Gobble, Gobble...

I hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a nice relaxing day. My mom and RT came on Wednesday evening and Kami and Corey came for lunch. We pretty much ate and played outside all day. Our neighbors little boy, Ayden, came over to play for a while.

Mom and I took the kids with us shopping yesterday and they behaved really well. It was the employees at the mall who had the attitudes. We decided to just give up and go home! I did get some decorating done on my trees though. This year I let Ethan decorate his own tree. He actually did a really good job! I have found some ornaments that my grandmother made for me over the years. I used to laugh at all of those hand made ornaments, but they now have a whole new meaning. I've loaded some pictures in the web album.

Thanksgiving Feast

Ethan's school had their Thanksgiving Feast on Monday. As you can tell by the pictures, Ethan was miserable. They had him wear a Pilgrim hat and he was not having it. Anna even tried to get him to wear it, but he wouldn't do it. Then he pouted about it. Who knows! It was not his day!

The other night I was pretending to cry so that Emerson would give me a kiss. I would close my eyes and whine. She was so funny watching and observing everything that I was doing. Then she would lean over, kiss my cheek and close her eyes and whine too! I tried to get her to do it on video, but she wouldn't cooperate. Well, she did for about a second!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

Chris and I joined Shannon and Kim in taking the kids to the Christmas parade yesterday. It was freezing out! I think it was by far the longest parade I've ever been to. It was right at two hours long. We kept asking Ethan if he was ready to go, but he HAD to see Santa. Christmas gets better and better the older he gets. He also gets smarter and smarter the older he gets. He knows that we don't have a chimney and often asks how Santa will get in our house on Christmas Eve. I don't know how long telling him that Santa comes in the house "by magic" will fly.

Christmas Pictures

I tried my best to take our Christmas card picture today. Obviously by the looks of these pictures, it didn't work out very good. It's a pain when I have a camera that does not want to cooperate and two children who do not want to wait for it to work! I have added the pictures that I was able to take. We'll try again soon!

The Leaf Jumper and The Eskimo!

Ethan and I raked up what little leaves that we have in our yard this afternoon. I don't think he has ever jumped in them and that was always a favorite childhood pastime for me! I think he had more fun raking than jumping though. After every jump, he'd rake them back up! Then we went to the backyard to crack "pecorns." Now we're watching Jack Frost while Emerson naps. Oops, spoke too soon! More pictures in the web album.

Do you think we read this book too much?

The cutest boy in the world...

Here is Ethan's school picture. Isn't he handsome? I wish I knew what that photographers trick was. Every time I try and get him to smile, he has to do a superhero pose!

Why is it that when you pull out the camera, they stop doing what they were doing? Emerson was talking and talking and singing until I tried to film her. Anyway, here is what I was able to get. She was singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider. What sweet souls my children have, huh?

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Our big boy turned 4 yesterday! He had a party at school with cupcakes, snacks and juice. Chris and I took him to lunch and then I took him to the Methodist Church for playtime. They even sang to him there and gave him a moon pie with a candle in it! It was very sweet of them to do that. Chris came home about an hour early so that we could take him to Chuck E. Cheese. Let me just tell you that that little girl is a handful! She is everywhere. Chris and I had to take turns playing with Ethan because she would just roam off. I would tell her "bye" and she'd wave bye to me and keep on going! Ethan had a lot of fun and as soon as we left, wanted to know when we could go back! We went to dinner and then the mall. We let Ethan ride the train and some other rides in the mall. Luckily I brought pj's and as you can imagine, he was asleep before we left Fayetteville. Not Emerson though. She talked the whole way home and did not go to sleep until 10:00. She slept until 9:00 this morning though. Pictures are in the web album as well as some videos.

You've got mail...

Ethan's birthday present from Auntie, Uncle Chris, Logan, Tyler and Ryland came in the mail today. I let him open it early since he was so excited to have some mail. He and Chris got right to work putting the airplane together. Ethan even went as far as going upstairs to get their "worker hats." The close up shot was taken by Ethan! Emerson wanted to get up on the counter so bad with them so she went and got the bumbo to stand on! Not high enough! :( She's very resourceful! They are all fast asleep now as their day was filled with good ole' high activity play!

Happy Early Birthday, Ethan!

We celebrated Ethan's birthday this weekend at Exploration Station. He had a really good time with his friends. His theme this year was Diego. He loves that cartoon for some reason and really learns a lot of Spanish from it! I should have dressed him up as Diego for Halloween and Emerson as Dora. Emerson only has to see a picture of Diego and she says, "DaaaayyyDooohh!" We are very blessed to have such wonderful people celebrate our children's milestones with us. There are tons of pictures in the web album. Thanks to everyone who came.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Kim!

Ethan, Emerson and I took Aunt Kim out for her 25th birthday yesterday! I'm kidding, she's not 25, but she doesn't look a day over it! :) We tried to get the guys at San Jose to sing, but they wouldn't. Here are just a few pictures of our lunch. Nothing else to really report. Wish me luck tomorrow in leaving the children with Miss Meredith. I never leave them, so they get pretty bad separation anxiety when I go. Kim and I are going to the Holly Day Fair for the morning and I can't wait!! Kid free for a few hours is SO appreciated since it's few and far between. After an hour or two, I will be lost without them! I've also posted a video of Ethan reading to Emerson on the way to school this morning.

"Beauty School Dropout....

go back to high school..." Oh, you know you all are singing along to Grease! Emerson was actually letting me try different styles with her hair this morning! Well, only two, but that's pretty good for her!

Ethan got to watch most of Mickey Mouse's Three Musketeers in the car while I ran errands today, so he just had to dress up as soon as he got home. The following pictures are his version of a musketeer!

Little Drummer Girl!

Ethan brought his drum set down from the bonus room the other day and has since lost his ownership of it. Emerson loves that thing! She gets really mad when she can't sit on the little stool just right. Luckily Ethan doesn't mind sharing it with her.

Ethan and I went to a birthday party yesterday while Chris and Emerson napped. He had such a good time playing. People kept commenting on how well behaved he was...very proud moment for mommy! It feels good when other people see what I see even if he's not perfect all the time! I let them eat a cupcake in the tub before bath time. They were so excited! It seemed like the best place for them to eat it and the easiest clean up for me.

After church and lunch today, we took a walk to the pond to feed the fish. I captured some shots of our afternoon. The kids are still outside with Chris, but we're getting ready for nap time. We'll see how this time change works out with nap. Pictures are in the web album.

Happy Halloween!

We took the kids trick-or-treating in the freezing cold last night. We started out walking, but Chris ended up going back home to get the golf cart. We piled blankets on there and took off. Our neighborhood is always jammed with people on Halloween. The boys (including our little Drew) got lots of candy. Drew and Ethan were both very polite with their "trick-or-treat" and "thanks yous." We took turns taking them up to houses. On one of my turns Drew told one woman that he needed more candy! He's a trip! Kami and Corey stayed at our house and gave out candy. I did not get any good pictures, but you're welcome to check out the album.