Ward Christmas Party

I had to document this so I have something to blackmail my kiddos with when they get older.

For our Ward Christmas Party they asked the nursery kids to dress up as nativity animals for the live nativity the primary kids were putting on. The day before the party I got a stroke of genius (I realize this term is relative). I was gonna make a camel costume! I traced the kids out on some wrapping paper and got to work, figuring the pattern out as I went. It didn't turn out exactly how I had envisioned, but, it was cute enough.

Noah was the head and Eden was the hump. Heehee! They are so gonna hate me for this.

Eden is not a fan of strangers. If she doesn't know you, she will usually give you 'the stare down' and then hide her face. Really makes ya feel good about yourself. Anyway, so I was really curious what her reaction to Santa was going to be. Surprisingly enough, it was love at first sight. The instant he walked in, she tried to walk right up to him. As she stood in line for her turn to sit on his lap, she kept looking around all of the other kids making sure that Santa didn't decide to make a surprise escape. When it was finally her turn, with no hesitation, she waltzed right up to him and let herself be put in his lap. Amazing.

Noah has never been a fan of Santa so I was curious about his reaction as well. He is, of course, older and more able to understand the concept of Santa so he has been more excited when he saw a Santa on TV. He, too, walked right up to ole St. Nick, ready to receive his treat.

My kiddos are full of surprises.

p.s. The pics of the kids on Santa's lap are courtesy of Becky Kanigan. Thx Becky!!

My Deedee Momma

A full accounting of the days events will probably have to wait until after Christmas but I couldn't let my baby's 2nd bday pass without expressing how lucky I am to be her mother. I love that girl so much. She is the perfect combo of tenderness and spunk. She speaks her mind but is quick to say sorry or ask if you are 'otay'. I can't go thru a day without her snuggles. I literally start to go thru withdraw. Heavenly Father probably figured that I would be an okay mommy to her but that I NEEDED her for my daughter.

Deedee momma, I'll love you forever and ever.

My Girl

I L.O.V.E. wakin up to this girl. The boys are still snoozin so it's just the 2 of us, Simba snuggled in a baby blanket, and some good books.

Sometimes...

you have to take a lot of these...






to get a few of these...

Zonked

Um...I'd say they had an eventful day.

Lyon Family Farm

I am a wee bit behind on posts (shocker!).

For our annual pumpkin pickin fun, we decided to go to Lyon Family Farm instead of Tate Farm. They have all the fun stuff Tate's has without the huge crowds (we always go on a Saturday so Chris can come with). It was so, so, so much fun! It was awesome to watch the kids this year. Both of them were so into everything. I {heart} watching them explore and learn new things. Noah plows head first into everything, trying to absorb as much fun as possible. Eden is a bit more cautious, especially when it comes to interacting with people she doesn't know. But, once she determines that you meet her standards, she can tend to like you to death. Case in point, at first Eden ignored this little girl, pretending she wasn't there. By the end of their time in the bouncy thing, the poor thing was hiding from E in an effort to avoid yet another hug.



We tackled all the usual pumpkin patch fun. We went on the slides,









We climbed every imaginable surface we could find,









We swam in corn,



We petted the animals, although Noah kept telling me that he had this animal or that animal on his farm, aka, Aunt Dawn's farm.






In typical Eden form, at first she stood back, observing. When she deemed it safe, she dived right in, loving the bunnies and the kitties. Poor things.









The kitties were definitely the favorite. Too bad mom is crazy allergic.



We rode the cow train,



and 'horsies',






We strolled,






And jumped on mattresses,



(and, no, I did not let myself even begin to think about what all was on/in that mattress. Shutter.)

we slid and swung some more,









And, finally, we took the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch and picked ourselves some 'punkins'.




About halfway back from the patch we realized that Noah's pumpkin had a soft spot. Um...gross. We told him he could pick one from the little store they had there. He was not happy. He was very attached to that rotten punkin. So, like the good parent I am, when he was distracted I conveniently 'lost' his pumpkin. Oh, the devistation! But, not to worry. His fickle affections where soon directed at something a little younger and cuter.



Typical male.

What a great day!

Testing 1, 2, 1, 2

My hubs is having me test out blogging on our new iPad. Um.....I think I'm in love. Typing on this thing will take some getting use to but surfing and photos on this sucker are awesome. Of course, the insane, OCD, control freak that is my husband made me wash my hands and sit on the couch surrounded by pillows before he would even let me touch the thing.