Christmas Decorating

For FHE on Monday, Nov. 30th, we decided to get out our Christmas decorations. I am glad that we did because the next day the flu hit our house and we have still not recovered. (Well actually by the time this posts, hopefully we will have. I am writing this on Saturday since I am so behind and we are all still sick today.)

Jeff always takes care of assembling the tree and putting on the lights. He does such a thorough job too by making sure there is lots of depth and everything is even!

Aubrey enjoyed playing with the ornaments I was unpacking while we waited.

Brooke loved the plush Santa


Here is Aubrey patiently waiting to be able to put the ornaments on the tree. She kept asking if it was time to put on the ornaments every few minutes. I love how excited she gets about everything! I wonder where she gets that from. (ok it's me - I can hardly sleep whenever we have something fun planned.)

Aubrey asked if she could put on the star. Probably because her favorite movie is "My Little Pony, Twinkle Wish Adventure." In the movie the winner of an ornament making contest gets to place Twinkle Wish on top of the tree. When I told her we were going to decorate our Christmas tree, her first response was, "Are we going to put a star on the top?" What a little cutie pants.

The minute Jeff stepped away from the lighted tree, Aubrey was at it decorating. She didn't need a single instruction or help. She knew exactly what to do. I'm not sure how either.

Brookie had to join in on the decorating fun as well. She sure liked the shiny red and gold balls.

Brooke admiring the star. Yes she looks a little droopy. Her flu hit on Monday.

Aubrey was right on task until every single ornament had been hung. She asks everyday if she can hang more ornaments. We've done a little redecorating to appease her.

Aubrey with her handiwork. Look at how many ornaments she got on the bottom of the tree.

My 2 cuties under the tree. How could I ask for anything better to be under my tree?!

Brooke was happy to get close enough to the tree to explore. She would have been very happy to dismantle the whole thing piece by piece.

I had to get a close up of Aubrey's decorating. This branch had like 5 ornaments on it. It made me smile so much every time I saw her clumps of ornaments. I'm actually a little sad that I redecorated after she went to sleep. I miss seeing all those ornaments on the bottom of the tree.

After we decorated the tree we watched a movie about the birth of the Savior as we ate dessert. I also had Aubrey put out her plastic Nativity. It was a fun FHE. And I am so glad that we got most of the decorating done that night.

After Aubrey went to bed I rearranged her Nativity and put out a few others, that are kid friendly, down low where she could see them. When she woke up the next morning she went straight to the nativities. She said to me, "Mom you did it wrong." She then went about fixing them. When I came back a bit later this is what I saw:

She had taken all of the figures on the 2 sets and had them facing baby Jesus. In this second one you can see that she even took the little lamb and faced it towards Jesus. It was really sweet that she knew why they were all there.

After she fixed the nativities she asked me, "Can we watch that baby Jesus show again?" So we watched it twice. I am so happy that she is so interested in the reason why we celebrate Christmas!

I love all aspects of Christmas; the religious, the fun, the magical, the sights and smells. I think they all work hand in hand to create a giving, fun and magical season. I wouldn't want to take a single piece of it away. The Santa part is easy to get excited over since he is everywhere. So I am trying to make an effort everyday to talk about baby Jesus as well. It has helped that Grandma Buell sent a really cute magnet advent. Each day there is a piece of the nativity that you add to the scene. Ending with baby Jesus of course. We've had fun talking about all of the parts as we have added them to the scene everyday.

I am hoping that the flu will have flown soon, so we can get back to more Christmas fun!

Calli's Baby Blessing

My niece Calli was blessed on Sunday November 29th. Doesn't she look so cute all dressed up.

All of the sisters and sister-in-laws that were there.

All the girlies.

The cute cousins. JJ didn't want anything to do with the picture (too much estrogen probably!).

The whole crew, minus Summer's husband, Steve, who had to go to meetings.


Aubrey looking too cute! She always asks me to take pictures of her. I must cherish these moments now, because I know that they probably won't last.

Thanksgiving Weekend Continued

Saturday morning my Mom once again entertained Aubrey while I got a little more shut eye. When I woke up they were playing "3 Little Monkeys swinging in a tree." Aubrey was just cracking up, it was so cute!



Brooke was watching so intently, so she needed a turn too.

Then we got ready and headed to the mall so my girls could meet Santa. Aubrey was super excited.

They have a little train ride that goes around Santa's area. It was too cute.

I didn't think Brooke would get into it, but she loved looking out the window at the trees, elves and presents.

Aubrey watched and watched so she could wave at Santa every time we went around.

Then the moment arrived where the girls got to meet Santa. I lead Aubrey up and first Santa complimented her on her dress. Aubrey was happy about that cause we had been talking about how Santa would like that she was dressed like him. As we walked up Santa asked Aubrey what she wanted for Christmas. She knelt down right by his knee and said, "A Treehouse please" (A toy one.) It was so cute. I asked her if she wanted to sit on his lap and she said, "I'll just sit right here." She wanted to be near him, but not necessarily touch him. I convinced her that it would be fun to take a picture on his lap. So she appeased me. She looked a bit shy, but didn't cry. Brooke also was just fine on Santa's lap.

Then we had to have a ride on the school bus.

Once again Brookie surprised me by enjoying it as much as Aubrey did. Her little personality is just coming out more and more everyday. I LOVE it.

When we got home, Aubrey was in a picture taking mood and wanted me to take one of her with her animals.

Santa Clause is Coming to Town

To start off our holiday celebrating Aubrey, Grandma & I went to the mall on Friday to watch Santa fly in on a helicopter. We did this last year and I've decided to make it a yearly tradition. It's a pretty exciting way to see Santa!

My cute little munchkin was so excited to see Santa!



We met up with the Merris' at the mall. JJ & Aubrey make a cute little pair.

Getting lots of squeezes from Mommy & Grandma!

And then we hear the helicopter flying toward us!

If you look in the window you can see Santa's arm sticking out and waving at us.

And here he is with lots of "Ho Ho Ho's & Merry Christmas'"

Aubrey waving at him as he goes around the square greeting the onlookers.

When he got up close - Aubrey and JJ got a little shy, but both had an expression of awe like they'd just seen the most amazing thing!

That afternoon we had Thanksgiving #2 with the Wilkerson clan (my Mom's side of the family)

I was a little worried about going in the afternoon and not having the girls take their naps again. We decided to leave pretty close to nap time, with hopes that they would nap on the 1.5 hour ride there. We were so pleased that they both napped the whole way! It turned out to be a very nice drive. Jeff and I got to visit without any distractions or interruptions.

And since they weren't so cranky during dinner, we actually got to eat our meal as well!

Brooke thought the big old roll on Aubrey's plate looked yummier than her baby food!

Havin' fun with the Aunts.

Aubrey had fun playing with her second cousin Camden. They're only about a month apart in age.

I also got to take 4 generation photos for my girls!

It was a nice trip home as well. Brooke slept and Aubrey was pretty good in the back just looking at lights.

When we got home we turned our Christmas lights on. Aubrey insisted on taking a picture under one of our lighted trees!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving day started bright and early, as does every day. I don't know if I'll ever come
to terms with the fact that my children are morning people. It's just that I am sooooo not a morning person and it makes me very sad every morning when I am woken up between 5 and 6.

Anyway, my mom was kind enough to entertain the little monkeys while I got to sleep a bit more!

When I got up Aubrey was having a ball doing hair with Grandma.

After their hair was done, it was time to doctor up Brooke.

Brooke is always a very willing patient.



Then we were off to my sister Cindy's house to spend the day.

We gave JJ his Christmas present early, because I wanted to see if it would fit.

It fit like a glove! I was so happy because I have really been struggling with sizing the hats correctly.

Brooke and JJ having a little bonding time.



Then I did a little crochet class for Katie, Summer & Esther. I taught them how to make a headband with a flower. Summer and I finished ours and they turned out really cute. I made mine for Aubrey and will get a picture of it when she wears it.

Aubrey had fun playing with Grandpa and JJ's motorized car.

Everyone was nice enough to help with my little ones so that I could teach crochet. Here is Brooke having fun with Uncle Steve.

Aubrey & JJ having fun with Aunt Esther.

Brooke took a nice nap on Grandpa's lap while the boys watched a movie.

Aubrey wanted Uncle Bryan to take a "pretend nap" with her.

Boy do I wish it had been a real nap. I decided to give the whole skip nap and have an extra early bedtime thing a try. That was a BIG mistake. As soon as we sat down for dinner, Aubrey was so tired and cranky. Jeff took care of her while I tried to feed Brooke and myself simultaneously. Suffice it to say, now everyone knows why I am such a nap nazi. Aubrey is just such an early riser that she just really needs a nap. Thanksgiving sure is different when you have 2 babies.

All and all it was a fun and relaxing day. (Well except for the whole dinner part of Thanksgiving!) I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of food, fun and family!

A Surprise Party for Daddy

Jeff's birthday was last Friday. Since we had Thanksgiving plans that day, we decided to surprise him a couple days early and have a little party on Wednesday. Jeff doesn't love being the center of attention, so by little I mean, just the 4 of us and my parents who came into town that afternoon.

Jeff likes being surprised and Aubrey loves parties, so I thought it would be fun to decorate and make a little party for him so he'd be surprised when he got home from work. Well, Monday night he informs me that he took Tues. and Wed. off of work. Normally I'd be thrilled, but I was planning on baking for his party Tues. and decorating Wed. Both of these events needed to occur without him being there. He ended up going to a movie with a friend Tues., so I baked like crazy for those few hours. Wednesday he had some shopping to do, so I had to convince him over and over again that he should go after the kids went down for naps. I wanted him gone right before dinner so I could decorate and get dinner all ready for the surprise. After much convincing I finally got him out of the house at the time I needed him to be gone.

My parents got there about an hour before he got home, which was great because they helped pull it all together. Which I needed because the girls took little tiny mini naps and then were clingy when they woke up.

Anyway, it all worked out. Aubrey was sooooo excited to surprise daddy. We all yelled surprise when he walked in. He had a very perplexed look upon his face until he saw the "Happy Birthday" sign. He hadn't even thought about his birthday, since he knew we had lots of Thanksgiving stuff for the next few days. He said Aubrey was beaming with excitement as she yelled surprise.

We had a dinner of stew with homemade bread bowls, salad, cheese ball and crackers.

Then Jeff opened presents.

Aubrey was all too happy to help with the opening.

Then we had lemon bars (I made those instead of cake because Jeff doesn't like cake too much) and ice cream.

Aubrey was once again very helpful with the blowing out of the candle.

Then my parents watched the girls for us so we could go out to a movie. Jeff was even nice enough to choose, "New Moon", which we both enjoyed.

Then we made a stop at Walmart for a few forgotten items we needed for the weekend. Even that is fun when it is child free and leisurely!

On the way home Jeff said it was the best birthday he's had in a long while. Which of course made me very happy too!

Fun With Food

This is what happens when you leave a 2 year old unattended with the treat bag!

Eating 4 suckers simultaneously is much more fun than just 1!

I remembered that I had a little mesh bag that you can put fruit in for the babies to suck and chew on. Brookie just loves it. Here she is devouring apples.