Santa...Shopping...Saturday Fun!

We took the littles to visit Santa today at the same studio where we've done Santa pics since Grace was 8 months old...I love tradition!

But oh my, why is it that any official picture day = cRAzy around here???! I mean seriously! The littles were WILD this morning, fighting and picking on each other like there was no tomorrow. But thankfully the promise of candy canes helped them do a 180° and we got some sweet smiles after all.

We went to lunch at one of my favorite lunch places...Newk's!  Newk's Favorite Salad = DELISH!! If you have a Newk's near you and you haven't tried this salad, you are missing out! Go now! Your taste buds will thank you.

I took the littles on shopping trips today. Separately so they could pick out a little Christmas gift for each other. Grace went with me first. Poor thing. She is so animated, just talking and dancing and twirling and not watching...next thing I know this happened:

Yup, it was Grace v. the Old Navy buggy. The buggy won.  It started swelling right away. Thankfully a bottle of Fiji water made for a great ice pack...and Rainbow Magic Fairy books make *anything* better. Love this sweet little pumpkin. She was a trooper and didn't want to go home.  

She said we had "important things to do", so off we went to a few more stores. She did great picking out something that I know Hudson will love. And as we were walking around, I saw them. It was love at first sight. The little pumpkin declared them "soft like but-tah" and "the perfect caramel shade to go with everything". Those were her exact words and then she told me to take a picture and send it to Daddy - ha! She is so her mother's daughter!

We turned the corner and then she spotted her fave. She doesn't have bad taste!

And then I took Hudson with me.  He has such a great big heart. He kept finding more and more things "that I know my sister will like"..."I have to get this for her, it will make my sister smile." So cute how he doesn't use her name when he is talking about her to me. It's always "my sister" or "my sister Grace", but never just Grace.

But don't ask him to keep a secret! I told him we wanted to surprise Grace on Christmas morning with the gift he picked out, so we couldn't tell her what it was. And as soon as we walked in the door he ran to her excitedly, gave her a great big hug and told her what he'd gotten her. Oh well...it's the thought that counts, right???

We stopped by Bath & Body Works on our way out and that is where I found heaven in a jar. Oh my, seriously. No words. I've now had this candle burning a couple of hours and our whole house smells DIVINE! Must.go.back.for.more.tomorrow. Thank you Hudson for wanting to smell every.single.candle. That is how we found this little gem!

And I have a new crush. A serious, can't-get-it-out-of-my-head crush. An I've-already-created-a-brand-new-room-around-it crush. This. Swoon! Need!

In a whiny, three year old voice, "But San-ta...I've been really, really, really, REALLY good this year!!" hahahaha!  Happy Saturday!