Santa Definitely Came!!!

Christmas Eve 2009

Amanda, Olivia, and Reagan in their matching PJ's!

Olivia and Amanda in their adorable smocked dresses! (I absolutely LOVE smocked dresses and Uncle Josh's mom, Mrs. Anne, has sent several gorgeous ones over the years! I think these are my favorite. The red looked great on the both girls.)

Playing with iPhoto Booth

On the Eve of Christmas Eve, Liv and I baked gingerbread cake and we're playing with iPhoto and taking funny pictures together. We have Christmas music on and it's so nice to just relax and hang with my little people!

PJ Day at Pre-School

The kids got to wear their PJ's to school today for their Christmas party. They read The Polar Express and got a special delivery from Santa when the story was over. (A bell from the reindeer!) The decorated cookies, made reindeer food, played pin the nose on rudolph, and danced! It was so much fun.

P.S. Olivia loves the little boy that she is sitting with. His name is Isaac and she is always next to him or he next to her!

Go Horns!

Just Say'in

Amanda is really starting to talk. She only says a few words or phrases, but she says them over and over again!

"Oh Yeah" -We hear "Oh Yeah" all day. She gets to playing with a toy and it's "Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah!"

"Yum, Yum"- Anytime she wants to eat or is eating something she likes, "Yum, Yum. Yum, Yum, Yum!"

"Ya Ya"-Olivia

"Da Da"- Daddy

"Ma Ma Ma Ma" -Mommy

And sometimes it's "Oh Yeah Ma Ma Ma Ma!" or "Yum Yum Ma Ma!"

She is growing up so fast!

On the move

More Goodwill Finds

The girls and I took another trip to Goodwill today. I found all of the toys and the cell phone armband plus a double kids folding chair with the travel bag and built in drink holders.

The total was $22.69. The cell phone armband still had tags on it from a local boutique that went out of business. It was $16.00. We paid .99. I can't find the cost of the chair online but I bet it was more than the $4.99 that I paid (and it looks brand new!). The shovel and bath/beach toys are Little Tikes brand and had never been opened or used. We paid $1.99. I am not sure what the original prices were on the bouncing horse (that still works and plays music) 0r the beaded wire toy, but again I am sure that we got deal!

Holiday Attire

Olivia's wore her holiday sweater today and she looked so festive and cute. I took her picture (crummy cell phone pic) because I couldn't resist! We are preparing for Christmas and looking forward to celebrating the season!

Sweet Sisters

Olivia and her classmates were all asked to go around the room and name something that they were thankful for this year. The teacher wrote their answers down on big leaves and the kids painted them and hung them in the class room. Olivia brought her "thankful leaf" home this week. She is thankful for her "sister." Seeing what she was thankful for this year made me so happy. I have always valued my relationships with my sister and my brothers. I can't imagine life without them. But...I was also happy because we went through so much to make sure Olivia had a sibling. Her love for her sister is reassurance that we did the right thing in fighting so hard for her sibling!

It's True!

I got up this morning to post about The Blind Side, but was checking my favorite bloggers recent posts and came across this post by Jenna from Jenna's Journey. She has said it all...great movie, great story, great people! Check it out!~

We Are...We Are...

Thankful!

Last week was Olivia's Thanksgiving program at school. One of the older classes sang a song to the tune of "We Will Rock You" and I just can't get it out of my head. So I am sharing so maybe I won't be the only one...

We are, We are...Thankful

We are, We are...Thankful

We're thankful for our moms

And we're thankful for our dads

We're thankful for our food

And we're thankful for God

We are, We are ...Thankful!

We are, We are...Thankful!

We took video of the program. (I once again lost the "still" camera.) In true Olivia fashion, she was the ONLY (and I mean ONLY) child that did not participate in the singing and dancing at the program. She stood there with her hand in her mouth staring at the audience. Oh well!

New Shimmer Sister Item

UT Longhorn Tutu Set

modeled by Avery Heiss

Yes, I Did That!

I took pictures of Olivia getting her teeth cleaned. This was her 3rd time getting her teeth cleaned, but she was scared this time. She is becoming more aware of what doctors/dentists do and is always worried about a shot or needle. I took pictures to remind her that the dentist is fun and there is no reason to be scared. She did great!

My Frugal Finds

There is a Goodwill Store down the street from our house. We pass it everyday and often drop our gently used things off at their drop off station. My mother-in-law has made some great finds at her Goodwill store in Oklahoma including the large Dora castle and all the furniture and characters for $10. So I decided to take the girls and see if there were any treasures. We found the things pictured below. Our total was $11.56. I came home and washed and disinfected everything and then decided to see how much we had actually saved. (Everything was working and in good condition. The rocking horse makes sounds and moves his mouth when you press his ear!)

The rocking horse was $29.99 on Toys R Us.com. (We paid $4.99)

The bubble bath was $7.99 on Amazon.com. (We paid .99) (The bottle was empty. Olivia just liked the Dora and plays with her as she would a doll.)

The maracas were $14.99 on Little Tikes.com. (We paid 2.99)

The shower invitations still had the $11.50 original price tag on them. (We paid 1.99)

_____________________________________

Approx $64.50 before tax and we paid $11.56 with tax for a savings of approximately $53.00.

The kids love the new toys and we didn't break the bank!

4:45 A.M Wake-Up Calls

Amanda has been waking up around 4:45 a.m. every morning for at least the past week. I decided to use the extra time to start watching some DVD's. I have hardly seen any movies in the past 4 years, so the Red Box has been my new best friend. Here are a few that I have watched and my, unbiased and movie critic-esque, ratings!

"B" Pretty cute movie. It kept my attention. I like any movie that has Christmas caroling and a cute love story!

"C-" I had high expectations for this one. It disappointed but maybe it's because I was folding laundry, baking peach cobbler, and watching a baby all at the same time.

"B-" I had no expectations for this movie at all. I sort of just rented it for background noise, but it was actually kind of cute!

"A" This is my favorite of all the movies that I have watched so far. What do you expect? It's got Matthew McConaughey and it's a love story!

"B+" This movie was good. It held my attention most of the time and has beautiful scenery. (It takes place mostly in Alaska!)

"A-" This movie is like the movie BIG with Tom Hanks only in reverse. Zac Efron is so talented and super cute!

November in Texas

We sat outside tonight at our new picnic table (thank you Grandma) on our patio and had homemade bean soup for dinner. I hate the hot Texas summers but I absolutely love our fall and winter seasons. It was about 65 degrees outside. We all had on short sleeves, except Amanda, and the soup was just enough to keep us warm. After we ate Adam pushed Olivia on her swing and I sat there thinking...life is good.

Bean Soup

2 cans pinto beans

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 onion sauteed

1/2 cup cilantro chopped (I like more, add as much as you like!)

3 slices of bacon cooked and chopped

dash of garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

*I also add 3 tbsp Pinto Bean Seasoning made by Fiesta Brand Seasonings

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Great with corn bread!

Love! Love! Love!

Fall Festival

Getting ready to go to the festival...

Mrs. Jenifer and her class

Strawberry Shortcake and Bob the Builder (a.k.a Olivia and Brannon)

Brooklyn, Liv, and Leah

Decorating her treat sack...

SCORE! Bean Bag Toss

Olivia's school had a fall festival for the children last Friday. It was similar to a carnival. The kids went as a class from booth to booth where they played games and won prizes. They had a popcorn ball walk (similar to a cake walk), a duck pond, bean bag toss, dig for prizes, spin art, tatoos, and cookie decorating. The kids had a great time and won lots of "spooktacular" prizes.

I worked the dig for prizes booth. They had a huge box filled with dried pinto beans and prizes and candy were buried inside. The kids took a plastic scoop and got to dig until they uncovered a prize.

I think Olivia liked the bean bag toss the best. She walked up and threw her bag in the slot on the first try. (Each child got 5 chances to make it in, though they all got a prize no matter what!) It was so much fun to meet all of Olivia's classmates and some parents too!

Halloween

I just downloaded more than 100 pictures from the last few days. I am going to be sharing pictures of Fall and Halloween until Christmas! Well, maybe! The above is the most important, the costumes! Here are my little strawberry girls...berry girl and shortcake. More to come!

Girls! Girls! Girls!

Olivia and her cousin Campbell

Happy Fall

We had to hit up 2 pumpkin patches before we could find an "acceptable" pumpkin. We were a little late to the first patch and the pumpkins were picked over, muddy, and rotten. Luckily there was another patch down the road and we were able to choose the perfect pumpkin!

Big Sister, Little Brother *NEW ITEMS* on Shimmer Sister

Check out my new items on Shimmer Sister!!!

Celebrating the Horns in Style!

NOT!

Boyfriends Already??

Amanda and her boyfriend, Luke. (Her younger man by 3 whole days!)

Turn Your Back for Just One Second....

I am hoping that this is the only time that I find my daughter in her "birthday suit" posing for photo!