~ Officially on Christmas Break ~

Jaidyn and Addy had their Christmas parties at preschool today and they won't return until the beginning of January, so we are officially starting our Christmas break. Yeah! I am looking forward to a couple days of down time...I really need to clean the house, it is a disaster. I would be so embarrassed if someone happened to stop by right now.






How many more pictures is my mom going to make me take this morning?


How much longer do I have to wear this stupid Santa hat?




The Reindeer Pokey, "You put your antlers in!"




Christmas Carols!!!


"When Santa comes to our house, I'd like to take a peek
but I know he'll never come until I'm fast asleep."


Daddy had the day off so he was able to come to the party.




A Christmas snowflake ornament for the tree.


Cookie decorating


Lots of sprinkles!








Addy has been dying to wear this Christmas dress every day since I bought it. She was so easy to get dressed this morning. It was so nice to have her cooperate and get dressed so quickly. Usually my morning consists of, "Addy, get your clothes on. Addy, you need to put your shoes and socks on. Addy, go in the kitchen and pick out your cereal. Addy, hurry and eat. Addy, have you put your shoes on yet? Addy, you still need to brush your teeth." I'm usually exhausted before we even get out the door.


Addy was quite the caroler. She knew every word and all the actions. Too cute!

What Santa Doesn't Bring Me...

What Santa Doesn't Bring Me, Grandma Will!

The kids received these darling pj's in the mail as a surprise from their Grandma LaLa. Can you tell they are definitely spoiled. And I noticed that there is nothing mentioned about PaPa on the pj's...I guess that will teach him not to leave ALL the Christmas shopping up to Grandma.


This morning we braved the cold and misting rain to see Santa and watch the local parade. We first stopped off at the library so each of the kids could sit on Santa's lap. Jaidyn and Addy were prepared as they both had items on their list that they wanted him to know about. Jaidyn also asked Santa if he liked apples. Lately she has been very concernced about Santa and his big belly. She is worried that if he keeps eating cookies he won't fit down the chimneys anymore. She has decided that we are setting out milk and apples for Santa on Christmas Eve. Levi did not like Santa at all and wanted nothing to do with him. We did torture him for a few seconds just so we could get a picture of him on Santa's lap.


We haven't even made a dent in the Halloween candy and now after the parade we have refilled the candy bowl. Ugh! Levi wouldn't wear his gloves and his poor little fingers had to be frozen. He didn't seem to notice because he must have thought picking up candy and putting it in the bag was a game as it completely occupied him.






Yesterday, I was able to spend some time with my college roomate, Kristin and her daughter Elise.

Jaidyn and Addy always raid Nana's dress-up clothes closet (clown and cheerleader outfits) and also dressed Elise up with a little pink cape.
It was so nice to spend time with the two of them. And I am so glad to see that Elise is doing so well. Her family is currently living in Florida so it may be several years before we are able to get together again. We had planned that we would live with our backyards connecting after college so our kids could grow-up and play together, but it just quite hasn't worked out that way yet. :)

Jaidyn is 5, First Snow & Ugly Sweaters

Jaidyn turned 5 this past Wednesday. I can't believe she is 5 and that a little over 5 years ago Wes and I were childless. It is crazy to think how much our lives have changed in a 5 year time period.

Jaidyn is a very sweet, caring little girl and we are so proud of her in so many ways. Jaidyn, We love you so much...Happy 5th Birthday!

We celebrated her birthday at McDonald's the night before her actual birthday with many of her preschool friends.












Where there's food, there's Levi!!












We let her open her gifts from us on her birthday morning.

On her birthday she received a sweet little surprise text on my phone from her preschool friend (who she also tells me she has a crush on).


We had an hour or so of big fluffy snowflakes so Wes took Levi out on the deck and let him experience his first snow. He was fascinated by the flakes and would hold his hand out catching them. I am guessing we will have much more of this to come and we have his snow boots and gloves ready for that day.




This is Wes and I's darling spirit-filled sweaters for the Ugly Sweater Party. My sweater had a huge sequin bow across it and I added the big bow in my hair to go along with the theme of my sweater. Definitely 80's. Don't you just love Wes's glittery holiday sweater accented with his turtle neck? It was a women's petite so it had 3-quarter sleeves and fit him across his stomach. He also wore some matching socks. Yikes!

If anyone has one of these parties coming up or actually think they are "Purdy", we would be more than willing to part with them.

December is here

Third time is a charm! It took 3 different times trying to get a good photo of Papa and Nana with the kids for their Christmas card. One of the kids wouldn't be smiling, eyes would be closed (usually my dads), sun light was beaming in right on Nana's neck making it look like she was wearing a huge bandaid, and a car drove past the house looking like it was coming out of Papa's ear.


Jaidyn's 5th birthday is this week and she received an early present from relatives. Aunt Charlene made this darling card...she's so crafty.



She got a Musketeer Barbie doll and then made-up her own Musketeer costume. Jaidyn has some serious creativity going on!

Here is Addy-Dancerella in her cheerleading outfit.


I think the high heeled shoes are a nice touch.



I had to use a clothes pin to cinch up the back so it would stay on her.

Levi's Smile is contagious!! I love it! As usual, I can tell that he has been snacking on something.

~ Stuffed ~

With three Thanksgiviving dinners in the last week, I am officially STUFFED. At any given moment, I believe Wes, Jaidyn or I could start gobbling. Since there wasn't peanut butter & jelly yesterday, Addy & Levi ate like birds. They missed out! I can't really complain as when I stepped on the scale this morning, I weighed 1/2 lb. less that I did on Thursday morning. WTH! We had a great time getting to visit so much of our family over the past week and Levi met more of his relatives for the 1st time. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful, supportive family and are glad that so many of us get to be together over the holidays.

We celebrated Thanksgiving a week early with Wes's mom and extended family. Jaidyn also reminded her Grandma Penny that her birthday was coming up so we did some early 5th birthday celebrating as well.


Jaidyn and Grandma Penny


Jaidyn got to wear the Sombero hat while eating her fried icecream.


Addy sucking up to her sister hoping that she will share. That bowl was huge so we all shared it.




These two probably played over 30 games of Old Maid, Go Fish and War. Jaidyn is actually very good at cards or maybe just extremely lucky with the hand she is dealt.


Levi loved the four wheeler. He would probably be content riding on it for hours. Anytime that I tried to get him off, he would throw a fit and start running after Grandma Penny on it.

One of Addy's favorite toys is her stick horse Flicka (some days she changes it's name to clifford). She can gallop like no other. It is funny to watch her stomp and snort like a horse before taking off in a gallop. Levi has also figure out how to run with it. I think that a smaller stick horse would work out much better for him. When we first brought him home he wanted nothing to do with the stick horse as it scared him. He changes so much everyday.



You can tell by the nose that she takes this outside with her often. Too bad they can't be washed.



Jaidyn and Addy really wanted to go on a picnic today and since it is only in the low 60's (that might be estimating high) we had a picnic on the kitchen floor.



I thought he might be better off eating at a table, but eating on the floor must have looked like more fun.

Tis The Season for Super Glue

Well, the Christmas tree is up and dazzling with lights and ornaments. If only Levi will allow it to stay that way. Hoping to make this a jolly occasion with the kids, I put on some festive Christmas music while decorating. Wes was able to help set up the tree and string lights, but then had to go to work, so it was just the kids and I. I should have known better and waited to try and put the ornaments on with the girls after Levi went to bed, but I kind of wanted him to experience it too. After about the first 5 minutes, I was already super gluing pieces back on Wes's Highway Patrol themed light-up and attempting to super glue Santa's arm back on one of Wes and I's first ornament together. Agh! Keeping him from pulling every ornament off the lower branches of the tree has really tested my patience with him tonight. He would look at me right before pulling the ornament off to see if I was looking. He is Ornery! Luckily, I have Jaidyn and Addy to put on Tree Patrol.

I did manage to get some cute holiday pictures of the kids in their new Christmas pj's from their Nana.










Last weekend I scavenged the local thrift store to find these beauties for the upcoming Ugly Sweater Party. Here is a sneak preview as the kids were having a ball modeling my finds! Sorry if anyone is offended and actually likes these sweaters...it is just my personal opinion that they are hideously decorated with Christmas spirit and bling.


Levi loves playing Peek-A-Boo. He will hide behind a wall or a door and then peek around the side laughing and grinning.



Then the best part...he comes running for a great big hug!



We are so excited for our bloggy friends, JoAnne and Dennis. They are leaving for the Philippines tomorrow to meet their son and bring him home. What a wonderful Thanksgiving for their family!



Rachel from Adventures in the Philippines blog, gave me this blog award. Take some time to visit her blog. She has a huge heart for the children of the Philippines and she captures the best photos of the children while caring for them at the children homes during her mission work stays. I also can't wait to find some time to sit down and visit some of the other blogs that she nominated for this award. I also get to now pick some blogs to receive this blog award too, so I will soon be sharing the love. :)

This week is the national collection week for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Jaidyn was really in to it this year and she helped me sort and pack each box. She was especially particular about the girl boxes and wanted them to be just perfect. This year we were able to print a barcode online and now we will be able to track which country our boxes go to along with information about Operation Christmas Child in that country. Operation Christmas Child distributed shoe boxes early to some of the Philippines hit hardest by the Typhoon. This is a wonderful ministry to participate in and it is a great way to start the holiday season.
Article: Ministry Partners Reach Out To Storm Victims

Halloween Fun!

Whoa, last week was a busy week. The girls are at a great age and loved every minute of it. I am not sure what Levi thought of the weekend as he seemed to be trying to soak in all of the craziness...so many new things to him.

I have lots of pictures to share of our Halloween weekend.








Jaidyn, Addy, and Levi were completely freaked out by their Nana & Papa in these masks. I have to admit those masks are pretty creapy!


Ugh oh, they are loose, roaming the streets! Good thing they are a friendly ladybug and kitty cat.






Addy saw one of her little preschool friends in the neighborhood.

We had one tired little dinosaur who fell asleep in the stroller while trick-or-treating so we left him with Papa and Nana while we took the girls to a church Halloween festival.

Face Painting!



Digging for treasures and more candy!





Earlier on Halloween morning, Wes and my sister (different teams)participated in an Adventure Race...trail running, canoeing, wood splitting (mystery event), and biking. They had a great time and I think enjoyed most of the race with the exception of crossing the river chest deep. Brrrr! And I just love doing all of his muddy laundry afterwards.
















And it is a sprint to the finish line!!

On Friday we attended 2 library Halloween parties. Here they are parading around the library and trick-or-treating for candy.




I keep having to whisper to Levi, "Yes, Levi, you want these treats...mommy really wants these treats, mommy loves chocolate".






Isn't he the cutest little Dinosaur?












Trying to get a spoonful of Smarties candy in to the Cauldron. Jaidyn is such a cheater...she kept using 2 hands, anything to get to go pick out a prize!



Friday night our friends were able to join us for dinner and some time over at the park "Spooktacular Walking Trail". This is the 3rd year in a row to do this together so it has kind of become a tradition.