September-December Recap/Photo Dump

It seems that I never got around to blogging about all of the little things that we did during the months of September- December so I'm just going to lump them all together as my last non-Christmas post of 2014. (These are in no particular order!)

 

Cory is always telling me that I spoil Lily while the big kids are at school.  Here is proof that I'm not the only one who does a little spoiling.  One day, I left Lily with Cory while I went to get my haircut and he texted me this picture of a happy (spoiled!) little girl who had convinced her daddy to get her a Sonic corn dog for lunch!  Never again will be get away with telling me I spoil her too much!

Parker worked very hard and earned an AR reward trip to the bowling alley the last week of school.  He read so much and is on his way to be a Million Word Reader!

The girls got haircuts recently.  Can you tell who was mad about having to go first?!?!  She was excited about getting her hair cut but threw a fit when she had to go before Eden.

The stomach bug hit both of the girls back in November.  Poor Eden was sick for almost 48 hours.  She was miserable!  Luckily, Lily's only lasted about 12 hours.  I was so thankful that Parker, Cory and I avoided it this time.

Lily enjoyed helping her friend Annabelle celebrate her 4th birthday!

Parker won a fun run at PE last month and was so proud of the medal that he earned.  He was the fastest boy in the second grade.

Back in October, Lily stepped in a fire ant pile in the backyard.  She got over 75 ant bites on her left foot.    It took almost a week before she was able to wear shoes.  Poor baby!  I was so proud of her- she was so brave and hardly complained at all!

We had a pretty cold fall but there were a few nice days when the kids were able to get out and play.

Eden is still our lizard lover. She can catch them so quickly and loves to keep them as her pet for a few hours before letting them go.

Cory and I got to get away for a date night back in October.  We tried a new vegan diner and then treated ourselves to a popsicle at Steel City Pops. 

The kids enjoyed a sleepover at Granna's and got to carve a jack-o-lantern while they were there.

My pretty girls at church one Sunday!

Cory and Parker have now finished the first two Harry Potter books together.  Parker loved them!  It took them a couple of months to get through both of them but we were proud of him for sticking with it!  He especially loved getting to watch the movies once he had finished reading the books.

Parker had a good fall ball season!  He spent most of the season playing on third base but was thrilled when they let him play catcher during the last game.  We will more than likely be joining a select team in the spring with several of the boys from our team.  We are looking forward to this new adventure with Parker!

Parker helped his sweet friends Alexis and Jolea celebrate their 8th birthdays in September.  We are so thankful for these two friends (and neighbors)!

Eden moved up to Sparks in AWANAs this year and is in my class.  She has done a great job memorizing her Bible verses each week and I love getting to spend Wednesday nights with her.

I had a little fender bender back in September. The accident was not my fault but the lady tried to blame it on me.  It took a while to sort out all the facts but I was finally able to get the insurance company to side with me and was so happy to get my car fixed!

I got to enjoy lunch with several friends from church to celebrate the arrival of ME's sweet baby girl.  Out of the seven of us, four were pregnant with baby girls!  Three of these sweet little girls have now arrived and one more is due in February.  Oh what fun these little girls are going to have as they grow up together!  I'm so thankful for these friends that I've met through church and small group. 

We were outside playing one night after dinner and Parker started climbing the retaining wall.  It didn't take long before Eden and Lily had joined in.  I think they had been watching way too much American Ninja Warrior!

Cory surprised Parker with a guy's night out at the Rangers game.  He was so excited when he found out that his best friend Cole and Cole's dad were coming with them!  The night went from great to fantasic when both Cole and Parker came home with foul balls from the game!

Aunt MerMer surprised Parker and Eden with lunch at school one day.  They were so excited to see her and get a special treat for lunch!

The kids got to go out and spend the day at Grandma and Papa's house on the first day of their Christmas break.  They enjoyed making cookies, coloring, and doing new puzzles with Grandma.

And finally, a picture of the Christmas card that Parker made me.  Because nothing says Merry Christmas like admitting all of your shortcomings!! 

It was a busy but great fall semester!  The days seem to be getting faster and faster as the kids get older.  I know I'm going to blink my eyes and summer is going to be here!  I'm thankful for all of the fun memories that were made this year and look forward to making even more next year! 

A Week of Christmas Celebrations

This week has been a very busy week full of Christmas celebrations!  We started on Tuesday with Lily's preschool program.  We enjoyed listening to her sing several holiday songs before joining her for a special Christmas snack with her friends.  She was so excited that everyone got to come and see her performance.

Tuesday night was Parker and Eden's school wide Christmas program.  Eden was so excited about the program and had been practicing her songs all week.  Unfortunately, her nerves got the best of her and she just couldn't make herself join her classmates up on stage this year.

Parker did a great job singing with the second graders!  We were so proud of him!

On Friday, Parker and Eden both had their Christmas parties at school.   Since I am the room mom for Parker's class, I had to coordinate his class party.  I kept it pretty simple- we had brunch for the kids (donut holes, pigs in a blanket, and fruit) and then let them play Tic-Tac-Toe with Hershey kisses.  It was low key but the kids seemed to have fun!

Eden's party was fun too!  She did pretty well but had a little bit of a meltdown when I left to go check on Parker for a minute.  When I got back she was sitting in her chair crying quietly.  I think she had gotten a little overwhelmed with the noise and chaos of having so many parents in the classroom.  I ended up sitting with her at her table for the rest of the party and she finally calmed down and started having fun again!

It was a very hectic but fun week!  I'm thankful that the busyness is over and I'm looking forward to two weeks of relaxing at home with the kids.

Santa Pic 2014

We went the Saturday after Thanksgiving to Sundance Square in Fort Worth for our annual picture with Santa.  This is the first year I haven't made the kids dress in their Christmas clothes for the picture.  Eden started crying before we even left the house and told me that she did not like Santa and she wasn't going to sit in his lap.  She finally stopped crying in the car and was pretty happy while we were standing in line waiting to see Santa. 

But as soon as it was our turn, she got a death grip on me and refused to let go.  I had no choice but to get in the kid's Santa picture this year.  Santa was so nice and tried his best to get Eden to just look at him but nothing worked.  Maybe next year we will get a smile out of her!

Sundance Square is beautiful this time of year.  We have never taken the kids but they had so much fun that we will definitely be going back next year. 

We ended our fun family outing with dinner at Fresco's- my favorite Mexican restaurant.  It is so much easier to have a successful evening out with the kids now that they are bigger. 

The Santa pic didn't turn out exactly how I had hoped but we managed to have a wonderful family evening despite it!  I love this festive time of year but I love spending time with my sweet family even more!

Straight Hair

 

Anyone who knows Eden is very aware of her desire for straight hair.  Even though I think her curly hair is absolutely beautiful, I know that she would love to have straight hair just like her mommy and cousins.  So when Aunt MerMer agreed to straighten her hair while she was visiting over Thanksgiving, Eden was on cloud nine! 

 

We started with Lily's hair, which is much easier to straighten.  She sat so still while Meredith worked he magic and she loved the final result!

 

Next up was Eden!  She couldn't wait to get started!

 The end result! 

 I have to admit I loved how Eden looked with her straight hair!  (But I still prefer the curls!  She just wouldn't be my Eden without those beautiful curls!)

She got to keep her straight hair for three whole days.  I even let her skip washing her hair at bedtime one night so she could keep it straight one extra day.  She cried when I finally made her wash it because she knew it would go back to being curly after her bath.  I'm hoping Aunt MerMer will surprise her and straighten it again for her while she is here for Christmas this week.  I know that would be the best gift she could ever give Eden!

 

 

Lilyisms (and a few Parkerisms and Edenisms)

It has been a long time since I've posted some of the funny things the kids say.  Parker and Eden are almost past the stage of messing up words and phrases but Lily is right in the middle of it!  She has so many Lilyisms that I can't write them all down.  Every day she is coming up with new things that make us smile!  Here are just a few that I've remembered over the past few months.

Parkerisms
Back in October we watched the "World Serious" (World Series)

Edenisms
On April Fool's Day, Eden was so excited to tell me that she "April tricked" Ryan!

This summer in Colorado we rode on a "gondalope" (gondola)!

Cheat ya = tricked you/ fooled you

Eden started saying "cheat ya" and somehow that turned into all three kids saying "Cheat ya!  Made you look! You're in the baby book!".  They say it all.the.time!  It still doesn't make any sense to me but they use it almost daily so we've learned to embrace it!

Lilyisms
Like I said, Lily is constantly messing up words and phrases.  She makes us laugh all the time! The best part is that she has no idea how funny she is!  She often gets very offended when you try to correct her and will tell you "I don't want to say it like that"!  I am really going to miss when her Lilyisms come to an end. 

Lily calls the bar stools "monkey bars".  She asks at every meal, "Can we sit at the monkey bars?".

She calls the remote control a "cremote".  We have tried to correct her many times but this one seems to be here to stay.

Another TV related Lilyism that we've corrected a thousand times is that she asks us to "kwaus it" (pause it) when she wants us to pause the DVR.

One of my absolute favorite Lilyisms that I hope she'll never fix is when she calls lipstick "lickstip".

Another favorite is calling corn on the cob "corn aba cob".

Last week, Lily and I were driving home after I picked her up from preschool when she started telling me about the "three jazz mans" (three wise men) that came to visit Baby Jesus.

One day we were running errands and I gave her a list of places we needed to go.  After our first stop, she asked me "When are we going to Humpty Po?".  I had NO IDEA what she was asking me.  After asking several more times, I finally figured out that she wanted to know when we were going to Home Depot.  I don't know how long I laughed over that one.  Try it...say Home Depot really fast and it does kind of sound like Humpty Po!!

Every time Lily comes into my bathroom she wants to weigh herself on the scale and every time she does it she asks me to watch her "wave" herself. 

A few nights ago, Lily asked me why Parker wears "boxertops" (boxers) to bed.

A couple of months ago, Lily walked into the kitchen, slapped her leg and said "DAN IT! (DAMN IT) I forgot my bunny in the car."  I quickly replied, "What did you just say?" and she repeated "Dan it! I forgot my bunny in the car!"  I have NO IDEA where she heard that but after sternly correcting her and telling her that we don't say things like that, she has never said it again.  Leave it to our sweet Lily to say her first curse word at four years old!!

A few others:
Hantry = pantry
pennytail=ponytail
jumpoline= trampoline
pet and show= show and tell
bing bong= bean bag
bessert= dessert (Can I have a cookie for bessert?)

I promise that this just scratches the surface of the funny things she says.  She far surpasses the number of mix ups that Parker and Eden ever had.  There really are too many to write down or remember. 

I LOVE this part of language development and will be so sad when it ends!  Until then, I will enjoy all of the laughs that Lily brings us every single day!

Salvation Army Weekend

Last weekend, the kids participated in their fourth annual Salvation Army weekend with Aunt MerMer and Granna.  The big kids got to get out of school early on Friday to go shopping for the angel we had picked.  She was a 5 year old little girl who wanted a new bike.  After lots of shopping, they were treated to a pizza dinner before going to the Cleburne Christmas parade downtown. 

After the parade, they came home and watched A Charlie Brown Christmas before heading to bed.

Granstan surprised them with donuts for breakfast the next morning!

After some playtime with cousins, they bundled up and went to the park to play for a little while.

The Salvation Army wasn't open on Saturday so Lily helped Granna deliver all the presents on Monday morning.

 

I am so thankful for this tradition that Meredith started so many years ago with the kids.  They always look forward to it and I'm glad that we can help a little girl have a good Christmas!  What a wonderful lesson for the kids to learn at an early age!

Decorating for Christmas

The tree is up and we are ready for Christmas at our house!  The kids and I worked all day Friday while Cory was at work getting the tree put together so we could decorate it after he got home.  The girls lost interest pretty quickly but Parker was actually a pretty good helper this year. 

We all had fun putting the ornaments on the tree!  The kids enjoyed looking at their own ornaments that they have collected over the past few years.  They are finally getting the idea that they need to spread them out and not put all of them on the bottom of the tree.   Cory and I still had to do a little bit of rearranging after they went to bed but not as much as we have done in the past.

On Saturday morning, Parker and I got up and put the lights out in the front yard.  My dad came over and helped a little too.  Parker was so proud of his work and loves seeing them lit up at night!

It's definitely starting to feel like Christmas around here!  Now if  can just find the time to get some presents wrapped and under the tree!