As we go through life, we make memories. Sometimes those memories can get lost or "misplaced" as we get older and have more. I love pictures for the simple reason that they can help us remember those small (yet important) memories that get lost through the cracks of life. This blog is a way for me (and anyone who sees this blog) to remember the little things in life that make me smile. If there were to be a fire in my home, my family is the first thing to get out, next would be my pictures :0) Enjoy our family pictures and don't forget to make memories of your own!
Jay had a business trip to go on this past week, so the girls and I went to South Carolina to visit with my Uncle David, Aunt Heather and Sierra. I didn't get any pictures really, but we had a great time. Evie and Sierra were stuck at the hip and had a great time together. When we were getting ready to leave, Evie didn't want to go and was going to stay with Sierra! We visited downtown Greenville, which is really cool. It's the kind of downtown that you park your car and walk everywhere (which I love) Next time we go I will remember to take my camera!
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We did! I think it's been one of the best for me. Normally Jay and I have to split our Thanksgivings up since we have both of our families here. But this year we got lucky and Jay's family and my family got together at Kim & Rafael's house.
The kids had a great time hanging out together. Of course anytime we go to Aunt Kim's & Uncle Rafael's, Evie is always so happy :0)
I had to do a collage of Elaina and her cute faces! Anytime she see a camera, she says "cheese" and puts on her goofy smile...Except when she just wakes up from her nap...she's not so happy then, but then who is???
And of course the food...we had so much GREAT food, not just good but GREAT!
Sometimes after a long day of eating and having fun, you just need to relax :0)
Needless to say, we are very blessed and very grateful for all the things that the Lord has blessed us with this year. We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and has a great holiday season :0)
After lunch we all went for a walk to watch Rusty go "swimming" in the pond by the house (or in my case, walk off some of lunch to make room for dessert!) We all took different ways of transportation...golf cart, bikes, wagons and good ole feet.
There's a spill way (Idon't know the techinical term) for the pond and we all got in and the kids had a lot of fun racing up and down the hill
David and Aaron of course had to prove themselves...Aaron jumped from the bottom and hoisted himself over and David played balance beam with it...BOYS :0P
Here's Rusty playing fetch with a tennis ball...in the pond! He loved it. The kids each took turns to throw the ball in the water so he could go get it. Adam then thought it would be great to "help" get in the water! Isn't he such a beautiful dog?!?
Transportation going back was a little better...
Poor Elaina and Andrew...don't they have work labor laws for babies???
After we celebrated Thanksgiving at Rafael & Kim's, we went over to Gene and Stacy's for our 2nd Thanksgiving...
Of course, the girls had a blast and Evie didn't want to leave. Poor Tom (one of their cats)got bombarded by Evie and Elaina. As you can see in the picture, Tom was too heavy for Elaina to pick up ;0)
And yes, those are G.I Joes that Evie is playing with and yes, Tyler & Jay started to play with her too!
Elania, my piglet, was happy stuffing her face...again!
Evie had her first Thanksgiving program at school on Friday. It was a cute and short program. Each class did 3 songs and they were only 5 or 6 classes. When Evie's class started to sing the first song, she did great (the video of it is below), but then she saw Mimi (my mom) and Jay and I and got a little shy for the second. She did great for the third and stayed up on stage and didn't try to come to us...It is sometimes hard to believe my little baby is already singing at Thanksgiving programs...where has the time gone?!?
We went to Orlando this past weekend for a mini vacation with Cathy & Charlie and Kim, Rafael & their kids. We went to Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween party and Sea World. We stayed at a hotel that had a mini waterpark in it, so we spent half a day swimming & relaxing in the hammocks!
That night we went to the halloween party. It rained a little in the beginning, but cleared up and was SO much fun. Disney World always has such a great atmosphere and when they do parties, they do a PARTY! We dressed up as Little Mermaid characters-Jay/Eric, Mia/Ursula, Evie/Ariel, Elaina/Flounder. It was neat because a lot of other people (adults too!) were dressed up and it really added to the feel of the party. There was TONS of candy, an awesome parade, a villian show (I think that might have been one of Evie's favorites), a dance party where you dance with Donald Duck, awesome fireworks though we missed out on that :0( and free face painting. The castle also lit up different halloween colors through the night. When it was purple and kinda scary looking , Evie got concerned about Cinderella and wanted to "get her OUT mommy", I told her Mickey would rescue her and she was ok with that...:0) While the "streets" of Disney were kinda crowded, the rides weren't. There wasn't a wait for anything (we took the kids on Goofy's Barnstormer 2 times in a row and it took maybe 10 mins) We are definitely making this party an annual thing in our house!
We are already trying to figure out what we will be next year...
We went to Sea World the next day and of course had a great day.
I think sometimes the girls would rather go there than to Disney...not me ;0)
THE PHOTOS FROM THE PARTY AND SEA WORLD ARE ON THE RIGHT IN A SLIDESHOW...ENJOY!!!
Elaina is growing up so fast (as they all do):0(...It kinda makes me sad, not so sad I want another one right now or anything ;0), but still sad that my baby is getting older...We were having a birthday dinner for Mom and Gene at Stacy's house and when it was time for cake and milk, Elaina got her first big girl cup. She did so well (she didn't spill any milk) and was so proud of herself!
Elaina has been teething (she is getting in her molars and they are leaving little bloodblisters on her gums...poor baby :0(, so to "help" with the pain, Aunt June gave Elaina a fudgsicle...and needless to say, she loved it. As you can see in the pics, she couldn't get enough!
I rarely ever take the girls out to fast food (like maybe once a month, if that), so when I do take them, they LOVE it! I got them a sprite to share and Elaina would not let go of the cup (or the crown, I think she knows that it's a sign of power!)...she's my junk food girl!!!
Just sipping all the sprite up and not leaving any for sissy!
This is great! Still no sissy....
...now sissy has the sprite!
On Wednesdays, Evie & I go to the library to spend some time together. We have about 30 min. before we have to pick Elaina up from Parents Day Out. Since I love to read so much (you might say i'm addicted, I can't go to sleep unless I have read at least 10 min!), it's something I really want my kids to at least try. Evie is going to be like me maybe??? She loves to read and she LOVES to go to the library. As soon as we walk throught the doors, she know that she has to whisper and can't be loud. When we go to the children's dept., she likes to sit at the desk and pretend she is a teacher reading to her class (she is such a control freak, where did she get that from???) She really loves to go into the "big people" part where I get my books, I think she thinks she is a "big people" too! Everytime we go, she gets only one book to take home (I can't keep up with all of her books and mine too!). On this day she wanted to get Elaina a book too!
Evie & Elaina both love to cook. When I'm cooking they both pull their chairs up to counter to see what they can do to help (which I love because I too love to cook). We bought them these hats and aprons to wear when they cook in their kitchen and while Evie obviously loves to wear hers, Elaina is not so hot on the idea :0)
That's our Evie...She had discovered that it's more fun to act up for the camera then to look cute...when she gets older and looks back at pictures, I'll tell her then, you should have listened to your mother and smiled!!! She is going to the same place that she has been going to Parents Day Out. So she didn't really have a hard time transitioning since it's just a different hall and teacher. She has already made new friends and loves her teacher, Ms. Joy. Some morning she walks right in and kisses me goodbye, other morning I have to leave a pouting child (poor Ms. Joy). She goes to school Mon, Wed, and Fri morning. Elaina goes to Parents Day out Mon & Wed. So that gives Elaina & I Fri morning to hang out and shop (poor Jay!) ;0)
Evie had her first day of ballet/tap class last Monday and loves it. This is one class that I don't have to encourage her to go to (school I sometimes have to coax her into...) Her cousin Lauren is in class with her and they have so much fun together. They also like to get into trouble together. when one wants to run (and they are suppose to walk), they both take off! Watching them is so much fun. When I asked what they would do in the class, Ms. Kathy (their teacher) said that they would learn the basics. So I thought it might be kinda boring, but the kids are all so cute to watch as they try to figure out how to walk sideways or curtsy. Can't wait to get to the skipping part :0)
...all the pictures on the right are vacations that we've been on and where we will be going next! The pictures that I post in the blog are everyday pics. I'll be loading up some some of Evie at school and at dance. Enjoy!
