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?

Oil Pastels

So as Leah was coloring today, she said, "Oh look these are oil pastels." Which promptly stopped me in the midst of working to look over at her. How in the world does she know what oil pastels are? I guess she is paying attention in art class.

Dance recital 2009

Here are some pictures from Leah's first dance recital. Her class did a tap routine to "I'm a Big Kid Now." Not only did she learn tap, but she also learned ballet and tumbling. Two of Leah's favorite friends, Ava and Phoebe, were in her class too. It was such a fun year of dance!