I have been a slacker, not posting every day. I am going to start posting every day again, and attempt to go back and catch us up ! Thanks for sharing in my miracles every day!

Friday, December 31, 2010

Food, Fun, and Fireworks...my kind of New Year's Eve!





We had a great evening with our good friends, the K's. We had a lot of food, a lot of fun, and a lot of fireworks. It was a really great night!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

FEED ME


So, baby girl has become an eating machine. I can not shovel food in to her fast enough. She wants to eat everything, and we've yet to come across something she won't eat. At Costco, she attacked a hot dog bun. So far she seems to be doing well with everything new she comes across. What a fun time with baby girl!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Storm clouds



The sky was weirdly orange today. The clouds actually, made everything reflect orange. It was very strange. This picture does not even really do it justice. I said "why is the sky orange?" and the boy said (complete with southern accent?!) "There's a storm a'commin Momma!" It was too stinkin' cute.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Self Portrait...sort of...and a collage of Christmas cheer!


I was playing around with my webcam when the boy pushed this button and took my picture. So, it was a sort of self portrait! The boy told me I looked "pretty...for a mom." Too funny! Here is a collage of Christmas pics I took this year. It is a collection of my favorites, though no where near all of the pictures we took! Hope everyone's holiday was Merry and Bright!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Baby girl loves her Nana!

Baby girl was all smiles for her Nana. She had a great first Christmas, full of love, holiness, and family. And, of course, a few presents thrown in!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Toofers!




Baby girl cut her first two teeth today! They definitely were NOT there yesterday. It's kind of hard to see in the picture, she does not like us touching them and did not want to open her mouth, but there they are, on the bottom. She is getting to be such a big girl.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmas day





Christmas was wonderful. The kids enjoyed every minute of it. Baby girl was just excited to be a part of all of it, and big brother was VERY excited to ride his big boy bike from Santa. He did not want any help, he literally just got on and went! It was amazing. I am so thankful to be able to share these moments with my family.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Baby girl's first Christmas Eve





Baby girl got to open up her first pair of Christmas Eve jammies tonight. She seems more interested in the wrapped packages, she actually gets a little perturbed when we open them. She doesn't want to rip the paper, she just wants to look at it. She did like the jammies though, she kept waving them around and shrieking. Both hers and the boy's jammies have monkeys on them, so they match but they are not "matchy." We opened jammies, then put our special ornaments on the tree, put out cookies for Santa, read "The Night Before Christmas" and the story of Jesus' birth from Luke, checked Norad for Santa's progress, and put the kids to bed. It was a GREAT evening.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Funny faced friends


Our good friends came over for our weekly dinner/movie night, and made a funny face totem pole with the boy. It's amazing to find friends who you are so instantly comfortable with. They are so similar to us, and yet very different. They are fun, funny, talented, and they are SO good with the kids. It's nice to have such good friends around.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I get by with a little help from my friends....and my favorite photo editing software!





You might remember this picture of the boy and his best little buddy from the other day. Well, I got to editing it, and I just LOVE it. I can't believe how sweet they are. I was thinking, wouldn't it be amazing if they really did end up getting married some day? They met when they were 2. It just seems so unfathomable that they might actually spend their whole lives together...Hmmm we shall see.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Winter solstice/Lunar eclipse







The moon was amaz- ingly bright last night, and as time progr- essed it got darker and darker. I went outside to get pict- ures several times, and it was amaz- ing how much darker it was each time. Kind of a meta- phor for sin, eh? I was too much of a chicken to stay outside and contemplate it too much. (It was stinkin' dark!) I did, however, make up a haiku about it.
Winter Solstice Night
Full moon eclipsed by shadow
Light turns into dark

Monday, December 20, 2010

Cookies for friends









For FHE we made cookies and decorated them for friends. We delivered all but one, and we had a lot of fun doing it. The boy took it very seriously. I had written "Love, the ....'s" on all of them, before the boy told me that he wanted to "put them on the doorstep and run away. Like elves." So he was in charge of delivering each plate. He got to take the first plate to his best little buddy (and future wife...according to them) and her family, including their new little baby who is one week old. We also took some to the missionaries, to our family's best buds, and to Nana. We have one more plate for another family but they weren't home tonight. The boy and I will finish frosting and delivering the rest tomorrow. What a fun way to spend the evening!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Family Christmas Portraits



We took these before church today, in front of our tree, and then in front of the church. We got all spiffied up today for Christmas, though we probably will next week too! I love to be matchy matchy for church. I know it's a sickness, really, but my poor long suffering husband puts up with it and participates.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Shop Party




Some friends of ours have a Christmas party every year in their shop/garage. They decorate redneck style, and put up tables and chairs, and we eat, visit, and do a white elephant exchange. It is a lot of fun, and we are really glad they invite us every year, even though they have parred down the guest list by half since last year!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Preschool Christmas Party



The boy's preschool had a Christmas party today. The kids did some songs, and finger plays, and did a felt board nativity. They gave the parents presents the kids made, and we had cupcakes and punch. It was fun, but of course my kid was the one picking his nose the whole time!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

The journey...


I've always heard that life is not about the destination, it's about the journey. Today that was definitely true. We were headed to meet some friends, and I got lost on the way to their house. I ended up going down this road several times, frustrated, in a hurry, and looking frantically for the street sign (it had blown down...) when I finally looked around at the view...amazing! Totally worth being a few minutes late.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Boy soup


What does it say about me as a parent, that when the boy got himself good and stuck in this pot, I ran for the camera before helping him get unstuck?!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Chatty cathy


Baby girl is a talkative little booger. She says "Momma," "Daddy," "Bubba," (brother), "Yum Yum," "milk," and today she said "Bye Bye Daddy," "Bye Bye Momma," and "peek a boo!" BUT as advanced as she is linguistically, she has no desire WHAT SO EVER to crawl it would seem. She doesn't really even seem to try. She can sit up, roll over, and lift herself up on her arms, but she never tries to get up on her knees. The boy was not saying much at this age, but he was quite mobile... It's interesting how different kids can be.

Monday, December 13, 2010

My mini-nin!


The boy got "Despicable Me" as an early Christmas present, and he LOVES it. I had never heard of it, but it is really cute. It came with an inflatable minion, and he has been carrying it around all day. He calls it "my mini-nin" and he even snuggled up to sleep with it. He is such a cutie. He has been saying and doing lots of cute things lately. For example, the other day he started saying something that sounds like "hee-haw-so." He said it over and over. Finally I asked him "where did you hear that?" and he shruggingly said "I made it up." I asked what it means and he said "Dance." Now whenever he says it he says it in a loud stage whisper, and he does the Beyonce "Single Ladies" dance when he says it. I don't know where he gets these things, but I love that he does!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Sunday is a fun day




We took these pictures before church today. The boy jumped up on that light pole and I just loved how it looked. Very "singing in the rain." The boy took the picture with Daddy in it. We didn't have any one to take a picture of all of us handy, so you'll just have to imagine!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Santa's little helper


Santa Daddy made an appearance at the ward Christmas party tonight. The boy was excited to be his helper. He was in charge of giving out the candy and toys after the kids visited Santa. The boy took this very seriously. He NEVER told anyone who Santa was, even when the big kids were trying to get it out of him, he handed everyone a candy cane and a toy, and told them "Merry Christmas." He was a great helper.