Half a year older

Since Jada and I both celebrated our half-birthday's this week, (I'm kidding- we didn't really celebrate. Elle however did make Jada a b-day cake picture to put on her door, and Jake brought me flowers, but not for my half-birthday. It just happened to be the same day. And, by the way, Jada's half-birthday is special because 18 months means nursery and that is always cause for celebration.) I thought it might be fun to record a few of the things Jada has been saying lately. So, here you have it- the English language according to Jada:

shoe (she's obsessed with shoes)
I too (I jump- on the trampoline)
cookie and nim-nim (M&M's- we eat healthy around here)
wa (drink)
baggie (baggie or lunchbox)
some basics like: mommy or momma, daddy or dada, Elle Belle (which used to sound a lot like elbow), My-My (Mya), and sissy

I see (when she wants to look at a picture on the camera or phone- these spoiled digital kids)
be-fie (breakfast)
dee (dinner)
da (Dora)

I clean (takes a wipie and wipes the armoire in the guest room)
Mi-Mi Mi-Mi (Minnie Mickey who she is obsessed with and loves the fact that they are on her diapers)

anee (again)

more (and she used to use the "more" sign, which is probably the only sign she knows, and I'm not quite sure how she knows that- it is cute, and I wish she still used it as often as she used to)

says "me!" and raises her had when I ask who wants something

bubble (in the bath when she wants me to put soapy bubbles on her hands from her hair and when she gets the bubbles from under the sink)
seat (carseat) and buckle
beesh (brush teeth)
backpack and blankie and book
And today, she spoke a five word sentence. She was repeating me, but she said "Elle Belle go to school." She's a genius.

She can say other things ("no" is a fun one), too, but I won't bore you with anymore. I love hearing her talk. And I am an awesome baby translator.

Let me tell you a little story about Parcel Post

And why you definitely should never use it. At least I will think twice before using it again. Let's go back a few months and remember that my sister got engaged. Well, said sister found some awesome wedding announcements at Michael's that she loved. She searched every Michael's in the area, clearing the shelves of the invites. So me, being the good sister that I am, head to our local Michael's to deplete their supply also, buying six boxes. I nicely opened each box, placing invites and supplies carefully in multiple ziplocs, package them in a huge Costco wipies box, wrap it nicely with paper, of course decorate the box with my awesome artistic skills, and head out to the post office with my ultra heavy package. My mom said to ship it the slowest way since they were in no hurry to get them. I debated a little at the APC (you know, the self-serve postal machine- the only way to go as far as I'm concerned), but decided to do as my mom said (always and forever obedient). Days started passing. No package arrival. Weeks started passing. No arrival. I went back to the post office. No luck. I think my mom even went to their post office. No luck either. Awhile later I get a nice letter in the mail which included my postage, return address, and Kirstie's name and address. Turns out the wrapping was recovered somewhere, but no package. I sent back in for them to do a search, even though it was too late for the invites to be of any use. Still no luck. Imagine the disappointment seen on the package stealer's face when he opened it and found a wipies box. Totally not worth the crime. So, the invites are somewhere in California, probably lying unused and packaged nicely in ziploc baggies. And that, my friends, is why you should think seriously about whether or not you want to use parcel post this holiday season. Learn from me and at least get a confirmation number, or insurance, or something if your package is of value.

Besides feeling the need to warn all about the dangers of parcel post, we have been ultra ultra busy around here. Life just doesn't slow down around the holidays. I am really looking forward to being in California on Saturday because that means that most all my "stuff" will pretty much be done. House cleaned, gifts good to go, etc. I can actually enjoy Christmas for five days. It will be wonderful. I wish everyone a Merry Merry Christmas. I know we will have a blast. And be anxiously awaiting my return. It will hold a marvelous post full of Christmas fun, wedding excitement, potentially a super great Disneyland trip (Christmas present for the girls... shh!), and a birthday extravaganza for Mya (and maybe Elle). It will be really, really good. And I know you are jealous that you don't get to fly with three kids by yourself on Saturday. I certainly would be if I was you.

The One Day in Texas I Needed a Parka

I probably don't do the best job with establishing traditions for our family, but one thing I do each year is have the girls color a picture from a Christmas binder I have. It is fun to look back and show them what they colored like when they were younger. Here they are coloring for the year, and Jada is old enough this year to participate.
A nice shot of the wounded...

We planned a fun little Christmas party get together with some friends. We made and ate ginger snaps (Jada ate more than she should have), made Christmas cards to give to some elderly people in our ward, and had a gift exchange. The kids loved it, and the older girls really got into the card making. I was glad they had so much fun and that we could be doing something nice for others.

The girls love being "secret givers" and had fun dropping a bag of cards and cookies off at this house (sorry for the bad pic- you get the idea).

Mya's preschool throws awesome holiday parties. She seriously hit the jackpot and came home with that huge silver bag full of goods. Honestly, every year it amazes me how much stuff they get.

And, in other news, yesterday we had a bit of a weather phenomenon...

That is right. Snow in Houston. Notice that at the Christmas party on Tuesday, Elle and Mya were in short sleeve shirts and skirts. And Wednesday it snows. Gotta love that Texas weather.

I know, I know, you Wyoming/Utah/Idaho people are laughing at our version of snow. But for us, this was amazing. I was so happy it happened when Elle was coming home from school so she could be a part of it. When we picked her up is was so so so freezing, and the rain had turned into frozen rain. Then, by the time we were back to the car, I believe it was real actual snow.

We, of course, had hot chocolate which got spilled outside and on the carpet. We saved some snow in cups to remember the fun day. And Boo bundled up to get warm because her lips were purple.

That night, it snowed again. I was hoping it would stay until morning to show the girls because it actually stuck on the rooftops and the trampoline, but by the time we went to bed it was almost all gone.

The slide and the trampoline...

We had preschool here today. Just another of the 8 thousand things I've had to do lately. I'm not kidding- this week is so so busy. Luckily next week calms down a bit so I can finish up everything before our trip. Anyways, preschool activities included an awesome rendition of "Twelve Days of Christmas" where I got to showcase my singing abilities for 12 verses of this song (with a little help)...

We practiced writing our numbers and "C's", sang some songs, read a lot of Christmas books, painted snowflake ornaments...

Of course has some Christmas cookies...

Practiced shape matching by gluing ornaments on a tree and colored and cut out candy canes...

Had an exciting marshmallow toss and candy cane hunt...

And made some cute foam door hangers...

I know you wish I was your kid's preschool teacher. I also wanted to show a couple of cute art ideas that I didn't do, but my kids have done for Christmas. I love this cute Christmas wreath made with hands by Elle a few years back. Such a fun idea.

Also, some really cute easy Christmas crafts Mya has made.

Moving away from preschool and crafts, Sunday marks 4 years since the big rollover. I can't believe that much time has passed. This time of year always serves as a reminder of this night and how blessed we really were. Things could have been a lot worse, and I am so aware of how watched over Elle and my big bellied self were that night.

Back to snow...here's a pic of the last time it snowed in Houston (at least that I saw). Christmas Eve, 2004.

And a video of our huge "blizzard"...

A Christmas Post

A Christmas post. I love Christmas. It is a happy time. The end.
Um, if you actually thought that's all I'd have to say, you don't know me and my long old posts very well. And the fact that I like to talk and am usually never short on words. Anyways, don't you love it when you pull out the holiday decorations and find something you forgot you had but just love? That is how I feel about these white bells above. My Grams gave them to me and I love them!

Also made this seemingly edible tree the other night at a craft mid-week activity. It was very fun and somewhat therapeutic to glue candy canes onto styrofoam.

The guest room has become somewhat of the Christmas "staging" area for the millions of gifts, wrapping supplies, packages, etc. I told Jake we need to stop making friends. (Totally kidding- I would be so sad without so many nice people to give to!) And I am the dumb one who decided to host Bunco in December (honestly, what was I thinking?!) so I have gifts and food for that, too. Also have had quite a few babies born in the ward lately (surprise, surprise) so I have the line-up of gifts for those. I am grateful for my guest room. Where would I keep all this stuff without it?!

I had to capture these cute girls bringing back the 80's with our homemade ribbon dancers. We sure love Aubrey and will be so sad when they leave. Maybe we can still convince them to stay.

The girls have also gotten a bit creative with PJ's lately, wearing outfits like this the last three nights in a row.

Mya looks like an abused child with her face all scraped up. It actually looks worse than this now. She took a little tumble on the asphalt taking Elle into school yesterday.

I had to make an interesting decision a couple of weeks ago. Elle has been in gymnastics at the same place since about March or April. We really like the place- it is a huge, nice, new gym. She started going twice a week around summertime. The class she was in was kind of a "pre-team" class to get kids ready to move up to the competition level. Now, Jake and I were never sold on the whole "team" idea. For one, it was a lot of money. Also, competitions were right during soccer season. But she likes it, and maybe she could succeed. Who knows. The kid's 5. Anyways, I labored over this decision and finally decided to not move her up, but go back to just once a week. The thing that really got to me was the amount of time gymnastics would take. The better you get, the more time you are at the gym. The level right above Elle's was already 3 days a week at the gym, 4 hours a day. I just decided I couldn't make that be her life, especially when she is still so young and doesn't really know enough to decide for herself. Maybe we'll regret it one day, but I don't think so. I just feel better about her having the opportunity to try different things and find what she really likes to do.

Anyways... the point of all that was that now we have 4 afternoons after school with nothing to do. It's a bit of a change, but it will be good. Yesterday we passed part of the time away by making paper chains to count down our trip to California. I love paper chains. It's not a holiday unless it can be celebrated with a paper chain.

I also began filling out my calender for next year (Target dollar spot- great place). How on earth did we become that busy. There is something written on almost every week day.

Had the ward party last night. Really yummy dinner, considering they were feeding massive amounts of people. I was expecting like spaghetti or something, but it was chicken, tasty salad, rolls, and baked potatoes. The girls got pics with Santa. All, that is, except for Jada. You can see how she felt about the big guy.

Tried to get some pics of Jada by the tree. Hard to photograph an 18 month old.

Convinced Jake to put up the Christmas lights today.

Went to Target with the kids to buy gifts for the sibling exchange. We let the girls pick names and then took them to the store to pick out a present for the sister they picked. I think they had fun with it and liked buying something for someone else.

And lastly, just because they're cute...

Where Junkyard Meets Fabulous

In an effort to cultivate my "crafty" side, I decided to take on making a Christmas garland. I have made several Christmas decorations in the past, mostly at church functions. Last year my mom and I had the great idea to recreate a cute sock/clothespin decoration. I don't think that my mom ever made hers, but mine turned out so cute. So now that this whole making stuff at Christmastime thing has apparently become somewhat of a tradition, the garland was this year's project of choice. I think next year I may take on a wreath.

What started as a plain green 9 ft. garland is now all decked out with lights, beads, glittery pine cones, and all sorts of other sparkly things. Not to brag, but it is a beaut.

Too bad it has to be displayed on my somewhat junky entertainment center.

I also worked on the tree yesterday. "Working on the tree" has taken on a whole new meaning now that I am trying to move past the "junkyard tree" phase. We finally got a star for the top, and with ribbon and holly berries and all sorts of other items in my whole red, green, white, silver decor scheme, it turned out pretty nice.

I sort of closely monitor what ornaments make it on the tree nowadays earning the nickname "Christmas tree Scrooge". We don't want to have the "junkyard" become the dominating decoration factor. (For those wondering, Jake called our tree the "junkyard tree" a couple of years back. Apparently the wide array of sentimental old ornaments weren't really his thing.)

Some sentimental stuff still did make the cut, and I feel as those it is a nice blend of "junk" and beauty. The perfect combination.

And last, my sister's cute wedding announcements. I can hardly believe the wedding is in three weeks from Saturday! I tell you what, just thinking about all the traveling we've done lately is exhausting. Starting in July, I spent 27 days out west, September was 10 days in Utah, November was 5 days in Cali and 8 days in Louisiana/Florida, and December will bring the start of another 16 day vacation. I think we need to take the whole next year off.