A few weeks ago was Ella's art show at kindergarten and she was thrilled to have won an award. We had to have a conversation about getting a 2nd place ribbon instead of 1st, but she can't help it if she's competitive. Her mommy did go to art school after all! We joked with her about how precise her drawing is. That kid couldn't be more obsessive if she wanted to. And note the vigorous use of negative space. She's definitely a "less is more" kind of kid. Of course we managed some pictures with our bestie, Conner, and his super-colorful clown. Sophie was the life of the party (as usual) but was really excited to see Mailie Kate now that's she's in school at not staying with her at Heidi's everyday. She was also pretty impressed that they matched and were both wearing pink and green. ...
ella
Crappiest Christmas Photography Ever
In my defense, we were so preoccupied with enjoying the moment that I didn't take many pictures. I so wanted to see the look on their faces when they opened each gift and couldn't wait to see how they reacted to our surprise, that the camera was kind of an afterthought. Add to that the fact that my camera was a trillion years old and there is absolutely no natural light in our living room and the few pictures I did get are blurry and the color is wonky. Even photoshop couldn't rescue me this time! Just pretend they are beautiful and rest assured that we got the entire morning on video for posterity. Although we managed to get through the entire morning without a single pajama-clad photograph as a family in front our tree, I did set up the tripod as we were walking out the door for lunch ...
Remember Christmas Eve?
Christmas Eve seems like so long ago! We started the day much like we do every year and celebrated Christmas with Josh parents. We were having such a good time that I managed not to sake a single picture of anything significant. No gift opening, no food eating, no family fun, nothing. Just pretend like you saw cute pictures of my kids and their cousin Bella in adorable black Uggs with stockings the size of a small car! We were exhausted when we left, but per tradition, we met my parents and KCory for candlelight communion at our church. When we arrived home we were greeted by three VERY cute, pajama-clad boys who wanted our help spreading reindeer food and getting excited about Santa's arrival. We sprinkled glittery oats all over both yards and ran around squealing for a bit before ...
Our Big Surprise!
My girls were beyond thrilled with their Christmas gift this year. The most exciting part was the instant gratification; we were leaving in two short days! The video of them "opening" their gift is precious, but we've been celebrating Christmas, taking down our tree, packing and driving for the last 72 hours, so I haven't had time to even think about uploading images and video yet. I have plans to fill your January full of Christmas cheer and our Disney Experience, so bear with us just a few more days. We are currently soaking up the Happiest Place on Earth with our favorite two people in the world! ...
The Big Guy
On Sunday after church, we spontaneously decided to run into town and have a visit with Santa. Josh thought I was crazy for braving a weekend at the mall, but I was crossing my fingers for an easy adventure. Much to my delight, we found a parking spot right next to the door and there was nobody in line when we got to Santa's village! Sophie immediately started crying as soon as she saw him and was yelling about not sitting in his lap. Man, I love this part of Christmas! Y'all know I don't really want my children to cry or be unhappy, right? I just think the crying Santa photos are so stinking cute! She did eventually give him a high-five and tell him what she wanted for Christmas (a blue bicycle and a purple umbrella), but still wasn't happy about sitting with him. Ella, on the other hand, ...
October Revisited
So, it's December 4th and I haven't really blogged since mid-October. Sure, there have been some P365/weekly updates and a few "thankful" posts, but you don't even know how my children dressed up for Halloween! I figured before we could move on into the holiday season, I needed to at least mention the end of October, right? I decided to go the easy route with pumpkins this year. For whatever reason, I'm struggling to keep up in all areas of parenting / creativity / holidays, etc. We didn't make it to the pumpkin patch and I just couldn't force myself to carve pumpkins. I know, I'm a Scrooge. I asked the girls how they felt about painting pumpkins and they were pretty enthusiastic. Aside from the acrylic paint that won't come out of my wool rug, I'll count it a success. We even managed to ...
thankful
I'm thankful that yesterday I had over 100 wishes / messages / emails / phone calls / hugs / songs to celebrate my birthday. I'm thankful that when I walked in the back door Sophie yelled "It's YOU birthday!" and did a little jig. I'm thankful that my mom made my most favorite dinner and that I got some pretty special gifts. I'm thankful that Ella monopolized the dinner conversation as usual. I'm thankful that I'm really only 33, even though I spent the entire day thinking I was 34. I'm thankful that I left my parents' house with a to-go plate for lunch today, may the carb-fest never end! I'm thankful that I came home with my precious family to our little rock house. I'm thankful that no matter how high the thermostat reads, it's always a little chilly in the fall and winter. I'm thankful ...
Monday’s Plan
When I left work yesterday, my plan for the evening sounded like this: Pick up the girls from Gran's. An early bath time. A little fall decorating (since we have done NONE at our house). Homework and prep for day two as "Leader of the Week" for Ella. Boil some chicken and make homemade chicken salad for dinner and lunches this week. Make pom-poms for Ella's Halloween costume. Fold a few loads of laundry. Read until bedtime. I should probably mention that Josh had an away game tonight, so the plan was centered around his absence in our home. Traffic wasn't too bad today and I got to my mom's about twenty minutes ahead of schedule. This bodes well for the evening's plans, right? Ella is so excited to tell me all about her first day as the leader, but seems a ...