Christmas Day!

We could not contain the excitement of this little girl Christmas morning! It was wonderfully after 7 am which I was thrilled about because this girl is usually up at 6. Here she is anxiously awaiting to go downstairs to see if anything from her list was waiting under the tree.

Her Christmas wish list:

- A Dora doll with Boots in a stroller

- Beauty and the Beast DVD

- A chocolate snowman

- and a candy cane

I love how simple her list was. She saw the Dora doll in an ad way back at the beginning of November. She decided that is what she wanted and added the other 3 things and stuck with it all the way until Christmas. When I was little I think I changed my mind a million times. I admire her decisiveness!

Well what do you know! She got what she wished for!

Chocolate snowman and all.

Zack was just excited to be there with all of the wrapping paper to play with. And he loved his new presents too. We needed some new baby toys. It seems like all Anna played with at this stage was toothpaste tubes and Listerine bottles.

This boy loves balls. He has been chasing these around the house ever since. Grandma G gave him a musical ball popper that makes him so happy. Anna and her friends play with it all the time too. In fact, Anna even has a dance made up to the music it plays.

Gotta love the thumb!

Anna was excited to pose with Dora by the tree.

Zack's new horse from Grandma Mary was a hit. Zack loves it, but I think Anna loves it even more. (see Anna crying on the ground in picture below)

It was a truly magical day! Mid-day it started snowing. Which is a big deal around here. They hadn't had a white Christmas since 1960 or something. So after lunch Anna and Dave bundled up and went out and played in the snow.

She was almost as excited as she was Christmas morning! They made snow angels and a snowman and she had a blast. Until snow got in her glove. Then that was it. Time to come in for hot cocoa.And that's it for pictures because unfortunately I dropped our camera at this point. Well, I put it on the fireplace mantel and it fell off. kaput! It was time for a new camera anyway I guess! An extra after Christmas present. No I didn't get a fancy one like I want, just your basic point and shoot, but it's great!

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve

We had a fun Christmas Eve with our little family and friends this year. Of course we made cookies for Santa. Anna was a great helper and looked so cute in her apron. Especially from the back.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished products. But I assure you, they were spectacular. Anna made a triple-decker cookie for Santa. Then Anna sprinkled glitter on our lawn to help the reindeer see our house. We got cleaned up and headed to our good friends, the Wards, for a Christmas Eve party. This is a good one of Zack and Dave waiting to leave for the festivities.

And we had to get some pictures by the tree before we left, because I had a hunch everyone might be a little too excited and/or sleepy when we got home.

At the Wards we had a great dinner with about 30 other people. It was so fun and they are so wonderful to host this each year. We won't know what to do next year when they're gone! After dinner we did the nativity and Anna was an angel. For some reason she was okay with not being Mary this time.

We came home from our fun evening, left cookies and milk out for the big guy and carrots for his reindeer, got in our new Christmas jammies and snuggled up for a long winter's nap. And that twas our night before Christmas this year!

It's Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Christmas is in the air and I LOVE it! My favorite time of year got even better when I became a mom. It's so magical and joyful and I get excited about it in October. Although this year it just doesn't seem like it could possibly be the end of November yet.

Even before Thanksgiving, we got into the Christmas spirit. What better way to kick off the season than the Festival of Trees? First things first, meet with the big guy! Anna was excited and shy with Santa. And this was Zack and Santa's first meeting. It didn't go over well. Zack stared at him for a good 90 seconds without moving.
After his analysis was complete it was easy to tell that Santa did not pass. Zack did not approve. His serious face became squishy and sad and the waterworks began.
Maybe he'll go over better next year with Zack. Anna however, still loved Santa and Mrs. Claus and especially the elf because she's the one that gave her a candy cane.

Anna loved all of the other activities. She made lots of crafts and even got a Christmas Tree painted on her face. Which was the result of a major meltdown the next morning before church when she realized it had washed off in the tub.

That night we went on a little "Christmas Stroll" at a little shopping village nearby. We met some carolers and even got to see Santa AGAIN! Lucky girl!

This past week Anna and I had fun putting together a Christmas Box for a child in a 3rd world country. We found fun toys she would like, some treats, and hygiene stuff like toothbrushes and combs. It was a lot of fun and Anna got really excited about it, even though she really wanted some of the candy in there!

We wrapped it all up.

And dropped it off here. To add to this awesome stack of boxes.

I couldn't help but get a little emotional when I saw this. (There were even more boxes lined up against the other wall.) And this is only one church of many across the country collecting the boxes. I can only imagine the happiness and joy they will bring when they get to their destination. I love finding pockets of goodness in this crazy mixed up world of ours. It's so important to me to teach my children to give and help others and this was a great opportunity to do just that. Anna really loved it and I hope we are able to do it every year.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. I thought November was going to be dreadful because Dave was working nights all month, but it wasn't too bad. Luckily I have these two adorables to help keep me company. Here's a brief glance of our Thanksgiving festivities this year.

Anna had a little Thanksgiving feast at her preschool and she loved her little pilgrim outfit. I got to go for the feast and it was so cute to see the kids all decked out in their Thanksgiving getups. I love her school.

Anna is really into arts and crafts these days. She wants to do them all day long and she would if I had enough supplies and patience. It's so fun to see her creativity blossom lately. We made several Thanksgiving projects, but this turkey hat was her fav.

We had some fun Thanksgiving snacks too. She loves this kind of stuff. She really eats it up. (ha-ha-ha)

I don't have a picture of it, but we did a little "Thankful Tree" and it was fun thinking about and talking about all that we are grateful for. Every day Anna would say "I'm thank you for...." I never corrected her because I thought it was so darn cute. But I'm sorry to say that Dora made Anna's list before me, Dave, or Zack. We just can't compete with that little explorer and her monkey.

On Thanksgiving day, Dave came home and slept while Anna "helped" me cook. We went to our friends, the Blackhams, with our other good friends, the Wards. They are such great families and we had a fun time together. Anna loves hanging out with their older girls and thinks they are the bees knees. Dave had to take off for the hospital, but he managed to fit in dessert just in time. We are lucky to have such great friends here to share holidays with when we're away from family. And did I mention the food? It was SO good. We all did a fab job if I don't say so myself! And then we all rolled ourselves outtathere.

I love this time of year and love creating traditions and memories with our little family. So much to be grateful for.

3rd of July

Dave had to work on the 3rd of July (surprise right?), but we still had fun celebrating with all our friends. One of our friends from church throws a big Independence Day bash each year and it all starts off with a little parade of bikes, trikes, and strollers. Anna did a great job decorating her tricycle and was so excited about it, as you can see.


A little serious while she's contemplating the parade that's about to start. She was thrilled to ride next to her friend Ella Ward. She's 6, but when they get together they are BFFs and you'd never know the age difference.
The parade is about to begin! I guess the parade route was too much for Anna. She made it about 2 houses and decided she'd rather walk. No Tour de France in her future.

After the parade, it was already super hot, so the water games were perfect to let these kiddos cool down.

Anna with her other pals, Jonah and Will Ward.


Water Balloons!

We decided to head out after the water games and our friends the Wards came back to our house to have some lunch.

Activity one complete.

A few hours later, we went to the beautiful home of our friends the Scott's for swimming and a yummy yummy BBQ. No pics from there. It gets a little tricky holding a baby and making sure your 3 year old doesn't drown while scarfing down a plate of food. Wish I had pics though, it was a blast. We only stayed for awhile though, despite Anna's efforts to stay.

Activity two complete.

Next we headed out to a big BBQ where everyone from the other ward was celebrating. This party was amazing. I had never met the hosts before, but they were so nice. Giving Popsicles, drinks, and sparklers to all the kids. Anna had a blast. I barely saw here the whole night. I did happen to notice though that her bottom was wet. She was having so much fun she wouldn't stop to take a potty break. And she didn't even care. I tried to ask her if she wanted to change, but she barely stopped long enough to tell me no. Whatever. In the spirit of Independence I just let her be. This group had a haul of illegal...I mean legal, fireworks and put on an amazing show at the end of the night. It was a blast! (sorry no pics again)

Activity three complete.

Both kiddos fell asleep in the car and our marathon of parties for the day was over unfortunately.

But the best part of having the 4th of July on a Sunday is that there's still the actual real holiday to celebrate! And this time Daddy would be home. We woke him up to head out to the park to meet our friends. Hung out for a few hours and then headed home before the fireworks started. Party poopers we are, but Dave had to wake up at 4 something the next morning and we didn't want to get stuck in a traffic jam.

Anna and Sierra sharing Skittles and M&Ms. Funny girls.

I truly love Independence Day! I am so grateful for this country and for all the freedoms that were fought so hard for.

Happy Halloween!

Anna has been looking forward to Halloween since signs of it started arriving in the stores this year. She was ready to go trick-or-treating back in September and would get so disappointed when I told her we still had awhile. We finally made a countdown chain of I think 36 days. So after pulling down day after day, it's safe to say she was EXCITED to finally go trick-or-treating yesterday!

We were so lucky to have Dave home the WHOLE day yesterday! It was much needed since we don't get to see him much these days. We had pumpkin waffles and carved a pumpkin and we just hung out in our cozy home while it rained off and on all day. Loved it!

I had planned for awhile this year that Anna was going to be Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween. My mom had given me my old dress from when I was Anna's age and it's a real swiss dirndl, which also looks like a perfect Red Riding Hood Dress. All I needed was the Hood. And when I saw a red-hooded coat at Target, it was set!...except Anna had other plans. Of course. She wanted to be a mermaid, or a chicken, or a duck, or a kitty cat, but mostly a mermaid. Then I found a perfect little monkey get-up at Old Navy. (thanks to my SIL Ashley!) And of course it was love at first sight for Anna! I loved seeing her so excited that I was even willing to forgo my Little Red Riding Hood plans.

So here's our little monkey girl anxiously waiting to go trick-or-treating...



She had a blast and was ecstatic about each and every piece of candy that she got. I was actually surprised that she wasn't even nervous to say "Trick-or-Treat" and she did a great job of only taking one per house, which I thought for sure wouldn't happen. After each house she kept saying, "Let's go get more candy mom! Another house!" It was a little drizzly, so she carried her "rainbrella" around with her and I sure wish I had a picture of that. So funny to see that little monkey walking around with her candy bag in one hand and umbrella in the other.

Then we saw our good friends Marc and Kim and their girls who Anna adores. Marc came to our house and we had warm apple cider while Anna sorted through her stash. The night was a success! Rain and all!

Now, I didn't completely lose in the costume department. Our church had a trunk-or-treat on Wednesday, and somehow I convinced her to be Little Red Riding Hood for that! Hooray! She got to wear my old dress before she outgrew it! Pictures were taken and documented for posterity. And she makes a very cute Red Riding Hood I might add.

I'm so glad to be a mom to enjoy this fun holiday through a child's eyes again! Love our sweet (and crazy) little monkey!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope you have a LOVEly day!

Trick or Treat

"Tickateet!" as our Little Bo Peep says.

Anna definitely had a fun Halloween night. I never would have guessed by the occurrences of our Halloween day.

Anna was sick with a cold in the morning, so I loaded her up with some Vitamin C loaded grapefruit to fight that cold like a good mom should. Except that a good mom would remember that grapefruit also contains lots of citric acid and doesn't mix well with a blueberry smoothie for lunch. Yeah, I figured that out when Anna woke up from her nap and threw up three times in her crib, down on the rug and the carpet, and all over me. Just lovely. After giving her a bath, cleaning up the mess, I prayed that Dave would be home soon. I snuggled Anna up in our bed with Noggin thinking we better spend our Halloween watching the Backyardigans. Then she started saying "Tickateet" "Peep" "Canday" Which is her complete sentence for, "I want to dress up like Little Bo Peep and go trick-or-treating to get candy." I had explained this all to her for the past couple of days and she didn't forget. Well, she seemed to be better so I thought we might as well try a few houses. Dave finally came home and wanted to go ASAP because he was embarrassed by our lack of candy to hand out. I didn't buy very much since I thought we wouldn't be home most of the night and so we got wiped out pretty darn quick.

It took Anna all of about 2 houses to get the idea. This girl is a very good observer.

Ring the doorbell.

Look cute.

Wait for the candy bowl to come out.

Reach in and grab as much as you can.

Put in sack.

If bowl is still there, repeat.

She didn't quite get that you say trick-or-treat when you ring the doorbell. Instead she would just say, "Peees" which still got her the same result. I tried teaching her about only taking one, but that didn't quite sink in this year. We'll work on that next year. Luckily most of neighbors were glad to give her as much as she wanted because she looked so darn cute (if I do say so myself.)

We had a good night (after a long day) and I'm so glad Dave was able to come with us. This is actually the first Halloween that we've actually spent together since we've been married! Usually he had a test, or was at the hospital or some other lame excuse. Hopefully this year broke the trend and there will be much more "tickateeting" together in the future. Although, maybe I should wait 5 more years to make that wish! Just to be safe.

Happy Halloween!!!