Friday Favorites: Top 5 Blog Edition

Happy last Friday of 2016!!!!!!! 

This year has flown by, and after recent celebrity deaths, the presidential election, and the passing of mine and DJ's grandmothers, I'm ready for this year to be over!!!! I'll be blogging a few recap posts next week, but today, I wanted to share my top 5 favorite blog posts for 2016!

1. Hello Fall

I shared my fall decorations in September, and it was one of the favorite posts ever!

2. Hair Bugs

Nobody likes to talk about Hair Bugs, but back in September, I shared our remedy for treating Hair Bugs and how we prevent them now! 

3. Back to School

In August, we headed back to school! I shared our decorations and back to school traditions as well as first day pictures! Our "Let's Talk: School Days" post also got lots of attention this year! 

And, right now, I can't even believe that we're halfway through the school year! 

4. Home Tour

In July, I linked up with Momfessionals for a little Home Tour! I always think it's so fun to peek in to people's home and see how everyone decorates!

5. Momfessional Moments

And in January, I shared some Momfessional Moments..... which may or may not be my finest motherhood moments. 

To my loyal readers, thank you so much for your love and support. I'm so thankful that you take time out of your day to check in to my little blog. It means the world to me. 

Christmas Day

 We were up bright and early on Christmas morning!

Gretchen and Megan woke up first and since DJ and I stayed up so late the night before, we tried to get them to go back to sleep, or at least stay upstairs for a bit longer..... I made the mistake of telling them that we had to wait on Adalyn to wake up before we opened presents, so guess what they did. The woke up Adalyn. 

We had two excited kids, and one very tired kid. 

Plus, two tired parents. 

Several years ago, my mom bought us a pickle ornament. The pickle tradition originated in Germany (I think) and the parents are suppose to hide the pickle on Christmas Eve and the first child to find the pickle gets to open the very first Christmas present. The girls were pumped to find the pickle, but we forgot to hide it! Megan knew right where it was and neither one of them realized that we didn't actually hide it. 

So, Megan opened the very first present on Christmas morning. 

And the other two waited as patient as they could. 

Megan has been asking for a robe for about a month. I kind of thought it was a fluke, and then Christmas Eve day, I went to Target to pick up a few extra things and decided to get Megan a robe! She was so excited! And, it's Hello Kitty, which she loves for some reason. 

I didn't wrap everything this year, and Adalyn went right for her doll high chair. I love that this highchair clips right to the table. 

The girls continued to take turn opening presents. 

Megan also received a tumbling mat so she can safely practice her gymnastics. 

Gretchen learned to play chess in her gifted class this fall, and she asked for a chess game for Christmas! 

She was so excited!

And while we were in Branson over Thanksgiving, Gretchen was so sweet to buy each of her sisters a present with her own money. She gave Adalyn a Little Mermaid cup. 

Gretchen also received chapter books. 

And Megan received American Girl legos

Adalyn received an American Girl doll carrier. 

And Gretchen received the microscope she had been asking for. 

Both Megan and Adalyn received a Baby Alive. 

We made sure to get each girl a doll that matched their hair color, but it's the same style of doll, so they could play with them together!

And Gretchen received a new Barbie. 

DJ bought me several books that I had been asking for. 

And he received some new Adidas clothes to wear to work. 

And, I'm pretty proud of myself, because he also received the DVD set of the Cubs World Series games!

All of the girls received Pie Face! 

And, I received the Roomba that I had been asking for! We're running it every day and I know it's going to be a major time saver for me!

Once all of the gifts were opened, we opened stockings! The girls received pencils, goggles for our Disney cruise, and gift certificates to the movies and for ice cream. 

Oh yes, she did a "dab". 

And, I saved DJ's big gift for last. He had been asking for a new Fit Bit. 

After presents, the girls played for a while, DJ and I rested and cleaned up and we waited on my mom and stepdad to arrive. Once they arrived, we opened presents. 

The girls asked to play Pie Face right away, but we held them off until after dinner. 

DJ and Gretchen played a round of chess. She wanted to teach me how to play, but it's way over my head!

My niece is joining the Navy and she got each of the girls hair bows made from Navy uniforms. They were so excited to have them!

And then the girls opened presents from my mom.... new pj's, a Wellie Wishers doll, and Gretchen received Laura Ingalls books, and the little girls received doll carriers. 

I received a new pair of boots!

And a Ninja Nutri Bullet! 

And then we let Gee and PaPaw open their presents! 

Megan rested for a while with her new doll, and new pillow and blanket! 

While the girls played, we got to work in the kitchen baking pies, making cheese balls, and slicing sausage and gourmet cheese to snack on. 

My brother and sister in law arrived, and we opened gifts from each other.... and for some reason, my brother thought it was a smashing idea to have these duck feather earrings made for me. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging around. The girls went for a walk with my mom. I'm pretty sure my brother had a nap. We played with one of my stepdad's gifts, played a few games, and set up my mom's new iPad. 

We had dinner, and then we played Pie Face! 

The girls LOVED getting smashed in the face with whipped cream! 

After getting super messy, the girls had baths and we put them to bed, while we watched a movie.

Our day was full of family, and it was perfect!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas too!