We had a great holiday season. These pictures were taken at a Santa's Cottage event at the elementary school. It was hosted by the Parents as Teachers program were are involved in. As you can see they had a reindeer, Mrs. Clause, and Santa. Is it wrong of me as a parent to just LOVE the picture of Julia crying with Santa? It's one of my favorites. The thing is she's usually not afraid of strangers. In fact that very same morning she walked up to a teenager she didn't know, with her arms out wanting her to pick her up. The girls had a great time. Natalie made a gingerbread house, and got to meet a gingerbread man, which she was very excited about. She remembers making ginger bread houses with Grandma Maddox last year and can't stop talking about it. They also made other cute ornaments, and reindeer food. Natalie got to pick out some gifts on her own as well. Uncle Kevin got a travel trivia game which, I'm sure he'll use often, lol. Aunt Nicole got a cute little velvet purse to go with the purse I made her for Christmas. I just love the holidays. It's so much fun when you have little ones and they get excited about the littlest things. The way their faces light up when you talk about Santa. The way Natalie constantly wanted to sing Christmas songs and is upset now that the radio doesn't play them anymore. I especially love that she added her own line to "Santa Clause is coming to town." She sang it to Julia when we were on our way back from Thanksgiving. She sang, "He sees you when you're sleeping, he sees you when you are awake. He sees you when you're making a mess, so be good for goodness sake!" Julia was having a hard time and Natalie made it all better by singer her to sleep, she kept saying, "It's OK Julia, we're almost home, just go to sleep." As she stroked her face. Anyway, I loved seeing the joy of it all through my child's eyes. She asked Santa for yellow treats in yellow wrapping paper, and a princess Belle doll. And that is just what she got, and lots more.

This was the first snow we had this year. It was barely enough to play in and it melted pretty quickly, but as you can see the girls thoroughly enjoyed it. I tried to upload a video, but it didn't work. In it Julia falls a bunch of times and then sticks her face in it to eat it. You can see that in one of the pictures, though. In the picture where she's sticking out her tongue, she kept trying to catch it. I just loved watching them play in it.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. It was a last minute decision, but we decided to go out to Virginia for Thanksgiving with Marc's parents this year. My parents went down to see Adam and Gloria. We had a great time with Melanie and her family. Melanie is a great cook, so the dinner was fabulous. We spent the days after eating leftovers. We also did a little Christmas shopping on Friday. We got to go to Josh's football game on Saturday, which I forgot to bring my camera to. Then we went to a park were they had animals you could feed and had a great time walking around there.
As you can see the kids kept wanting to wrestle with Marc. Julia kept getting in the middle and we thought she was going to get hurt. We had a wonderful time and Natalie love spending time with cousins. I am also happy to report that since that trip Natalie is fully potty trained. It was a very long process, but I think it helped to see that Sam was doing it. I'm not sure what the difference is, but I'm sure grateful for it. My only regret from the trip is that I didn't get a picture with all of us in it. Thanks Mel and Fam for a great time!

Here are some pictures of Paxton's blessing. This is one of the joys of living close to family, we get to go to these kinds of things. Andy did such a great job with the blessing and Terica did a good job of making everyone look cute. There was a dinner together afterward which was fun too.

So, I haven't updated my blog in a while and a few things have happened since. First of all I like many did get to see Twilight, twice. Once with Terica and once with Marc and our friends Ben and Becca. I LOVED it! I liked it even better the second time. The only thing I could critize is I wish it was 2 hours longer. Yes I know, a little extreme, but I didn't want it to end. I have since read some other blogs and opinions about it and others noticed things about it I didn't. I guess I just loved the book and loved being able to see it on screen.

I love fall

Fall is quickly becoming one of my favorite seasons. It used to be one of the least favorite. The dread of a long bleak winter ahead didn't appeal to me. But I am whistling a different tune these days. I like fall/winter cloths, hot chocolate, soups on cold days, wanting to snuggle with someone to keep warm, not having to keep my toes freshly painted, Halloween and Thanksgiving, and much more. I think these are great holidays because it means lots of good things to eat and time to be together, without the pressure of getting the perfect gift for someone. I know it isn't about the money, but if you care for someone you should show you put the effort and thought in to giving them something nice. Don't get me wrong I love Christmas time too. I am just now developing a love of the autumn season.

Pumpkin carving

This is a pumpkin carving night we did right before Halloween. Julia was already in bed. The big one is daddy,(notice the eye brows, Natalie was a little scared at first). The one with the two bottom teeth and the side tooth on the top is Julia. (That's how her teeth were at the time. She had her left lateral tooth in before her centrals. Then all three of the other ones came in together). The one with the gap in the top teeth is Natalie, she has a little gap between her front teeth.

Happy Halloween!

We went trick-or-treating with Andy's family and it was so fun. Their neighborhood gives out the good stuff, full size candy bars, etc. It was a sight to see Natalie and Jadeyn lagging behind in their little costumes talking like two grownups. They were complimenting each other on their hair and costumes, holding hands the whole time, and having so much fun. It was the perfect night to be out, the weather was great. It's so fun to have family close by to share these moments with.

Birthday #3

So this was the birthday party with the English family at our house. Apparently the cake was lick off the table good, and of course had to be totally pink, pink, pink. I love when my family sings the birthday song because we have a traditional extended version to the song. My grandma Kimball wrote it as a colaboration of primary birthday songs. After the traditional birthday words it sings, "As years go by they seem to do the nicest things for you. And everytime you add one more your 12 times nearer (or is it dearer, I'm not sure) then before. A very happy birthday, a very happy birthday, a very happy birthday, especially for you. Happy birthday, happy birthday just for you, happy birthday and may all your dreams come true. As you blow out the candle one light stays a glow. It's the sunshine of your smile where 'er you go. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Natalie, happy birthday to you. Maybe for Julia's birthday I'll make a video and post it.

Poll results

So apparently there is no right answer to this question. Marc was the one that said it was wood color and black. I said it was orange and brown. Some even think it's orange and black. The world may never know. (BTW Marc cheated and voted on the poll so technically, I won, na nana na na)I love you sweety, and it's healthy to have opposing opinions, right?