January Randomness...

I’m sure that I have mentioned this before, but on Friday nights we lay out a big pallet on our bedroom floor, and let the girls stay up late watching movies. They say that they are having a campout in our room, and they really look forward to these campouts every week. About two weeks ago I woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of these two sisters whispering and giggling. I can’t really remember what they were talking about, but I just love to listen in on their conversations.

I got this picture in before they noticed me….

...and then they see me, so they have to ham it up for the camera!

Now that the Holidays are over we have really enjoyed getting together and catching up with friends. Last weekend we got together with our friends Candace and Randy and one of their little girls Colby. It started to turn into a late night, so we put the girls in my room for a little “camp-out.” They were so cute together and just got along great!


The girls also had a play date with their cousin Reggie a few weeks ago and played on the bounce around that they got from Santa. This has been a big hit with all the kiddos that come by to visit, and is a perfect addition to our living room, don't you think???

And here are some random pictures taken throughout the past month. My mom bought these cute outfits for them for Christmas...

I know that I say this just about every other post,but they are just getting so big!!!

A Month Later...

We had big plans for this past Christmas that did not quite turn out the way we had anticipated. This is the first Christmas that Molly and Taylor were really excited about Santa coming, so we were planning on staying at our house Christmas Eve and then head to my parent’s house on Christmas Day. We had plans to go to the Children’s mass and the girls were going to participate in the Christmas Pageant. We were going to make Christmas cookies for Santa, we were going to have a nice family dinner and go to bed early. And then the girls were going to come down the stairs on Christmas morning to find a big blow up bounce around in the living room that Santa brought. We had it all planned out perfectly, but none of it happened.

Instead we decided that it was more important to make the drive to my parent’s house on Christmas Eve to avoid driving in the winter weather that was expected to come through on Christmas Day. I am glad that we decided to because the weather did get pretty bad. It was a beautiful white Christmas. I am sad that we did not get to follow through with our original Christmas plans, but I’m glad that we got to spend the holiday with my family.

The day after Christmas we headed to Big Cedar Lodge with my family for a couple of days, and had a great time! Here are just a few pictures from our Christmas.

All of the kids lined up patiently waiting to tear into their gifts from Mimi and Papa while the grown up’s search for cameras to take pictures….

Playing around with Party hats...

Cousins...Seth, Molly, Jonah, Taylor, and Braden

Playing around in this white stuff called snow!!!

(We hardly ever see snow where we live!!!)

While we were so glad to spend some time with everyone, and enjoyed some time away from work. We sure were ready to get back home, and for things to go back to “normal."

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!

Hogtropolis and A Weenie Roast…

This weekend we went to Fayetteville to meet my Brother and his family at a tailgate party. We got there around 11, just in time for the game to start. They had two big flat screen TV’s set up, food, drinks, and a bounce around for the kids. It was such a beautiful day to be outside watching the Hogs play…

The whole crew...

My brother and his clone Braden...

Stuart and Molly...

Stuart, Taylor, Me and Molly...

Bryan and Jonah...

Molly and Jonah on the bouce around....

My nephew Seth...

Later that night we went over to Stuart’s mom’s house for a weenie roast. She has been building a fire pit in her back yard for the past few weeks, and wanted to try it out. The temperature felt great that night, but the wind made it a little challenging to deal with the fire.

This was the only picture that we have of us actually out by the fire...

Stuart's sister's daughter Olivia...

We spent Sunday doing work around the house since we played all day Saturday. It was such a fun weekend spent with family. I always wish there was just one more day...weekends are just way to short!!!