at Leona's house. His sister, Angie, and kids came over that morning as well. Carley and Campbell had a great time playing with their new toys! Thanks so much Grandma, Uncle Daryl and Aunt Danielle!!

Next stop.... Nana and Papa's house!