Breakfast with Santa

On Saturday we got to eat breakfast with Santa! A good time was had by all. Here are some photos...

Sweetie with Santa...

Popcorn with Santa...(this one got a little blurry)

Cutie Pie with Santa...while she doesn't exactly look happy at least she's not screaming like last year!

All 3 with Santa...
We're excited for Christmas!

Advent calendar...

...and other fun Christmas links.

Some of you may remember the Advent Calendar I made a couple years ago. We started out by doing activities each day but this year I wanted to focus more on Christ so I did some digging and found a list of scriptures to use for each day. The 2000 December issue of the Friend magazine had a cute manger scene along with scriptures, click here for the link.

The Dec. 2009 issue of the Friend has a fun countdown about Christmas around the world. Click here for link. I cut up the calendar (the numbers with the explanation) and also all the pictures. I glued them back to back (the number 1 goes with the picture of the strawberries) and then laminated them. I put these into the tins so we can read about different traditions each day.

There are all sorts of great ideas from past issues of the Friend- in Dec. 2007 there are Nativity figures and facts (click here).

For fun family coupons (doing chores for another family member, etc) click here. This is from Dec. 2001.

If doing something each day is too much or you want to start later in the month there is a Week for the Christmas story, with scriptures and songs. This is from Dec. 2006 issue. Click here for link.

Last, but not least is one of my all time favorite Christmas stories. It's called The Promise from the 1990 New Era. We've read it as a family, we've used it in Young Women's and I think it's great. There are also songs to sing. Click here for the link.

I hope someone finds this helpful. I sat down to look for some scriptures and found all sorts of other great links. I know it can be time consuming to search online and I wanted to share what I found!

Cutie Pie's 1/2 birthday

Cutie Pie is now 2 1/2! We didn't really do anything (I didn't even make a cake, we just had some cookies), but I guess that is the lot of the youngest. Luckily she won't remember- although I suppose this post will bring it to her attention one day!

Here is Cutie Pie and Popcorn enjoying a movie; Cutie Pie has really enjoyed Popcorn's company lately. During the day Cutie Pie will ask for her. They're so cute together...


Here Cutie Pie is taking her dog (Sweetie) on a walk around the house. They love to play pretend and this was one of the things they came up with.

Here are some other fun Cutie Pie tidbits...

*She has been getting into a lot of things and sometimes I feel like all I do is follow her around cleaning up messes. When I get ready in the morning she empties the contents of my bathroom drawer and stacks things all in a row across the sink. I called her a "trouble bubble" and now she goes around saying "trouble bubble". Funny.

*Cutie Pie has her own little temper! She gets angry and throws bad fits. She has recently developed an incredibly high pitch scream that she unleashes during particularly nasty tantrums. We were driving home the other day and I don't know what set her off but she was screaming her terrible scream while kicking my chair. Not too fun.

*She loves dressing up as a princess. In fact she's been wearing the princess dress (green and pink from Halloween) on a daily basis. She puts it on, twirls around and says: "I beautiful, I Princess" which sounds like "I bootiful, I pincess". Apparently every Sunday when she goes into Nursery she walks up to this one woman and spins around showing off her dress. So cute.

*Cutie Pie also loves baby dolls (although any stuffed toy qualifies as a baby). She sleeps with 8 (give or take a couple) in her crib! She has a variety of Care Bear's, a stuffed puppy from Mars, Popcorn's Hello Kitty Build-a-Bear, Sweetie's Webkinz cat, a couple Beany Babies, and a musical caterpillar. She also notices when one is missing, I've tried to take a few away with no success. She's one smart cookie.

*She has been having a great time with the Halloween candy. She likes to open lollipops and take a lick or two then open another. I was putting laundry away and when I came back downstairs there were at least 6 lollipops laying on the carpet! I had to pick them up before they adhered permanently. What a goof.

*Cutie Pie also likes to 'announce' her mood. She will say "I glad" when she's happy. When she's upset and starts to cry she'll say "I crying", which I find funny because I can obviously tell that she's crying. I don't remember either of her older sisters telling me of their moods.

*She also likes when I do her hair, she will feel her pigtails and say "oh, cute". Cutie Pie also will comment on my clothes, she will say "mom, I like it", or "oh, beautiful". Super cute!

We love you Cutie Pie!

Halloween fun

Here's some pictures of our Halloween fun...

The girls all dressed up and ready to trick-or-treat!


Sweetie was a HSM cheerleader, the EHS on her costume actually lit up, very cool.

Popcorn wore an Ariel dress and Cutie Pie was a little 'garden fairy'. To be honest I'm not sure what her costume was supposed to be, all I know is that it's cute and she loved it. In fact Cutie Pie has worn that dress all over town the last couple weeks, to the mall, to lunch with our neighbors, and around the house. She did have a lot of fun even though her face doesn't show it!

Here is Popcorn in her 'Wickedly Cute' Halloween tee and the spider hats they made at school...

The puppy Popcorn is holding is from the Boo Bash celebration at work. The kids were given a large goody bag full or candy (of course) and these cute little stuffed dogs. Then there were fun activities around the office and decorated rooms to see.

Here is Cutie Pie sporting her Halloween tee...

We wrapped up the evening with some little dirt cups, gotta love ghost Peeps!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Savannah

Ladd was super fabulous and took a couple days off work to stay with the girls while I took a long weekend trip to Savannah, GA with a friend. It was so relaxing and fun to get away for a few days. There's a lot of history and pretty old houses in Savannah. Here are a few pictures I took...


This is down by the Savannah river, the wall in the background (behind the people) is from the days when the cotton trade was in full swing. There was a large bell that rang (like the stock exchange) to start and stop the bidding. I think they said 70% of the cotton came through Savannah. Some of those old rock walls date back to the 1750's, there are markers with the name and date from when they were constructed.



I took this picture from our hotel balcony. These HUGE ships came and went all hours of the day and night. It's truly amazing to see these ships in person. One time we were on the ferry waiting to cross back to our hotel and we had to wait while one of these passed by. Do you see how tiny the tug boat looks? They said the port in Savannah is the fastest growing port in the US.

Here's a picture of the old cotton building...

This is one of the many churches in Savannah, in fact America's first Sunday school was founded there in 1736. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism began preaching there as well. They filmed the movie Forrest Gump in Savannah as well, the part where Tom Hanks is sitting on the park bench talking to different people about his life was in front of one of the many beautiful squares there. They dropped the feather that floats down in the opening scene from the tower of this church.

Here are some of the many beautiful Live Oak trees in Savannah. There are 21 squares encompassing the three-square-mile historic district. All of the squares have huge trees, and most of them have a statue of some important person, there are lots of important people buried there as well.

One last picture of me by the River...

Another interesting story...after the Revolutionary War the celebrated war hero, Mr. Nathaniel Green moved to Savannah with his family. He was only there about 4 months when he died of heat stroke. His widow then hired a tutor, Mr. Eli Whitney to come teach their children. He is famous for inventing the cotton gin.

There are lots of other interesting tidbits but I will spare you for now. If you ever get a chance to visit I recommend going in the fall, the mosquito's were bad even in mid-October!

1/2 Birthdays

Popcorn is now 5 1/2! She wanted the exact same cake as last year so I made a bunch of mini cupcakes and frosted another pumpkin. Everyone loved the cupcakes, every time I walked by I noticed another one missing.


I don't get them gifts for their half birthday (OK- they do get one dollar spot item), but Grandma and Grandpa sent a fun package. Here is Popcorn with the new Halloween outfit for her bear...


Sweetie is now 8 1/2 and she's posing with the purple witch outfit she got, which she of course put onto her purple bear...

I was on my little vacation so I missed Sweetie's half birthday fun, but I left instructions for Ladd to take at least a couple pictures. Here's what I found on the camera. By the way, he left for a business trip this morning (after I got in last night) so we didn't get around to discussing what they did. The girls do look happy though, and I think they had some sort of pie with ice cream...

More pictures later!

Pumpkin patch

After the funeral (see post below) we went to the pumpkin patch! It's been a few years since we've experienced a real fall season, and I forgot how much I love the fall. It was cool and cloudy (and VERY muddy). If I had been planning better we would've worn different shoes. We had to hose off our shoes and even the car when we got home.

Here are some pictures...

Gathering the pumpkins, it was a huge field. (This is just the middle looking toward the street).



Popcorn liked the 'bumpy' pumpkin as she called it. She is also holding the remnants of our lunch, I should have had her put the nugget box away!

Filling the wheelbarrow...

Posing on the decorated truck...

The whole gang; I always like to sneak into a shot or two just to prove that I was actually there!

I'm going on a little trip with a good friend so I will sign off for a few days. Ladd is being SUPER fabulous and is making it possible for me to go get some R&R. I will try to persuade him to post about his 100 mile bike ride (which took over 6 hours!). Why you would want to ride a bike that long is beyond me...maybe he will explain.

Unknown Soldier

Some of you may have heard about the remains of an Unknown Soldier that were found in our very own Franklin, TN. We took the opportunity to attend the funeral on Saturday. In truth I was the only one that wanted to go but the rest of the family were troopers and came with me. It was easier to get into town than I thought and we were able to hear and see (a little) of the ceremony.

I had to hold my camera as high over my head as I could in order to get any decent pictures, and had varying degrees of success. Thank goodness for digital cameras, I took about 100 pictures. Often I would only get the back of heads (as you can see below) but I actually kind of like this picture because you can see the re-enactors in the background.

This man spoke about the sacrifice this soldier had made and how the events of the Civil War shaped our country today.


Quite a few people dressed in period clothing and took part in the funeral. Here are the mourners...

These men did the 21 gun salute. They loaded their guns (by hand of course) and shot 3 times. Unfortunately I didn't get a good shot of them actually firing. (But if you click on the link at the top there are several blog posts and lots of other photos).

Here is a picture of the limestone monument next to the grave. I was aiming for something else, shot a little too high, but also rather like my accidental photo.

Sweetie's baptism

On Saturday, September 26th Sweetie was baptized! She was very excited and had been waiting for several months. She turned 8 in April but with the move and everything we decided to wait until we were more settled. Then we were going to do it in Seattle but unfortunately we didn't make it up there this summer. When the big day arrived she was ready!

Here she is with Ladd...

All of us together...

Sisters...

We were very lucky to have Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt CJ join us for the special day!

We love you Sweetie and are proud of your decision to be baptized!

New look

Here's the picure I was trying to post the other day! This is Cutie Pie's new hairdo...the pig tails. She's also displaying her latest skill, giving kisses.

Cutie Pie also has been telling a new knock, knock joke.
CP: Knock, knock
me: Who's there?
CP: Piggy
me: Piggy who?
CP: Piggy tails! (At which point she laughs because she's so pleased with herself)

I'm back!

Good news- Ladd figured out how to fix my computer and I'm back online! It feels so great to type on an full size keyboard. I've had to use my phone for all emails and Internet for the past couple weeks. Let me just say that typing with one finger gets old real fast.

However, I just tried to upload a picture on Cutie Pie and I can't get it onto the blog. Bummer. Hopefully that will be fixed soon too.

We've been busy with all sorts of things lately: Sweetie was baptized last week, we have family in town and have been working on different projects around the house, Ladd is training for a 100 mile bike ride on Saturday, and I'm the leader for the photo club at the elementary school.

There are lots of things to post about so hopefully I can get the pictures up soon!

Computer Issues

My tired, old, slow computer is having a hard time (yet again). I cannot connect to the Internet from it, basically rendering it useless. I will get back to posting as soon as we figure out a solution. I know technology makes life easier, but sometimes it's just a pain. Please be patient!

Fun at the lake

A week ago Thursday (Aug. 27th- yes, I'm a little late in posting this) we had fun at the lake. Sorry- I don't know the name of the lake we went to. We went with a guy Ladd works with, he was generous enough to let all of us come. It was a perfect day to go- the weather was fabulous, the water was the perfect temperature, and since it was a school night there was hardly anyone there.

Here are the girls, all smiles, right as we set out. Please note Cutie Pie's goofy glasses, they are from a 3D movie we saw ages ago.


We all got to go on the raft, here I am with Sweetie (left) and Popcorn (right). It was hysterical- as we went faster and swung outside the wake Popcorn started laughing and screamed 'faster, faster', while Sweetie was terrified and shrieked 'stop, stop'. I got to laughing so hard I almost fell off.

Ladd showing off his wake boarding skills. I tried to wake board but didn't get up. On one particular try I swallowed a lot of water and started to cough. The girls became concerned and all 3 were asking if I was okay.

Just because they're cute, please enjoy this picture of Cutie Pie and Popcorn.

Projects

Now that school started I have made a couple discoveries:

1) I now have a few hours of uninterrupted quiet time each day, something I'm not accustomed to.

2) I have a hard time sitting still (during the day at least).

Yesterday I watched a movie while Cutie Pie took a nap. (This particular movie was a couple days late back to Red Box so I was trying to finish it). I couldn't sit there and be still, I ended up folding some laundry while I watched.

Today I decided to unpack a couple more boxes. The first one I opened was a flower arrangement that we put on the dining room table in an effort to 'stage' the house. Score! I love finding boxes like that- one big thing to take out, it's easy to put the one thing away, and the box can disappear.

The next box contained a lot of random papers and magazines from the kitchen/desk area. I have a crazy amount of magazines, even after periodically getting rid of them. I have been receiving Cooking Light for longer than I can remember, for at least 7 years. In an effort to control the amount of magazines that accumulate I tear out recipes that I want to try and stick them into a notebook.

I decided to tackle the recipe box and by extension my recipe notebook. I made a couple more discoveries in the process:

1) I have a short attention span.

2) I haven't tried the vast majority of the recipes I've been saving over the years.

I came across a recipe for homemade Mac and Cheese. Why on earth have I been saving this? My kids HATE mac and cheese. I made it once (with broccoli) and my kids only ate the broccoli, they left all the noodles. This recipe quickly found it's way to the recycle bin. Ah, the sorting begins. Hopefully I will finish this project, as you can see I'm busy blogging (because organizing gets boring)!

First day of school...round 2

Popcorn has started school! Her first full day of Kindergarten was on Thursday, but she went for a half-day on Monday. I think it's a good idea...they have the kids come in small groups (there were 6 kids there on Monday) and they get to tour the school and meet their teacher and warm up to the whole school thing in a smaller group.

Here is Popcorn on Monday. She didn't want to ride the bus so I took her myself.


She loved school so much that she was excited to ride the bus with Sweetie on Thursday morning. Here she is modeling her 'smile' pose. I guess I know where Cutie Pie picked up the head tilt!


All the girls waiting for the bus. Cutie Pie and I had a busy day together, but it was SO very quiet during her nap. I could get used to some quiet time alone!

Now for a little story:

Popcorn loves to ride the bus despite a minor snafu. On Thursday afternoon while coming home from school Popcorn decided to get off at the second stop (I have no idea where that is). Popcorn later said that she felt someone pushing her off the bus and thought is was Sweetie. Apparently one of Sweetie's friends noticed Popcorn getting off and alerted Sweetie. Popcorn was rescued and put back onto the bus, and they both got home safe and sound. This whole incident was more upsetting to Sweetie, she burst into tears when she thought Popcorn might be lost. I was a little disturbed, I was lead to believe the bus drivers take extra care with the Kindergartner's, I guess not. Luckily nothing happened!

More fun stuff

The girls were so excited to attend a birthday party (for one of the neighbor girls) at the Sweet and Sassy Salon. All I can say is WOW. The girls got to pick a 'theme' and then were styled accordingly. Popcorn chose a princess and Sweetie was a rock star. They got hair and make-up done, then a manicure. After that they got to dress up and put on a fashion show where they strut their stuff down a catwalk! I'm still waiting to see those pictures.

Here they are all glammed up...we'll be removing glitter all week!



Cutie Pie didn't get to join in on the celebration but she found my old hat and had fun playing with the lip gloss and nail polish. (Don't the boxes make a lovely backdrop???)


Here are just a few random pictures...Popcorn always makes a silly face when I take her picture. The only way I get smiling photos is to take a few goofy ones first!

Wearing matching pj's- Popcorn now hates to match Cutie Pie but it was cute while it lasted.

Enjoying a snack at the pool. I never take my camera (after Ladd's cell phone incident we don't take anything electronic to the pool), I'll have to see if I can get a couple more pictures of them swimming.

Please enjoy the frequent posting...not sure how long it will last!