Our church had its Christmas musical this week.  It was presented by the adult choir, but the kiddos got to sing a song and participate in the finale.  The musical was very entertaining.  Believe me, I know.  I got to go to both performances!  Ha!  They had dancers, handbells, sign language, an orchestra, and Mary, Joseph, and a real live baby Jesus!  Here are a couple of the pics I got from Monday night's performance.

A posing in front of a Christmas tree at church

 On stage

Today was A's last day of school before Christmas.  I took the day off so I could go to her party.  We had donuts, cupcakes, orange juice, and milk.  The kids got to open their stockings filled with stocking stuffers from their classmates and they played some games.  It was pretty chaotic to say the least after all the consumption of sugar!  I'm pretty sure they all had a great time!

Here is A sitting at her desk

 This picture was after the "wrap your friend like a Christmas tree" game.  They even had ornaments and garland.

 Here, they had to hold one hand behind their backs and open up the present with the free hand.  They had a gift filled with candy and treats!

After the party, I checked A out of school early.  I let her pick lunch, so she chose Subway, her current favorite place to eat.  It was nice having a little girl time just the two of us.  It doesn't happen very often anymore.  A funny story...there is a cemetary we pass on the way to our house.  It has really pretty landscaping and a gorgeous pond with a fountain in the middle that shoots up water.  Well, I have thought about taking pictures there, but there always seems to be a lot of visitors there and I wasn't sure if someone would think that was rude or disrespectful.  Anyway, we passed the cemetary and it's a Tuesday afternoon, not very busy, and I decide we should try it.  I pulled in and parked right by the pond.  We get out and run over to the pond and the whole time I'm looking around to make sure no one sees us.  Then, A tells me that there is a car so I tell her to run back to our car.  We get there, I look around, but don't see anything.  Then, she tells me that she didn't actually see a car, but she thought she heard something!  I could have strangled her!  So, we run back over there and then I see a real car in the distance.  I gave up at this point and we loaded up and went home.  We didn't get any cool pictures at the pond.  Maybe we will do it another day when I have more nerve! Disclaimer:  no grave was harmed in any way with our little adventure!  We did take a couple of pics after we got home.

 Love my sassy girl!

Jeniffer

This little cutie is so proud of his artwork he made in Sunday School today.  When asked who is in the picture, he enthusiastically says, "Baby Desus!!!".  I'm sure Jesus loves his little 2 year pronounciations as much as I do!

 A closer look

 Thought I would take a few more pics since he looked so cute!

 I know he is mine and I am partial, but he is so adorable!

Don't forget the true reason for Christmas...Baby Desus!!!

Jeniffer

We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house with C's family.  We had lunch with MiMi, Pa, Uncle J and Aunt J.  We had a turkey and all the traditional Thanksgiving food.  Of course, we had my favorite holiday food...DESSERTS!!!  Ha!  We had a pecan pie, a chocolate cake, and a Chips Ahoy pie.  Everything was delicious.  A got a Thanksgiving packet at KidServe Sunday night that included place cards (pilgrims, turkeys, etc), a paper basket, and thankful leaves.  Wednesday night, she worked hard decorating the table and deciding where everyone should sit.  I think she changed her mind about a zillion times and it didn't help that CJ was in the middle of everything rearranging her table!  Thursday, we all sat at the table for our meal and wrote what we were thankful for on our leaves.  If you are wondering what we wrote, I'll give you a hint...everyone was thankful for two special little people!  Well, except for one of those special people who wrote she was thankful for her "famliy (her spelling) and friends" and the other special person can't write.  I was so proud of her.  Here is a picture of her with our special table.  She made the turkey we used as the centerpiece at school.

  Here is the table

And here are some more pictures from the day...

CJ and Aunt J watching cartoons

 CJ is really happy here because he is eating MiMi's chocolate cake!

 Yummmmmy!

A and Aunt J

Friday, I took the kids to Monticello to see my parents (MeMe and Pop).  I didn't get any pictures, but we had a good time.  CJ stayed at their house for about an hour while A and I ran to see my friend Jennifer's new house.  I think they had a blast while we were gone.  He said did kinds of talking but my mom had no idea what he was saying!  HaHa!  After I got back, we ran to grab a bite to eat and went to Walmart to get ideas for Christmas gifts for the kids.  CJ fell in love with a tractor and it was pure torture taking it away from him!  He totally did not understand the concept of "just looking".  Typically, we don't take him through the toy aisle unless we are actually letting him get something special, so I guess it wasn't very smart on our part.  He had a fit.  He was trying to get out of the buggy and run to the toys.  I had to carry him kicking and screaming out of the store.  It didn't help that he was way past needing a nap.  I didn't see anyone I know in Walmart, but I can't help but wonder if someone saw me!!!  Oh well, I guess it happens and I knew I could not give in because he would think that was an appropriate behavior.  Lesson learned for me and I hope for him, too!  Now that I think about it, this whole ordeal is probably why he was joking later on saying he was "MeMe's boy" and he "loved MeMe" and not me...J/K!  That's one of his new things.  If I ask him if he loves me or if he is my boy, he shakes his head no trying to be silly.  I think MeMe enjoyed it though!

Jeniffer



With Christmas just around the corner, we are trying to teach our kids the true meaning of the season.  It is easy for kids to get caught up in the material aspect of Christmas and getting stuff from Santa.  C and I want them to remember that it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus and it is important for us to give to others.  It breaks my heart that there are children both here in America and all over the world who don't have enough to eat or a place to sleep.  A and CJ have sooooo much (and want much more) and it is hard for them to understand that it is not like that for everyone.  Our church is collecting shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, so we thought that would be a great activity for us to participate in.  A and I decided to make a box to give to a girl around her age.  We went shopping and got all sorts of stuff.  She had a lot of fun picking out items for a girl on the other side of the world that she will never meet.  We got toiletries, some small toys, a water bottle, candy, notebooks, markers, all sorts of things we thought she might like.  A also decorated a sheet with some information about us and included her picture with our address.  She is so excited and hoping that whoever receives our box will write us back!  Operation Christmas Child also has an option where you can follow your box and learn what part of the world the child who receives your box lives.  I am pretty excited about that part myself.  We packed up everything today and A said a prayer over the box for the child who gets it.  I know that packing a shoebox is a small action, but I hope this helps instill a love for giving in A's heart.  Maybe next year, CJ will be big enough to understand and we can make a box for a little boy his age, too.  We took a few pics today as we packed up the box.

 Isn't this precious?  Notice the yellow scribbles at the bottom.  That was baby brother's contribution!

 CJ laughing at his sister

Hope you like them!

Jeniffer

We had a great Halloween!  Last year, CJ was still too small to enjoy the festivities, but this year he had a ton of fun!  I really enjoyed watching him get excited about dressing up and trick or treating.  He is definitely not a baby anymore and I am actually ok with that.  He just has such a cute personality and is so full of energy.  He talks constantly and I understand what he is saying probably 75% of the time!  HaHa! 
 
As usual, I started planning the kids' costumes about 2 months in advance.  I'm so indecisive and I like to make sure I am getting the perfect costumes for the best price.  A has wanted to be Rapunzel since watching Tangled, so her character was set.  It was just a matter of finding the right costume.  I looked at a costume book with CJ and he picked out "Piderman".  Of course, once the costume came in, he announced that he wanted to be "Ah-go" which is his way of saying Diego.  In the end, he was fine with the whole Spiderman idea.  Thank goodness!

Our church had "Trunk or Treat" and we decided to participate.  A has always liked giving out candy in addition to trick or treating, so we thought it would be fun to decorate our trunk.  Actually, we decorated the tailgate to C's truck!  A and I made a tower to go with her Rapunzel theme.  She was very much a part of the process from constructing, painting, and decorating it.  The tower was a neat little project for us.  It turned out kind of cute I think and A was very proud of it.  She loved passing out candy to the kiddos.  There were several little "Rapunzels" there, too!  A lot of the tiny girls were ecstatic to see their favorite character handing out candy!  It was so cute!!!  Here are some pics of the kiddos from the night...

This man was so kind to CJ.  He had a Snoopy themed trunk right beside us.  He had a video and toys that bopped back and forth and played music.  CJ loved it!  He kept running over there and the man was so patient playing the things over and over for him!

 CJ quickly figured out that this was his chance to pig out on candy!

 Rapunzel and her infamous tower!  Notice Pascal?

Rapunzel and her favorite trick or treater!

Love this little "Piderman"!

 Rockstar and Rapunzel

 One more Rapunzel pic letting down her hair...

Trunk or Treat was actually the day before Halloween.  So, we got to celebrate two days!  CJ's class had a party at his school.  Of course, I went and attempted to take a few pictures.  Somebody was very clingy and didn't let me get too far away, so it was kind of difficult. 

I had already taken off his costume at this point since I didn't want him to get icing all over it.



 I could not get him to look at me!  He was working hard on the cheese puffs and the cookie icing!

That night, we went trick or treating in a neighborhood with the Clarks and the Rays.  The kids had a blast going door to door.  Here are a few more pics of the kids before we left.  I forgot to get pictures of my kids with their friends.  Darn.

Bubba and Sissy

 Love this sweet smile.

 Showing off the golden locks!

 This is how your hair looks when you take off your Spiderman mask!

 Cheeeese!!!!!

Hope you had a great Halloween, too!!!
Jeniffer

Every year at about this time, A's dance studio offers ballet portraits.  For one reason or another, we have never gotten pictures done.  This year, I took the opportunity to just take the pictures myself.  I'm sure portraits done by a professional would be a lot better, but it was fun for me to practice. 

A was very patient with me and did not even complain!  Of course, I took her to get some new Squinkies after we were done, so that may have had something to do with it!  Hey- models don't work for free!!!

I have recently discovered a walking trail at our local park.  On A's dance night, it's not really feasible to drop her off, go back home, then come back to pick her up.  The studio is too far from our house.  So, I have been going to the park and walking/jogging while she is at dance.  There are some benches and logs along the trail and it just looks like a neat place to take pictures with all of the trees in the background.  I am always on the lookout for a place to take pictures.  Recently, I met my friend Christy (who also shares my love for improving photography skills) and Mr. T (her son) at the park and we hiked the trail.  Well, I can't say we were really hiking, but I thought I would pretend for a minute that we were these cool nature photographers out in the wilderness looking for that perfect capture!  HaHa!  Anyway, we WALKED the trail chasing a 7 year old, 6 year old, and a 2 year old, yelling "STOP!!!"  and "SLOW DOWN!!!" and "SIT STILL!!!" and don't forget the popular "SMILE!!!".  I didn't get any spectacular photos, but it was practice.  The more you practice, the better you get, right?  I sure hope so!

CJ, A, and Mr. T...a bunch of goofy kiddos! 

CJ doing what he does best...terrorizing his sister!

Mr. Serious

 
Jeniffer

So I'm a Little Behind...

Ok, so I have gotten a little behind with this whole blogging thing.  I wish I had some great excuse -it's just the usual life gets in the way type of thing.  Anyway, I'll try to catch up.  Here are a few pics from A's sleepover I mentioned in my last post (from almost a month ago!).  The girls painted aprons and baked cookies.  Of course, the paint took a while to dry, so they did not get to wear their snazzy new aprons to do the baking, but I'm sure they will get a lot of use in the future!  Ha! 

A decorated hers with her favorite color purple and peace signs and hearts.  I thought it turned out cute!



 Here is a pic of A and one of the girls acting silly!

 The girls had a blast mixing and measuring all of the ingredients (and making a big mess!).

 No sleepover is complete without dressing up and having a fashion show!

 I think they had a ton of fun and it was a ton of work for me, but way worth it to see how happy it made A and her friends!

Our Awana program at church has theme nights periodically.  A few weeks ago, we had Crazy Hair/Mustache Night.  A certain big girl has been planning her crazy hair since last year's Crazy Hair Night!  She insisted on one ponytail up and the rest of her hair down.  I just happened to have some pink hair spray which seemed to add that extra something to her look, huh?  Our Awana commander gave A the mustache and she thought that was the funniest thing!  It was a lot of fun seeing all the kids and their hairdos.  We have some really creative kiddos in our church!

 Here is one of A's best buds, PG.  Her hairdo reminds me of Fancy Nancy!  So cute!

Lastly, I wanted to share a few pics of my little man.  He was really good and actually was still long enough for me to snap some pics!  He actually told me, "Take my picture!".  I had to take advantage of that opportunity because it rarely happens!!!  Now, I never said he did a lot of smiling...



WPS!!!!

 Here's a silly one with a smile!

Hopefully, I won't wait so long to update next time.  I'm not making any promises, but I will try to do better!

Jeniffer