It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We had our first Santa sighting tonight at the Salado Christmas stroll!

Elfie made a return trip from the North Pole to keep an eye on these Watkins kiddos!

Christmas decor is popping up all over the house.  ;-)

Tis the season to be jolly!  Fa la la la la, la la la la la!

Holy dog hair, Batman!

Our poor dog was in desperate need of haircut.  He used to go to a groomer in Round Rock, but I think she was super mean to him so I tried to switch him to a new groomer in Salado.  Well, maybe because of his past experience with mean groomer, he kinda bit the new, nice groomer.  OK, not kinda.  He really bit her.  As a result, he was banned from the new groomer.  Who needs one though?  Mama bought some pet clippers at Target and got busy hacking away tonight.  Gotta say, I am pretty pleased with the results.  And Herky, he was PERFECT while I was grooming him.  I actually think he kinda enjoyed it.  ;-)  

Check out that pile of hair!!!  He might need a Christmas sweater now that I chopped off all his insulation.

Who's a happy dog?

BTW, for those of you wondering...Herky got his name from the University of Iowa's mascot, Herky the Hawkeye.  We got him two weeks before we left Iowa, so we thought it would be a good way to remember our year there.  Anyway, that's the story.  It isn't short for Hercules and it's not Turkey.  

Bananas for birthdays!

I never posted the pictures from Blake's 3rd birthday, but it was soooo cute!!  I found adorable monkey supplies at Dollar Tree months before his birthday, so I snagged them before they sold out.  Most of the stuff came from there, so it was pretty affordable.  We had a great time celebrating with family and friends!   

The invitation.  I LOVE Vistaprint.  You can customize any invitation or upload your own design.  This design worked perfectly with the color scheme.  

Burlap, paint and ribbon = endless possibilities for party signs!

Found these awesome monkeys at Dollar Tree and wrapped their arms around a banana for party favors.  

I wish I had the talent to make these cookies, but I'm not that good.  ;-)

Three little monkeys sittin' on a wreath...

All the mantel decor was found at Dollar Tree

Uncle Bink is SUCH a good sport.  ;-)

These lanterns became decorations in Aubrey's bedroom after the party was over.  

Blake was a big fan of the cookies.  

 Our precious little monkey

Wonder what he wished for?

No caption needed.

Yay for matching bouncy houses!  

There was definitely no jumping on the bed after his party; our little monkey passed smooth out.  ;-)

Turkey baby

11/22/06...this little turkey entered our lives.  She came the day before Thanksgiving, so my mom and Uncle Kerri brought me Thanksgiving dinner to the hospital.  I can NOT believe that was SIX years ago!  Today we went and did the Turkey trot with Nanny and GG Dada and then had breakfast at the Hyatt.  Our waiter snagged a cupcake off the dessert buffet table and sung Happy Birthday to our girl.  It was super cute.  The turkey trot is a tradition we look forward to every year.  After that we headed to Uncle Kerri's new house where he had prepared an amazing spread for lunch.  We spent time with the whole gang, including new baby cousin, Harper.  I am pretty sure this may have been the BEST Thanksgiving ever.  Unfortunately, Dave had to work, but it was such a relaxed and fun day.  We are thankful for so many things in our lives.   

We celebrated Addy's birthday last weekend at the Sugar Shack in Salado.  She has such a sweet group of little friends and they had a great time jumping around.  They got sacks at the end to fill up with whatever candy they wanted...pretty much a kid's dream if you ask me.  Not sure the parents totally appreciated us sending their kids home on a sugar high, but oh well.  I forgot my camera, so this is the only picture I have....I know, terrible.  BUT, Dave's dad and another mom took some for me.  ;-)  I love helpers.

Deactivated.

My facebook account, that is.  and it feels good.  Now back to blogging for the main reason I started in the first place, to keep a virtual scrapbook for my family.  For my family.  Because someday, my kids will read this.  and I want them to remember the happy times.