Snow??? . . . SNOW!!!!!!!

Well, probably about two weeks ago now, we finally got our first snow. It wasn't even enough to cover the ground, but the kids tried to make snow angels anyway! They turned out more like grass angels :o)
Then, after they had pretty much swept up all of the snow off of the front lawn, they decided to have a "race".

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share PhotosTheir snow suits had more grass than snow on them after we went in from playing in the "snow"!
THEN, last weekend, we got some REAL snow!

And in case you're wondering, yes, that is our fearless Joey hiding behind is younger sister as he and daddy were having a snowball fight!

And we can't forget about our little Joshua!
The top left picture is actually of what Joshua was doing while the kids were out playing in the snow. The bottom right is a week or so ago when Joe was able to use the projector to project a movie onto our wall for the kids to watch one night. It was huge to them, and you can see Joshua's amazement!

Roller Coaster Buddy

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share PhotosSo far, Joe, Joey and Madie hate anything like a roller coaster - Madie's never been on an actual roller coaster, but, from the time she was very young, she used to tense up in my arms and stop breathing every time I went down stairs and then would often cry once we got downstairs and she had started breathing again. Also, when she was still crawling, she used to turn around and back up (like she was getting off a couch or something) putting her legs first to go down a literally 1-2 inch change in floor level at Joe's parents' house. Now, on the other hand, Gracie and I LOVE roller coasters or any other fast rides. One of my favorite memories of her is at the fair this past summer when she went on that swing ride (you know the one that just flies the swings around in a circle) for the first time, and went all by herself (I was 8 months pregnant or I would have gone with her) because she really wanted to, but no one else would go with her. Joe tried to talk her out of it, but she really wanted to go. We all just stood there and laughed - almost to tears - watching her giggle in pure delight as she whipped around over our heads! Anyway, a very long explaination to say that Gracie and I are very excited to see that we may have a new "roller coaster buddy" in Joshua as he seems to love "flying" around!

For all our New England relatives!

GO COLTS!!!

(notice Joshua's pj's in the previous post!)

"Where is Thumbkin?"

I'm not sure how many of you have heard this song before, or maybe even sung it to your little ones, but it is a little song that kids sing while wiggling their thumbs. So, to answer the question - Joshua found him, and he's been enjoying "thumbkin" every chance he gets!

What?!?!?

Well, we'd like to introduce everyone to "Petrie" - not quite sure on the spelling, but this is what Joey named his new lizard. He was a Christmas gift from his Grandma McDaniel. We were a little surprised, too :O)

So, he got a lizard? Not really worth blogging about, but as you can see in the pictures, Petrie has got a weird hat on. You see, for those of you who are not very familiar with lizards - as I am not - you should know that lizards EAT live crickets. So . . . why in the world would this stupid cricket be sitting on the head of the creature that wants to eat it - and why would the lizard be letting him. The answer: I DON'T KNOW! But I thought it was a funny picture anyway.

Joshua's first hair cut

BEFORE

AFTER

Now, don't worry, he's still got quite a bit of hair! We just trimmed around his ears and the back.

"Thank you, Papa & Grandmom Jordan!!!"

The girls had so much fun yesterday using the "Build-a-Bear" gift cards they got from their grandparents for Christmas. I thought it would take a while for them to decide what they wanted, but they were both surprisingly quick and decisive. Gracie chose a stuffed dog, which she decided was a boy, of course. She dressed him in blue jeans, baseball cap, jersey and Sketchers. Madie had no trouble deciding on her pink, fluffy bear, which she dressed in a Cinderella outfit (of course!!). She also bought her bear a little, blue, sparkly purse to go with her outfit. They really enjoyed it, and I don't think Gracie has let "Boston American" out of her sight since she carried him out of the store!

Christmas Day

These are some of my favorite photos from Christmas day. All in all it was a really fun day with our family. Joey's "big" gift from us was a gameboy, Joshua got the rocking horse, and Gracie and Madie got a kitchen set - and yes, that is Gracie sporting the extremely fashionable apron that mommy made for her! We had a visit from some close family friends and then spent a couple of days up with Grandma & Papaw McDaniel. While we were there, Joe took me out for dinner and shopping - his Christmas gift to me!

Christmas Eve

This is everyone all ready for our Sunday morning service. We finally found a dress that Gracie liked, but Madie would wear her Christmas dress 24/7 if we let her - she particularly likes that it's "sparkly". We started our service with a refreshment time and then sang some Christmas carols. Joey was very enthusiastic about getting to sing the Christmas carols, almost shouting out the name of each one he knew! And Madie, who really did not want to go to her class, sat as quiet as a mouse during the entire time daddy was preaching!

And these are our traditional Christmas Eve pictures in front of the fireplace - everyone in their Christmas pajamas. I plan to continue this tradition as long as they still think wearing Christmas p.j.'s is fun! Maybe they'll still let me get a picture, though??

Scared Straight???

Apparently there has been a recent crime wave in our downstairs rooms, and our household crime watch (a.k.a Joey, Gracie & Madie) have taken it upon themselves to crack down on the violence. This gang ("the baldies") has allegedly been running a major crime ring. Thanks to our local heroes, this gang is now awaiting their trial and sentencing.