Christmas Happenings...

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve at my parents, and Christmas Day at home!


Emma loved her new digital camera from Aunt Robin and Uncle Mark!

Gabe LOVED this fire engine that Aunt Tonya got for him!

Emma and Macy couldn't wait to dress up in their new princess dresses that Mamaw and Papaw bought for them!

On Christmas Eve, Emma left Santa a letter and some cookies, and soy milk since Santa is lactose intolerant!

Opening a present left by Santa on Christmas morning!





Emma loved the cake she made in her new cool bake oven. She even let mommy and daddy try a piece.



Daddy, Gabe and Emma playing with the Grand Central Station!


Santa left Gabe a toy craftsman flashlight, just like daddy's big one!

This picture cracks me up! He was so excited!

Santa wanted Emma's barbies to cruise around the house in style!

World's Largest Gingerbread House!

We took the kids to eat at the Spaghetti Factory in downtown Louisville yesterday. They got so messy, that we should have eaten last! Anyway, after we finished eating we walked to the Galt House to see the World's Largest Gingerbread House. The kids were amazed! They also loved walking around and just seeing the sights! We ended up at Mike's office to meet everyone he works with, and then we headed to E-Town to finish up some shopping. We had a wonderful time!

Gabe tried to sneak under the chained rope, but we caught him in time. Mike and I could just imagine the Gingerbread House tumbling after Gabe got done with it!

This nice lady offered to take our picture, so here we are with the city in the background!

Gabe and Emma in front of the tree in the Spaghetti Factory

Look how messy! (I don't know why this picture is sideways)!

Messy boy--but it was so good!

Inside the Spaghetti Factory!

Gabe's vocabulary...

Gabe's vocabulary had really increased lately! He heard a baby crying at the grocery store, and he said, "Baby crying!" And he will say, "It's hot" and my absolute favorite, "I you too mommy", which is what he says to me after I put him to bed and tell him I love him. Really, that's 4 words! He will say "Turn on", when he wants me to turn a light on. He will bring me my shoes, and say "mommy shoes". Oh, and he likes to say "food" when he's hungry. I love to hear him say "candy cane". He and Emma LOVE candy canes, and I have them in my sled on the dining room table, and I have to keep a close eye on them and limit them to 1 a day! He will say "daddy's car" or "mommy's car" or "Emma's doll". His vocabulary has really started increasing over the past 2 weeks. He doesn't like Santa Claus, but he will say "Claus" when he sees him. Oh, and the other night Emma finished using the potty, and Gabe ran over to it and said, "Mommy, I pee pee"! I asked him if he wanted to use the potty, and he said, "uh huh", which is what he says for yes! So I placed him on the toilet, but he didn't like it. But I told him that he could use the little potty chair, and he ran over to it and sat down on it. He stayed on it for a few minutes, then got off and said, "all done!" He didn't use it of course, but every day he sits on it for a while. He's such a big boy now!

Preschool Christmas Program

Emma's Christmas Program was held Thursday night, and the entire school did a great job. You could definitely tell that they had practiced a lot for it! The kids knew every word to every song, and they used all of their hand motions. It was great! My parents and sister even came up to see it.





Emma was an Angel!

The Angels are on the left; The gold ones beside the Angels are the 3-year old stars--they were adorable! And the 3 wise men are the ones in red, purple and blue; and then there's Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus. On the other side of the stage which is not in the picture, there were the 4-year-old boys which were shepherd boys, and the 3-year-old boys which were animals. The production was great, and the kids sang every word of every song, and used hand motions for each song as well. It was great!

This was before the program started, and they were upstairs getting organized.

Emma and Gabe helped mommy bake cookies to take to the Christmas Program. Emma had the red sugar, and Gabe had the green. They are going to help make cookies for Santa too!

Fun in the snow!

Monday night, we received between 2 to 4 inches of snow.(My guess is 3 inches). Tuesday, I took Emma and Gabe out to play in it, and they loved it. I had to bribe them inside with some homemade hot chocolate! Preschool was cancelled Tuesday and today. Emma's Christmas pagent was supposed to be Tuesday night, but it is rescheduled for tomorrow night. I can't wait to see it! Her school has worked so hard to put it together--this is the first year that they have actually put on a pagent, complete with costumes. Last year they just did a musical. I will be sharing pictures soon!

Emma and Gabe LOVED playing in the snow!

They were trying to clean all of the snow off the slide--but gave up!



I love this picture so much! They love each other!

Emma has a new pink tree in her room, and Mike wanted me to take a picture of this. She thought Snow White needed to sleep under the tree!

Emma and her new tree!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!!

It is cold, but it is beautiful! We have been under a "winter storm warning" all evening, and it started out freezing rain and now it is snowing. Of course, the babies were in bed before the snow started, but hopefully it will still be on the ground in the morning. Time for some hot chocolate...enjoy the snowy pics!!




This is a picture from the back deck---Mike hung "twinkling" stars from the pergola, and they are so cute!!




On Saturday, we took the kids to Lowes, where they got to build their own wooden gingerbread houses. Santa made a surpise visit, and Emma was a little shy at first, but she ended up sitting in his lap.


Gabe, on the other hand, wanted no part of Santa! He hung onto my neck for dear life! But he did enjoy helping with his gingerbread house--especially hammering the nails!

Away in a Manger...

Emma's preschool is having their Christmas play on Tuesday, and Emma is going to be an Angel. She has been practicing for it, and here's a video of her singing "Away in a Manger"!

Tale of Two Bears...

Gabe has a favorite bear that he sleeps with and carries with him everywhere. Not too long a go, we thought the bear was lost and Nana and Grandpa sent us a replacement from Germany. The new bear is identical to the original, except no wear and tear. The original bear turned up, and everything was great. Well, the other night I put the bear in the wash, because he was so dirty, and brought the new bear out. I put Gabe in his bed for the night, and the lights were out, and I thought to myself, "Hmm...maybe Gabe won't notice in the dark". So I handed the new bear to him, he brought "baby" (as he calls him) to his face, smelled him, and threw him back at me! He will have nothing to do with the new one.

The original bear is on the left, and new one is on the right. You would think that Gabe would like the new one since he is softer and fluffier and isn't stained!

Check the video out and see for yourself!! (FYI: It's me talking to him, and I have a cold and a VERY scratchy voice!)

Emma Caroline is a baker!

Emma loves to help me bake. The new apron and hat set was supposed to be for Christmas, but tonight she wanted to help me bake, and I just had to get it out for her. She was so excited! Her favorite part about helping was sprinkling the sugar on the cookies.




Isn't she adorable?


Ready for the oven! Gabe wanted on the stool in this picture.

Christmas card time!

Jessica sent me the Christmas Card she designed, and I just love it! I ordered them and hopefully they will be in soon! I couldn't be more pleased! I know I ruin the surprise by posting it on here, but oh well!

Dear Santa...

Emma wrote her first letter to Santa. I had the letter posted on here, but you have to write your address on it, and as soon as I figure out how to crop our address off then I will put it back on here. In case you are interested, the address is: PO Box 1, Santa Claus,IN 47579. And the best part of all...your little one receives a response from Santa! Emma wrote her letter, put the stamp on the envelope, and put it in the mailbox! She was so excited!

Here's the gingerbread house that Emma and Aunt Tonya made. Isn't it cute??

Santa's little helpers! They were fresh out of the bath, and we were getting ready to watch "Shrek the Halls" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"!