Sunday Silliness

What every girl needs--a cell phone, big jewelry, and a Broncos jersey!

Christmas

after mass on Christmas Eve

opening presents in new Christmas pajamas

we always opened our presents on Christmas Eve when I was growing up and now continue that tradition

leaving cookies and milk for Santa

 someone must have been a good girl--Santa brought a robot with a remote control!!

 "cousin" Duke was very interested

We enjoyed a beautiful, blessed--and WHITE--Christmas and are excited about 2013!

Sunny Saturday with Santa

Eva G got to go on a really fun nature walk with Santa. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning. One of Santa's helpers read The Night Before Christmas and we got to jingle bells each time we heard a word that related to nature. After the story, Santa came in and each kid got a chance to sit on his lap. Eva G wasn't too excited about this (she wanted nothing to do with Santa when we saw him a couple of weeks earlier), but she went up with daddy and actually liked Santa. Each kid got a reindeer name before we headed out for our walk. Eva's name was Sage. Santa was so knowledgeable about all of the things we saw as we took our walk. He talked about the gifts that nature gives both to animals and humans. Just before the end of the walk, his big sack was waiting on a bench and it was filled with birdseed that the kids got to share with the birds. Before we left we were already making plans to go again next year!

Wintery Wednesday

On this cold, snowy Wednesday Eva G and I baked some Christmas cookies. She and Nana baked some a couple of weeks ago when Nana was here and she's been asking to do it again. Today seemed like a good day for it. She especially likes doing the sprinkles and colored sugars. Of course, she's eager to be the taste tester as well!

Wish List

Eva G has a little list she wanted Santa to know about. Here it is, verbatim

The Playskool Rock has proved elusive. It seems this may actually be a jingle from a Playskool commercial and maybe there is no one item called Playskool Rock. There are a few "baby" toys/instruments from Playskool, but we sure can't seem to find exactly what it is Eva is so excited about. Maybe Santa will have better luck?

He's Baaaack...

Yep, Barney the Elf is back again this year. This is where Eva G found him this morning--he must have been hungry:

There is so much excitement in our house this year. Eva G is really starting to understand the wonder of Christmas and the anticipation of things to come is just so much fun to watch. Truly a joyful time!

Thanksgiving Pics

We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving at Nana's house. 

 Making pilgrims' hats the night before. 

Someone couldn't wait to try them--notice the bite taken out?!

Playing in the dirt. Not a bit of snow to be found! :(

World Prematurity Day

Take a minute today to say a prayer for all of those little babies in the NICU right now; for the moms and the dads who wait and hope; and for the doctors and nurses who take such amazing care of these little miracles.

http://www.marchofdimes.com/mission/prematurity_wpd.html

Wordless Wednesday

Close Look

This little girl really loves going to the library. We usually go to a smaller, neighborhood one for story time because it's not as busy and there aren't usually as many kids at story time as there are at the bigger libraries. Sometimes, though, we stop in at one of the bigger locations. Today was one of those days. Eva G loves looking at the sweet storybook houses they have. They really are quite neat. There are lots of different characters from lots of different books. You see the Sheep in a Jeep in the front yard and the Three Little Kittens' mittens on the line...that sort of thing. Definitely fun and always worth a close look.

The weather was so nice earlier this week that we took advantage of it and headed to the zoo. We met daddy at work and then went to see the animals. It's a really different experience to be at the zoo in the middle of the week in the late afternoon. There were just a handful of people and we got to see some of the things that happen when the animals are getting ready for the night.

Happy Halloween!

Here's our little Halloween robot. 

Our pumpkins. 

The little one was the last tiny one left in our little pumpkin patch in our garden. 

Not so scary jack-o'-lanterns.

Eva G did a little bit of trick or treating around our neighborhood and visited a few friends' houses. It was a great night to be out and the weather was really mild, so we didn't need to bundle up and hide the costume. 

Go, Falcons!

Eva G got to watch her very first live football game Saturday evening. It was an awesome late October Saturday and the game was a lot of fun. Eva loved the parachuters as they landed on the field; the flyover was amazing, but rumbled the tummies and the noise was a little much for Eva. She loved the band and the people watching. She cried when it was time to leave and even the next morning was saying how she still missed the game--a sure sign of a success!

yummy hot cocoa 

Thursday Treasures

Treasures collected on our walk today. 

Of course, there were plenty of rocks and sticks, but those weren"t quite as convenient to glue. 

Up, Up, and Away

We spent the weekend in New Mexico taking in the beautiful Balloon Fiesta and Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We were lucky that the weather was so nice, as it wasn't for much of the week and many balloon activities had been cancelled. No matter how many times you see it, it's always so amazing to see that sky filled with so many balloons.

 dawn patrol -- giving the rest of the balloons the sign that conditions were good for lift-off!

 early morning wagon ride

the wind carried the balloons toward the east, whereas they normally head west, which is the ideal direction 

Happy Birthday!

To Cleo.

We were talking about how it was just about a year ago that we found out there was a new litter of kittens born and they would be ready for Christmastime. So we decided October 15 would be Cleo's birthday. Eva G decided we needed to make her a cake (she also wanted to have a party and invite people over, but we nixed that part of the suggestion). So, we baked a cake, put a candle in, sang happy birthday and Eva G blew out the candle for Cleo.  We enjoyed our cake, while Cleo enjoyed a few treats.

Wordless Wednesday

Golden

It's starting to look quite golden around here these days. We enjoyed a beautiful Saturday up in the mountains taking in the awesome fall colors and a few trails. Our neighborhood is starting to look quite spectacular, too. We really love this time of year.