Merry Christmas

Christmas is always a joyful time. Our tradition, as well as spending time with family and enjoying fun meals, is hiding Jesus from our nativity scene on Christmas Eve. The first thing the girls do is run through the house searching for Jesus. How fun that tradition has been (thanks to Rebecca for the great idea)! This year Emily found Jesus among our Tupperware. 

After finding Jesus and having breakfast, we went to church. How special it was to be with church family on Christmas morning! We served in the nursery and loved spending time with so many special little ones! After a wonderful lunch with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, we came home and opened the special gifts that we had picked out for each other. It was a wonderful Christmas, a time to remember Jesus! 

6 Month Snapshots

"I play with pots and pans while Mommy works in the kitchen!"

"Gimme that banana!!"

"Laundry is DONE!!!! Now, time to play!!"

"I haven't quite gotten the hang of the sippy cups,
but I love Daddy's glass of water!"

Look Who's Six Months

Kitchen Time

Often when I am working in the kitchen Eli keeps me company in his high chair. I have to say that he is a most content little man and smiles if I sing or dance while I am working. Of course, most people would laugh to see such a sight! 


Yesterday I was boiling a pot of water and he noticed steam for the first time. I wish I had gotten a photo of the look on his face because it was GREAT! Here is my little kitchen companion!!

All I Want for Christmas . . .

. . . is one front tooth!!! Megan woke up to a dangling tooth, but didn't want any help pulling it. She was determined that she wouldn't eat until the tooth was out, but didn't want to pull it either. Thankfully, it started bleeding and I gave her a tissue to blot the blood with. Before you knew it, the tooth was stuck to her tissue. I have no trouble dealing with blood, but I cannot stand the sight of loose teeth, and pulling a tooth is out of the question. So, I was most thankful to see a vacancy in her bite. : )


Loosing a tooth just before Christmas reminds me of Emily two years ago -- except she lost all four of her front teeth! 

Priceless

Our Brown-Eyed Girl!!

Exploring Archeology

This summer Emily raised money through pledges for the summer reading program at our local library. The money could be applied toward Usborne books. She found an archeology dig kit in the Usborne catalog. I should have known she would love this because she LOVES digging and discovering things in the garden. 

Here are some photos of the fun project! 

Making Tracks

The girls love to paint -- finger paint, use watercolors, and make prints. If it involves paint, they love it! One day we decided to make some cool prints using some of our cars. It was a lot of fun and they loved "driving" the paint onto the paper. 

Captured Moment

Captured Moment

Captured Moment

Captured Moment

Captured Moment

Oh, Christmas Tree

Usually, Matthew takes care of hanging the lights on our Christmas tree. This year, when we decided to put up the tree, Matthew was out working. So, I figured I could take care of the task. We got the tree put together, and while Emily and Megan were sifting through ornaments, deciding which ones would be proudly displayed on the tree this year, I carefully hung the lights on the tree. Apparently, it is a good idea to check the lights FIRST, but in my excitement to get the job done before Eli woke from his nap, I neglected to do this. At last, the lights were on and I plugged in the strand, expecting the tree to be beautifully lit up. Disappointment soon turned to laughter as we saw this!! 

Feed Me!!!

A New Math Game

Games are an important part of learning. In this game, we roll write the digits 1 through 9 on our dry erase boards. Then we take turns rolling 2 dice. We can either erase the sum of the two dice off our board, or two addends that equal the sum. This game reinforces simple addition and addition families. 

A Day in St. Louis

Here is the rest of our trip -- swimming at the hotel and a few hours at the St. Louis Science Center. It was great fun, and I think the girls want to go back. I love St. Louis because it is a quick trip and a very affordable family entertainment!!

Getting ready for the pool

At the Omnimax Theater at the Science Center

http://promisedlandministries.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/jesus-the-cornerstone/

A Trip to the Arch

Megan has been asking to take a field trip to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Like most parents, we want to give our children some great experiences as they grow up, but thought we would try the St. Louis Gateway Arch instead. They absolutely loved it! We got into St. Louis on a Thursday afternoon, and walked to the arch from our hotel. We got some cool shots of the arch from the ground, and loved the view from the top. Here are a few photos from the Gateway to Western Expansion!