cookies and candy canes

My friend Allison D. and her kids came over a week and a half ago and we cut out cookies and decorated them as well as made candy cane ornaments. The kindergarten teacher came out in me and we even read a story, "The Legend of the Candy Cane." We all had a really fun time and being reminded of Christ's sacrifice for us in the simplest of terms for the kids was such a sweet encouragement to my heart!

it's a parade

Last Saturday we went to the Christmas parade in town and were able to sit with friends from church. Esther was pretty entertained, and Arden had a blast. She really got into waving to everyone in the parade and saying "Merry Christmas" to them. She also discovered candy canes and held one in her mouth for the longest time, not really knowing what else to do with it! Here are a few pics from the parade...

mommy's new fingers

Yesterday I went and got my hair trimmed and while there was surprised with a manicure...Woody had gone in earlier in the day and gotten it for me! I can't tell you the last time I got my nails done, so this was really a special treat! I never have color on my nails and in the past have only gotten french manicures, so I decided to really shake things up and get some fun, dark color. (which I'm told is in style right now, and if you know me, you know that I'm not really in the know when it comes to style) And to top it off we went out with some couples last night to see Pierce Pettis...I felt so pampered with my hair done, painted nails and a low key concert in a quaint cafe! Anyway, this morning as I was giving Arden her bowl of cereal for breakfast, she says, "Mommy has new fingers. She does have new fingers!" Just thought this was too cute!

she's a climber

This afternoon while I was getting dinner ready, I turned to face our table and Esther was sitting on her knees on top of the table!! Sorry, I didn't take the time to go get the camera! There she was, playing with a Santa cookie jar in the middle of the table, pointing to his eyes,nose and mouth. (She's really into pointing to and naming these parts of the face right now.) She's gotten good at climbing into our dining room chairs and we've taught her to sit down in them, so I'm pretty comfortable with her doing that. But now that I've witnessed her getting on the table so easily (within seconds!) as she attempted the climb several more times throughout the afternoon, I'm not so sure. This really is a new thing for us, as Arden never attempted even climbing into the chairs until she was a whole lot older. Esther, on the other hand...if there's a way to climb onto something and use it to climb up higher, she goes for it. It's just never been as high as the table until today!

aunt ti in town

Christi came to visit us for a long weekend this past week. We enjoyed a quick trip to the beach, cupcakes, a not-so "winter wonderland," Christmas parade (more of that to come in a later post), a tour of the local winery, and of course, Chick-fil-A for the CA girl! We had a full, but fun time together and it was great as always to get time together in person. And although Arden can now actually say, "Christi," she still mostly referred to her as "Aunt Ti," much to the delight of her Aunt Christi! We love you! Thank you for coming to visit!

thankful

I'm very thankful that we were able to spend some extended time with my family over the Thanksgiving holiday. The girls and I went up early to see our nieces, Hannah and Halli, perform in the Nutcracker, and then Woody came up later in the week. We all had a great time...Arden got lots of opportunities to play with Halli and took advantage of dressing up like Minnie Mouse every time we were at "Halli's house." Esther loved playing with Halli as well, but stayed pretty close to me and gave everyone besides G.G., Papa and Aunt Jenni looks that would kill if they even came close to trying to take her. She later sported two new teeth (finally adding to her four! yah!) on Thanksgiving day, that I think were the reason for this. Woody and I even got some time away for dinner and Starbucks! (Thank you G.G. and Aunt Jenni!) And it was especially great to be able to spend a whole week with my parents, sister and her family and then my aunt, uncle and cousin for Thanksgiving day!

Happy Belated Birthday Nonie!

Well, I didn't exactly get this posted when I wanted to, but know that you were thought of and loved on your birthday! We hope you had a wonderful day and look forward to seeing you in a few short weeks!! We love you Nonie!