Merry Christmas!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We wish we could be closer to all our friends and family, especially during the holidays! We are thinking about all of you and missing you! Hope you have a great Christmas!

Snow Angels

Yesterday it started snowing about noon and it has been snowing since! (the past 21 hours) They say it is supposed to stop snowing today and give up a break before another foot is expected on Sunday. We thought we would take advantage of all the fresh snow and go out and play for awhile! Yes, I even braved the elements and played with the girls outside!!





R took the girls out back where they had fun sledding down a little hill we have. He also helped them go down the slide, which was blanketed with snow! They especially liked doing that! B got a bit worried when R went down the slide because she thought he would break it.







M is getting so big and really does well in the snow. She is big enough that she can walk around without getting stuck! I think she would have played longer if mommy and daddy weren't tired! One of her favorite things was trying to throw snow balls at everyone. She also liked the huge slats of ice that R got off our trampoline and threw on the ground. I think she thought she had her own personal ice rink!













B is really fun to watch in the snow. She is still little enough that she has a hard time walking through so much snow! She really liked the slid, sledding and eating all the snow! At one point I watched her and she would just stick her had in the snow and then suck all the snow off her mitten. I think she did this for a good five minutes. She would also try and lick the snow that was blowing in her face. (as shown in the picture!)













Daddy, M, and B all made snow angels.

This is daddy's snow angel.



This is M's snow angel!

This is B's little snow angel!

We had a fun time playing in the snow and the girls are excited to go out again!

Christmas Ornaments

Every year we try adding to our Christmas ornament collection! Each year I buy the girls each an ornament that sort of represents something in the life for the past year.

This year B got a Little Einstein's Rocket for her ornament. It even plays the theme song from the show, which B loves to play...a lot. Each time she pushes the button for the music she runs around the house saying... "zoom zoom!" She loves her ornament this year! What a fun three year old she is!


This year M got a ballerina that twirls and plays a song from the Nutcracker. She has LOVED the nutcracker this past year and wants to watch it all year round! She was so excited to get this pretty ballerina. She has been doing ballet herself since she was four, so hopefully someday she will be able to be in the Nutcracker! We went to see the Nutcracker this past weekend. It was so fun just watching her as she watched the ballerinas perform. She is such a sweet girl!



This year I added to my collection as well! When I saw this red shoe I knew I had to get it. As I am sure most of you know, I love shoes....especially red shoes! It was just too fitting to pass it up!










Our cousins brought us this ornament when they came from New York City for Thanksgiving. I try to get ornaments from places I have lived and visited and after seven years of New York I still didn't have an ornament! This will always bring back good memories of our time in New York for me!

Ice Storm

This past Friday we had a ice/snow storm. We were pretty lucky and didn't lose power for very long. I love the trees the day after a storm when the sun in shining. Especially with an ice storm, when it looks like the trees are sparkling. I guess I can find beauty in all this cold!

Little Miss Piggybank

Yesterday I was looking online at something I want for Christmas. B came up and sat on my lap and saw that it was purple (her favorite color!) and got really excited. She said

"I wanna get that for you mama!"

I said "If you have a hundred dollars I can get it!"

B then got off my lap, and I assumed she went to play. She came and found me a few minutes later, carrying her piggy bank. She said

"Here is a hundred dollars mama!"

She was so sincere in her offer, it was really sweet. I am so grateful for such a kind little lady. Love you lots B!

Yellowlicious!

So I got a really cute, yellow jacket this weekend that I love! I know it is kind of hard to see (I took the picture myself so this was the best it got) but I love the collar. It buttons really cute. Sometime when R is off work I will have him take a better picture.


It's more of a cute jacket...not an outdoor coat, but I love it. I'm thinking of getting a patent leather belt to wear over it to make it more fitted!

Anywho, just thought I would share my exciting purchase from the weekend! (I wore it to church today with a black dress...did I mention I think the right color of yellow and black look great together....just my two cents!)

By the way, I thought I would be consistent with my title and continue on with the colorlicious theme!!

Greenalicious!

M loves spinach and arugula! I don't think I've ever met a kid quite like her! We had soup tonight with arugula in it and she was so excited. She wanted seconds with mostly arugula in it! Is this saying something about me...am I not feeding her healthy enough so she loves greens?!!















A couple of weeks ago she came home from school and told me that the teacher asked the class if anyone liked spinach. Nobody did so M decided to say she didn't as well. She came home quite upset because..."Mom, I do like spinach but no one else did!" I told her it was ok...she could still have it and not have to tell her whole class.





My friends found this recipe from Rachel Ray and it is now mine and M's favorite soup. M especially loves the arugula!

Chicken and White Bean Stew

4 slices of bacon, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 pound red potatoes (or just regular baking potatoes)
1 32 ounce container of chicken stock/broth (I used this plus an extra smaller can of chicken stock)
1 whole rotisserie chicken
1-2 15.5 ounce cans small white beans, rinsed
5 ounces arugula (5 cups)
salt and pepper
1. In a large soup pot cook the bacon over medium heat until cooked but not crisp, about five minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about five minutes. Add the potatoes and chicken broth and simmer until the potatoes are tender about 15 minutes
2. Pull meat off the chicken; discard skin. Add the chicken and white beans to the stew after potatoes are done and cook until heated through. Just before serving, stir in the arugula and season to taste with salt and pepper. It looks like a lot of arugula but it shrinks a lot when you stir it in.



I just thought I would throw this picture in since M learned this from her Uncle Brett this past week. Heaven knows I would never teach my nephews or nieces to show their food!! Thanks Uncle Brett!!

Pinkalicious!

Today I took B to the doctor and found out she has an ear infection and pink eye! I thought this book M got at the book fair today was appropriately titled... Pinkalicious! B even picked it out for her bed time book.









B was really good at the doctors office so when we went to pick up her medicine I let her pick out a toy. She wanted a Little Einstein puzzle.

Once she put that puzzle together she couldn't let any of her other puzzles feel left out! She LOVES her puzzles!

M had pink eye last week and hated the drops that we put in her eyes. To get two drops in each eye took me about twenty minutes. B let me put the drops in her eye today with no problems. Of course, she only has one, compared to M's four drops...and it is only the first day. We'll see how the week goes! Hopefully the pink doesn't spill over to me!

Sunday Shoes

These shoes would make me so thankful this week of Thanksgiving! (I know, I'm so cheesy, whatever!)

Pulling Teeth

So M lost her fourth tooth last night. Ever since one of her top middle teeth came out the other one got pretty crocked and got lose quickly. She hasn't been able to eat very well because it has been bothering her.









Last night she decided she was going to try and pull it out herself. (After the time we helped her pull a tooth out and she cried the whole time, we decided she would have to be the one to pull her teeth from now on.) She probably worked on pulling that tooth out for about ten minutes!







When the tooth finally came out I think she was a bit surprised as well as happy!












M was finally able to eat her food today without that silly tooth in the way. She also likes that she has a window in her mouth. I think she has a harder time saying a few words, which is kind of cute!

And while M was working on pulling that tooth out, B insisted on being in the bathroom involved in all the action. She playing with just about everything in the bathroom, which isn't much. I think she is worried we are going to try and pull her teeth out, but I reassure her we won't...at least not until she is older!

First Snow!

On Monday we got a few snow flurries for the first time. It wasn't much, since when it hit the ground it immediately melted...which I'm not complaining about! I was watching M come from the bus stop and had to grab my camera quickly to catch her trying to eat the snow!

It was so funny watching her look up and turn in circles trying to eat the snow! I guess fresh snow might be refreshing after being on a crowded bus of kids!

It is funny to watch her coming home everyday. I usually wait on the porch for her since she is a big girl now and can come home by herself! She never walks straight home. She is always looking in the grass, kicking some rock or leaf, looking in the bushes, or kicking the dirt. I guess it is nice she has found things to entertain herself on the walk to the house...even though it is only up our driveway!!

Soccer Star

A week ago Saturday M, you finished up your first soccer season. It was a good thing too, because it was pretty chilly for the last three games! After your game the coaches (including your daddy) handed out trophies and a soccer ball to all the players!


You were so excited about your trophy. You brought it to the bus stop to show the kids on Monday and have carried it around for most of the last week. B has also taken a liking to it and has loved putting it on the table in front of her while she tries to draw it!


I am so proud of you M. You scored two goals this year and were so excited about them! It is so fun to see you do something and feel accomplished in it. I know you weren't the fastest kid on the field but I don't think anyone ever outdid you in the fun you had. You ran around the field each game with a smile on your face. When it was your time to sit out you couldn't wait to get back in the game!




I know that in life it isn't always easy to be the best at what you do. There always seems to be somebody who can run a little faster, or work a little harder. As long as you do YOUR best at whatever you set out to do, I know that will be good enough. I am so grateful that you are a good sport and feel happy for others when they accomplish things. I know if you take these lessons from soccer and apply them to life, you will go a long ways. I love you and am so glad you have become such a little athlete as well as a great cheerleader!

Love,
Mama

The Rest of the Pictures!

I know it has been a week, but here are the rest of the Halloween pictures!!

B makes the cutest little Lady Bug I have ever seen! She went out with the big kids trick or treating and R brought her back about half way through. He thought she had had enough. When he left with M to finish trick or treating, B got upset and I had to run out and make R come back for B! They went out about 6:15 and called me to come pick them up at 8:15! (They had walked quite a ways and were to tired to walk home!)

M had so much fun dressing up as a Butterfly Fairy and trick or treating....she is so cute! She could hardly wait to leave the house. She wanted to trick or treat and pass out candy! I told her she could help when she was here but that kids weren't going to wait to come to our house so she could give them their candy!

Both girls were pretty hyper when they got home! B thought wearing her antenna's over her eyes was pretty funny. Having the other kids here laughing at her probably encouraged it a bit!!

M was also pretty wound up when she got home! She had so much fun trick or treating with her friend this year! She to was trying to get a laugh out of everyone here!

M and B went trick or treating with the kids who live next door. They had so much fun together. After their initial high, the kids calmed down and got pretty tired. I think they only ate one or two pieces of candy because they were too tired by the end of the night!

I enjoyed passing out candy this year. I do think that a lot of kids have lost the art of saying thank you (I know, I totally sound old here, but it is true!) I even had one teenager who was on her cell phone when I answered the door. She was the last in her group to get a candy but she didn't even acknowledge me until she had finished arguing with her dad on the phone. I was shocked that she stood there without even looking at me, until her conversation was done. She then took a candy and just walked away (no trick or treat or thank you). I was too shocked by this or else I probably would have just shut the door on her. Maybe next year I will be more prepared!!

M's Tooth Necklace

Ever since M started kindergarten she has wanted to lose a tooth at school. When you lose a tooth at school you get to go to the school nurse and you get a tooth necklace that holds your lost tooth. She watched several of her friends get these necklaces last year and she really wanted one as well!



Fast forward a year and M has a really loose front tooth. She has been wiggling it for several weeks now. The past few days she has come home from school telling me that she tried to pull it out at school but it just wouldn't come out. Last night when I looked at it I could actually see a space at the bottom of her gum where the tooth comes down. I told her she should stop playing with it so she could try to pull it out at school!

Today, when M got off the bus she walked up to the door with a huge grin on her face. She was holding something in her hand but her mouth was closed as she smiled. When she got close
enough to me she opened her mouth and smiled really BIG! I immediately saw the missing tooth and realized she was holding onto her tooth necklace!!

She was so excited that she pulled out her own tooth (a first), lost it at school (another first), and was going to get a visit from the tooth fairy! It was so funny how she surprised me with the news and didn't just run up and tell me. She is such a cutie. I love her beautiful toothless smile! I can't believe my little girl is growing up!

Here M is with her new tooth necklace. As I type M is in bed with the tooth necklace (with the tooth inside) under her pillow waiting for the tooth fairy to arrive. Before she went to bed, she asked me if the tooth fairy ever left toys instead of money. I told her I was pretty sure the tooth fairy just left money. I asked her if she remembered how much money the tooth fairy left her the past two time she came and M said..."I think five dollars, no ten dollars." Okay, I am pretty sure her memory is a bit fuzzy on this one, but I have to give her credit! At least she is aiming BIG!!

Voting!

Okay, yesterday I voted and got a bit emotional doing so! I have yet to miss a presidental election since I have turned eighteen. I find it exciting to be a part of something so big!

I haven't thought of talking about the election with M. I didn't really think a six year old would be interested. Apparently they have talked about the election at school and even held an election of their own. She came home super excited that she voted for "Obock Obama!" I thought that was funny since we have never discussed the president elects with her! Since last week she has been super excited to see who wins the election.

Last night she went to bed super excited and when she woke up this morning she could hardly wait to see who was president. She told B she hoped "Obock Obama" won and B promptly informed her that she wanted Mickey Mouse to win!! I thought that my dad especially would appreciate that sentiment! (My dad doesn't seem to like many politician or mickey mouse, but I am guessing between the two he might pick mickey mouse!!)

Now, my six year old is dancing around our living room singing "Obock Obama!" She is so funny! When I told her not every country can vote she seemed quite incensed. I am glad at this young age she is starting to understand the importance of voting!

Okay, here are a few Halloween pictures. This is our little ladybug this year...B! She is such a cutie!














This was one of the only pictures I got of both girls before trick or treating...since they were a bit too excited to get the night going!








I couldn't even get B to stand still for me to take a picture of her whole costume! Maybe when they get home!

















M is a butterfly fairy this year! She was the most anxious to get the night started and almost cried when I suggested taking pictures with her friend!!! She told me she would take pictures after trick or treating!!

















Our Halloween decorations this year! We all had fun getting it ready! After the final touches to the porch we went in and had a dinner of shrimp cocktail and chips and guacamole!! It worked!









This is B's Cinderella pumpkin! She was excited to have a princess pumpkin this year!












M decided on a bat pumpkin and was actually able to help carve it a bit this year!










Mommy got to pick this one...and daddy carved it!!

More pictures to come when the little ones get back!!