From Playing with Leaves to Playing with Toys

I got my hair cut and colored while the kids took a nap which made Wendy's baby-sitting job super easy. I've got a hair style in mind that I want to do this summer and Neena thinks I will hate which I probably will since she knows me best but I've got to at least try it....right? Anyway, Jenny McCarthy had this style a while back and I just saw Katy Perry with this style on Saturday Night Live and couldn't take my eyes off of her. It'll take that long to get this look so here's to the ugly growing out phase over the next several months.

Yes, the kids are wearing pj's because Beck loves to wear them when he takes a nap which I don't blame him. I like to be comfy when I sleep. So, I put pj's on Kinsey too! I know this is a bad habit that I'm enabling but there will be a day when they don't take naps so I don't mind doing this one little thing.

Frosty was in the front yard but Beck insisted on moving him to the back patio so he could see him all of the time. This was our very first blow-up and I'm not sure if Frosty will be around next year because he's worn out from Beck "playing" with him. A few days after I took these pictures, a big storm blew in and Beck didn't want Frosty to get wet so he moved him into his room which I thought was sweet. What I didn't realize would happen is that Frosty is in Beck's room permanently and he stays blown up in Beck's room even when he takes a nap! But, it's really sweet to see him place Frosty in the right spot (very close to his bed) and he tells Frosty that he loves him. Beck is such a sweet boy!

Beck and Kinsey really enjoy this roller coaster ride and they enjoy riding their cars around in the driveway...

Wendy loves for me to take pictures of her and the kids and I love it when she takes pictures of me and the kids! It's a win win situation!

The Leaves Have Fallen

12.14

We did a lot yesterday so I decided to take it easy on the kids today and enjoy a warm front that just moved in. In fact, it's been chilly for a while now but today the high is 71 degrees which is perfect for playing in the leaves. Yesterday, I knew the warm front was coming in so I told Beck that I would rake up a big pile of leaves for him and Kinsey to play in. I explained that he could run through the leaves or throw them up in the sky. He thought that sounded good so that's what we did...

They also enjoyed playing on the slide and in the kitchen...

This is the biggest tree in Nanny's yard and I love, love, love it!!!

This is a picture of me before getting my hair cut and colored and Beck's funny faces...

Beck especially enjoyed throwing leaves on us but he thought it was really funny to throw them on Aunt Wendy...

Then, she got him back by dumping a big handful of leaves on him...

This is what you would find if you looked up two peas in a pod...

Relief Society Dinner

12.13

We picked up Wendy from the workshop this morning then ran a couple of errands. Afterwards, we met our Aunt Vickie for lunch at Pappacita's and it was oh-so-yummy. Not only did she treat us to lunch but she also bought the kids Christmas gifts! I bet you can't guess what Beck picked out??? Yep, it was the Iron Hide Transformer. He's so predictable!

I was invited to attend the Relief Society dinner and I took Wendy with me because I knew she would enjoy it. The gym was decorated so beautifully and the food was delicious! I made strawberry cupcakes with sprinkles and Brent wrapped a diaper box with Christmas paper to use as a cupcake stand since mine was in storage.

Trish read an interactive story and every time she said, "Santa" our table had to say, "Ho Ho Ho". It was fun!

After dinner, we participated in an ornament gift exchange. Each lady brought a gift and we all received a number before/during dinner. We each picked a gift from under the Christmas tree as our number was called. Wendy got a really nice ceramic ornament with the nativity scene on it and I got a pretty red ball with gold glitter and rhinestones on it which looks great on my tree. Actually, I need balls for my tree and plan on getting some when they go on sale after Christmas.

Beck and Kinsey always attack me when I get home from being gone so we had fun taking pictures...

This was a very nice evening with the ladies at church!

Build and Grow

After leaving church, we headed to Lowe's for a Build and Grow class. Lowe's offers these classes twice each month and they are free which is awesome! However, this month Lowe's is offering a three-part class and we missed the first one but this class is about building a coal car and next Saturday the kids will build the Train Engine. The class we missed last Saturday was building the caboose.

Beck really enjoyed hammering...

Kinsey enjoyed doing her own thing...

After the coal train was built, then Beck added stickers to it and they had two sets of stickers...one was for a traditional coal train and the other set had Christmas decorations on it. Beck started with the traditional set but then changed his mind and added the Christmas stickers.

I love how Kinsey is leaning on Daddy then in true Kinsey fashion she started opening cabinet doors to see what she could get her sticky fingers on...

She's already working the girly poses...

After each kid finishes his/her project, Happy Clown makes a balloon and Beck, of course, said he wanted a Transformer balloon.

Beck now has a Lowe's apron which came with a certificate of completion for the class and a patch that I need to sew on his apron. We can't wait to build the engine at the next class!

Breakfast with Santa

12.10

Last night was Brent's office party which was held at Priscilla's house in Bullard and we knew the kids needed to go to bed early since Breakfast with Santa started at 8:30 Saturday morning. I brought a Lemon Cream Cheese Cheese Ball with Honey Graham crackers to the party and I got several compliments on it which made me happy since the long drive from Gilmer to Bullard flatten the cheese ball. It was fun meeting Brent's co-workers and their spouses. We were the first couple to leave the party at 9pm and by the time we went to Brent's office to get my car, got gas, picked up the kids from Kiki and Pops house, Beck and Kinsey finally went to bed at 11pm. I took several pictures but most of them turned out blurry (still learning how to use the fixed lens). However, I did ask somebody to take a picture of us...our big night out since going to Dallas for the Nascar race five weeks ago.

Beck ate a bowl of cereal before going to the church since he told us that he doesn't like pancakes...who doesn't like pancakes??? Anyway, we woke Kinsey up from a deep sleep, hopped in the car for our less than one mile drive to church. Beck loves his camo jacket so much that it's almost impossible to get it off of him.

Kinsey enjoyed eating donut holes and sausage links. She is wearing Beck's first Christmas jammies which has his name on them so I put a tutu on her to cover up his name. She looked really cute!

The kids enjoyed coloring and making Christmas ornaments...

I knew Kinsey would cry when she saw Santa so I went ahead and got a picture of her in Santa's chair near the Christmas tree...

I wish we could have taken Beck's jacket off for this picture because this is the only picture I got of them together...

All of the kids sang Christmas songs while waiting for Santa...

Surprise....Santa is here!!!

Beck never cried when he sat in Santa's lap but Kinsey is definitely a screamer!

Since Beck saw Kinsey crying so hard, he decided he did not want to sit on Santa's lap so this is a picture of Beck with Santa...

Maybe we'll have better luck next year. Great job to all of those that organized this event!!!

Christmas Play Date

12.09

Heather, Kenzi and Lydia invited us over for a Christmas play date with Bonnie and her girls along with Amy and her girls. Yes, that means Beck was the only boy there and I wish I got a picture of all of them but I forgot. While we waited for every body to arrive, Beck found his best friend and I want to see if you can keep up with Frosty during this festivity.

Heather served red and green snacks and she prepared some really cute crafts for the kids. The first one was making Rudolph and here's how you do it...trace the child's hand, make the finger tips black which will be the hoofs, glue on the red dot which is the nose, add an eye, apply antlers (pipe cleaners), then add glitter around Rudolph's neck.

Then the kids made a jingle bell necklace...afterwards, they stood in front of the Christmas tree and sang Jingle Bells but Beck only wanted to play with Frosty.

Kinsey made us all laugh when she tried to get in the baby stroller!

The last activity we did was decorate a gingerbread cookie...too cute!

Later this evening, Beck got really upset when he realized he did not get his Frosty cup.

Did you notice that Beck had Frosty with him the entire time? I thought it might be hard to leave without Frosty but that wasn't the problem...Beck didn't want to leave period. He wanted to stay there forever and Kenzi wanted us to stay too. But, we all had to eat lunch and take a nap so we had scoot. We had so much fun and this is something that I'd like to do next year!