Day by Day

102 Minutes

2012-02-01T22:27:00.000-06:00

102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers by Jim Dwyer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was instantly gripped by this book and finished it really quickly...which means I MADE time to read it...which means I really liked it :-)! It was definitely sad and frustrating because you knew what the end result would be, but I still found it fascinating. The author pieced together information from multiple sources and is able to offer a great look at what was happening inside the tower during the whole morning, really shedding new light on the tragedy of Sept. 11th. I loved that the chapters were set up by time (8:46am to 11am). I think it is a great tribute to both the victims and the survivors of that day and I definitely recommend it!

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Addie at Five

2012-01-31T20:07:00.003-06:00

Oh, Addie girl, where to begin :-)?! Adeline keeps us busy!

From her constant art projects, her happys and sads, her cute giggle, her love of cats, butterflies and the color purple, her deep thinking questions, her requests for back scratches, her fear of heights, her love of the outdoors, and her independent personality, we are constantly being surprised. Addie is sweet and caring and compassionate. She does things at her own pace, because she her creative little mind is easily distracted from the task at hand :-), but eventually those pajamas are on and her teeth are brushed. I especially love her creativity and imagination that leaves me wondering how such a little brain can come up with such amazing ideas. Addie and Preston have really formed a special bond this last year and although there is definitely fighting between them at times, they really have fun together. She and Ella still love to play dress up, have dance parties and play with their stuffed animals together. She loves to cuddle with Mike and cook with me, and I think we all love to have our special Addie moments. You can't help but love her spunkiness and I am so proud of the progress she has made this year when it comes to listening and following directions. She adds a sparkle in our lives that we couldn't live without! Happy Birthday Addie Cat!

Officially at 5 years old she weighs 41 lbs (59th percentile) and is 42 1/2" tall (52nd percentile). She loves most food, but especially cereal for breakfast, ham sandwiches for lunch, and creamy lemon chicken on rice for dinner. She loves all fruit, will eat her veggies but doesn't love them and still has a big sweet tooth. Her favorite shows are Tom and Jerry, Cat in the Hat and Despicable Me. She loves any craft activity, her stuffed animals and all books. Splat the Cat and Skippy Jon Jones are her probably her favorite characters right now. Playing PBSKids.org on the computer is her favorite treat and cutting and gluing take up most of her free time.

Here are the other pictures from her big birthday photo shoot, wearing her beautiful dress made by Nana...and some being her spunky self too.

Mike has always called Addie's hair "fluffy", because really it was when it first came in. They still joke about it and Addie will tell him she has 10 fluffs on her head. Well, on her birthday she announced that she now has 11 fluffs since she is 5...big news :-)!

Our Big 5 Year Old!

2012-01-30T20:11:00.001-06:00

We spent the weekend celebrating Miss Adeline's 5th birthday. I can't believe she is already 5...or that she'll be in kindergarten next year! She definitely can though. When I helped her into the grocery cart while shopping today she asked me if she was too heavy for me since she is 5 now :-). More to come on our crazy girl. Love you babies!

Celebrating Addie at School

2012-01-28T07:46:00.001-06:00

On Thursday I went to Addie's preschool a little early so we could celebrate her birthday with her class. She requested doughnuts for the treats (she specifically wanted a red one) and Rapunzel plates. While the class went out for one last activity I set up the food and then we sang and ate with our birthday girl. Her teacher really made her feel special that day with a special birthday sticker and pin to take home. Let the birthday fun begin!

I had some time to kill while I waited for the class to return, so I had fun checking out their room a bit more...

The Week Begins

2012-01-27T08:10:00.004-06:00

We were supposed to go visiting teaching on Monday, but it was canceled so we invited some friends over instead!

(after my worst experience child-behavior wise at the grocery store in a long time)

The boys ran and kicked balls, the girls dug in the dirt for grubby gross worms.

Tuesday is my day with Preston.

We went to the library story time, had a visit from my visiting teacher and ate lunch together.

I finally remembered to pick up a Katy Parent to spot Adeline's birthday picture. (she was pretty excited that she was first!)

Everyone looked cute on Wednesday and some friends came for lunch...always fun (and always nice to have dinner ready that early in the day :-).

From now on the week is all about Addie's Birthday!

One Thousand Gifts

2012-01-26T21:06:00.003-06:00

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After hearing great things about this book from a few people, I bought it and was excited to dive in. Overall I loved the book, but it took me a looong time to read it, hence the 4 stars (plus, I didn't like the last chapter). Reading this book slowly had advantages though...it helped keep it on my mind. The author writes in a beautiful, almost poem like, way about her quest to embrace and live a life full of gratitude to God. It definitely changed my perspective on life's day to day and helped me have a better outlook. I like to think that when I keep it on my mind I am able to remain more patient as well. I marked sooo many quotes as I read. Here are the ones I want to be able to reference quickly...

"Gifts He bestows. This writing it down- it is sort of like...unwrapping love."

"Joy is the realest reality, the fullest life, and joy is always given, never grasped. God gives gifts and I give thanks and I unwrap the gift given: joy."

"I wake to the discontent of life in my skin. I wake to self-hatred. To the wrestle to get it all done, the relentless anxiety that I am failing. Always, the failing. I yell at children, fester with bitterness, forget doctor appointments, live selfishly, skip prayer, complain, go to bed too late, neglect cleaning the toilets. I live tired. Afraid. Anxious. Weary. Would I ever be enough, find enough, do enough? But this morning, I wake wildly wanting to live."

"When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows."

"So I push hard and I bark hard and I fall hard and when their wide eyes brim sadness and their chins tremble weak, I am weary and I am the thin clear skin, reflecting their fatigue, about to burst, my eyes glistening their same sheer pain. The hurry makes us hurt."

"The hard discipline to lean into the ugly and whisper thanks to transfigure it into beauty."

"Feel thanks and it's absolutely impossible to feel angry. We can only experience one emotion at a time. And we get to choose - which emotion do we want to feel?"

"If the heights of our joy are measured by the depths of our gratitude, and gratitude is but a way of seeing, a spiritual perspective of smallness might offer a vital way of seeing especially conducive to gratitude."

"The demanding of my own will is the singular force that smothers out joy - nothing else."

"Here I can become the blessing, the little life that multiplies joy, making the larger world a better place."

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9am

2012-01-26T12:23:00.000-06:00

9am church is great because...

we look cute early

we eat a big yummy lunch

Preston gets his normal nap

we can watch movies as a family (we watched Dolphin Tale and it was a tear jerker)

and we still have time to go to the park for more family fun

all in time to eat a little dinner and get in bed on time

love it!

Two Peas in a Pod

2012-01-25T06:31:00.000-06:00

These two crazies sure get into lots of mischief together. There are many times where we just have to physically separate them because they are SO loud when they are in the same room. They definitely have moments when they are fighting and bugging each other, but really for the most part they get a long really well, too well :-). I think it is because their personalities are so similar, and because Addie thinks it is great fun to act like she is also 2, that they really egg each other on. When I hear laughing in another room I have to get up the courage to go see what they are doing that they shouldn't be. Well, most of the time. Sometimes they are having plain good old fashioned fun together. When they can be outside it is perfect because they can scream and laugh and yell as loud as they want without driving me crazy...when we are shopping at the grocery store and they are doing it in the cart I am pushing for the hour we are there, it's not so fun :-).

Here they are in their element on Saturday...Prest and Ad.

Ella loves to play with them too of course, but she has to take care of her big girl responsibilities, like practicing the piano, as well. She really is quite the little player! She's not loving it as much as she was initially, but she is still breezing through her 2nd set of books. I'm trying hard to not push the practicing too much because I don't want her to hate it, but I do love seeing the progress she makes so it's hard not to. Being a mom is a lot of difficult balancing that I never feel I'm doing quite right. Just tonight I was telling Mike how I feel like I am doing much better about being patient with them, but that by dinner time I have reached my breaking point. It's a good thing he is home by that time to help me! Preston has been the most difficult recently, but he sure is cute a lot of the time too thankfully!

I mean, seriously! :-)

My Kind of Snow!

2012-01-24T12:45:00.001-06:00

Ella got a little tube of snow in her stocking for Christmas. We had completely forgotten about it until Preston found it on Saturday and the girls got right to work making the snow. They decided they wanted to throw it around outside, which I thought was a perfect idea :-).

Preston once again wanted nothing to do with the fake snow. His face in the first picture says it all!

"Why would she do that to herself?! She's crazy!"

It didn't taste as good as real snow though :-).

Little Artists

2012-01-23T14:29:00.000-06:00

These canvases were one of our "rainy-day" activities for the summer that we never needed to use due to the drought. So, Saturday the kids got their creative juices flowing to paint some pictures I want to display on the picture shelves I'll have someday soon (hopefully) in the family room. Although they were all beautiful, Preston's ended up being my favorite...who would have thought :-).

Our Friday

2012-01-22T08:06:00.000-06:00

Friday I really made an effort to capture some of our fun moments during the day...and cute outfits. We got Ella off to school, went to the gym and then got ready to take Ella lunch. I had been hoping to make a stop at a park, but it was too wet outside so we headed to Chikfila early so the kids could get some wiggles out before we got our food. We hadn't all been to eat with Ella for quite awhile so it was a special treat. I can't believe next year Addie will be eating in that cafeteria too :-(! Ella got to ride home with a friend from school and spend the evening there, which she thought was just about the best thing ever. Miss Adeline spent the rest of her day making crafts...and messes. I can't get too frustrated about it though when some of it results in beautifully wrapped presents for me. And when Preston was being quiet in his room by himself for awhile I was a little nervous, but it turned out all he was doing was reading. He is just growing up too.

she even used pandas to decorate it because they were my favorite growing up

you can make the cat pop up and down... such a clever kid!

Peeking In

2012-01-21T13:03:00.001-06:00

It is rare to find all 3 kids quiet in the same room together. So when I was walking up the stairs and caught a glipmse of this I ran back downstairs to grab the camera. What are they all doing so nice and peacefully you may wonder? Playing the I-Pad. I never let them play with it, but Mike is nicer than me :-).

Speaking of Mike, we went on a nice, long extravagant date on our Monday off. My mom came and watched our kids for hours so we could go, and it was so relaxing! As an early birthday present Mike's parents gave us tickets to go and view the Tutankhamun exhibit that is in Houston right now. It was really amazing to see all the beautiful artifacts from thousands of years ago. Then we went and had a most delicious dinner at Perry's and stuffed ourselves with way too much good food.

(thank you photoshop for making this picture of both of us together possible :-)

Later that night we were able to have a quick visit with Ben and Sarah Severson who were in town visiting some of Ben's family. It was so fun to catch up with them after all these years! They are the ones who introduced Mike and I, so we owe them big time :-)!

New Sunday Schedule

2012-01-20T08:09:00.002-06:00

We are really loving having church at 9am now! We get home in time to eat something and still get Preston down for his nap at 1pm; it's perfect! The mornings, however, do get a bit rushed, especially since Mike still has a meeting before church. This past Sunday I still managed to get myself and the kids ready, take a quick picture of each of them and make it to the building during the opening hymn...maybe next week we'll even make it before the song :-).

Preston is still in nursery and loves his "class", although he misses his buddy Ian, who moved on to Primary. I think it will encourage him to make some new friends and our preschool group next year will help with that too.

Ella moved up to senior primary...what?!

And Addie girl has been doing great with her new class and teacher. She loves her bag from Hopie...it doubles as a scripture carrier and coloring entertainment during Sacrament meeting.

Picture Slacking

2012-01-19T08:11:00.002-06:00

Over the 3-day weekend I spent a large portion of my time working on my Blurb book...part 1...of 2010. Since life is currently in part 1 of 2012, I have some serious catching up to do. As I was working on it though, I realized that I had so many pictures I loved that were just of our everyday life. The kids playing in their rooms or in the backyard when nothing special was going on. I have really been slacking on pictures of our everyday and now I'm sad that I've missed so many fun moments, and cute outfits :-).

It's just so hard to stay caught up on everything at once. When I'm doing awesome at working out and eating right then I'm falling behind on cleaning. When I'm keeping up with the house stuff, I'm not cooking healthy dinners or reading books. When I'm taking pictures and blogging everyday, I'm skipping the gym. You would think that after nearly 3 years since the addition of a child to our lives I would have a better handle on it all. So, today I'm heading back to the gym for the first time in a week, I'm going to cook dinner and I'm going to take at least one picture. Maybe I'll even manage to squeeze in some reading before bed!

oh, and next year, I will definitely invest in a new hat for Preston so he doesn't wear a pink one :-)...

luckily, the girls can still fit in their cute ones from Meema

a glimpse of the family room...my favorite new feature is that all the toys are in the window nook, hidden by the couch

The craft sets from Kayley and Scott have kept this kid busy for hours!

Miner Family Photos

2012-01-18T13:22:00.002-06:00

We took a few quick family pictures on Christmas Eve this year and I just got them from Cheryl. I'm so happy to have an updated one of us all...the last ones were 2 years ago!

Baby Mac's Blessing Weekend

2012-01-17T20:42:00.001-06:00

We made a quick trip out to San Antonio on the 7th and 8th so that we could be there for little Mac's blessing day. We spent Saturday hanging out, playing at the park and getting things cute for the party. The boys mostly watched football games though :-). It was great to spend time with everyone again and especially great to eat more yummy food! Unfortunately, it was a long night in the hotel for us on this trip, but we all survived and the kids still managed to be mostly reverent during sacrament meeting. Mac is such a cutie and definitely a loved little guy!

Upon our arrival Brittany presented the girls with the presents she had been working on for Christmas. Ella got a cute little bed for Sniffer and Addie, a little purple purse for orange cat. They both were so excited and have been getting plenty of use out of them!

All the boys were matching by complete accident!

Ella gave Dustin a ride down the slides...I think he liked it!

My favorites...

All the Freemans after the blessing, courtesy of Chrissy.

A Day of Play, then Back to School

2012-01-15T20:38:00.000-06:00

Tuesday Mike headed back to school, but we still had one more day off so I took the kids over to pump it up to get all their wiggles out :-)!

Ella may not have been thrilled to head back to school, but she WAS excited to wear all her cute new clothes. Especially her shirts from Mack and Cheryl...they were the first 2 things she picked out!

(this shirt is so cute...unfortunately the bus was rounding the corner right as we opened the door, so this was all we got)

I wasn't going to take a picture of Preston, but he insisted! "CHEEEEESE!"

It took some convincing to get Ella to wear her hair in a bun on Friday. I was going in to read to her class that morning though so I promised her I would either fix it or take her home if it was too traumatic. But what do you know, she was fine :-). I got to stay and have lunch with Ella, which is a HUGE treat for us both. Addie got to have a special lunch with Nana and Preston got to go play at Bennett's house for the first time. So, we all won!

That evening we headed out to watch Mike's high school basketball team play. We are hoping for another state championship run again this year!

How we find Ella sleeping each night :-).

On the First Day of 2012

2012-01-14T10:39:00.003-06:00

We hurried and got ready for our new 9am church time, wearing our pretty new dresses and bow-tie from Nana.

We made it just in time to take a quick picture in the parking lot before heading inside. The girls left their new babies, Sweetheart the cat and Rebecca in the car waiting for our return.

We enjoyed the beautiful weather in the backyard when we got home.

We celebrated Nana and Grandad's birthdays with Hansen tacos, ice cream sundaes and frog pie.

We all especially loved hearing the card Ella made for Grandad. She came up with it all on her own!

"A special Grandad

Best ever

Cheryl loves you

Daddy loves you

Ella loves you

Frog loves you

Grandad happy birthday

How are you silly?

I love you

Jump for Joy

K (I can't remember or read this one)

Lili loves you

Marci loves you

Nana loves you

O everyone loves you

Prince Grandad

Quak your head off

Rabbits are cute for Grandad

Snakes are not for you

Tiana is not for you

Unicorns are for girls

Violins plays music for you

Why are you funny?

X on you

Volcanoes are bad for you

Zebras love you"

We were especially excited when we got an extra day of vacation with Mike the next day. We brunched at the Egg and I, which I have been dying to go to, and then headed to Ikea to shop for our family room re-do.

Hooray for 2012!

Family Photos 2011

2012-01-13T13:57:00.000-06:00

I realized awhile ago that I never posted our family pictures from the year and decided they would be the perfect ending for our 2011 book...once I finish the 2010 one that is :-). My talented sis-in-law Chrissy (of Studio 85 Photography) took our pictures for us this year in San Antonio. I was so in love with our outfits this time and was so happy when we got our pictures to find I was in love with them too. They are happy and cheerful and colorful and everything I wanted. Thanks Chrissy!

2011 was a good year for us! Fun trips, new cousins, growing our businesses, and lots of family time. I am feeling more motivated and excited as the new year begins though! I feel like I finally have a grip, most of the time, on our life with 3 little kiddos. There are great things in store!

Adeline Amani, 4 1/2 years old

Addie grew up a lot this year! She added butterflies to her list of most cherished things (along with cats and the color purple), finished Joy School and started up real preschool (which she LOVES), and had a blast trying out gymnastics. She is still a wonderful little artist with an impressive imagination. Addie can be feisty, but she is also full of compassion for others and I love to see her caring spirit.

Gabriella Imani, 7 years old

Ella has become quite the fashionista. No longer does she think a red shirt, red pants and red socks make a great outfit. She loves to mix and match and mostly accessorize with scarfs, shoes, necklaces, leggings, and headbands. Luckily she has so far exhibited superb taste :-)! She has been trying out new activities (loved swimming & gymnastics, hated track) and started taking piano, which she has shown a real talent for. Ella is a hard worker, such a big help to all of us, and so independent now. I love to just hang out with her!

Preston Michael, 2 1/2 years old

Preston is hilarious! He does weird things, comes up with funny nicknames (most recently "blank"= blankie and "Ad"= Addie), gets into lots of mischief and tries to sneak treats whenever he can. If he can play outside, with trains or with cars he is 100% happy. If you tell him it is time for bed he freaks out, but luckily calms down when you tell him he can pick a book to read. My favorite part of the day with Preston is listening to him sing along to "I Am a Child of God" each night. He loves his sisters with all his little heart!

Ringing in the New Year!

2012-01-12T13:30:00.002-06:00

After spending 2 days of painting on and off, we finished up just in time to celebrate the New Year on Saturday. We were even able to squeeze in some down time on Friday so Mike and my Grandma could watch the BYU game together and I could go to lunch with a friend. Saturday was work, clean, work and clean some more though. Mike and I were going out for a bit that night and we managed to get cleaned up and ready with just enough time to go to the "Mean Cat" store to get some fireworks for the kids too. They were definitely excited about going to pick some out, but not so sure about lighting them off :-)!

The girls mustered up the courage for sparklers but Preston opted out. He preferred just holding the tank firework and watching.

Our big finale started out exciting and quickly turned to terror. Our kids HATE how loud fireworks are. Oh well, we tried :-).

We had one of our favorite babysitters, Kassandra, come while Mike and I went out for a few hours. The girls had picked out some fun dinner treats for their little party and they were allowed to stay up. We got home around 10pm so Kassandra could still go have fun too and Addie was just barely hanging in there. She ended up going to bed not long after we got home, but Ella made it until midnight! The girls got a set of Shirley Temple DVDs from my grandparents for Christmas and we watched some of my old favorites while we waited for bed time to finally arrive. Happy New Year!

Here are some before and afters of the kitchen. We have since added some brushed silver hardware to the cabinets. And the family room is coming along, but I want to get some more finishing touches done before taking pictures.

before

after

Good-Bye to Tom

2012-01-11T21:28:00.000-06:00

Tom had really been doing well for the most part about not driving me quite so crazy anymore, so I had kind of dropped the issue of finding him a new home. I would mention it to people, but wasn't out really looking. Then one week he jumped up on our new coaches a few times and giving them some big scratches with his back claws and his fate was decided.

We talked to Addie quite a lot about how she felt about letting Tom go live with someone else because he was really her cat...and Adeline is our number 1 cat lover...and you never know just what she is thinking or how she will react. She always assured us that she "loves all the cats in the world" and that she would be fine as long as we had Beauty still. So, I posted his cute face on my blog and on Facebook hoping to find him a new home.

I didn't get any takers from that, but my Grandma had talked to her neighbor about possibly taking Tom. This neighbor had been interested in the kittens my grandparents found last year, but since all of us family members snatched them up she ended up finding a cat somewhere else. Initially she thought her current cat was too territorial and that it just wouldn't work adding another cat to the mix although she really thought Tom sounded perfect for their family. However, after a good pet-sitting experience over the holidays, she decided to try it out with Tom.

So, on Saturday, December 31st, the girls and I bundled up Tom in a blanket to take him to his new home. Before we left I took a few quick pictures of Addie with her Tom. I must admit that looking at these pictures breaks my heart...into lots of little pieces. Part of me really misses Tom too, especially how excited he was to see us each time we got home.

Addie loved when he gave her kisses.

Let's just cry now!

Tom was terrified in the car and meowed loudly the whole way to my grandparents house. My grandma walked us over to the neighbors and the girls were happy to find the neighbor to be so friendly (they felt better after meeting her I think). As soon as we walked in the door Addie pulled out the purse she was carrying and handed the neighbor two little balls made of pipe cleaners and a butterfly saying, "Here are Tom's toys that I made for him!" I had no idea that she had brought them and it was adorable and heart-breaking too. I'm sure Tom appreciated them in those first days when he was getting used to his new home. I'm sure he thought of Addie and how much she loved him each time he saw them!

The initial report that we heard back was that Tom wasn't adjusting very well, but my grandparents assured everyone that it can take time for cats to get used to each other, and from the latest we have heard things are going much better. Tom gets to sleep with her kids which I am sure that he absolutely LOVES. It has been much easier at our house without him for me, that's for sure, and Beauty has done fine without him (which we were also concerned about).

Overall Addie seems to be handling it fine. I have tried to get her to talk about her feelings about it all but she always says she loves all cats and she is ok. She has made some comments that really make me feel bad though just in the last couple days. She has a little paper black ball that she made for him that she told me likes to put by her pillow because it reminds her of Tom. And apparently yesterday when my friend was picking her up from school she ran off and said she was trying to run away to Grammy's house to visit Tom. When I asked her about that she did open up a little more about how much she loved Tom and what good care she took of him. I assured her that she did take the best care of him and that he loved her very, very much... there were just a lot of other reasons why he couldn't live with us anymore. Hopefully all continues to go well and Addie will make it through without Tom. It has helped that Beauty gets to sleep on Addie's bed at night now...I think they are both really enjoying that!

One thing I do know for certain...no more pets for us! We have Beauty and we are done.

Friends, Projects and Fun

2012-01-10T21:15:00.000-06:00

I had promised Ella a playdate with friends long ago and we FINALLY were able to find a day where we had the time and they could come too. So, on Wednesday the 28th two of Ella's best buddies (Peyton and Shea) came over for an afternoon of fun. I didn't see them most of the time they were over, but I could hear them laughing! When they went outside to play for a bit I ran out to take some pictures. Our lunch activity was making pizzas and watching Spy Kids 4. I think Addie and Preston thought having Ella's friends over was just about as exciting as she did :-)!

As soon as Ella's friends left we squeezed in trying out Addie's new easy bake oven. We are waiting for an afternoon with some free time this week to try a new recipe, but the cookies were definitely cute and fun for the kids to eat.

On our way back from the butterfly fun the day before we had stopped and bought paint and supplies for our kitchen and family room makeover. So, as I ran off for a photo shoot, Mike got to work priming the kitchen cabinets. First I had to take down our Christmas card wall, which always makes me a bit sad...its one of my favorite parts of the holidays! What a Wednesday!!!

The Butterfly Center!

2012-01-09T07:16:00.000-06:00

I was really slacking taking pictures over the break for awhile there! Since I'm behind on my blogging I totally forgot some things that happened, like Ella and Addie going to have a baking day with Nana. We are getting caught up this week though!

The day after Christmas we had Hope come babysit and Mike and I took just Addie with us to do our Christmas shopping. We have hit the sale at Banana Republic each year for quite awhile and it has become our tradition and part of our presents for each other. This year we were also looking for a purse for me. It was a big decision, and hard to find something as simple and big as I was hoping for, but eventually we found the perfect one. I am loving it and especially enjoying all the compartments inside! When we got home my family was heading to the movies to see We Bought Zoo and just Ella got to go with them. She felt pretty big! That night we hung out one last time with everyone and said our goodbyes to Mack and Cheryl. It was a great Christmas filled with lots of time with both of our families!

Tuesday, the 27th, we headed to the Cockrell Butterfly Center downtown. They had a fun museum section to walk through first where we saw all kinds of weird insects and then we made our way to the big rain forest area where butterflies were flying around everywhere. It was beautiful and I think Addie especially loved it :-)!

We were lucky enough to walk up to all the chrysalises right as a new butterfly was emerging. We missed this when we had our own butterflies and it was truly amazing to watch. You can see him right below the 29 with his wings still wrinkled. It was definitely one of the highlights of the day!

Mike took over the camera to get some pictures of the butterflies as they flew around.

Look at these two standing exactly the same way :-).

Our Current Favorite Book...Press Here

2012-01-06T14:25:00.001-06:00

We are currently obsessed with the book Press Here by Herve Tullet. It is an awesome children's book (thanks for the recommendation Laurie!!!) that is interactive and so fun.

Since I still am behind on our life, I figured I would at least share this for now. Today I went and read to Ella's 2nd grade class and brought this book. I let each child take a turn doing one of the pages and they LOVED it! They all asked me to bring it again next time I come to read. So, if you have children, you MUST get this book. All 3 of my kids love it and it's cheap too! I want to check out some of his others now.

Here is a little preview of the fun inside...

Christmas!!!

2012-01-03T13:35:00.000-06:00

I almost had just as hard of a time falling asleep Christmas Eve as Ella did, but before we knew it morning had arrived. We had told the girls they could wake us up as long as it was at least 6:30am and on the dot they were there to get us. I don't think they woke up much before that, but I'm thankful they so far aren't setting alarms to get up and go downstairs like my brother and I did :-). We decided to let Preston keep sleeping for a bit and headed downstairs. There wasn't any screaming or jumping up and down, but they were definitely excited to see that many of the things they asked Santa for had been delivered (no Scooby Doo robot for Addie though...silly goose). At 7am I went and woke Preston up to join the fun. (we didn't do very well at taking pictures this year, so it will have to be trusted that we had a lot of fun!)

Ella had asked Santa some very specific questions and was thrilled to find a note in return.

Then we moved on to our presents from each other.

After candy and popcorn for breakfast and some playtime with all the new goodies it was time to get ready for church. We all went to my parent's sacrament meeting at 9am and it was fun to have the whole entire family together there...it is the last time we will all fit on one pew, that's for sure.

We went home to change and grab our food and then headed over to my parents for my favorite holiday meal of the year...Christmas brunch! The Scotts were in charge of cooking the yummy gingerbread waffles. Too bad this is the only picture I took all morning (the kids were a little crazy by this point to say the least).

I was ready to put Preston down for a nap and Addie in her room for some quiet time, so we moved the party to our house that afternoon for some more game playing. I had THE worst luck all weekend! I was out first or second in every game we played, but it was still fun. I thought this year we were really able to just relax and spend time together, which is just what I wanted!

Our Big Christmas Eve

2012-01-01T23:12:00.002-06:00

The kids were besides themselves with excitement when Christmas Eve finally arrived! We had spent the month counting down the days with 3 advent calendars (with a schedule of the rotation to make sure all was fair), 2 countdowns we changed each morning (the girls took turns on those), and 1 little Christmas elf (Herbie) to spy on us and hide each night. The trip to San Antonio helped the big day arrive a little faster and we had to hurry and squeeze in some last Christmas activities before the big night was upon us.

First on the agenda was breakfast at McDonalds. We did it on a whim a few years ago and Ella, who had just learned about what traditions were, decided that Christmas Eve breakfast at McDonalds should also be a tradition...and it has been ever since. (McD's pics courtesy of Mike)

We attempted a gingerbread house, as we do each year.

It continually fell apart, as it does each year.

But who really cares when all you really want to do is eat it anyway?! Ella opted to skip out on the building and join in on the eating.

After a nap for Preston and some down time for the rest of us, it was off to Grammy's and Greatfrog's for the big Christmas Eve dinner and gift exchange with my side of the fam. We had our traditional poppers that provided us with a little goodie and an awesome paper crown to wear. It is definitely a fun part of the night...especially to see everyone else wearing their silly crowns while pretending you are looking completely normal and not wearing one yourself.

(the girls stopped by the day before to help Grammy decorate their little table)

And then it was on to the presents! We let the kids take turns opening all their presents first. They were spoiled rotten by everyone...awesome toys, cute clothes (including gorgeous dresses made by Nana), a diary with the invisible ink pen she'd been hoping for, Shirley temple DVDs, and fun craft kits. Even Hope spent her own money on precious gifts for them...my personal favorite was some super cute Vans for Preston. (Mike captured most these shots too)

It was love at first sight when Ella opened her present from Hopie.

Nana made Preston and soon-to-arrive cousin Oliver matching bow ties (which is also what we gave Oliver...great minds think alike!).

More picture of this adorable kitty to come! A long time ago Addie had described to Nana, in a very detailed fashion, the stuffed kitty of her dreams and Nana definitely delivered. Addie named her kitty Sweetheart and it is her new BFF.

Anyone who knows my brother Mack or my grandfather, also knows that they are Republicans through and through. When I saw this freebie months ago, I couldn't resist :-). We talked about sticking them on their cars, but I didn't think they would appreciate the humor in that as much, especially if they drove anywhere before noticing.

Frog and his cool canvas from Kirk.

I had been DYING to give this pillow to my mom! It took so long for me to think of the right present for her, and I couldn't wait for her to see it. Presents are so fun :-)!

My cute necklace from Kayley. She's trying to help me break out of my safe zone when it comes to my style...I'm just such a chicken :-).

While Mike was opening his presents we noticed Preston was being awfully quiet.

And this is why...Uncle Scott kindly shared a bag of his candy with him and I'm pretty sure Scott is now his favorite uncle :-). I was not his favorite mom when I took the bag away.

We are set for date nights now...we already used one gift card, so it's a good thing I got one from Chrissy during the Freeman exchange too!

After finishing up with the presents, we headed back home to finish our Christmas Eve traditions. The kids tried their best to spot Rudolph in the sky as we drove home, but no luck this year. They opened their Christmas Eve present (which Ella now knows is always going to be Christmas PJs) first.

We changed, put out our cookies for Santa (along with a juice box and a carrot for Rudolph), read the story of Christ's birth in Luke and then sprinkled reindeer food outside. This was our first year having food for the reindeer and we learned that it is easier for them to eat from the grass than the sidewalk...we'll keep that in mind for next year.

Addie and Preston fell asleep quickly, but poor Ella really struggled. She came in our room a couple times after she was tucked in. The first time she came in and asked me very sincerely, "What are some of your tricks for falling asleep?" This is how she eventually succeeded. Christmas with kids is definitely fun!

Our Little Santa

2011-12-30T21:25:00.003-06:00

I still haven't had a chance to look through all our Christmas pictures, but I did go through the videos a couple days ago. So, in the mean time here is our very own little Santa (Preston in his Christmas Eve jammies).

Transitioning

2011-12-29T22:22:00.003-06:00

We have been enjoying our Christmas break...time with family, a couple excursions, eating out, playing with friends and home improvement projects. Mike and I are in the middle of painting our kitchen cabinets white and then painting the walls of the kitchen and family room. It is making me want to re-do the whole house! We have been here for 5 years and I'm ready for change, so this has been mostly fun :-). We are taking Tom to a new home tomorrow and though I am excited, I am also feeling sad and guilty about it too. We'll see how it goes. I did my first maternity shoot this week for one of Ella's teachers and it was a lot of fun to do something new. And of course there has been lots of playing with new Christmas toys, watching new movies, and playing outside in the nice warm weather. So, that is what we have been up to, oh and also staying up too late...I am beginning to crave my schedule again!

But back to the catching up...

We finished up our last 2 days in San Antonio with golfing for the boys, resale shopping for the girls, eating...and more eating, a nativity photo-op with the cousins (thanks to Britt's persistence), and more relaxing with the whole Freeman clan. We were surprised to find our hotel had an indoor pool and managed to find swimsuits for the kids (or clothes that were close enough) at a little resale shop near the hotel. Our morning routine became eat breakfast, go swimming, get ready, and head to Meema and Papa's. The kids LOVED it!!! Although Preston was a little out of control due to lack of sleep by the end, overall it was once again a fun and relaxing trip (not cooking for almost a week was awesome!). We are excited to be heading back again soon for Mac's baby blessing.

I hate not being able to control the focus when I put my camera on "auto" to use the flash. Dustin was the cutest little wise man and didn't even mind that huge jewel hanging down his face.

We got home from San Antonio and had one day to recoup a bit, and do LOTS of laundry, before all the fun with my side of the family began. Everyone came to hang out at our house on the 23rd. We chatted, ate appetizers, watched Elf and played a game. It was just what I was wanting to do with all of us together!

Six Flags Again

2011-12-28T19:48:00.000-06:00

We had to be sure and squeeze in another Six Flags trip even if the weather wasn't cooperating much during our days in San Antonio. Monday night (19th) the rain had cleared up and it was actually pretty warm so we went by for a little while. This time Brittany and Dustin were able to come and join in the fun. We were shocked when we got there at how amazingly EMPTY it was at the park and Mike and I were especially thankful that Britt was a long so we could sneak in a quick roller coaster ride! We were able to walk right on to the front row of one and it was a blast. Then it was on to let the kids have fun :-).

Pre-Christmas in San Antone

2011-12-26T22:09:00.002-06:00

We headed out to San Antonio for some fun with the Freefam before Christmas.
The first day is always packed full! Up first, destroy Papa's train!

Preston couldn't figure out why he couldn't push the train along the track like he does on the one in his room and kept taking it off the track for help. Eventually the train was put away for safe keeping :-). With Dustin and Mac soon to join in the terrorizing I'm guessing we probably won't get to enjoy it for at least a few more years.

There were games played with Aunt Brittany, who is always up for fun with the kids, rest time from everyone but those who really needed it (Addie and Preston) and the first of the craftiness with Meema.

Brittany and I were total twinners on 2 days of the trip by accident :-).

After the first of many yummy dinners we made s'mores over the fire pit and then some of us opened presents...doesn't get much better than that!

we got all the little nephews and Preston matching bow ties...I'm planning on a future picture of them all together looking cute in them :-)

Addie and Preston opened presents that they were able to enjoy the rest of the visit...a bulldozer and lots of art supplies. I was so proud of Ella for being so mature about not opening anything since she had gone on her early shopping trip with Meema over Thanksgiving. That can be hard as a little kid and she had a great attitude. Of course, I again failed to get a picture of her in her cute outfit with Meema and Papa, but she loves it and uses the purse ALL the time. When Addie opened her art supplies and saw the pipe cleaners she exclaimed, "I've always wanted these!!!!" She is a great present opener :-)!

We ended up getting this print for Chrissy and Cheryl (after I got the idea from Cheryl's pinterest account!), now I just need one for myself :-).

And some other randoms for the first couple days...

Bath time for cute little Mac.

This one is actually from Thanksgiving, but it's the whole crew with Great-Grandma Gibbs. (oh, and that's Ella's Christmas present outfit and purse!)

Santa's Ranch at the Library

2011-12-24T14:09:00.003-06:00

We had such fun last year at our library's Santa Ranch and couldn't wait to head back this year. In fact, it was SO much fun last year that I decided to let Preston skip his nap and come along this time so he wouldn't have to miss out on it (and if you've witnessed how grumpy he gets without a nap, you know this was a sacrifice!). We had already had a busy day, but hurried back from the gift exchange fun at Katie's to get Ella from the bus stop and then head over to the library.

The girls were most excited about the pony rides, so when we arrived and they were still being set up they chose to wait outside instead of heading inside to do crafts. They wanted first pick of those ponies! We talked with one of the librarians and found other creative outlets to pass the time.

Preston is always handing me boogers these days...it's awesome to be a mom :-)!

Addie managed to tie these leaves on to the weed with a piece of grass.

Finally the ponies made an appearance!

After a nice long pony ride we headed inside for face painting (unfortunately the awesome lady from last year moved), treats, a talk with Santa and some crafts. We even got to see Brooklynn and Ian at the end for a bit. It was a perfect way to end the week before heading out to San Antonio the next morning!

Ella's Christmas Party (and our Dinner, and a party for me)

2011-12-22T20:44:00.000-06:00

Last year at the day after Christmas sale I stocked up on fancy Christmas dishes and then realized we would have to find a time to use them. We eat most of our big holiday meals with either my family or Mike's, which is awesome for many reasons (great food that I don't have to make for one!), but it's fun to have time for our own special meals too. Christmas snuck up on this year and the last week of school I realized we had only ONE night free for a fancy dinner before we headed out to San Antonio, so Thursday was our fancy dinner night. We kept the meal pretty simple but candles and sparkling cider make anything seem exciting...as does Blue Bell peppermint ice cream! Maybe this year I can find a nice table cloth so we feel really fancy next year!

The next day, Friday the 16th, was BUSY with holidy fun!

First up, Ella's classroom party. At the last minute I asked Emily to watch Addie and Preston so I could just focus on Ella and it was such a treat! She has SO much fun with all her friends and I loved seeing her adorable smile as she was laughing with them. It was also bittersweet because her homeroom teacher (who is the Spanish teacher of the Two-Way Immersion duo) had just announced that week that she wouldn't be coming back after Christmas due to personal reasons. Ella really loves both her teachers and is really sad that Mrs. Lara won't be coming back. She told me she hopes her next teacher is pretty like Mrs. Lara because she's so nice. I assured her that her new teacher will be nice no matter what she looks like :-). Oh, and Ella was so excited for this last day of school (it was also a 1/2 day!) that she wanted me to paint her nails and curl her hair...it lasted most of the school day at least. She has my straight hair all the way.

playing 'pass the snowball' (aka: hot potato)

I didn't think to take video until it was too late...right when Ella got out. The kids were dying laughing during the game :-).

She was totally grossed out by her deskmate's eating :-)...oh, boys.

Ella and Allie

Ella and Mrs. Lara

After I picked up the little kids, we stopped at home to get them dressed and then it was off to a Favorite Things party for me (and playtime for the kids). Katie hosted this fun little gathering and made a delicious minestrone soup. She even bought gluten-free noodles for me to put in mine! What a friend!!! We had a $5 price point and I seriously LOVED everything I got...OPI nail polish, Food Network magazine, Jelly Bellies, Starbucks giftcard, and an insulated straw cup with candy inside. I thought long and hard about what to get everyone and ended up donating to the Afton Jean Charity I had recently heard about for everyone and getting them this download of a Mother Teresa quote that I love. I should have taken more pictures, but here are all the kids enjoying their lunch of chicken nuggets.

We still had another event to go to, but I'm done for now!

Mr. Tom

2011-12-22T07:34:00.001-06:00

As you will recall, we got 2 kittens just about a year ago. Tom is the big male of the duo and he is a cuddler. He wants to give love and be loved at all times. I have been putting this off because he really is a good, sweet cat and I feel really bad about it, but we are trying to find a new home for him. One where someone WANTS to cuddle him and love him more than they do here so that every person - and cat - will be happier. He is outgoing and very friendly, and he has grown up with Preston and Addie, which means he is also tough and patient. So, if you are interested let me know. He even brings his own miniature Santa hat with him.

I suppose I should also mention that he is neutered and de-clawed on his front paws...and that he is gorgeous.

Addie's Christmas Festivities

2011-12-21T09:00:00.000-06:00

Last week at preschool it was all about Christmas for Miss Adeline! Christmas stories, Christmas crafts, Christmas parties and a Christmas "concert" to top it all off. Preston and I went over for the party on Wednesday afternoon and then were back on Thursday with Nana and Grammy to watch the little concert. Addie was entertaining as usual :-). She actually did great during the concert for the most part. She stood in her spot, smiled whenever she saw me with the camera and even sang most of the songs. At the very end all the kids yelled out "Merry Christmas!" The directore then got up to say a few things before we left and Addie continued to yell out, "Merry Christmas!" "Merry Christmas!" for another minute, which was the highlight of the concert for me!

looking cute on Tuesday

party day Wednesday

and Thursday's concert

We tried to get a picture of Brooklynn and Addie after but it was too bright for them.

And Grammy treated us to lunch at ChickFilA afterwards...our favorite!!!

The 18th Annual Combined Christmas Concert

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

I was so excited to participate again this year in the combined Christmas concert between our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Katy Stake) and the Epiphany Catholic Church. Even more exciting this year was that Ella was old enough to participate in the Children's Choir as well. Since she dreams of taking voice lessons next year, she was ecstatic about this! She and I had practices every Sunday night for 1 1/2 months, made possible by Mike taking care of getting Addie and Preston those nights, and one of Ella's friends, Abi, giving her a ride home nearly every week so she could get to bed for school the next day (my practices went longer than hers). Finally, the big night arrived! She and I got ready and drove over to save seats and get warmed up. On the way there I asked her if she was a little nervous and she said she was, but that she was excited too. Overall the concert was great! Unfortunately, they didn't seat the children's choir by height at all and Ella ended up in the Very Last row, so we couldn't see her at all :-(, but I know she sang her heart out. I really like the songs selected for us to sing this year, it was a fun mix. There was some weird narration for the last song (a bit too depressing for the ending note of Christmas program in my opinion), but it was still overall a wonderful show. Of course, getting to sing with Hope is always fun too, even if she makes me a little self-conscious about my voice because hers is so freakin' good. I love getting the chance to participate in this event each year, it really gets me in the Christmas spirit! (and thanks to Scotto for missing the show and staying home with Addie and Preston so others could enjoy the show and Mike could document the night for us!)

I'm so glad Jeanne got these picture of Abi and Ella since we couldn't see them during the show!

Sugar Cookie Mania

2011-12-19T08:30:00.000-06:00

Saturday we got to work on our sugar cookies. It was quite an ordeal as usual, but it was still fun and it wouldn't be Christmas without it. This year we upped our cookie making so we could share some with friends...and we got friends involved in the creating too. Addie wanted to invite Ellie, who luckily could come despite my last minute invitation. Unfortunately we didn't have the same luck with the 2 friends Ella wanted to invite, but she thinks Ellie is hilarious, so it all worked out anyway. (and honestly, I'm glad it was only Ellie, I think it would have been way too much with 2 additional kiddos in the kitchen!)

notice Preston eating away :-)

Addie was in it for the long haul with me. She would leave to play for a bit and always came back to help me decorate some more masterpieces.

That day we also FINALLY mailed off the girls' letters to Santa...just in time!

Lunch with Lee Lee

2011-12-18T10:00:00.000-06:00

And back to last week...

On Friday, the 9th, my sister Kayley (or Lee Lee, as Ella used to call her) invited us over for lunch to see their new place. It is much more spacious than their old condo and will be perfect when they welcome their first baby this spring (hooray!). Kayley, of course, has it decorated amazingly! I can't wait to see the finished nursery...or meet their little man!

Santa's Workshop

2011-12-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I was so excited that I was getting so close to being caught up on my posting and then I realized I totally skipped Santa's Workshop. We have enjoyed Ella's school's holiday workshop every year and the girls were definitely looking forward to it again this year. I debated about whether or not to bring Preston (and therefore Mike as well) this year, but in the end we decided to have him wait another year. It gets hard enough keeping up with the different crafts the girls want to make without worrying about Preston getting himself into trouble. So, it was a girls' date again and we had a lot of fun...donuts for breakfast, craftiness, a visit with Santa, writing Christmas letters, and a stop by the school book fair.

Addie knew there was something a little suspicious about this Santa's beard.

Finishing Up

2011-12-16T16:10:00.000-06:00

As the week went on we started to finish up our projects and finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Tuesday (6th) Preston and I headed to his library story time and headed home so I could finish up some photos I was editing that I wanted to deliver that night. Thank goodness for the Thomas app on the I-Pad. Preston would play that thing ALL day long if I let him and is better at using it than I am!

We made it just in time and Ella had dance that night. Wednesday was our usual routine...Addie and Ella at school, Ian over to play, and piano for Ella that night.

Thursday we finally had some free time to make the Thankful Cookies Ella had been begging me to do. They ended up being a lot more fun than I had anticipated! Mike came down while we were making them (probably because he heard me telling Preston not to eat the chocolate chips and marshmallows a million times and wondered what we were doing) and picked up the camera so I actually made it in a few shots! :-)

That night Ella and I went to watch Hope perform in the Taylor High School Symphony Orchestra Midwest Ensemble. They have been in Chicago this week with some of the best orchestras in the country and I can't wait to hear about her trip. I posted all the videos on my YouTube account, but chose my favorite for the blog.

It was getting late and Nana kept Ella entertained with a dance from Sniffer :-).

if you look at the middle of the picture you can kind of see Hope :)

And then it was December!

2011-12-15T12:55:00.000-06:00

After a pretty cold few days, on December 1st it finally warmed up again so we took advantage and got the outside Christmas lights up. This year I had lots of helpers...and they actually helped! Ella was able to get the pegs into the ground and get the lights on them and even Addie did pretty well. Mike wrapped one tree while I did the other and then we blew up the polar bears Meema and Papa gave us to complete our winter wonderland. The kids absolutely love the inflatable characters we see and it has been fun for them to have our own...although we had to come up with a schedule of whose turn it is to flip the on switch that blows it up each night to avoid fighting.

December 1st also marked the arrival of Herbie, our little elf who comes to keep an eye on us until Christmas arrives. Everyone was so excited to see him that morning when we walked down the stairs. He has managed to find some better hiding places this year so the kids really have to look for him each day.

the only thing missing in the picture is the glowing ornaments in the trees
Other events of that day included Ella staying home from school again so I could take her in to the doctor. Her stuffy nose was still going strong and her cough was sounding weird. I knew the doctor would be expensive so I had been trying to wait it out but I was getting worried that she was getting worse and not better, so we went in. We try and use cash when we can so I brought $60 with me thinking I would have change...nope, $95! Insanity when we pay $400 a month for our insurance?! I think so! Anyway, the good news is that the doctor actually was able to solve our problem. She walked in, took one look at my 3 kids and said, "Oh wow, they all have allergies!" Ella's were definitely the worst and the doc was able to prescribe her some nasal sprays that worked wonders and have kept her allergies in check. This week though Preston and Addie's have kicked in and they have been coughing like crazy. I finally filled the prescription the doctor wrote for her cough in case we needed it (I really didn't think we would at the time) and I'm hoping that helps because I'm not looking forward to another $100 spent at the doctor. Anyway, enough about that....

Addie came up with the idea for her cat mask at school all on her own and her teacher was impressed, as was I.

The day before Mike went to get Preston out of bed after his nap. He was crying which was weird (he usually wakes up playing or yelling, "Mooom, come get me!!!") and this is what Mike saw when he opened the door. It was a cold day and Preston had taken off all his clothes and diaper, put his slippers back on and fallen asleep. He then peed during his nap and woke up wet and freezing in a gross bed. I had to wash everything in there...especially the slippers, yuck. Silly Preston.

And lastly, these are from Saturday, the 3rd. That evening the kids decorated the door with some gel cling-ons. If you look closely at their faces you can see that this wasn't a merry and joyful task, as I had hoped. The kids were fighting about who got to put theirs where, but that is a lot of life lately for us :-).

Our Yearly Santa Visit

2011-12-14T11:40:00.002-06:00

The Monday after Thanksgiving break Ella ended up staying home from school. She had what we thought was a cold and we were all a little tired from our travels, so I let her. And then I realized it would be the perfect opportunity to go visit Santa without waiting in line (we have been so busy I had been trying to figure out when to squeeze it in). Luckily, Nana was still able to come along with us despite the last minute plan, because that is part of the tradition too :-)! (not to mention it is a huge help to me) This Santa was nice, although not quite so magical as last year's. The pictures are never amazing, but I really do love having them from every year. (to view some of the originals, look here)

is he slightly scary?!

That afternoon when Mike got home from work, we began setting up the mammoth Christmas tree we inherited from Mike's parents when they moved. Since it didn't fit in the corner like our others, we moved the couches to the opposite side and put it right in the bay window, which I'd always wanted to do anyway. It took a couple days to get it all decorated (and it is continually rearranged), but we LOVE it!

The Rest of Our San Antonio Trip

2011-12-13T12:30:00.001-06:00

Saturday and Sunday we mostly hung out at the house and enjoyed being all together. It was especially exciting though because Chrissy and Zach came home with their litte baby, Mac!!! We (especially Ella and I) were so excited to meet him and hold him. You forget how peaceful and content they are that first week...during the day anyway :-). He is absolutely perfect and we can't wait to see him again in a couple weeks!

all the Freeman cousins

"where am I?!"

We took about 3 minutes to get a family picture of the Yuans.

And started getting in the Christmas spirit...warming up by the tv fire, watching Elf and getting another early Christmas present.

Ella had a lot of fun with her little cousins and asked me later when we were going to have another baby at our house. I told we weren't going to have anymore, but she could have as many as she wants when she grows up. She then told me she only wants 1 because she likes it quiet :-).

Here We Go....Six Flags

2011-12-12T13:46:00.004-06:00

I'm back! Family photo shoots are done, the joint Christmas concert is over, and I am SO ready to get back into my normal groove again. So, let the catching up begin!

The morning after Thanksgiving we headed out to San Antonio to visit Mike's family for a few days. When we arrived in the afternoon we got to play with cute cousin Dustin, who we hadn't seen since the summer, and he managed to get even cuter! We brought Hope out with us and she and Chloe laughed their heads off all day and let Ella hang out with them (which she thinks is the absolute best!). The boys went golfing, Meema took Ella to Justice and let her pick out a new outfit for her early Christmas present (I need to get a picture of her wearing it with Meema and Papa when we go back out for Christmas), and the rest of us hung out at the house.

Later that evening our family and Meema and Papa headed over to Six Flags to check out their Christmas set up. Those season passes have been awesome and the kids loved seeing the Christmas decorations everywhere! We caught some dinner and a show, went on a ride or two (and Mike, Steve and I went on the go-karts. We didn't end up with the best cars in the bunch but it was still a lot of fun and Meema managed to watch our 3 crazies while we waited in line and still get some pictures for us too) and then went to watch the giant tree lighting. At first I was thinking it was going to be a waste of time because it was all classic choral singing (which was beautiful, but not very entertaining to our young audience). Things started to look more promising when the characters and Santa made an appearance and then it started SNOWING! It was bubblie snow, but the girls went CRAZY with excitement. It was sooo fun to see their reaction. Addie especially was freaking out screaming and jumping up and down. Preston on the other hand wanted nothing to do with it. He wanted it off of his shirt and off of his blanket and cried. We caught a few moments before putting the camera away because it was coming down hard.

Mike always gets the cool artistic shots :-)...

keeping up with this kid is a full time job, seriously!

high-fiving Papa

Out last stop of the day were these little cars that Preston was really excited to go on. The waiting in line part he was not so excited about. Thanks to Meema for the pictures of each car-ful :-)!

So, all in all a very fun trip to Six Flags!

We are excited to head back again while all the Christmas fun is still going on.

Thanksgiving Day

2011-12-04T20:21:00.001-06:00

I was planning to edit pictures all night, but my photoshop is acting up (not letting me scroll down to select pictures to open or actions to run...any ideas?!), so I'm shutting it down and letting it rest for the night. Hopefully it will cure itself overnight so I can be productive tomorrow. On the plus side now I have the chance to post pictures from our Thanksgiving Day.
We spent our Wednesday off going out to eat, enjoying the perfect weather and just relaxing for the most part (there was a photo shoot in there too though). On Thursday the girls helped me make our pies (pumpkin and pumpkin cheesecake) in the morning and then we headed over to my grandparents for the big feast! It was fun to spend the afternoon hanging out together...we just missed Mack and Cheryl :-(. After our big family time, our little family headed to the theater to see Arthur's Christmas (which was really cute). The kids were especially excited that Mike came with us and Preston did pretty well through the movie. We definitely have a lot to be thankful for and the chance to spend time with each other tops the list!

Kayley and Grammy set a beautiful table.

Kayley's little acorns were too cute!

Frog made fried and smoked turkeys and Grammy's creamy beans dish (that I need to get the recipe for) is my very favorite!

Fun with Grandad inspired Addie and Preston to have some fun of their own.

4 generations

Addie's Thankful Feast

2011-12-03T14:32:00.001-06:00

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Addie had a Thankful Feast at preschool. Preston and I arrived a little early to help set up and it was fun to catch a little bit of Addie in her school element.

(I think her classroom has pretty much the worst lighting ever unfortunately)

Addie and her buddy Lauren. She gave Addie her cute turkey hair bow and they were excited to be twins that day.

The "feast" consisted of chicken nuggets, cheese and ham cubes and carrots.

Preston was so content playing with all the classroom toys and puzzles!

That delicious feast was followed by a crafty dessert that was so cute (decorating an ice cream cone teepee) and the cupcakes we brought too.

Let the Decorating Begin!

2011-12-02T20:12:00.001-06:00

The weekend before Thanksgiving was a busy picture taking one for me, but we managed to squeeze in some holiday fun as well. We were planning to spend Saturday evening at the tree lighting ceremony at La Centerra, but it was a little rainy and when we drove over it was WAY more crowded than we were expecting. So, we changed plans and decided to start getting our own house ready for Christmas instead (and we had to promise the kids a train ride at the mall since they were missing the free one at the event). We brought out our Christmas bins, put on Christmas movies and got most of the inside done. I'm all for making the Christmas season last as long as possible!

Preston in his snowman hat from Ian.

(he wore this one whole day at the gym and got LOTS of compliments)

Welcome Christmas!

2011-11-30T20:30:00.001-06:00

I will hopefully start catching up on all the latest happenings soon, but until then, Happy December!

I love this month and I love Christmas cards! I've started mailing mine out, so if you want one this is the last call for new addresses!

And since every post is better with a picture, here is our 2011 pic with Santa.

I'm hoping to scan all of them starting with Ella's first Christmas in 2004, but we'll see if it happens :-)! I have them all hanging up and I love walking by and seeing how our family has changed each year.

From Ella

2011-11-26T13:11:00.001-06:00

Since my personal photos are on the back burner right now it is a good thing I have these from Ella to share! I took our old camera to the Twilight movie with me and was surprised by all kinds of gems when I went to upload those photos. The videos were definitely the best...LOVE them :-)! Thanks Lella!

She captured play dates with friends Naomi and Lindsey as well.

And no Ella upload would be complete without pictures of the cats and her silly faces.

And my favorite...

(I don't know how she thought of these lyrics)

Twilight...and Other Stuff Too

2011-11-22T10:42:00.001-06:00

Last week was the calm before the storm for us. These next couple weeks are going to be crazy, so I enjoyed my week of having at least some free time still. Highilights....

Ella bought this new school bag, and a new binder to go in it, with her own money. She also designed her flower bracelet from a ribbon and a hair clip!

Other cute kiddos that morning...

Cashing in Ella's free Rita's frozen ice from her reading program. Addie's friend from preschool, Noah, happened to be there at the same time and they were laughing their heads off about poop. The potty talk is driving me crazy, but it still continues, of course, despite the fact they aren't allowed to use it.

Thursday night was the midnight showing of the latest Twilight movie. It is rough staying up that late, especially when the kids get up at 6:30am regardless :-), but since it is way more fun to go see these movies in the middle of night I know I'll do it again for the last movie! This year we had a fun Enrichment acitivty before heading over to the theater to claim our good seats. The movie was surprisingly well done, the fried pickles at the Alamo were as delicious as ever and being with so many fun ladies was a blast!

the rest of our row

Twins on Friday and a grumpy Prest. That kid is quite the stinker lately, but at least he'll admit it. He will tell me, "I'm grumpy!!!" He also tells me not to look at him when he is going to be sneaky or do something he isn't supposed to. Just last night there were blueberries on the counter and he kept eating them. I had told him not to eat any more and was looking through the mail. He told me, "Mom, don't look at me! Don't see me!" So, I pretended to be reading the mail and he kept his eyes on me while he reached up to grab more berries :-). Stinklet!

Addie found Beauty laying with her stuffed cats and requested a picture of it because she thought it was too funny :).

I just found this pic on the phone from when Preston and I met up with Mike for lunch near his school last month.

Preston's Death Defying Adventure

2011-11-20T21:29:00.001-06:00

This is a long story...

So, Preston and Ian are still great little buddies. On Wednesdays Ian comes to play with us and on Thursdays Preston goes to play with Ian. They love it and Emily and I love it because we both get some time to get other things done. This past Thursday Emily took the boys with her to the church to set up for our Enrichment Activity that night (it was super fun by the way...a service auction...loved it!). I spent my day catching up on things and went to pick up Brooklynn and Addie from preschool that afternoon. As we were driving back to Emily's to trade Brooklynn for Preston I gave her a call to tell her something from the school that I didn't want to forget about by the time we got to her house. When I called Emily asked me, "Do you want to hear a story now or when you get here?" Now, of course!

So, the ladies at the church had a movie on for the kids to watch while they worked. At one point Emily turned around and the boys weren't in the room. So, she started walking around the church looking for them. On her way up to the stage she noticed there was a door propped open with stairs that led up to the attic. She went up and called for the boys but didn't hear anything and went back down to look in classrooms, etc. After a bit of searching, and another trip up to the attic, and still no Ian or Preston she was getting nervous and some of the other ladies were helping her look. As they were looking they heard little feet running above them and Emily headed back up to the attic. (Now, I have since been up to the attic to inspect and it is HUGE. It has a walkway with a railing along it and it keeps and going and going around the length of the building pretty much). Emily walked back in the attic and called for the boys. Ian eventually came running towards her and when Emily asked where Preston was he told her that Preston had fallen. Thinking he was lying somewhere on the pathway she told Ian to show her and they kept walking. And walking and walking. Eventually they came to where the walkway ended and there was a small space with no railing. Ian pointed and told her that is where Preston fell. From the walkway it drops down about a foot and there is what looks like more flooring but is just the backside of the ceiling tiles. When Emily looked over that edge there was a hole in the tiles and no Preston. HE HAD FALLEN THROUGH THE CEILING!

Needless to say Emily started freaking out. At this point in the telling of the story I was also getting really nervous and said to Emily, "I'm assuming he is fine since you didn't call earlier, right?!" They get back down from the attic and she has no idea which room he has fallen in, if he lying there unconscious, if he has broken bones. An older woman in our ward soon came in with Preston (who was wearing no pants because he kept taking them off) and asked whose child it was. Apparently some ladies had been working in the genealogy room of our building, heard a crash from the back of the room, and then in walked Preston. He didn't even cry! He had fallen through the ceiling tile and miraculously landed on a filing cabinet (albeit a tall one!) and then must have gone from there to the floor. Can you believe it?! He didn't have a scratch on him but his knee did have a bruise. Preston is one lucky little guy!

That night at Enrichment I got to see up in the attic where he had fallen and today after church Katie helped me track down keys to the genealogy room and borrow her camera so I could pictures of the broken tile. We are seriously lucky he wasn't hurt! And don't worry Emily, I still love you :-)!

The only thing Preston would tell me about this adventure was that he fell into a box :-).

I am seeing more stitches in this kid's future.

Location Scouting

2011-11-18T14:22:00.001-06:00

Last weekend the kids and I went on a little adventure (in our pjs). We were looking for a specific kind of location someone had requested for their photo shoot this weekend (and I think we found a great one!) and on our way home stopped by this woodsy location I had found a few weeks ago. When I found it the first time I didn't have my camera with me and I have 2 shoots there this weekend so I wanted to test out some spots and see what was working with the morning light. The kids, especially Preston surprisingly, were great sports about posing for me despite the fun playground around the corner. I think this is going to be a great picture place...I'm ready for tomorrow!

Preston is doing this awesome, new, slightly cheesy smile when he poses for the camera now :-)! You'll see it many, many times in the coming weeks! (and yes he desperately needs hair cut)

Addie set her toys on the swing while she went to climb on the playground.

Blast From the Past

2011-11-18T08:23:00.001-06:00

Saturday afternoon the kiddos and I drove over to Pearland to meet up with a couple girls I went to high school with. Kristin lives out here and we had recently seen each other when she asked me to take pictures of her super cute daughter Katelyn over the summer. Jill and I played volleyball together and hung out a lot while I lived in Dallas...and we hadn't seen each other in 12 years! It was so fun to catch up now that we are all old and married with kids. It is strange how time flies! I feel like I'm still in high school and we should be off doing something crazy together :-).

All our cute kiddos...

Addie, Preston, Ella, Katelyn, Kailyn and Luke

The kids got a long pretty well for the most part (my kids thought playing with all Katelyn's toys was great!).

me, Kristin and Jill

Catching Up To Fall Behind

2011-11-17T12:41:00.001-06:00

I'm really trying to use this week (which is almost over) to catch up. The next 2 weeks are full of photo shoots and Thanksgiving festivities, so I will be waaay farther behind in no time at all. What can you do? Here are the rest of the pictures from last week.

Monday night Hope performed with the Taylor High School's Jazz Band and seriously blew me away. She sounded awesome and didn't even seem nervous. With all her success with the bassoon I forget that she is such a talented vocalist and pianist sometimes. Hope also had a HUGE cheering section there for her, I got a picture of one full row, but there were some others behind us as well. Ella thought the concert was fun too, especially because she really wants to take voice lessons next year. Here are some highlights...

Preston looking cute on Tuesday

a cool morning on Thursday

(Ella had on cute striped tights, which was the main reason for the pics, but she wasn't into smiling that day so we didn't get one. Addie on the other hand was all about looking cute that day.)

Happy Veteran's Day on Friday

Gymnastics!!!

2011-11-16T20:40:00.001-06:00

Ella has wanted to take gymnastics for a looong time and with Addie not in dance this year, I was thrilled when a Living Social deal for a place close to us popped up. So, November is gymnastics month for us and so far we are loving it! If only we could get the awesome price every month we might consider staying with it :-). Addie goes during the day with one of her BFFs Ellie and then Ella goes in the afternoon when she gets home from school. The girls are learning fun new tricks and we all really love the coach now that we have 2 weeks under our belt. Thanks Living Social! (all these pics are from our first day last week)

cute buddies ready for their first day of fun

cartwheel practice

Katie's phone was a life saver that first practice (although he still did some exploring)!

Who knew Addie was such a talented roller?!

She kept her little body super straight and even pointed her toes.

time for a forward roll

We were back at the gym later that afternoon for Ella's turn. She was SOOO excited! I didn't get as many pictures, but the older girls get to use all the real equipment which Ella thought was awesome. The first week they did beam and vault and this week they did floor and bars. Her friend Taylor from church was even there during warm-ups which was a nice surprise (and fun for me because I can talk to her mom the whole time!).

The warm up was a fun foam block throwing game.

practicing cartwheels for the beam

and the real deal

All in a Sunday

2011-11-15T21:29:00.001-06:00

Long ago on November 6th :-), we had a momentous Sunday.

We released our lady bugs (we had been waiting for the weather to warm up for a few days). The fun thing about letting the ladybugs go is that they hung around a bit before flying away. The kids loved having them crawl around on them and watching them in the grass.

The girls enjoyed some glamorous outdoor playing before church.

After church we got celebrate Grandfather's 75th birthday! He and grandma had made a delicious Mexican feast (which he had been telling me about for weeks...the pulled pork, all the different yummy sauces, the charro beans and the soapapillas for dessert). My mom had collected 75 things we love about Frog from all of us (kids, grandkids, great-grandkids and spouses) and it was fun to hear them all!

Addie explaining her card; Ella being embarrassed while he read hers.

After dinner, Hope, Ella and I headed off to practice for the big joint Christmas concert. I LOVE the songs we are singing this year and Ella is super excited that she is big enough to sing in the children's choir!

(the actual performance is Sun Dec 11th @ 7:30pm if you want to mark your calendars)

2 Weeks Ago

2011-11-11T06:56:00.001-06:00

Life has been crazy, but what else is knew?! This time I just got WAY behind on the blog (and if I even think about the Blurb book from 2010 waiting to be finished as 2011 comes to a close I get stressed out, but it will just have to wait). So, here is the rest of Halloween week...

For the first time in my life I heard the story of the Great Pumpkin on a few different blogs this year. The kids got LOTS of good candy this year from their trick or treating, which meant that both they and I wanted to eat it all the time. I decided we needed to get rid of it, so Wednesday morning while we were getting breakfast I told the kids how I had JUST heard about the Great Pumpkin (in a really excited voice!). When they heard they could leave their candy out and get a surprise in return they were all for it. Ella told me she had heard of the great pumpkin at school but didn't believe it because sometimes her friends lie to her, but luckily she believes mom still. I have a feeling if Preston had really understood what was going he may have voted against it because he sure loved his candy! Ella was immediately listing off things she was hoping the Great Pumpkin may leave her and I had to remind her he wasn't Santa Claus (she was thinking big). That night after dinner I let each kid pick out 5 of their favorite candies and we put the rest in bags to leave outside.

It was short notice for the Great Pumpkin so he was working with what he had on hand and left the kids the movie Rio. I think he'll be coming every year from now on!

Pictures from the mornings

(it's been fun to dress up in our winter clothes for a change)...

Friday morning was "Morning with Moms" at Ella's school and Grammy came over early so Ella and I could go together. We found a spot with some of our friends and enjoyed a nice little morning. That day the kids could also wear pajamas to school if they paid $2 and they thought it was awesome...great fundraiser for the school :-)!

My Little GQ

2011-11-08T22:19:00.002-06:00

Halloween Day Marathon

2011-11-04T22:24:00.000-05:00

Can you tell I got Halloweened out?! It was definitely fun, but it is nice to have the decorations down, the candy gone (more on that later), and after this all the pictures posted. On actual Halloween day Ella had to go to school, which she thought was incredibly unfair, and Preston and Addie got to go to a Halloween party thrown by a couple of their friends. There was crafts and food and games and even a pinata! What fun!

Strangely, Preston did not want to particpate in hitting the pumpkin...just watch. He did however participate in the collecting of candy once it was busted open.

The good news for Ella at school was that she got to pick out her book for the birthday book club. This year she chose Fractions=Trouble and anytime it is checked out at the library they will see her name and birthday inside!

Then the kids colored their pumpkins. Luckily they didn't care too much about carving them...it definitely saved us a big mess, although I missed the pumpkin seeds. Ella made her fancy with jewelry and a crown, Addie (no surprise) made hers a cat, but even drew the tail on the back, and Preston just happily scribbled.

Addie photos by Mike

And finally it was time to get ready for Halloween. We got dressed with make-up on and headed over to Nana's for her traditional taco soup dinner (Grandad had to be out of town :-(, but Kayley & Scott and Grammy & Greatfrog were there too). My kids were devouring all her decorative candy before the trick-or-treating even started! We went out around their culdesac for candy and then headed home to pass out candy in our neighborhood...and after 2 nights of trunk-or-treating already it was the handing out part the kids were most excited about this night. At first we thought we must have missed most of the trick-or-treaters, but once they started they kept coming. We ran out of our goodies, so the girls started handing out the candy from their buckets instead. They seriously LOVED handing out the candy! Eventually we made it to bed and everyone slept in the next morning a little bit longer than usual :-).

THANK YOU!!!

2011-11-03T21:47:00.005-05:00

I just had the best surprise! I went to check my blog updates for the day and saw Janna had updated her blog, which was exciting enough on its own, but it was a post for me!

Two years ago Janna, one of my most favorite people in the whole entire world, came to visit and take amazing pictures for me (and others), and teach me and inspire me in all things life and photography related. Today she posted the pictures she took the day we had together and it was so fun to look at them. I can't believe how little my kids were!

Go HERE to see them.

I tried to convince her to come again this year, and I'm still holding out hope for next year :-). Janna, you are amazing and talented and the kindest, most genuine person I know.

Can't you just move to Houston?! Pretty please!!!

Christmas Cards

2011-11-02T07:26:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's early I know! I am starting to get ready for Christmas cards now before I am too busy taking family pictures for other people's cards :-).

If you would like a Christmas card and have moved or think I may have lost your address (which is possible!), then leave a comment with your address and I won't publish it.

Receiving Christmas cards is one of my favorite parts of the holiday...I can't wait!!!

Church Trunk or Treat

2011-11-01T17:01:00.001-05:00

Saturday night we headed over to the church for their trunk or treat. This was definitely the best one! Tons of cars, hardly any walking involved, good candy, and lots of friends to see. I was also excited because I got some pictures of Addie with the sunset. I had been planning to take her over to a new picture location I found to try and get some, but evenings always get so busy that it never happened. I'm glad we got something similar to what I had envisioned at the last minute!

We sent Preston downstairs as we grabbed all our last minute supplies and when we came down he was sitting at the table looking just like a little Elmo.

Enough of the pictures, on to the candy!

After the kids had walked around the parking lot they had fun passing out candy and even used some of their own loot once our bowl ran out. It was another night of Halloween fun!

Halloween Dog Parade

2011-10-31T21:31:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning I took the kids over to our outdoor mall to see a Dog Costume Parade. It was a perfect event for kids...no wait, over quickly, and highly entertaining. I think we were some of the only people there just watching the parade, there were lots and lots of participants and some super cute doggie costumes! We had about 5 minutes to kill while we waited for them to round the corner we were on and we browsed windows, did tricks and danced to pass the time.

As pretty much the only spectators we got lots of attention from the dogs. One lady even asked if she could take a picture of her dog with my kids :-).

After the finale car we went and walked around the booths a bit. Ella was excited when we saw these hound dogs who look like her favorite stuffed animal, Sniffer. (and how cute is that coat?! I got it for $13 at a resale shop...score!)

School Trunk or Treat

2011-10-30T20:51:00.001-05:00

Ella's school had their first trunk or treat this year on Friday so off we went! We scored better candy at the church one the next night :-), but it was our first time dressing up this year and we had lots of fun. Preston was definitely the biggest hit of the weekend...people couldn't get enough of our little Elmo. Of course, our Rock Star Ella and Butterfly Addie were each gorgeous as well! It was actually pretty freezing for Houston that night so Preston's was the only costume that didn't need adjusting. (and my new lens came just in time for all the festivities!)

Spirit Week

2011-10-30T09:45:00.004-05:00

Monday: Wear Red

Tuesday: Wear Boots

Wednesday: Crazy Socks

Thursday: Inside-Out

This day everything was going normally in the morning. We got Ella on the bus and then we headed to the gym before taking Addie to preschool. It was my kid free day and Preston was going to play with Ian as well. I got my step set up and had just started on the elliptical while I waited for class to start when the child care center paged me. I headed over fearing Addie had gotten in trouble and hoping it was just that Preston had pooped, but found out that Addie had thrown up in the sink. She had seemed completely fine all morning so I highly doubted she was really sick (she periodically throws up in the morning and then is fine the rest of the day). We headed to the grocery store for a couple things and I was planning to go back to the gym after dropping the kids off. I bought Addie a little Sprite and let the kids eat some crackers while we slowly walked around the store killing time. We had just arrived in the Halloween aisles when Addie told me she needed to throw up. I grabbed the towel I had in my purse for the gym and caught a lot of throw up, and was trying to wipe her face with a clean corner of the towel when she said there was more. The towel had reached full capacity so there was nothing to do but let her throw up all over the floor. It was gross and I feel really bad for the poor teenage boy that had to come clean it up. So we headed home instead of to school and my kid-free day was gone. We made her a comfy bed on the couch and she never threw up again, but we canceled the playdates we had lined up at our house for the next day just in case there was flu germs floating around. Luckily I think it was just another random Addie throw up.

I also found out all the kids love pistachios that day.

Friday: Favorite Cap

Ella doesn't like any caps, but we thought maybe the Rangers one would bring them luck that night...didn't work :-(.

I don't think I ever mentioned that when it got cold and I put pants on Preston for the first time he laughed and told me they were "too long!", he only remembers shorts. He also has to sit on a pumpkin EVERY time we go out to the bus in the morning.

3 in 1

2011-10-29T16:03:00.001-05:00

Three fun Halloween moments in One Day. (Wednesday)

FIRST

Adeline's Favorite Storybook Character Parade (aka: HALLOWEEN COSTUME PARADE) at preschool.

She brought in Splat the Cat for her favorite book and dressed as a cat (I didn't know people were wearing full out costumes, so she just donned her accessories) and Nana was able to come watch too.

Unfortunately Addie was WAY in the back so we only caught a little glimpse of her every once in awhile, but she was doing all the motions to the songs!

Back to the classroom with Miss Cari.

SECOND

A fun Halloween mail surprise from Meema and Papa!

Ella was thrilled with the surprise dollars, Addie immediately wanted to go to ToysRUs and Preston promptly laid his out in a long line on the floor and told me they were train tracks :-).

THIRD

Off to the library for a Halloween craft! We haven't made it to the Afternoon Art program because Ella has piano that night and things get busy, but we really made the effort and made it this week. The girls really loved it...Preston made his own fun.

One of the librarians had made this little cat one and let Addie keep it. She gave it legs and named it Spike "Because he is spikey!".

Addie's finished products: Spike the cat and her Artist Spider.

Papa Time!

2011-10-28T10:36:00.001-05:00

It seems like it has been forever since we have been able to see Meema and Papa, so it was a special treat to have Papa with us most of the day on Tuesday. Preston and I got to hang out with him all afternoon and the girls were excited to come from school and have him at our house. His Donald Duck voice is always a hit and he even managed to fix a bathroom sink handle before he headed back to San Antone...that's a pretty impressive skill set! Hopefully we'll get to see the whole Freeman crew again soon!

I have to include this creative little idea from Addie. The gym has had these bats for the kids to color for Halloween and Addie brought this one home, found a stick and made the bat hang from it. I was then instructed to find a good place to hang it in the house.

And I did this little project for my photography theme of the week Memories. It's so nice when things turn out just how you had hoped!

(if only I had thought to have Ella fix her clothes...it was inside out day at school :-)