Away In The Manger

I discovered that Jolie knows the first verse of Away In The Manger & thought it was too sweet not to share. I can't believe she actually performed it for me! Enjoy!

Tree Topper

Jolie has been concerned about the fact that our Christmas tree was missing a star for the top. I cut a star out of poster board & she did the rest. Isn't it the best tree topper you've ever seen?

Creating her masterpiece:
Showing off the finished product:On top of the tree:

Scripture Memory

I've been motivated to begin memorizing Scripture with Jolie. I recently read The Well-Versed Family & it was just the inspiration I needed to get started. This week we began with Psalm 119:105. I'm making a verse card each week to help her associate the verse with an image & then we practice it daily. She caught on so quickly & has loved it!

Here is our verse card:Here is our big girl showing off her verse. You can see how proud she is in her big smile at the end :)

The Horse

Jolie has received many fabulous gifts for her birthday & among them is this horse. Here she is riding her new toy...
And then she wanted the horse to join her at her table, but obviously the horse wouldn't fit on the little chairs so she came up with the following solution. Also featured in this picture is her Barbie computer that has hardly left her side :)

Daddy

One of our favorite parts of this time of year is more time with Todd. We are thankful that college students get long breaks so that we can enjoy a slower pace of life for a few weeks. I caught these cute pictures of Todd loving on his girls the other day.

Fun Times with Fun Friends

We are blessed with some great friends! Last night we had dinner & a gingerbread "house" building contest with them. Here are a few shots...

All together:Jolie asking for another M&M:Our group mess:
Our 1st place family creation:

Happy Birthday, Jolie!

Birthday Pictures

We celebrated Jolie's 4th birthday today cowgirl-style (her actual birthday is Monday). We had a great time with some great friends! We are thankful for everyone that joined us to celebrate the life of our precious Jolie. Here are a few pictures -

The cowgirl hat craft -The cupcakes -Jolie & her college friend Miss Jenni -Hannah (Jolie thinks she is almost as big as Hannah now :) -
Chloe (Hannah's sister) -
Marissa & Madison (sisters) & college friend Miss Rachel -
Anna (one of our first Monroe friends) -
Annabella (Jolie's BFF from Mother's Day Out) -

Christmas Movie & Bonfire

Tonight we hosted our 3rd annual Christmas Movie & Bonfire event (See 2nd Annual). We had around 100 college students gathered in our backyard for fun night! Jolie & Sarah had a good time hanging out with their college friends. About 7:15 Jolie told me, "I need to go to sleep, will you read me a book?" I did & was able to enjoy the rest of the evening kid-free. Here is the family pic we took: