Sunday Snapshot~ the events leading up....

to His birthday!

 this month flew i tell ya

 we have so many traditions we can't miss each Christmas season that we keep very busy up until the big day

 our tree was up and decorated a few days after Thanksgiving, the earliest ever!

 the boys packed meals one Saturday for Feed My Starving Children.....

 and got to hang out with some friends from church

 the hubs was proud of this photo of the First Lady, taken with his phone

 our first big snow, storm "Ceasar", dropped about 8 inches or more about two weeks ago to ensure we'd have a white Christmas

 since the Lil' Lady has trouble even keeping her step on dry ground, we let her out on the deck to play safe.

 she insisted on helping big brother shovel

 and her was very patient to let her!

 bottoms up!

 he even helped her make her own snowman

an orange crayon for a nose and chopsticks for arms!

 i'm sure we'll rack up lots of pics tomorrow morning, but until then.....

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family

here,

on the west coast...on the east coast...

down south, and everywhere in between!

Sunday Snapshot~ Names

{N. A. Noel}

I knew their names would come soon and though a part of me was dreading it, I wanted to know them. I read over each and every name carefully. One has a birthday on Halloween. One just turned seven a few days ago, and one was born on my parents wedding anniversary. One shares a name with my oldest and another a name with my youngest. One was born on my wedding anniversary. As heartbroken as I am, I just can't fathom the loss that each of those parents and family members is feeling. It's unspeakable, and my heart hurts for them. I feel like the only thing we can do is pray... and to know them and not forget them.

Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06 (age 6)

Daniel Barden, 9/25/05 (age 7)

Olivia Engel, 7/18/06 (age 6)

Josephine Gay, 12/11/05 (age 7)

Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06 (age 6)

Dylan Hockley, 03/08/06 (age 6)

Madeleine F. Hsu, 07/10/06 (age 6)

Catherine V. Hubbard, 06/08/06 (age 6)

Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05 (age 7)

Jesse Lewis, 06/30/06 (age 6)

James Mattioli, 03/22/06 (age 6)

Grace McDonnell, 11/04/05 (age 7)

Emilie Parker, 05/12/06 (age 6)

Jack Pinto, 05/06/06 (age 6)

Noah Pozner, 11/20/06 (age 6)

Caroline Previdi, 09/07/06 (age 6)

Jessica Rekos, 05/10/06 (age 6)

Avielle Richman, 10/17/06 (age 6)

Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06 (age 6)

Allison N. Wyatt, 07/03/06 (age 6)

Rachel Davino, 7/17/83 (age 29)

Dawn Hochsprung, 06/28/65 (age 47)

Anne Marie Murphy, 07/25/60 (age 52)

Lauren Russeau, 1982 (age 29)

Mary Sherlach, 02/11/56 (age 56)

Victoria Soto, 11/04/85 (age 27)

Isaiah 40:11

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

{N. A. Noel}

Sunday Snapshot~ the bob

 Lil' Lady got the bob cut today

 and as i always notice with little girls at school when they get their hair cut short, she aged a few years.

 i love it.

 not sure if she really likes it though. i caught her later in the hair accessory box experimenting with various headbands.

 this is the look we both liked

 we call it messy casual, with just a bit o' fancy!

we're so wearin' this to daycare tomorrow:)

Sunday Snapshot~ Santa

So we found out that as hyped as the Lil' Lady has been about Santa in the last month she definitely has her doubts. We went for our annual ornament trip to a local nursery and when we pulled into the parking lot the jolly ol' man himself was standing at the entrance greeting everyone. well, she couldn't get out of the car fast enough! she was hollerin' Santa! Santa! as we were trying to unbuckle her. she tried to hurry across the gravel lot stumbling the entire way, but as soon as she got to him and he held his hand out it you would've thought he was the boogey man! she started to shake and turned to reach for me to pick her up. "i'm scared of Santa" she said over and over.

say what?

so much like chuck e. cheese, Santa's going to have to keep his distance if this Lil' Lady's around and just be admired from afar.

 

the First Lady decided later that night that she was going to help. all i know is that sometime during dinner prep she disappeared into the bathroom with some paper, scissors and tape and came out as Santa.

 bless her heart she played the part pretty good and the Lil' Lady quite enjoyed it....

 even told "Santa" what she wanted for Christmas!

 according to the First Lady she has now been rehabilitated and is ready for another shot at the mall.

something tells me though it's going to be another year before we attempt that!

10 days of thankfulness~ day 10

i am thankful for my husband....

 who's a champ at pitchin' in and doing things i don't ever have to ask him to do. like hangin' out with the Lil' Lady during the party with 20 middle schoolers,

 and jumpin' in the pool at night with the kiddos when it's just a bit too cold for me!

last night he offered to go stand in line in the cold for a particular stores midnight opening to catch a great deal for something on the kids Christmas list. we had already been out at a few hours before standing in line at Walmart for something else. that went extremely well. we were about 10th in line, got our stuff and checked out about 15 minutes after they even opened. he knew i'm a morning person and by midnight i would be the equivalent of a cranky badger so he offered to go back out at midnight even though he's not the shopper.

 oh, and spendin' some quality time on the Xbox with the boys. not sure, but this one may not be too much of a chore!

 then there was that one time when i was somewhere else and he was home with the kids and did the Lil' Lady's hair. I was so impressed i took a picture of it. maybe he should start doing the First Lady's hair too!

 but i can't forget to mention the cooking. this guy can cook up a storm. he definitely found his calling about 5 years ago when he started puttering around in the kitchen. everything he makes is awesome, i'm so blessed to have a husband who loves to cook!

so yes, i am thankful for my husband in so many ways:)

10 days of thankfulness~ day 9

i am thankful for my oldest girl...

 who can be so very sweet,

 but can also be so very, very ,very sassy. she may only be in third grade, but some days i feel like i'm dealing with a teenager. makes me wonder what's yet to come!!

 see that hair? it's a mess. she wants to keep it long, but doesn't want mama to do anything with it. 

 i try, but don't do a very good job. when i'm able to get her to let me play with it this is what happens. 

  i need someone to come and do a hair artist in residence with me and stay a week!

 on our day out together we went shopping. we started with a butter and cinnamon crepe.

 it was her first and she wasn't quite sure she was going to like it, but let me tell ya, she finished it off all by herself.

 we ended up in the American Girl trap store.

 about 3 hours later, she was pooped but i was still goin'. say what?

 she's supposed to be my shopper girl, the one that can go all day. i suppose it may kick in when she's older.

 she did con me into getting some sticker nails. i warned her they wouldn't stay on and they didn't. she was able to find another use for them though.

 i have to post this moment. after her big brother had completed his "go-cart" he offered to let her be the first rider.

 she wasn't quite thrilled at first, i don't think she thought it was very well built.

 but she was brave and went for it.

 i wish i took a video so you could hear her screaming all the way up the road. turned out she loved it!