Christmas Presents

So I am still playing catch-up from Christmas so I am taking sections to blog about.  These are the three blankets I made.  I made one for each of my kiddos and one for my five almost six month old nephew.  I tend to over complicate things...part of being a woman probably.  I started off thinking that I would just tie fleece blankets, but then I thought I wanted two sides that were different, but then if I did that I should use flannel, but then it wouldn't be thick enough, so I added batting.  Then I thought I would piece together one side and then use one piece on the other.  Then I got really ambitious and decided to stitch their names on it, but then I decided it would be too small if I stitched it so I should do appliques, but then I wanted it soft so I will just stitch on satin letters, but then it would fray so I had to edge it with ribbon.  So it went from tying a fleece blanket to this:

Late Night Christmas

So it's Christmas and I am a little wired from the day. My husband worked at the fire station, yesterday and today and so unfortunately, he missed part, well most of the holiday happenings. I really missed him. I think it is the family times that he has to miss because of work that I find the hardest. It's not his fault and I do not blame him at all. He is a wonderful provider and I love him dearly for it.

But because he wasn't here, I got the Santa's helper responsibilities. Mommy was up very late last night building a city and train set that goes on this wooden table. It's the set from Costco. As I was building it though, I couldn't help but think about my two little angels asleep in their beds upstairs and it made it all worth it. They are such a blessing to me and they are really such great little kiddos!

When they came down, Audrey looked at the train set and played with it for a moment but then went to see the Toy Story table and chair set. My heart almost burst out of my chest though when Jack came down. He got so excited and just kept saying "Train! Train! Train!" He did his little dance and then named every car and every piece on the set. It made me smile knowing that we got something he would love!

Then off to all the festivities of the day which I will post about later, but I just love these two kids so much! They are my life! The only reason I even go to work is so these children can have a wonderful life filled with opportunities for growth, learning, and fun! Sometimes I can't help but stop and stare at them! They are so beautiful and I just love them so much I can't even write it down!

I am so grateful for a fun, happy, and safe Christmas! But now I have got to get some sleep!

Getting Up the Tree

We got out Christmas Tree yesterday and Jack wanted to help with every step of the process.  He watched for a couple minutes, then he decided that he wanted to help saw the end off...

It was quite a bit more work for Johnny while Jack was holding on, but it was so cute to see them doing it together.

Jack lost interest and decided to start taking Johnny's hat off and putting it back on instead.

So then it was time to vacuum.  Jack wanted to "help" with that too.

Then it was time to water the tree.  I got a cup and Jack thought it was for him, so I had to give him a drink first, then pour the rest in the tree.  We did this about five times before it was full.

More pictures to come of decorating the tree

Bow Making

I have been orking on my bowmaking skills, now that Audrey is starting to get some more hair.  These are the Christmas bows for my nieces.  Audrey's are a smaller version and for some reason the picture wouldn't take.  Saves me money in the long run and I have really enjoyed it!

Jack's New Do!!

My cute hubbie was complaining that I never let him have a say in how Jack wears his hair, so.....

 



Johnny got his way and Jack doesn't mind it at all!

Another Month

Well there goes another month!  It just seems so crazy how fast the time flies by!  Some days I look back and feel like I have accomplished nothing, and others are so different!  I love playing with my children and they are my numebr one priority in life so sometimes the social networking and blogging get put on the back  burner which is probably more important anyway.  I would like to think that I do this blog more for me and my family than to get others approval anyway.  Although I am very happy for anyone who may stop by.

Audrey Mae is just beginning to walk.  She has taken her sweet time, which is fine except for the fact that she wants someone to walk her around ALL the time!  It gets annoying!  She is such a sweet baby and if every baby could be as easy as she is I would have ten kids.  She sleeps through the night every night and takes two to three hour naps every day.  She was sick this past week and it was so hard to see her sick.  She is sooooooooooo very busy and she would just lay on the floor and stare, sad!  She is better now though and spunky as ever!  She looks like me, but she is totally her daddy on the inside!  She gets into everything and doesn't slow down unless she is eating or sleeping.  Audrey loves bugging Jack.  She does things on purpose because she knows it will bother him!  I think she is going to be more aggressive than he is, that will be a problem.  I love her so much and it is fun to get to know her more as she is getting a little older.  More of her personality comes ot all the time!  She loves to smile at everyone, especially old creepy guys at the store!  At least it makes their day!  Her smile would melt your heart and her eyes light up when she laughs.  I don't know what color her eyes are.  They aren't blue, green, or brown.  They aren't even hazel.  They are almost a grey color, but so very pretty.  She is very feminine and girly, but tough!  She can say a few words, but anything that is small and soft that she can hug is a "baby".  She loves dollies and blankies!  What a cutie!

Jack is all boy!  He is still my sweet little guy, but he is becoming a little boy!  He makes all kinds of noises that I sure never taught him.  He can make truck sounds and sirens.  He even makes the backing up noise when he is pulling a car towards him.  He loves when the garbage truck comes by on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  He is talking more and more and will yell at random in the car that he sees and ambulance or fire truck.  He is absolutely obsessed with Puff the Magic Dragon.  I used to like that song!  That's all he ever wants to listen to in the car.  He knows EVERY word and can sing along.  He can't ask for specifics at lunch but he can sing "frolicked in the Autumn mist in a land called Honna-me!!"  He has a love/hate relationship with his little sister.  He calls her "Augee-Mae".  We never really intended to call her by her full name, but because he does, it has really caught on.  I still have a hard time getting him to eat, he is insanely picky.  He is getting bigger, but he is still a little guy.  He and I still have our cuddle time at night which I would not give up for the world!  He has always loved to cuddle with me!  He also loves Toy Story.  I don't know how he can watch it everyday and still think it is awesome and still wonder if Woody (whom he calls "Hello" for some reason) and Buzz will truly make it back to Andy.  He also gets his words mixed up.. To go outside he says "upside".  And when he wants to watch a movie he will take the closest adults hand and say "Come on, upstairs and find Jessie."  I love his language.  I translate for him a lot!  Even to his daddy!

I love my kiddos so much.  Johnny and I are hanging in there and life is great here!

Silver Lake

Johnny and I love to go up into the mountains, but it can sometimes be a little tricky to take two little kiddos too.  Audrey likes to walk and/or crawl in the dirt which tends to get everybody messy!  But we have found a great solution!  We go to Silver Lake!  I have been coming here for a long time with my parents and siblings and so now it is great to pass it onto my children.  There is a perfect boardwalk and trail around the lake which makes it mostly safe for families!

The colors were beautiful, although it looks kind of dead here!  It was just fun to be in some cooler weather and it actually got a little nippy once the sun went down (it took us a long time to go around!)

We found some ducks!  Whenever we heard a duck quack Jack would say, "Duck happy!"  He thought they were laughing!

We tried to speed up the process of getting around the lake, but both children wanted mommy to hold them, and now they are getting bigger, mommy can't hold both of them and climb a small hill so we took turns.

Audrey is so happy!  Her cold is gone and two of her molars are in, so currently she is a very content little girl!

Jack would head up any little trail that went off into the trees (most of them weren't trails) and then giggle and "hide" from us.  He is darling!

There was a duck on the boardwalk cleaning up some bread crumbs that were left.  Audrey wanted to touch it so bad, but it always stayed just out of reach!

By the end, everybody was tired and we had a good ride down the canyon!  Audrey's smile here just makes me happy!