Silly Snowmen

I found these adorable little snowmen at KMart on clearance and the girls have had SOOOOO much fun playing with them. It cracks me up to watch Audrey with them as she's not much taller than they are and she treats them like they're real people, hugging and kissing them, and of course both girls have to dance with them. They've even undressed them! Who'd have guessed these snowmen would be so much fun to play with?! Mommy had envisioned them sitting beside our fireplace, nice winter decorations, but mommy thought wrong!

Christmas in Indiana

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Each year we have a birthday party for Jesus after listening to Daddy read about Jesus's birth in his Bible. Anna loves to decorate for the party just like we do for every other birthday. Of course she had to sing the "Happy Birthday" song in her new microphone. Audrey was excited for the frosting - she LOVES sweets! Too bad vegetables and meat don't taste naturally sweet. And just in case you're wondering... yes, we stayed in our PJ's the entire day; that's another Christmas tradition at our house. :-)

Christmas Videos

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas! We've had a wonderful morning spent opening gifts, eating :), and playing with all the new toys. I hope this day finds everyone healthy and enjoying time with family and friends. I praise the Lord for His Son that has given me hope, freedom, and forgiveness! (I thought I'd try something new to share pictures since there are so many. They're not in any order, sorry, that would've taken too much time!)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Merry Christmas Eve!

Snow Storm

This past Saturday we had 12 inches of snow dumped on us in less than 24 hours. Many people are still without power. We went 3 days without phone or internet service but thankfully our power was only off for a few hours. The snow is so pretty but it sure caused lots of issues.

Preschool Christmas Program

Anna's Preschool Christmas Program was this morning and she did a great job. She had a speaking part and was thrilled to speak into the microphone. I was somewhat nervous that she might clam up when she got up in front of everyone but she didn't thankfully. The two videos are the best I got. The others were very short so I didn't bother uploading them. They had Santa come at the end and he terrified her. As soon as he walked out on stage she melted, ran off the stage sobbing and into Ms. Joy's arms. She then left Ms. Joy and came and sat beside me. The whole Santa thing really frustrated us... it's about Jesus, not Santa!

Christmas Lights

We've never lived in a subdivision where so many houses decorated with lights for Christmas. And our neighbors didn't just put up a few lights... they hired professionals to come line every angle of their houses with lights. Their yards are filled with nativities, carolers, gingerbread men, snowmen, characters on skis, etc. It looks like the North Pole when you step out onto our front porch and look at the neighborhood. The girls love it and it is very cool to see. Just two houses down from us you'll find this beautiful nativity scene. It is the prettiest I've ever seen in someone's yard. This house below has the prettiest Christmas lights in my opinion. I've always been a big fan of white lights.

Miss Climber!

We love sweets!

I love to bake and we all love to eat whatever is made! Anna is a great help in the kitchen, sometimes a little too much. :) I realized while the girls were inhaling these cookies that their shirts said "I love Candy" and "Sweet as Cake". Too funny...

O Christmas Tree

I downloaded a new FREE photo editing program (thanks Missy!) and I love it! It is very user-friendly, has tons of options, and takes the red eye out of pictures really well. I created this picture below of Anna just playing around. Check out the program at www.picasa.google.com.

Snow Day

It snowed yesterday and we had so much fun playing in it! We scratched the "to do" list for the day, bundled up, and headed outside to go sledding with friends. It was a great time!!

A Thankful Weekend

We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend spent at home. Our neighbors and good friends, Chris and Karri, invited us to Thanksgiving dinner with their family and it was great. Audrey had a fun time "killing" the stuffed turkey. :) Anna loves to play with their two boys, Nicholas and Landon, so the girls were wore out by the time we left. Such a beautiful presentation. Karri did a great job! The kiddos did pretty good eating by themselves. The table only got sideways once. :) We had our first snow on Friday morning so we had to make chocolate chip cookies, a family tradition. Audrey thought she would be the big helper. It was nice to just hang out and relax and enjoy one another. We lounged in our PJ's, watched Christmas videos, and ate lots of sweets. :) Photographer Anna took this one...

The Turkey Song

Meatballs

The following story really hit home for me. Since having Audrey, we've worked hard to try to keep things fair between the girls but sometimes it's just not possible and that's ok. I thought this was worth sharing. For some reason it's not posting is a very reader friendly format, sorry! - Meatballs by Jean Blackmer - One night at the dinner table our blonde, curly-haired, 6-year-old son sat remarkably still in his yellow booster seat, carefully examining his plate of spaghetti. He slowly stirred the noodles and sauce around with his little fork. “What’s the matter Jake?” I asked. He looked up at me with his big brown eyes, sighed so deeply his shoulders moved up and down, and said, “Sometimes you get a meatball, sometimes you don’t.” Then he scooped up a forkful of noodles, smiled and started eating. He didn’t get a meatball. And his two brothers got lots of meatballs, but he was willing to accept the fact that tonight he didn’t get a single one. After Jake’s comment I almost jumped up, counted the other boys’ meatballs and gave Jake the same number, just to be fair. But the reality is that sometimes life isn’t fair. Sometimes we lose our jobs, sometimes a family member gets sick, and sometimes even our marriages are difficult. Other times we have plenty. Our children are healthy, our homes are warm, and we have more than enough to eat. The trick is learning to find contentment in any situation. Like Jake said, sometimes you get a meatball and sometimes you don’t.

Princess Breakfast

A few weekends ago Anna and I enjoyed eating pancakes with princesses. It was very crowded but she loved wearing her Cinderella gown (a post-Halloween clearance deal) and having fun with her friends. Anna with her friends Bailey and Gracie Waiting for story time to begin in the "sea" of princesses. She was thrilled to listen to Cinderella read during the story time.

Piggie Tails