Christmas Afternoon

Christmas afternoon was spent at MawMaw's house (my grandmother). All of my family was there! We are seldom together with my sister, brother & their spouses at the same time so it was a real treat! We had a good time opening MORE presents including our fun new laptop from which I type this post :)

My siblings & their spouses - John (my brother), Courtney, Sarah (my sis) & Chad

This is picture of Jolie & I looking at the portrait my dad painted of her. It is so sweet! I can't wait to get it up on the wall!

Christmas Morning

Santa came to Gran's house & we woke up early (we actually slept all the way until 6:30 which is late!) to see what he brought the girls. After a wonderful Christmas breakfast we enjoyed opening the gifts from under the tree. So fun!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent at Gran's house. We attended the Christmas Eve service at Calvary, ate our annual homemade hamburger dinner, wore our matching pjs (this year shirts) & enjoyed some big, fat, family fun!

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:

Our little toddler

Our little Sarah is becoming a toddler before our very eyes. Her personality is in full bloom & it is so much fun. I took a little video of the girls splashing in the tub tonight. I love that Sarah keeps looking to see if I'm watching. What fun girls!

Sort of like Christmas morning

Today felt sort of like Christmas morning. UPS delivered the Little People Nativity after the girls were asleep last night. As soon as Jolie spotted it in the playroom this morning she was SO excited! Sharing her beloved Little People with Sarah is difficult, but we are working through it.

Playing with the nativity...
I asked them to say cheese. Can you tell who cooperated? I LOVE this picture of Sarah with her bed head & all!Thanksgiving Little People meet Christmas Little People. Everyone needs Jesus, right?

Yummy!

We are trying (rather unsuccessfully) to put some pounds on Sarah so we gave her a "white donut" (as Jolie calls them) the other day. Here she is enjoying her treat...

Our little cuties

I took a couple of pictures of the girls yesterday afternoon while we were playing outside. They are such a joy - most of the time! Jolie has really been loving Sarah & enjoying her ability to participate in life more. I pray this continues :)

Our big girl.


This is the face of a little girl who has just spotted her Daddy! Sarah LOVES her daddy! She spotted him outside mowing the yard yesterday & just stood at the window watching & saying, "Da, Da, Da, Da!" So sweet!

Fall Festival Photo

Here is the family picture they took of us at the Fall Festival at church on Halloween. I thought it turned out cute...

Sarah Update

Our little Sarah is growing up on us! Over the last few weeks she has been up to all kinds of new things such as...

Climbing into the dryer:

Climbing up on Jolie's step stool in the bathroom:

Climbing on Daddy's exercise machine:And walking!!! You'll have to excuse her older, louder, sometimes obnoxious older sister in this video. I have a feeling she'll be battling Jolie for the spotlight for the rest of her life :)

Our turkey

I found this fun craft idea in my latest issue of Parent's magazine & decided to give it a try. Jolie had a great time working on it with me this afternoon. We all wrote a few things we were thankful for on the turkey's feathers. When I asked Jolie what she was thankful for she replied, "God, friends, my Gran, my Sarah girl, books to read, my mommy & daddy, I'm thankful for everything!" All these & a few others made it onto the feathers. So sweet!

Happy Halloween Day!

Jolie has been looking VERY forward to Halloween this year! She's been counting down all month! I'm glad it has now come & gone. Out of all the dress up clothes in her closet she chose to wear the EXACT same costume as last year. (Click here for last year's Halloween post) I found a cute strawberry costume on sale yesterday & couldn't resist getting it for little Sarah. They were super cute & we had lots of fun at our church's Fall Festival.
The first time I've put her hair in one french braid. She loved it!I wish my hands were usually this empty. (One of our college students was hanging out with Sarah.)Jolie ready to ride in the barrel train. Fun times!