Christmas at Home

The officer and the wipper snappers. . .

Emily getting excited over her littlest pet shop gift. . . Madeline enjoying the donut that Officer Daddy brought home!

The note we left for "Ho Ho."

Maddie on the night before Christmas looking adorable in her new pj's.

the house all ready for the girls to wake up. . .

Emily with her much requested "Barbie Toothpaste." As she pulled things out of her stocking she exclaimed, "He knew exactly what I Needed!!!"

We spent the rest of the morning cutting open boxes and pulling the toys out! It was a peaceful Christmas day!

Christmas at Dad's

Aunt Jill did an awesome raffle with the kids - they each got 2 tickets to spend on gifts. They loved it. Each of my girls got a carebear cheerleader. . . here are my girls with their tickets.

Jill and cousin Isabel.

All the cousins together. This will be a calendar shot for next year!

Cutie with her stocking.

Colts Mania

We took Emily to the Colt's game on the 23rd. She had a great time!!! She mainly just played and watched the character horses "Blue and Blue Jr." She also LOVED the confetti that fell for every Colt's touchdown. (They were many on Sunday!) Oh yeah - and she loved the nachos and popcorn, too! It was SO freezing walking into the game - it was awful! But we had fun!

Chuck E. Eve

We spent Christmas Eve lunch at Chuck E Cheese. We were there THREE hours (about an hour too long by my estimation, but the kids LOVED it!) We had lots of fun - then headed to my dad's for Christmas festivities.

Christmas All Around

Let's see:

Friday: We had our small group Christmas party. . . real gifts and white elephants were exchanged. It was fun. There were 7 children under the age of 4 - running wild and having the time of their lives. (did I mention the delish peanutbutter pie?)

Today: Brian ran errands with Madeline. . . then Emily and I ran some errands this afternoon. I am tired! I think everyone in this county was out shopping today. Crazy!!!

Nothing too exciting. Tomorrow we are going to the Colt's game. Then Monday we get together with my dad and sisters for Christmas. I'll post pictures. I promise! :)

Christmas Party at Pre-school

Today I went with Emily to school for her Christmas Party. . . which really means that I go for the whole 3 hours. It helps that I have made friends with one of the mom's - so I have a friend there, too. It is always fun to play with Emily and see her in her element. Here is Emily sitting in her cubby.

And here she is with her teacher! Isn't her teacher cute?

Eating birthday cake for Jesus.

They played musical chairs to get their exchange gift under the seat they landed in. . . Emily was THRILLED to receive a princess book.

Soapbox alert: I am SO TIRED of the whole "happy holidays" thing. . . Why is it that everyone argues for tolerance - except where Christians are involved??? I am so sick of people crapping on Christians in every area. . . Huckabee (who I don't even know much about) is being persecuted for an add with a bookcase and Christmas lights in it. (They claim the bookcase looks like a cross - subtle message. . . and that the 3 strands of lights stand for the trinity - SERIOUSLY?) Anyway - at the zoo - the dolphin show was all about the "holidays." And it just frustrated me - "things we enjoy for the holidays - getting together with family and friends, food, etc" - I kept saying, "church" - etc. . . ughhh. Thank you for letting me rant. :)

Lazy Day

This is not from today - but is a photo of the way my 2 girls like to watch tv. I think it is so cute.

Here is a shot I took of Madeline today. Little sweetheart! By the way - her words - they are a multiplyin. . . let's see: when I served her gourmet poptart this morning - she said, "Bowl?" (I was trying not to dirty one - but was so proud she asked by name!) She calls mittens "me me's" She says , "Cookie." That's a new one. . . and "No" for snow. . . She is just a doll.

Today, my dad brought us McDonald's for lunch. (We were ALL excited!) Then he played a game with the girls before leaving. . . and after he left - it was Emily's idea to build a zoo out of our dominoes. I thought it was a great idea. . . so we gathered the animals, built the cages - and Voila! :) They even rebuilt the zoo tonight with daddy while I finished dinner.

Here is my budding photographer! :) (Note the backwards camera!)

For those of you interested: the detective job that Brian wants has been officially posted. He is ready to turn in his letter of intent - and hopes to be back there by the New year - I'll keep you posted: AND - did you notice the little ticker on the side of the blog? Yup - we did it again. . . . We are (fearfully) and joyfully expecting our third (and probably final - unless I talk Brian into bringing my Asian daughter home) little one. . . Aug. 9 is the date. Please pray with us for a healthy baby and pregnancy.

Christmas at the Zoo

We invited some new friends of ours to join us for Christmas at the Zoo tonight. This little cutie is in Emily's class - that's how I met her mom. Christmas at the Zoo is not a lot of animals - but a lot of lights!

Cute Girlies!

Our little family!

Tour of Homes

I am participating in Boomamas Christmas Tour of Homes. . . So, here goes! This Snowman is in our back yard keeping watch!

Here is our fresh, cut down ourselves Christmas tree. It looks a little crooked. There aren't many ornaments toward the bottom (we have 2 cats) And our 4 year old actually helped hang ornaments. It is not perfect, but it is ours - and represents us! I have always been into the "ornaments from way back when" tree, rather than the "we bought these aren't they pretty" tree, anyway! If only you could see the star on top - it is hopelessly crooked - but represents our family life with 2 young ones so perfectly, that I left it!

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care. This is where we will leave Santa's treat - and this year, Emily has decided to leave him muffins, instead of cookies. When we visited him at the mall, he said that would be great! (Emily hung the blue stocking on top of the third stocking - claiming it is for her stuffed cat, Gray Gray.)

This is my favorite nativity scene. It is cutesy - but I love it!!! I think I purchased it when I was on my own after college.

This is one of my favorite gifts of all time. It is from an art show - from my in-laws. I leave it out year round. . .

This year we have these ADORABLE Gingerbread houses out - we got to make them at our wonderful neighbor's house! I love them!!!!

This is a Snowman Garland that my mom made me - I love it - and have it hanging on the window in my dining room. . .

And finally - here is your treat - it is SO EASY to make- in fact - my four year old made these yesterday! Place pretzels on a cookie sheet. Place a kiss or hug on each pretzel. Place in oven at 200* until the tips melt - then pull them out and push a peanut m&m onto each one!!! Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping in!

Candy Day

Here is what we did while Maddie napped - Emily made these top ones pretty much by herself. They are so fun for a little one to make - just unwrap a million hershey kisses. Lay them on a pretzel. Bake at 200 until the tip melts, then top with a peanut m&m. She was so proud! These other ones are DELISH, too - take 6 squares of almond bark, add 1 cup peanut butter and 3/4 cup chocolate chips - melt and pour into 30 mini cups. They are sooo creamy!