School christmas program

December 17, 2013-Today is the day that the kids have their school program that they have been practicing for.  All the days of hearing them come home singing songs is coming down to this. I look forward to it every year.  It was very cute to watch.  Maleah just stood there taking it all in, which was really good for it being her first time in front of a crowd.  Noah actually sang some and didn't stand there with his ears covered. And, he gave us an extra show as he unbuttoned his vest and pulled at his tie and shirt while singing.  We were a little concerned that he was going to keep taking his clothes off. It was pretty funny.   I know he will die reading this later, but I have video to prove this!

More Maleah-isms

1) Looking up at our stockings Maleah points and says "Look snowmen boots!"
2) While driving to school one morning Maleah points and the sky and says "Oh no! The stars fell down!"  It took me a moment to realized what she was talking about, but it was that there were no stars in the sky due to it being day time.

2013 Christmas is here!

This is a VERY special Christmas for our family this year.  First, this is the first christmas we have had with dad being here in two years. Second, this is dad's 1st christmas with Maleah. And Third, we have family coming into town to celebrate with us! (1st time ever)  I am so very excited about it! 

To get things started we got the trees and decorations up.  The big tree is full of 12 years of ornaments celebrating all sorts of milestones such as our wedding and birth of our two favorite kiddos.

The second is a new addition, sort of.  This is an accumulation of a few homemade ornaments, school made ornaments and a whole bunch that we made and sent dad in Afghanistan.  Now, they hang on our small dining room tree as a reminder of our family's journey over the past couple of years.

 And finally, after 8 years the ole hubby put some lights up on the house!  I am so happy to have some Christmas cheer on the outside of our home.  Grandpa and Grandma are make the long journey to join us on this exciting Christmas which will top off all of this!

Oh, and speaking of long trips.  Henry, our Elf arrived on time.  He has been a little silly this year.  The kids love seeing him and finding the treats he brings.  Here are a couple of pics of him.  Not sure if that is allowed by santa though!  

Ha Ha- SLED ZEPPELIN!

Moving to the "big bed"

November 2013-One thing that I very much felt guilty about was moving Noah out of his crib before he was ready.  So, since we have no more babies on the way the plan with Maleah was to let her stay in  her crib as long as possible.  That was all fine and well until a few repeated nights of Maleah climbing out of her crib not only at nap time but in the middle of the night.  Because of the thought of her hurting herself we converted her crib the the toddler bed.  This didn't go over very well.  We spent many nights sleeping on the floor next to her and many weeks of her not sleeping through the night.  (It was like having a new born all over again!) What has happened to my baby girl who has been such a great sleeper?  Finally after about 5 weeks we decided to try converting her bed into a full bed, which would at least give me a better place to sleep in the transition stage. It really didn't change much.  Now, well into December we have made it to the point where she will sleep through the night, but not on her bed! She likes to sleep on the floor with her blankie and pillow next to the gate at her door. Silly girl.  Perhaps the really heartache for this mama is not really all the lost hours of sleep, but rather the realization that I no longer have any babies in my house.  My kids are growing up and that bring a very surreal feeling to my world.

It's your job

Today Maleah fell asleep on our way to the store (and this was a much needed nap) so I told Noah that we would need to sit in the parking lot for a bit. After talking about his day and some deep mama-son discussions I decided to go get a salad. It came with toast which I gave to Noah as a treat. He takes a bite and then responds "mom, this feels greasy. I bet it has gluten in it. Why would you feed me gluten?" I quickly told him that it was a treat and he could have said no he didn't want it. His priceless reply was "Actually I would say no thank you. And it's your job not to feed this to me." I think this kid has got his food down! And I won't be sneaking any gluten by him. 

Family time at bridge street

One thing that I love about Alabama is the awesome blue sky and mild weather.  On nice days like this one we often with go down to Bridge Street to see the fountains and this horse.  

 The kids love people watching and seeing the water and boats too.  A couple of days ago we came down here for the lighting of the tree.  Though the kids were a bit tired, they enjoyed seeing Santa and watching the huge tree get lit up.  I thought it was neat that they had snow machines for Santa to make it snow and lots of holiday music.  We had a great time!

1st School Field Trip

Now that Noah is in Pre-K he got to go on a field trip with the kindergarten class-bus and all!  I put my name in the hat to be a chaperone, and was excited to find out my name got drawn.  This first field trip was to constitution village.  It was so much fun!  The kids got to see how a blacksmith would make tools, make candles, scarecrows and milk a prevent cow.  The best part of going was watch noah interact with all of his friends.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to get to do this with him!

Halloween 2013

October 30th- We held a Family Fall Festival at our church this year, which is how we celebrated Halloween.  Thankfully, the weather was amazing! Which was a good thing because there was no trick-or-treating the following day due to rain.  The kids enjoyed sporting their costumes-Maleah a purple princess and Noah, spiderman.  They did crafts, games and collect loads of goodies.  Goodies, which they diligently saved for the candy fairy.  Noah was very determined that the fairy would bring him a BIG gift if he didn't eat any candy...

 …which, she did!  Both kids were pleasantly surprised to find an awesome Nerf gun in the place of their big buckets of candy.  Way to go Candy Fairy!

Going on a bear hunt

We are going on a bear hunt and we are going to catch a big one.  It's a beautiful day and we're not scared....I love that book and I love these two even more!  I am sure the bears were absolutely terrified of this duo!

Counting down till 5

"Mom, I am going to be 5 in a couple months" is the frequent conversation we have been having.  I cannot believe how much he has changed and grown over this past year.  This year he has learned to swim, write his alphabet, spell some words including his name, count and write numbers, days of the week, seasons, can quote many catechisms and scriptures, sing many songs, tell funny jokes, give awesome big boy hugs, play nicely with his sister, and warm our hearts.  I could go on and on with all that he has learned and developed but most importantly he is the big brother whole looks at his sister who is throwing a dirty kleenex on the floor and says "stop glittering and pick that up!" His clever wit, huge heart and dazzling smile are a mama's dream.  So I say to him, "Yes, you are almost 5. And what a year it will be!"

Need I say more?

October 2013

Cowboy boots and crazy eyes

 I love how this girl with her ever so colorful personality brightens even the sunniest day!  She is becoming her very own with lots of giggles, smiles and clever sayings.  She is a diva with a twist of tom boy.  She loves pink, shoes and hair bows but they must never get in her way of digging in the dirt for worms or playing cars with big brother. She will pick a salad over anything at meal time and chomp bubble gum in between.  Don't be fooled by her sweet smile and lovely locks, this girl can give you a run for your money when it comes to her strong will.  She is defiant, creative and enchanting.  We feel so blessed to be alongside of her watching her grow everyday.  

Tate Farms

October 12, 2013-This year was an especially exciting harvest season because we got to celebrate as a WHOLE family!  I know I say this all the time, but a family unit is such a special thing.  Making memories is so much more fun with Dave being here.  To carry on tradition we took the kids to Tate Farms to pick our pumpkins.  We rode the hayride out to the field and the kids were released to pick their perfect pumpkin, which will later be turned into mama's perfect pumpkin pie and breads.  I love how both kids picked big pumpkins that were just to their size.  Maleah at one point decided she needed two...

 But in the end, they each found their favorite prize.  The only rule was that they had to be able to carry them.

 Noah managed to carry two for a while, but finally settled on just one BIG pumpkin!  The whole time we were riding back to the farm, he would giggle and say "Mom, this is going to be a lot of pumpkin for you to cook!"  He has no idea.  For now I think we will keep them on the front porch with the bails of hay and worry about cooking them in late november.

The three little bears (sort of)

On a fine warm fall afternoon, we took a stroll through fairytale garden...

While we were there, we ran into mama bear,

 daddy bear,

 brother bear,

 and goldilocks.

We are not quite sure where the other bears were.  Perhaps they were off napping and enjoying the sunshine.  Noah seems to think they ate the last family that came through...

Handwriting

Noah has started writing. It is so sweet to watch him practice. He will sit for long periods asking me how to spell words. Yesterday he wrote all of our family members names.

Fun in the sun

Some fun family moments!