Safety Fair at HEB

I went to this event knowing it was COLD and few would come due to the temperatures - I was right! No lines, plenty of goodies. The ambulance gave the girls beanie babies! Cool give-a-way! They both love their new little bears. The ambulance driver also took their pulse and did their heart rate on a machine. They had a great time.

JC's First Snow!

So little snow that you can't even see it in the picture! It lasted maybe 15 minutes! But we saw it and chased it and tried to taste it!

JM was at school, but she got to see it too! Apparently she went to the nurse's office to get chapstick with a friend. Ummmmmm Can we say Napoleon Dynomite?? But the nurse took the girls outside to see the snow! How nice! And of course I am secretly pleased the nurse did that but at the same time baffled as to why Kindergartners go to visit the nurse so often! And for...chapstick...!

I am Special

 

Praise Pals sang at church! Such cutie pies. The song was I am Special.

An Apple a Day...

The girls love fruit, but have never enjoyed apples. They don't even like much apple sauce or apple juice. I've always thought it was odd. Isn't that a kid staple?? When they have eaten apple it's sliced AND peeled. Well Saturday as we were packing up to head to Longview JC asks for an apple. Of course I want to roll my eyes at her. She'll take an apple and take a mouse bite and throw it away!!! But I wanted to encourage as she hasn't done that in a while and you know she ate that thing! Nearly the whole apple like a crunching machine! YAY! I am so excited.

So we headed toward Longview - sort of. I drove the kids near Mesquite. My parents picked them up to take them to Longview and I drove on to Carrollton to visit school friends. I didn't take any pictures!! I truly have the best friends ever. Known them since 6th grade or longer in some cases. We did the same type of stuff we did in middle school and high school... What's that?? Watch movies, play Monolopoly, play Wii (well that was a change!) cook together, eat together... etc etc. I pray my children are lucky enough to find friends like this as youngsters that have so much integrity, don't push you to be something you are not, don't push you to do something you shouldn't, and have a love for having innocent fun. I want my children to be children. With my friends I always got to be that. Usually a craft was involved too. No crafts this time! Although last time we visited we made some painted art for K's wall! :-)

So we stayed at sweet K's house! Oh how I love her guest bed. Good grief. Honestly you search for good sleep after kids.. This was the best. Comfy bed and 2 Benadryl (allergies this week) and I got awesome rest and even slept late!

It was just me, K and C. We missed S. Her babies were sick this weekend. I hope next time you guys are heading to Austin!

Slumber Party

Well, I think technically the girls had their first slumber party with kids! Hubby and I went to a Longview wedding of an old school friend of mine and since my parents, the usual sitters, were invited to the wedding we asked Hubby's sister to "babysit" and they just spent the night. Two of her kiddos still live at home. M & S are 9 and 13 I think. M might be 8. I mix her birthday up with another niece..anyway.. They always seem SOOOO delighted to entertain JM and JC and of course spoil my girls with loads of attention. As you can see they went crazy with markers. The girls had a great time! Photo credits to Uncle M! :-)

Steamed and Other Tidbits

Things are happening. They are, honest. I just haven't taken many pictures this week.

I made steamed broccoli and snow peas and JM gobbled it up! How did I make her such a good eater? Actually I know what it is - I just keep offering and I don't give in to eating junk because they won't eat anything else. Believe me, if they are hungry they give in and eat the healthy stuff eventually. It is ok to go to bed hungry once in a while to get the point across!! JC is still working on it and I probably am more relaxed with her becasue she's my tiny tot, but she has healthy favorites too - like tomatoes. We all love oranges, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, scrambled eggs, beans and bananas but only when they ask for them! If you offer without them asking for it they won't eat bananas - so weird.

Last night JC found a little spring on the floor and said "I found a winky. It's a tiny winky."
I said "A winky? You mean a tiny slinky?" JC said "Yes a tiny slinky, tiny, just like me." I said "Who says you are tiny?" JC said "God made me tiny." I said "And he made you the perfect size!" I love when my kids know God made them special!!!! And JC is on the tiny side, but good grief it's part of what makes her SOOOOO stinkin' cute and gives me my daily laughs!!

JM is my growing beauty, of course. Full of drama. She can put on a show with practiced, realistic emotion! Of course what worries me is when she gives the doe-eyed looks to the boys and they go crawling after her...sheesh! And stinkin' smart that girl is!! :-) Definitely will be ready for Kindergarden in the fall academically! Why am I a bundle of nerves!!?

Oh and today JM told me a little factoid her teacher said and I said "Really? I didn't know that." JM said "Yes, it's true. Teachers know EVERYTHING!" In her eyes they also get to tell people what to do, so needless to say that is on her list of possible vocations.

Strike!

The girls went bowling for the FIRST time! The shoes made it for me! They are so cute! We went to a fancy place called Mel's in Georgetown. They had a "Mom & Tot" deal. We have to go back another day and use the game tokens!

We were with our playgroup. I was the biggest loser in the group as I didn't use bumpers when I played! :-)

Not Looking Her Age!

Happy Birthday Mom! Your party was the place to be!!

Top Left: Mom's sweet friends who organized!
Top Right and Bottom Right are some nieces
Bottom Left is her Sister in Law and me on either side of the Birthday girl.

Mom taught for years at the school where I went so I saw lots of my teachers and friend's moms! Fun to see everyone.

Pretty People

R is my niece and her friend B came to visit and they wanted pictures. Well, really I guess I offered the pictures, but they live far apart so I hope it was a fun gift.

We took them at hubby's family farm, so there are plenty of places to shoot. I probably exhausted them. I filled my entire brand new 2 GB SD card. I don't do this all the time for other people and wanted to be sure I got some they like. I don't really tire but I know it can hurt to smile after a while!

I was happy with the results. Considering I really don't edit besides cropping and changing things to black and white I think I did okay. And it helps to shoot pretty (and young) people!

Nieces

This is Niece R's little sisters. JM and JC LOVE them!

Peatown

The church got a NEW sign.

But this is the OLD church where we got married! Basically a one room church and I thought it was charming.

Plus Bette and Papa got married there too which made it a special place.

We went to the Christmas Eve service which JM was only TOO happy to do when she found out we were headed to the church where we got married! We've only passed and pointed in the past since we normally go to Mia and Poppy's church when in Longview. This church actually only holds monthly services at an irregular time.

The girls were angels. (They fell asleep during the service!)

Holiday Spirit in Salado

I love Salado. So, when Poppy and Hubby went on to Longview and let Mia and I drive on after I'd FINALLY finished packing we somehow managed to stop in Salado for a wonderful lunch and a little bit of browsing. Monday is NOT a good day to shop in Salado since some shops are closed but there were a couple of things opened. These kind of stops cause me to have to use the words "Don't Touch" A LOT!! But it was worth it. Wish I could get that direction more often, but I am always driving to Longview with the kids in tow when we drive through. One day though they'll be able to enjoy it without breaking things! :-)

And how long did it take us to get to Longview with our stops...Don't ask! The customary Collin Street Bakery stop in Cosrsicana was in there as well as a Taco Bell stop for dinner.

North Pole Flyer

Did I mention JM wanted to ride a train for Christmas? So, since we celebrated Christmas Sunday morning, and we were scheduled to ride the North Pole Flyer on Sunday night, I had Santa write a litle poem about how we needed to go catch the train that night! We had ONE hitch. Mia and Poppy were to go with us (we bought these tickets in the summer so even they were super excited!) but Mia got super sick!!! ACK. Poppy still went, but at the last minute we called our frend S to come enjoy the ride with us cuz Mia just wasn't up to it. Missed Mia, but of course JM was SO thrilled to see her buddy S.



It was FREEZING outside! Literally. Sort of unusual really. Santa passed out gifts. There were treats to eat (check out JM peaking to see what!) and a guy comes through to officially punch our train tickets.

We ran SMACK into these ADORABLE kids wearing the same jammies! haha And we knew them! Our friends A & D from our play group. We explored the train a little and got to feel the cold air as we traveled. JM and S were very much convinced we were NOT at the North Pole. Smart girls since we didn't get past Liberty Hill! They enjoyed talking about the "mountains" and "China" though.

Mrs. Claus came through too as well as carolers and story readers. It was a fun trip. One of those local things your glad you try out. I don't think we will make it a yearly tradition though. It's sort of pricey, but I am glad it was a fun way to exerience the girl's FIRST train ride!

Christmas Comes but Once a Year..or Does It?

We decided to have Christmas at home this year, but since we needed to travel to Longview we celebrated at home on December 21st! Mia and Poppy were in town so the girls enjoyed having them as their audience looking at "Santa" stuff. Now HOW can you get Santa to come early?? You put out cookies, and sprinkle magical reindeer food on the yard (glitter and oatmeal) and they just know they need to come early and honestly it helps them have a lighter load on Christmas Eve! haha I actually don't think my kids believe in Santa...totally. It's more of a game and story, although they might be a bit unsure. It's all in fun. In the morning though JM runs to me and says "Oh thank you Mommy, that is just what I wanted!" Umm yeah, she knows who shops in this house! She also is a bit of a snooper and sees little treasures on occasion. This Santa thing won't last long with me shopping. If I find a deal I have to buy it in front of the girls. This year almost everything was bought between January and July. I am a clearance addict and last year's toys were 75% off in January! Those ponies dance and sing and were a HUGE hit! Last year: nearly $50, in January $10!! We also love our pink clompers. We had a pair of green ones and decided to give them to cousin I and get 2 pairs of pink ones! And then the one thing I got up at 4 AM for on the day after Thanksgiving - the Leapsters. They also got kid crank flashlights (NO BATTERIES TO REPLACE!!!!) and musical toothbrushes...and soap. One of JM's final requests was a bar of soap. You just have to fulfill dreams on that one!! Anyway, fun stuff, I didn't feel like we over-did it. It was just right. I actually have a few more things I am saving for Valentine's or Easter because I knew they'd hit the jackpot with the relatives as well.

I love seeing how thrilled the girls are with gifts. They think everything is fabulous. This was the first year we didn't video it (video camera broke)and it made me sad as the kids were so funny.

Oh and what did this mom get from the hubby who agreed we wouldn't buy each other gifts?? An MP3/MP4 player!! Do you know I've never had one? Last musical device like this I had was a walkman that played TAPES!!! I am actually a little clueless on how to use this new gadget!! How did I let myself get TOTALLY lost in this techno world?? Sigh..excited though. Oh and I bought Hubby a collection of HG Wells books in a lovely leather bound edition....Looks brand new..... :-) I don't feel bad for spending WAY less than hubby. He buys himself computer stuff whenever he likes and he likes it that way. I am lucky that I don't have to pick out random things for him and luckier still that after 10 years I figured out he REALLY doesn't mind!!! Funny.

Christmas Lists

JC has a very specific Christmas list this year:

1. Beef Jerky (She's never had it but thought it looked good. She LOVES pepperoni, so I bet she'll like it.)
2. 2 Barbies (Mia and an aunt have her covered!)
3. Polka dots all over her body..........hmmmmmm....... I think I am going to have her wake up with polka dot stickers all over her body. It's just too funny.

JM makes new additions I can't remember all the time. Always changing with whatever she sees that day she likes. She's actually super easy to please, so I am not worried. Everything interests her. Her main specific repeated request is Mariposa Barbie. My aunt has it covered! Yay! Good thing my kids can't read the blog to know what they are getting!

Snow Angels

We headed to Chapparel Ice Rink with some friends and their Mommy group for a snow day! At first look I think we were a little concerned. It didn't look like much snow on (a small pile on the giant rink), but boy oh boy did the kids have fun! First thing JM did was throw herself down to do Snow Angels!

The things Texans do to have snow! We had a great time. I think we played less than 30 minutes and it was ENOUGH. The girls were frozen. I brough a change of clothes and we went next door to Whataburger for hot apple pie and hot pumpkin pie to warm us up! Cool experience for my little snow angels.

Dendrochronology

The study of climate changes and past events by comparing the successive annual growth rings of trees or old timber. This is what we attempted to do at our playdate today! haha I have no actual pictures of THAT though. We saw a little presentation I found on the Arbor Day website. Looked at some pictures and counted rings, looked at a tree outside and speculated about damage in the rings and made our own paper plate age with rings. Ie JM's plate had 5 rings, and JC's had 3. JC was sure to put some wounds among her rings as well to signify possible fire damage or insect infestation. HAHA At the age of 3 life is stressful you know.



Here is what I did take pictures of today! SNOW..or sleet...or something cold sitting around. :-) So this afternoon we needed S'Mores!! And this little guy on the paper plate with a flower JM made too. Thought he was pretty cute.