Merry Christmas!

She Just Makes Me Smile

November Rewind

November came and went, and I can't believe December is already here! Here is a quick review of some November highlights.

Anna Lee's school put on a Thanksgiving program before the holiday break. It was my first time to get to see Anna Lee in a program, and I have to say, after being on the other side, I loved it! I was definitely one of those parents who was waving at their child. How can you not??? Anna Lee searched and searched for us, and once she found where we were sitting, she sang away(you can see her find us in the first picture). My sister, my mom, and Jim's parents also came to the program. It was so sweet of them to come. It made me laugh at what a fuss we all made over 3 songs that took no more than two minutes combined to sing. But when it's your "baby," that's what you do!

Anna Lee was dressed as a cute little pilgrim. They had sent home a sheet with the songs the kids were supposed to sing. The packet they sent home had four papers stapled together with the song lyrics on the front and back of the sheets. Anna Lee and I worked and worked on memorizing all of those songs....all 12 of them. It wasn't until the day before the program that I realized I had been teaching her all of the songs for the 2's...the 3's...the 4's...the 5's...and pre-K. Anna Lee was PREPARED for the show! Poor thing was probably wondering why in the world she wasn't singing all 10 other songs up on the stage!

The day after Thanksgiving, Jim's whole family went to a neat Homestead craft fair/farm. (I don't remember the name of it.) It was a huge working farm run by a group that lives a very simple life, similar to Amish groups. There were tons of really neat things to do. The kids got to pet live animals, make crafts, listen to music groups, see demonstrations, ride a hayride, etc.

J.D. having fun with Pops

Making a soap ball

Pulling taffy

Rolling oats

The whole gang getting ready for the hayride

As soon as Thanksgiving was over, we moved into "Musical Mode." The past two years, my sister Kasey and I have directed the kids' musical at our church. It is one of my favorite things to do. I love getting to teach about music and God's love with my sister, working with an awesome team of friends (including my sweet husband), and getting to know and love a great group of elementary kids. This year's musical was this past Saturday night. I feel like I am finally able to take a breath now that it is over. This year's musical was called "Angels Aware," and the kids were all dressed like beautiful angels, telling about Jesus going to earth. I was so proud of all of the kids, and what an incredible job they did. It has been such a blessing to watch a group like these little 1st through 5th graders put a show like that together. And it has taught me a great deal this year about our need for Jesus, and the true reason we celebrate.

Let's Go to the Movies!

A couple of weeks ago, I took Anna Lee and J.D. down to San Antonio for the week. We had grand plans of a great week with lots of fun activities. Unfortunately, we all got a stomach bug while we were there, so we spent more time at my parents' house than out shopping and playing. But one fun thing we did get to do was go to see Toy Story in the theater! Anna Lee had never been to a movie theater before, so this was a real treat for her. She was amazed at how big the screen was, and she still talks about how she got to get popcorn, M&Ms, and a "Diet Coke." (Sprite) The movie was in 3D, so we had to wear glasses the whole time (or at least we were supposed to).

J.D. even enjoyed watching it...for a while.

So much fun! Now if they would just put Sleeping Beauty back in the theaters, we would have the happiest girl alive!

Happy Late Halloween!

I had every intention of getting these pictures downloaded last week. But after a trip to San Antonio with no camera battery charger or cord to connect to the computer (and two kids with a stomach bug), I couldn't get the pictures off of my camera until today.

We had such a fun Halloween week! It was busy, filled with fun activities and lots of friends.

My friend, Julie and I decided to take our kids to a pumpkin patch one day. It was supposed to be the greatest day for our kids, filled with wonderful memories of an amazingly fun outing. Just wishful thinking by two moms. It was such a cold day...and there were HUNDREDS of kids there! I mean, really! There were so many school buses there. We both had our babies in strollers, trying to keep them happy and warm, and were chasing after two toddlers who were excited about the pumpkins and animals. We got done and we were exhausted. The kids seemed to have fun, even though their moms were stressed out.

When the kids got their food for the animals, they spent most of their time doing this: pouring it from one cup to another. We kept trying to encourage them to actually feed the animals...but this seemed to be much more fun.

Picking out her pumpkin

This was sadly the best picture I could get of Anna Lee and J.D. together




Anna Lee had a fun Fall party at her school. We have loved her new school this year. Her teacher, Mrs. Carrie, is super sweet and great with all of the kids.

Making a ghost craft

Halloween night, we got everyone dressed up and met up with some friends and our neighbors to walk to a carnival they had in our neighborhood. We had a great time. They had a bounce house, games, cotton candy, a cake walk, face painting, etc. The kids seemed to have a really fun time together...and the adults did too!

I thought this picture was so funny. Don't they both look ready to have a great time?!? J.D.'s monkey feet make me laugh every time.

J.D. was awake for a few minutes at the beginning....

and then was fast asleep for a good bit of the evening.

Anna Lee had a blast. She jumped and jumped in the bounce house, and then enjoyed playing the games and getting her face painted...with a ladybug.

The babies enjoyed the carnival together from the stroller.

Off to Trick or Treat. Anna Lee had so much fun with that this year. It was the first year that she had really understood the concept that she could go to someone's door, say "Trick or Treat," and she would get candy in return. What a deal!

Notice the hand holding. They are too much. The costumes seemed to make them extra cute all together.

What a fun Halloween! Now time to get ready for Thanksgiving!

Trunk or Treat!

This past Sunday night, our church had Trunk or Treat. I always love this event. Everyone decorates their trunk with a theme (some of the favorites this year were the Polar Express, a school, a mad scientist lab, the Veggie Tales, etc.) and the kids get to go from trunk to trunk and get candy. It is so fun to see the kids in the cute costumes...and just as much fun to see all of the creative trunks people decorate. This year, Anna Lee dressed up as a ladybug and J.D. dressed up as a monkey. Anna Lee originally wanted to be a princess (surprise, surprise), but I was able to squeeze one more year of a non-princess costume out of her.
Anna Lee had even more fun this year, since she really understood the fact that she was going to get candy out of the deal. She was wired for a LONG time when she got home...there is NO telling how much candy she ate!

We decorated our trunk like a jungle this year, with a bunch of bananas around our little monkey. We passed the bananas out along with candy. J.D. did a great job sitting in the trunk, and was completely mesmerized by the bananas...and eventually the candy too.

We had so much fun with a bunch of our family getting to come on Sunday night. Kasey, GranDee and Pops, and Mom-Mom and Grandad were all able to be there with us. It made it even more fun!

But the happiest kid of all was this little one when we finally took his hot costume off. One can only be a cute monkey for so long.

More Halloween fun to come this week!