New Year's Date

Need a project?

Here are a few cute sites I keep on my reader. We're not at the point of trying many of the projects yet, but you may be!

No time for flash cards has really cute projects and resources!

scrumdilly-do also has cute projects -- a little more intense

edHelper.com is totally worth the $19.99 a year -- tons of books, coloring sheets, themes, etc. to print. It has activities broken down by topic or month.

Any other sites you love to fill time at home? We've been doing lots of running outside with this warm weather but cabin fever may be approaching!

Visiting with Friends

We've gotten to see a few friends during the break. The Petreys were in town so Coleman and Kirkley got to play a little bit -- I missed getting pics of her not knowing how to share her toys (when he touched Aubie...it wasn't good), but I did get a precious one of him cheesing it up and her looking like it's nap time. She tried to teach Coleman all about Aubie and explain that he is SO much better than Big Al could ever be!
Everyone has been pretty much out of town/with family, but we were able to catch the McDonalds and Thames over the weekend and get them over for a little grilling. The girls are sooooo cute together and play so sweet -- notice Gray holding Kirkley's hand. They are all so patient with her. Hope to catch up with more friends soon as everyone gets back in town!

Merry Treats

We're pretty strict on what we allow Kirkley to eat so these last few days having treats around have been exciting for her. Her Great Grandma Kribel made sure that Kirkley would have some cut out cookies to enjoy. She's been making these since my kindergarten Christmas party...25 years ago! Kirkley agrees...they're a keeper!

On Christmas Morning...

I loved polishing off Santa's cookies. So much for the gifts he brought -- I'm so glad he left me some of his cookies!

Thanks everyone! I am having such a special Christmas!

Cookies for Santa

We decorated cookies for Santa this afternoon to put out tonight. Notice that it was an outdoor activity so we had lots of fun with sprinkles!!! Kirkley loved pinching the sugars and sprinkling the cookies. She concentrated on decorating until about halfway through -- then we had five cookie casualties! Merry Christmas!

Bounce in the House!

Boppy, GiGi, and Hannah arrived today with lots of Christmas fun. We couldn't resist blowing up the bounce house and testing it out...in the living room! It's like a giant, bouncy playpen that she LOVES! I guess I'll let it slide being inside until it's warm out. She bounced and danced right up until bedtime at which point she crashed as it deflated. Then she gave BIG thank you hugs!!! Can't wait for friends to come bounce!

Under Construction

The second annual constructing of the gingerbread house took place today. Kirkley was a little more destructive than last year, but she enjoyed stealing candy whenever she had the chance to sneak past daddy. Daddy kept her occupied with a candy cane until it was time for the final touches!

Aubie! Aubie! Aubie!

This has been a familiar chant in our house for the past week! They talked about Aubie one day at school, and she hasn't stopped saying "Aubie! Aubie!" since. Now that football season is over, she has her "Waaar, Hey!" down pat! She even wakes up asking for Aubie. Daddy went and got her a little Aubie that she totes around that plays the fight song. We're working on counting off to play the song. So far we are at "Unn, too..." The "pree" is optional these days. She did okay seeing Aubie and was just a little hesitant -- we were Aubie hogs for sure!!

Great time at the game tonight visiting with friends!

Santa

We had an uneventful trip to see Santa today (which is not a bad thing!). After a little encouragement, she sat on his lap and checked him out.

Sick Day!

Kirkley has been under the weather this week with a cold. We took a sick day at home and enjoyed lots of resting, playing, and popcorn! Somehow she discovered the Halloween party tablecloths so we made a tent, crashed it, then ran them all around the house!

Little Girls

We caught a glimpse of our baby changing to a little girl when we stopped by the Thames' house the other day. The girls were so cute with Kirkley, teaching her ring around the rosy (despite her grip being too tight on their fingers!), sharing their toys (even though she still puts them in her mouth), and playing in their room. They read books, grabbed stuffed animals, then decided to hide, only to call everyone in to see how cute they were hiding!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

I love when we take morning rides, go on dates to the park, sing songs and you play the guitar, and play outside!!! Thanks for being such a great daddy to me! Happy 3-0!

Christmas Parade!

We went to the annual Christmas parade tonight! Such a great time! Fun to meet up with friends and watch the wild floats parade downtown -- from Mr. Penny to sweet students to horses to karaoke singers and finally Santa -- we saw it all!

Kirkley has the parade wave down. We decided we want to start a float next year!

Santa!!

6:08 -- past my bedtime!

Alex's 30th

It is truly a birthday week for Alex!! His actual birthday is Friday but we had a party Tuesday night for him to celebrate! Thanks to sweet friends for taking time out of your busy schedules to come!

Christmas cookie baking??

Christmas cookies are a BIG tradition in my family. Just came across this site -- all the things you can add/change to the cookie mixes that still produce homemade cookies! I love a shortcut that doesn't seem like one. Basically all your dry ingredients are premeasured in the bag -- you just add extras!! Right in time for cookie swaps...Happy Christmas cookie baking!

Pray for Mike Reed

See the CaringBridge site...

Fun at Grammy's

Grammy kept Kirkley last night so we could have a little date night. We had a fun night out at a wine tasting, appetizers at one of our favorite restaurants, and then rented some movies; then our house underwent a major decluttering this morning -- amazing what can get done without little feet running all around! Grammy just sent this picture -- so wonderful to know that she's over there having the best time -- doing whatever she wants!!! We hope she wants to come back home to us after all the fun!

What about this for the Christmas card pic??

Still trying to get that "perfect" shot!

First Basketball Game

We had a great time tonight at Kirkley's first basketball game! This turned out to be a great night! Kirkley had the best time watching the players, meeting the cheeleaders, pointing and waving to Aubie, snacking on popcorn, and directing and dancing with the band! She even made her first appearance on the jumbotron dancing during a time out!

Been Busy!

So I've totally been playing with Christmas photocard designs! Thanks to my models in the pics -- these are not their cards -- just some I'm playing with. If you need help with your Christmas card this year, let me know! I've already designed for about ten families. It's been really fun! Email me for details, and I'll explain how it works! And FYI, the greens below look electric but they print much darker. Now I just need to get Kirkley's pic this week and our card ready!