Silly girl

I decided to push Sarah's booster seat up to the table tonight instead of using the tray - just for something different. She seemed to like it & made herself at home...

Big girl shoes

Sarah loves trying on shoes & I noticed her trying to put on some of Jolie's "glass slippers" today so I helped her slip them on & she was too cute! She was loving walking around in them. Here she is in action:

The Jungle Gym

We had a playdate at the Jungle Gym with some MOPS friends last Friday. It was our first time to go & the girls both loved it! Sarah continues to prove to us that she is quite the little monkey. I was worried that she might be too small to enjoy herself, but I was totally wrong! She was as brave as Jolie (if not braver!). Here are some snapshots of our little monkeys.

Under construction

We are in the midst of renovating our kitchen so our table is on the back porch right now. In the meantime I've been letting the girls enjoy mealtime at the little table in the playroom. I attempted to put Sarah in her booster chair & she whined to get down & sit with Jolie. They looked so cute I took a couple of pictures. I'll share pictures of our "new" kitchen when the work is complete.

Something new

I'm trying to warm up Sarah's taste buds to new things so I decided to try a little Chef Boyardee (which she actually liked). Here are the very messy results:

Who needs a fork?

Rare

When the sun is shining it is VERY rare to see both of my girls asleep at the same time. Jolie hardly ever falls asleep "when it's light outside." She is still trying to figure out how to sleep in her booster seat :) Jolie's nap ended about 5 minutes after this photo was taken & Sarah's lasted at least two hours - thank you, Lord!

Sarah Sliding Solo

Jolie & Sarah were playing outside yesterday & suddenly we heard Jolie yelling for me. I went to see what was going on & Jolie (full of pride) announced that Sarah had made it down the slide ALL BY HERSELF! I'm still not sure what is sweeter - Sarah sliding or how excited Jolie was that she had acheived this milestone. These two girls are so fun & so different. At 15.5 months Jolie was not even thinking about sliding by herself :) Watching them grow never gets old. Here is a video of our sweet Sarah sliding ALL BY HERSELF this afternoon after church. We are making the most of the 70+ degree weather!

Here's a picture of her cute, toothy grin:

Christmas Review

Sorry it has taken me so long to post pictures from Christmas. We had a great week in A-town with both of our families. You can relive our Christmas experience in the previous 3 posts - enjoy :)

We've followed up Christmas with a wonderful & relaxing week at home. Lots of daddy time = good times!

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: