Breaking the Silence...

I have not meant to be so absent from the blog for this long. We have been in a state of transition and I may write about that in another post. But for now, I'll leave you with a couple pictures from our Fancy Nancy story time at the library. It was a marvelous time! And my girls had an extraordinary time getting fancy.

Random Updates

Just some random stuff about the girls.

Carly: I would have said we are potty-trained since she has had no accidents and has been dry at nap and through the night for the last three days but today she decided to pee downstairs. Nice.

Breakfast: The girls love carnation instant breakfast shakes in the morning. We usually add a banana and peanut butter for some flavor boost. Carly calls them "chocolate movies."

Manners: When I encourage Carly to use her manners, she says "ok my dear". In fact, I think her favorite thing to say is "my dear". Here you go my dear. Yes my dear.

Christmas: The girls favorite Christmas gift by far is their dollhouse from Mimi. The both play with it so well together. Yes together! It's slightly taller than Leah and has an elevator! The L.O.V.E it! Here is a picture of what it looks like.

Picnic: Today we had an inside picnic complete with white paper spaghetti and pink pipe cleaner lemonade. Leah made Carly and I a delicious meal.

Leah: is starting to really read well. It's fun to have her read books to us. She is also designing and planning her own bakery. It's fun to encourage her to think about all the things she will need for it and what type of sweets and treats she wants to offer. She still says she is going to be a doctor or teacher when she grows up.

Carly: is alphabet obsessed. She calls all letters "super letters". She can spell her name and recognize most of the letters of the alphabet - upper and lower case. She can also count to twelve and recognize most numbers up to 10. I'm amazed by her knowledge and how she communicates with us. Her language skills blow me away sometimes. And speaking of blowing me away, she has started climbing out of her crib. AND THINKS IT'S FUNNY!! We are encouraging her to call us. It worked with Leah. But I'm not so sure it will work with the little daredevil.

We Wish You a...

Merry Christmas!

We have had a fun and busy month preparing for Christmas and celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus! Elfie has been a little bit mischievous - eating Leah's twizzlers and oreos, cutting balloons from a bouquet to float to the ceiling, hanging from the chandelier and other fun stuff. The girls loved having him here for the last 24 days. They awoke this morning, Elfie's last day, to find presents from him. New Christmas pajamas and new books. Carly got a Dora book and Leah got Priscilla and the Pink Planet. How did Elfie know their favorite things?? He must have been paying attention to the girls.

We hope your Christmas is full of joy and blessings and hope.

Live in freedom that Jesus was born for YOU!

Have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our Newest Addition

Meet Elfie.

He's the newest addition to our family. He arrived very early this morning to greet the girls. Leah spotted him right away perched on top of a picture over the fire place. We read the book. Leah wanted to name him "Santa's Little Helper". I suggested "Elfie". She loved it. Carly loved it. Now we have Elfie. And it's the second most popular name behind "Buddy." I'm hoping he won't cause too much mischief around our house this month while he reports to Santa each night if the girls have been good or not. So far Leah has done the laundry, changed sheets on the beds and has been all kinds of helpful. I think we need an elf for all seasons. :) Stay tuned to find out some of Elfie's adventures this month.

I think we've created a monster...

an M&M monster that is! Every time Carly goes potty she gets an M&M or two. Tonight she was purposefully sliding on the kitchen floor but fell really hard and hit her head. So I offered her one M&M to feel better. She said, "That's good." I asked her if she needed another one and she said "Yes." To this I thought, "Duh Mama, she is not going to turn down an M&M." After her second M&M she said, "I'm all better." Whew! M&M's to the rescue.

Later that same night, she fell in the hallway or ran into a door, something that caused her to get hurt. Guess what she promptly asked for? You guessed it, an M&M to feel better. So I think we are on our way to an M&M monster!

The ABC's

Carly is quite taken with all things regarding the alphabet. She calls letters "super letters." Every time she goes potty (which potty training is coming along very nicely - I think it's the drive for M&M's and putting balls in her potty jar) we have to do super letters. She knows almost all the letters and we are working on all the sounds too as well as several words with each letter. It's so fun to see her so excited about learning.

She loves to sing! And when she sings the alphabet song she has several versions.

A B C D E F G (repeating those letters only)

A B C D E F O (I think the letter O is her favorite. I'm sure that has nothing to do with all the Buckeye cheers we do at our house! O-H-I-O)

A B C D E F G W X Y and Z (this is her latest version)

I think I may need to get her some alphabet soup!

Wacky Wednesday

I really need to start updating the blog more. We have tons going on and lots of funny stories from both the girls.

But today and every Wednesday for the next month are going to be extra wacky - as in we are so busy. So busy shuttling Leah to her various and numerous Wednesday activities.

Here is a "normal" Weds for the girl:

1. school

2. daisy scouts (right after school)

3. home for a quick dinner

4. soccer practice

5. AWANA

6. home to unwind and bed

What busy days Wednesdays are going to be through October.

But who could resist shuttling this precious one around?