Merry Christmas Friends!

Merry Christmas Friends! Our Christmas has been full of fun Christmas activities. We hope yours has too! One of our favorite movies to watch this time of year is The Nativity. I love how it makes Christ coming to Earth so real for me and my girls. What a blessed gift God gave!
We have been busily baking for our friends and families. The girls always love to help bake and measure ingredients. Hopefully they are on their way to being great bakers!
We visited Santa at the Wichita Eagle open house. This was our second year going to this. The tour of the newspaper plant is really cool.
I decided to undertake the task of a gingerbread house not from a kit. Now I am glad to say I have done one and have some experience to build on for future years. My dear sister sent me a pattern. Whoa!
It was the biggest house ever! She didn't remember sending me a huge house pattern, but she did. So, I made only one third of it. Here is a picture of the house pattern she sent me. Totally made me laugh that she thought I should do that huge one for my first house! The girls had a blast making it. We had saved almost all our halloween candy to put on the house. That was great! Had a ton of candy to put on it, even threw some away afterward. Some of the highlights in the decor are: Naomi's ducks, Stella's soft couch on the front lawn (who doesn't need that!), light posts that taste like root beer according to Stella, the gingerbread girl, a few mailboxes, and last but not least people faces in the windows.
Our Christmas tree this year has stayed decorated all month. Ava likes to keep things were they belong, unlike when we had baby Stella, who thought all ornaments belonged in her bed! Together we all made a pipe cleaner candy cane garland for the tree. The crafty children decorated kind of tree is really growing on me! May your Christmas and New Year be blessed by the King!

Life update

Well I haven't blogged in a while, so I thought I would just update what is happening in our lives through pictures and a few sentences to go with them!

First up! I guess I never posted Halloween pics. Probably because this is the best one of all the girls. No one wanted a picture. Ha, isn't that just how kids are! This is my cowgirl, cat, and ladybug at our friend's Halloween birthday party. We had a great time trick-o-treating with old and new friends!









Ok. Here is one of me for all you long distance people :) I am about twenty pounds lighter and feeling like a new woman! This is thanks to my new lifestyle or diet whatever you want to call it. I think I might call it eating only a few foods God made and a NO man made foods. That sounds simple, huh? It has been a huge change! Mainly because I LOVE FOOD! But alas, my body does not love it. I think I am allergic to about every other thing, which in turn makes my body ache from inflammation from the ribs down. So, I will learn to make life about more important things or people! than food.

Here is my little baby Ava, looking not so little. Her hair is in a ponytail! I may need to freeze her in time:)

This is the first snow of the season! It was wet and I couldn't catch the flurries on the camera. But Stel in her flip flops trying to catch a flake is priceless!!






















We were so glad to get to start our holiday fun times while it was still sixty degrees! Riding on the carriages at Bradly Fair is always one of our favorite events. The girls love the horses. Then we went to my current favorite store Barnes and Noble. EEEEHHH:))









































Ava enjoying her milk. With her foot up. "My milk" are a few of the words she can sign AND say. It is a hoot to hear. She concentrates so hard, to make sure I know what she is saying.




















Here is only half the dolls we own having a party. Curtesy of Stella. Ava soon came over and emptied all their cups for them. On the floor, of course!

The rest of summer vacation

Here are a few more pictures of our days at the beach this summer. The sun came out a little and we played on the close to empty beaches as much as we could!

The girls thought that they were "surfing" when the first surf came in and covered their feet. It was so sweet.


We spent tons of time collecting shells...


...and building castles.


Ava liked the soft sand. Look you can see her chubby ankles..awww! The seaweed was all over because of the hurricane.


This was the last photo our camera took before it succumbed to the humidity and sand:( We were running around looking for bathrooms and had to see the shark!

Stella's Birthday

This is Stella decorating her cake the night before her party. Look close. Sorry, to those who ate the cake :) The girls had the best time making the MOST AWESOME cake with a jellybean rainbow and marshmallow clouds!

It was so fun to have a house full of little girls! We played pin the tiara on the pony and had rainbow cake and sherbet. Stella and Naomi made flower magic wands to give to all the guests. Stella loves to say "poof" and make you change into something different.

Happy Birthday Beauty!

MMMMMM!!! Lots of frosting and jellybeans!

Here is the cake. Six layers. It was fun to make.

The Eastwood's came down after the party to celebrate too!

Pear Picking

We got a HUGE load of pears off our tree this year! We finally figured out how to ripen them so we can eat them too! The girls had a great time picking and eating them. We planted the tree the first year we lived here, when Naomi was a baby. She loves having "her" tree. Maybe we will get two more fruit trees for our other girls soon :)

Henna in my hair

Its been a long time it seems since I played with my hair color. But that is what sisters are for, right? Resa did the research into dying hair with henna and I told her I would be in too. I wasn't sure after she did hers first and was telling me how bright it was and everyone asking her about it. When I saw it though, I liked it a lot. Of course, I checked with Nate first. He said "It is only hair."

Here it is before.

Henna is ground up leaves with lemon juice and cranberry tea spread like a mud into your hair. It stinks! I had to leave this on for two hours. My head was killing me from the weight of the enormous amount of mud it took to cover my hair.

Here is it after five days. It should stay this color. Takes about this long to fully develop. I like it. But I only look at it for about five minutes a day, so hopefully YOU like it :)

SAHM world

I am right in the middle of the SAHM world. Which is were I want to be, but I don't know how to make it all gel.
Do you all? What are your best kept SAHM secrets?

Spending time with my wonderful friends has taught me a ton. I love spending time with them in their homes. Sometimes, I wish we lived in a community where we are in and out of each others houses on a daily bases. Ya, know what I mean? Screen doors banging shut with kids AND their parents. Making super together and it not being a huge deal. So does anyone want to move across the street?

Here are some things I have learned from being in my friends homes.

• Cocoa in your coffee taste GOOD and doesn't have partially hydrogenated what not in it :)
• Veggie burgers are good!
• Kids still love their rooms when there isn't a ton of stuff in them!
• Add a little fiber, it could help you loose weight. Love that!
• How to clean a room: take everything out of it to vacuum, then put it back. Makes a huge difference. Imagine that!
• Kids love to play games with adults. Always a good reminder!
• Don't forget to honor your husband, even while he is at work.
  
• Different options for meal planing! Still can't figure this out, but here is a good place to start Meal Planning Simplified.
• Birthday parties are fun, no matter how elaborate or simple!
• Admire your children.
• Watch your kids play outside. They have great drive and imagination!
• You can hang your measuring cups on the inside of your cabinet doors.
• Use your label maker to label all kinds of things in your house...to help kids learn the words. (I haven't got to that, mine are just for instructions. Like don't throw the clothes on the floor after being in the dryer:))
• Making meals to freeze is good.
• Make your house a HOME for ALL who live in it...not a model home.
• Teach your child all you know! Don't leave it to the school.
• Canning food isn't rocket science.
  

Police and the Mail Man

Sitting here enjoying Max and Ruby with the two girls. Ava is snuggled with baby "Annie" (baby alive) in her comfy, reclining blue chair with her favorite blankie tucked around her. Wait, she got up to give me a booger she just picked! (Guess she hasn't learned you can eat those yet:))
Stella is snuggled on the couch with the coveted soft fake fur blanket. It cannot be washed. It is for decoration purposes only. Yeah, right. Not in this house! I frequently have to take it out of beds that it has been snuck into.

Oh, yes, police and mail men...

We just chatted with the mail man outside and he reminded me about this. Lovely!
A week or two ago Stella, Ava and I stopped at a garage sale down the street. Turns out WAY down the street. After we shopped, Stella thought she should put on her jogging shoes and jog home, which I thought was a good idea. She can do that. We just live down the street. So, it was too late when I realized that I would look mighty suspicious following her in my car. She was set on jogging. OK. There are never police on this road. About, 45 seconds into the jog, police.
Lights on.
Parked behind me.
Ask me questions.
Takes my ID.
Parks in front of me.(So I cannot get away)
Stops to talk to Stella.
Then, the mail man saw Stella. Well, he knows her, because she talks to him all the time. He got out and was checking on her and talking to the police. Then he saw me and waved. I am grateful he was watching out for her. But it was causing quite a seen!
The police let me go and Stella finished jogging home. Me following along beside her at about 5 mph. Cautioning her when she had to cross the street and to watch out for the BACKHOE in one yard and getting some funny looks from neighbors. She had to learn sometime, so I think it was a good learning experience for lots of things! Probably a little more than I anticipated.
Of, course, I immediately called my bff to make sure I wasn't crazy for doing that. She said I wasn't. What do you think???

Back to School allready?

We visited our favorite donut store this morning before the first day of school. Which is a weekly tradition:) Naomi is officially a first grader! Doesn't she look like it in her floral dress and matching head band with her new running shoes. I think I remember pictures of my sister and I in similar outfits for first day of school, ha! Stel wanted the dress too and they had her size...so there the beautiful matching girls are. So glad Nate stayed home to go with us.

This is Naomi's super best friend that she had missed terribly all summer! She couldn't stop holding her hand and smiling. What a sweet heart!

Texas Vacation 2010 Tres

Here we come Corpus Christi! We know hurricane Alex is causing some rain, but how bad can that be? Plus, we have hotel reservations and some girls with hearts set on going to the beach.

Making funny sounds on the ride down.

Sleeping and singing.

Our first views of Corpus. Tropical storms. Are they any different than Kansas thunderstorms?

Yes.

The wind does not stop. It blows sand and sea water in your face. Plus, one of your children might blow away if they let go of you.

We are having a lot of fun!

We got the "hurricane" upgrade on our hotel room.

The sand is still super soft in our toes.

We all want to stay longer.

But. The wind.

Then the waves get too close and I say it is time to head out.

Shopping is calmer.

Then for pizza.

Simple and the craziest vacation yet!

Now I am chilling in my room. Girls asleep. Praying there will be less wind and rain tomorrow.