Olivia the Elf

Our neighbor Mrs. Tammy is always taking our kiddos to fun community events! She is a treasure to have as a neighbor and we love her! She took the kids to the Old Fashioned Christmas held in the Farmers Market this past Sunday. The kids had a great time enjoying hot cocoa, face painting, Christmas cookies, carolers and a hay ride. Olivia came home ready for the Christmas season!

Girls & Curls

Taylor & I spent Sunday night putting rag curls in her hair. A friend of ours sent us an ebook from a website called www.pennyraine.com , which has a ton of how-to-ebooks. and we thought we'd give it a try. Taylor, ever the good sport, let me take pictures for the blog but I was only to post them IF her hair turned out alright! Anyway, below are a few pics of our girls night rolling hair and watching a chick flick!

Taylor looking a little like Raggedy Ann minus the red hair!

The back view ;-)


Here is a curl so you can kind of get the idea. We took sections of hair and rolled it up around strips of cloth and then tied them off. She slept on them and . . .

This is what the finished product looked like the next morning. Isn't she cute!

The back. . .again!

Anyway, we really liked the look. I think we will be doing this more often. We had to laugh because after our movie was done, everyone else was in bed and as we went up the stairs in the dark, Tay scared Ryan! The shadow of her big head made it's way up the stairs before she did!

A Night at the Fox Theater

Mamaw and Papaw Gold gave us a great early Christmas present! We were able to enjoy a night at the Fox Theater in St. Louis to see "Little House on the Prairie, the Musical" starring Melissa Gilbert as "Ma". The kids enjoyed dinner out and a great show! Jack was mesmerized by the 2,000 lb. ball chandelier, and he kept asking how it stayed up there! The kids all looked very nice for their night out on the town! THANK YOU, Mamaw & Papaw!

Jack had to have a picture of the "big ball" so at the risk of getting in trouble, his big sister took one for him ;-)

Happy Birthday Alec!

Today Alec turned 9! Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was rocking him to sleep after those midnight feedings. What a blessing and a joy Alec has been to our family. He is a sweet boy who loves to snuggle! He has a very funny wit about him that leaves us laughing often. There is always a twinkle of mirth in his big blue eyes, and the sweetest dimple when he gives you a genuine smile! Alec, always unobtrusive and easy going! So before you get one more day older, I just want God to bless you as you have been such a blessing to us!

November 27 is a busy day in our family. It is not only Alec's birthday, but also his Aunt Pam, and his twin cousins, Mairin & Teagen. And it is his Pampaw & Grandma Darlene's Anniversary, too!

Here is my sweet Alec!

Alec and Aunt Pam Sharing a birthday hug!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As the Holiday Hullabaloo begins, and before we shove Thanksgiving out of the way for the Christmas season, I had a few thoughts I wanted to share tonight before the madness starts tomorrow! I love the time between Thanksgiving and our Saviors birth. It is my favorite time of year. Not for the commercial consumerism, but for the beauty that God shows us through this season, both in nature and in our hearts. I love the fall leaves and their beautiful colors, the crisp mornings, the smells of holiday baking. It reminds me to be ever thankful to have a Heavenly Father, who cared enough about me to give me all of these wonderful things to see, and touch and smell. I am reminded of the blessings that are my children, as they run and play in the fall afternoons, or as we bake together, share a good book and snuggle up with a nice cup of hot cocoa. I love seeing my children's hearts grow in their love of the Lord. We are by far not perfect, but that they understand that God can and does use us anyway, is a treasure beyond any gift I could receive. So as we all lay our weary and turkey filled bodies down to sleep, and before the shopping frenzy of tomorrow starts, let us be thankful that God loved us so much, he gave us His son, so one day we could be with Him. This is what we celebrate and why this season is so beautiful!

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

May God bless you, and my you be truly listening to receive what He has in store for you in this season of thankfulness ;-)

The Girls Party at Monkey Joe's!

Today we celebrated the twins birthday at Monkey Joe's. Mairin and Teagen will turn 2 on Nov. 27th. My kids had a great time chasing their little cousins around the bounce houses and big slides. Mairin LOVED everything and was on the go the whole time. As evidenced by the following photo!

Teagen was a lot more reluctant to try anything, but once she warmed up she was on the go too!

Aunt Tricia and Alec give us a big "Cheese" for a photo!

Here the two birthday girls wait for us to sing!

Princess Mairin awaits her slice of cake and ice cream! Isn't she a hoot!

Here is Uncle Bobby with a girl on each leg! Notice Mairin in her "Howboy" hat!

Here teagen tries on one of the gifts from her cousins! She loves to play dress up!

The kids bounced and ran their hearts out! They slept all the way home! That's how we measure a good day!

The Leaf Fort

All week we have been raking leaves to the curb for leaf pick up by the city. Alec and Jack have been playing in the huge leaf pile, turning it into a leaf fort! Hours have been spent with great imagination in their fort. I almost hate for the leaves to go, because the boys have so enjoyed them!

The boys adding a tarp full of leaves to their "fort".


Alec and Josiah man the guns while Jack tries to find one ;-)
Jack adding a roof!

Josiah and Alec taking a break after a hard day of play!

Fall is a great time to play!

Fall means leaves! And if you live where we do, it means LOTS of leaves! Our two youngest members of the family love to play in the leaves! Taylor and Ryan helped them to rake up the yard since Alec and Jack were messing up the piles as fast as the oldest two could make them! So here are a few pictures of the little boys having a blast!