Santa

We took Molly and Taylor to see Santa on Sunday after Church. At four years old I was able to get a shot of them together…with Santa…and a smile on their face!!! This is a first. Molly has been terrified of Santa for the past couple of years, so I was pretty impressed that she sat on his lap for a picture.

What fun is it to take a trip to the mall without playing on the playground?

Or taking a ride on the carousel…

We had Christmas over at Nana’s this weekend (Stuart’s moms). We got together with Stuart’s brother and sister and their kids. It was a nice afternoon, and the kids really had a good time opening up presents and playing with their cousins. My camera was full, so I will add pictures if his mom or sis sends me some!

We are looking forward to a fun week with family and are praying that everyone stays healthy and travels safely!

School Christmas Party!!!

I stopped in at Taylor and Molly’s Christmas party this afternoon. I have never really seen them in their school environment, so this was a real treat for me. They were even sitting at two separate tables and carrying on conversations about whatever it is four year olds find interesting in life with their friends.

I went to go talk to Taylor first, and she introduced me to the three little boys that she was sharing a table with. All of the kids were handing candy to me to open, and I of course lived up to being the “helper” and opened up that candy. “Sure, I will open this piece of candy for you…what is that only the fifth snickers for you? Here have another cookie and some popcorn too!!!”

Taylor with her table of friends!!!

Taylor giving more of a Molly pose! I think they change it up to mess with us so that we can't figure our who is who in certain pictures!haha)

Then I talked to Molly’s table and all the kids at her table introduced themselves. Molly and Taylor make up two out of the three girls in their class. The kids were cute and seemed to have a great time stuffing their face with cookies and candy.

Molly at her table of freinds..

Molly...

Molly and Taylor with their teacher Miss Molly…

I am looking forward to next week!!!

Thanksgiving and Christmas Decorations...

We had big plans to make our way to my parent’s house on Thanksgiving morning. Most of my siblings, in-laws, niece’s, nephew’s, aunt, uncle, and grandpa were going to be there. I took the day off and stayed at home with Molly and Taylor on Wednesday. They woke up Wednesday morning with a cough and cold and then Molly spiked a temperature of 102 degrees that evening. We held out hope that the temperature would drop, and we could make our way to my parents on Thursday afternoon. Not Happening!!!

We ended up spending Thanksgiving at our house, just the four of us!!! It was actually a really nice relaxing day. I had never made a turkey before, and at this point I did not really have the time to thaw and cook one, so I made fried chicken with all of the Turkey day sides to go with it. The girls slept from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. (this is not normal) so I spent the afternoon fixing dinner and decorating the house for Christmas. When the girls woke up we sat down for a nice "Thanksgiving" dinner. I even set the table with our fine china that we got for our wedding 7 years ago. This was the first time that we have used it, and I have to say that it really did make our dinner feel special. We still really missed getting to see everyone at my mom and dad’s, but it really made me thankful for all the times that I do get to spend with my family.

If you look close enough you can see that one of the wisemen lost his head...I need to get this fixed this weekend!!!

We decided that we would head to my parent's on Friday if the girls started to feel better and when that did not happen we decided to go in on Saturday. Saturday did not work our either. Those girls ran a temperature for 7 days straight. They finally went back to school on Wednesday of the following week.

Soooo....

Last weekend we decided that we would run down to my parent’s house to surprise my mom for her birthday. I coordinated with one of my brothers and one of my sisters to meet at their house around 10 a.m. on Sunday. They usually get home from church at 10:15, so this worked out perfect to surprise her with brunch. She was very excited and seemed very surprised. We stayed most of the day and had a great time.

Happy Birthday Mimi...

We are looking forward to Christmas, and have so many plans all the way up until then. I called the church a couple days ago to get the girls signed up to be angels for the Christmas pageant. I was so excited and told them the news when I picked them up from school.

This is how the conversation went…

Me: Hey girls, you know how when we go to church and you get to go up to the altar and put your money in the basket?!?!

Molly and Taylor: Yes

Me: Do you like to do that?

Molly and Taylor: Yes

Me: Well, how would you like to go stand up on the altar on Christmas Eve all dressed up like pretty angels?

Molly and Taylor : Yea!!!

Taylor: Mommy, are you going to stand up there with me?

Me: Well, I will stand very close by, and you will be able to see me, and I will take your picture.

Taylor: I don’t want to do it!

Me: Ok, well then you can just sit with me and we will let Molly do it.

Molly: Um, this does not sound like such a good idea mom!

We will see how this turns out. I am going to wait a few days and then run it by them again. As cute as they would be all dressed up like angels and taking part in the Christmas Story, I don’t want to force them to do it!!!

I love you too....

When we put Molly and Taylor down for bed we, like most people have a routine. They go potty, we read two stories, we say our prayers, we rub their back and sing “silent night”, and then they have one more sip of water. When we leave their room they always ask us if we will come check on them in five minutes, and of coarse we say yes. So, Last night when I went into check on them. I was getting off the phone with my sister and I said, “I love you too.” Molly asked me,”Who are you talking to?” I said, “I was talking to Kristen.” She then asked, “Why did you say that you love her?” And I said, “Because she is my sister and I do love her. She smiled at me and said, “Taylor is my sister.” I said, “That’s right, you should tell her that you love her sometimes.” She turns to Taylor and in quiet shy voice says, “I love you Taylor.” Taylor is smiling the whole time and responds in the same quiet shy voice, “I love you too.”

Awaaa…melt my heart!!!

They have been full of these cute little moments a lot lately! I try to remember them when their horns come out!!!

I will post an update of the past few weeks very soon!