Trimming Our Tree

One of my best childhood memories is decorating our Christmas tree.  It was just such a wonderful family time!  We'd always turn off the t.v., put on the Christmas music, drink egg nog and hot chocolate, and just enjoy each other.  As one would expect, I want a similar experience for my own children, so last week we set aside a special time to decorate our tree.  Landry got out her boom box with her kids Christmas CD.  While Cory and I drug out the tree and the ornaments.  Next year, we are getting a real tree, but we'll save that for later.  

As soon as we opened the box of ornaments, Landry immediately starting sorting through things.  She knew exactly what to do, thanks in part to her Elmo Christmas DVD.  

First she got the ribbon just right. LOL

Then she gathered all the ornaments.   She was straight business!

Eli had other things in mind, like eating the ornaments (surprise, surprise),

and taking anything and everything off the tree.  Thank God for plastic Christmas balls

Truthfully, my children may not even remember this event when they get older.  They are still a little young.  However, I have added it to one of MY favorite memories along with all great memories of decorating the tree as a child.

Some Friends for Eli

Landry thought Eli needed some friends to go along for the ride with him.

Not sure if he was as pleased with the idea.

Dirt and Worms

It seems daddy might be spoiling Landry a bit. but that is quite alright!  Daddies should spoil their little girls from time to time.  You see, every Sunday and Wednesday night after church, Landry usually rides home with Cory.  And almost every time, they come home with dirt and worms.  So you're asking yourself, that's the way he spoils his little girl?  Well, take one look at the pictures and you'll see why!

Our Thanksgiving Feast

Since Cory and I have been married, we have not been able to travel home for many Thanksgivings.  If we have to choose between Christmas and Thanksgiving, we choose Christmas.  Instead, on Thanksgiving, our parents come to us.  Last year, Thanksgiving was extra special because we got to host some soldiers, who otherwise would have spent Thanksgiving alone.  We had such a great time getting to know them and telling stories about our lives.  So this year, we wanted to celebrate in a similar way.  We are not as close to an army base now, so we did not host soldiers this year.  However, we did host a couple of wonderful friends!  


My parents came in on Wednesday, as well as one of our college students from Georgia, Olive.  We cleaned and cooked all Thursday morning, and then everyone arrived at noon.  The food was delicious.  Cory fried a turkey, my dad baked one, and we had sides and desserts fit for a king.  


After dinner, everyone visited, played some games of washers and Mexican Train Dominoes. It was really a blast!


I am thankful for a special Thanksgiving!

Landry's Thanksgiving Feast

All of the 2-year-old classes at Landry's preschool had a Thanksgiving Feast together.  The girls dressed like pilgrims and the boys dressed like indians.  On the menu was Chik-fil-a chicken nuggets and fruit tray, corn, and juice boxes, a perfect meal for 2-year-olds.  


Here are a few pictures I got of Landry and her classmates at the feast.  Notice none of them are wearing their "hats"  Apparently Landry's class has all the stubborn students. 

This is Landry's best friend.  It is our education pastor's daughter, so they are together literally every other day.  I think they could be trouble together.  What do you think?

A Day at the Park

Since we've been here, we've heard about this great park.  With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we had not made it there.  Since Cory was off Thursday, we decided to go see what all the hype was about.  We were not disappointed.

Eli took his first trip down a slide by himself.

My handsome hubby and out beautiful boy

These  were cool seats the spun around and made Cory and I sick.  Landry got to spinning on it and couldn't stop.  She had a moment of panic, but once she saw the next thing to play on, she was just fine.

And what do you know, I made it into a couple of pictures this time.  I'm trying to make it a point to hand my camera over to someone else from time to time.

 Eli took some time out to play with something a little less stimulating

They rode the see-saw together.  Eli LOVED it and did not want to get off.  We had to pry those little fingers off of that handle.

Landry rode a new kind of merry-go-round, at least one I've never seen

And how could we miss the tire swing

 Last, Landry slid down a very interesting slide. 

After she slid down about five times, we bribed her with ice cream so we could leave the park without a scene.  Tell me I'm not the only one who does that.

Abounding in Creativity

I have been told that 3 years old is the age when a child's imagination really takes flight.  Landry is knocking on the door of 3, and she's recently started showing lots of signs of a budding imagination.  Yesterday, while she played with playdough, she came up with new and interesting things to create.  In addition, she added details to each of her creations, taking her creativity even further.  I really enjoyed seeing her little wheels of imagination turning.  Here were some of her creations.


First she made a snake with yellow playdough, but then she decided she'd make a cupcake using the cup of playdough and turn the snake into a candle.  Here she is pretending to blow it out.

These are stamps with letters.  She usually uses them to make imprints on her playdough, but today she wanted to use them to make a house.

She then began to make cookies by flattening out the pieces of playdough.  But then those wheels started turning, and she decided to stack the cookies.  She said, "Look mommy!  It's a cookie Christmas tree!"

She couldn't forget to add the ornaments

Honestly, she came up with all of this on her own.  I gave no input whatsoever.  The "3's" should be fun and entertaining :)

We Have a Crawler.....Sort of

I was beginning to think Eli was not going to crawl.  He just could not seem to get the mechanics right.  He'd get into the crawling position from sitting, but then he'd reach for something, fall flat on his belly and flail his arms and legs.  

Well, this week, he is finally getting it right.  He's not an avid crawler yet.  He's still got some kinks to work out, which frustrate the mess out of him.  However, he is getting the job done.

Fueling the Fashionista

We all know that Landry loves fashion, or at least her version of it.  This past Sunday, we were getting ready for church when she spotted my red shoes.  She looked up at my black and white shirt, and in a moment of pure despair said, "No Mommy!  Those don't go!  There's no red on there!"  We had to go "round and round" for a minute before she realized I was not changing my shoes.


A couple of days before that, she had tried one of her princess dresses on.  When I brought her to my bathroom to look in the mirror, she immediately got the embarrassed, but proud, "I know I look good" look on her face.  Then she bolted into her room exclaiming, I need a necklace.  

Oh.....the life of a fashionista.


So, what fuels this fashionista?  How about this overflowing basket of dress-up clothes? 

She could dress in 20 different outfits during the day and still find combinations that she's missed.


And if that is not enough, when I got home from choir practice this week, she was playing this computer game.

It's called Snap and Style, and there are dozens and dozens of combinations that you can use to dress 4 different dolls.  I have to admit, I was pretty impressed by the way Landry maneuvered the mouse to create the many different outfits.  

Each time she'd find a shirt she liked, she'd say, "Oh, that's a good one."  It was so cute and fun to watch her at work.  And I have to admit, I was a little ready for her to go to bed, so I could play myself. LOL


Here is the link to the game if you want to check it out:
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2183&e=fashion

Splish! SPLASH!!!!

My baby boy LOVES to Splash in the tub!

And I LOVE to watch him splash in the tub!

Look at all the cute faces he makes...