i too...

setting up the kids' Christmas present... a train table!!

loving grammie

opening presents!

"cheese!"

enjoying the new present! (grammie and i had a great time laying out the track. she's much better at it than i am!)

our "Christmas dinner"... the hailes came down sunday to celebrate with us before we leave!

refused to eat the mac n cheese i made for dinner. went to TOWN on the cornish game hen. i mean, ate half of mine. won't eat chicken if i give it to him... but LOVED this!

loved his "happy birthday Jesus cupcake"...

trying to lick the chocolate off his chest. awesome!

the princess...

a rousing game of cribbage...

kids in bed!!

my reindeer has a broken leg. i LOVE this reindeer, and can't part with him yet. so, he routinely falls over. it's sad. nora was looking thoughtfully at the Christmas tree today, then moved around to see this area. she turned to me and said, "the reindeer is taking a nap. he needed a nap.". yup... that's what he's doing!

cute boy on the way home from sissy's school! just cause!

sweet girl. not sure why the frown. she was smiling right before i took the pic. all bundled up from playing outside! we had a few little tiny flakes today!!! (i know, nothing compared to the two feet at home!!)

can you make out the "h" here? i wrapped it in fabric. and it blends in so well with my house!!! (maybe not the Christmas stuff!) i should probably move it, so people can appreciate it!

jamey loves to say "i too". for anything. anything someone has or does that he wants. yesterday, it was about 4:30 and we weren't expecting david until after bedtime. so, i threw on a show and laid down on the couch to read a book. i got cozy under a quilt, and jamey said "i too". i expected it to last 0.5 seconds. he crawled up under the quilt with me and laid there for about 10 minutes. it was so snuggly!! i LOVED it!

nora asked for the chicken nugget place with a play area today. looks like we will be visiting chik-fil-a when we go home!

the north pole...

nora's Christmas present.

i made six aprons for stef to give to her girlfriends for Christmas. they turned out so cute!!

taking a nap. she fell asleep with her "baby", resting up before a big night... Christmas party at daddy's work, meeting santa, and our first meal at "five guys"...

sweet boy and his daddy!

nora "feeding" the reindeer...

the kids with santa (would you believe it's our first pic with santa, EVER??").

cute pic...

bouncy house. he had a BLAST!!!

she loved the slides!

you can't see it, but his face is COVERED in pink frosting. he ate the frosting off his cookie, then gave the cookie back. cute.

nora on the HUGE slide. i can't even tell you the fear in my heart (and on her face) watching her go down this. she LOVED it! in fact, if we weren't on the way out the door, she would have spent the rest of the night on that thing!

so, we went to this big MWR (morale, wellness and recreation) party last night. we walked in and i almost started crying. we've never done the big command parties like this. it was awesome. bouncy houses, santa, santa gave gifts. then, walking out there were more gifts. you could make pine arrangements, decorate cookies, color, send letters/cards/stuff to deployed military, etc. it was so cool. and so much fun! we went with our friends, then went over to five guys for dinner.

when we got home, we threw the kids in bed and watched a "happy family Christmas movie" (as david likes to call the cheesy ones they play this time of year), and i finished up some projects and Christmas cards. what a wonderful day! oh... and david put the plastic on our window, so it's not 20* colder downstairs anymore... (there's a crack in that window that lets in QUITE a draft!!!)

pampered chef...

nora listening intently at her first pampered chef party...

she got to cut with a knife, then frost cookies with their special tools!

and james got to eat the treats! (funny pic of him, but he wouldn't take another!)

then, nora crawled into this little "bed", and read to herself. so cute! such a fun playdate morning after a good workout, then a stop at a little fast food place for my diet pepsi, and the guy gave it to me for free!!! wonderful man, thanks for making my day!

tonight is a Christmas party on base... can't wait! we might ACTUALLY take a pic with the kids and santa! for now, it's naptime and sewing projects!!!

santa... and "l"s...

yesterday, dd asked nora who brought presents at Christmas. she said, "the shepards and wise men". well... that's right. just not what he was looking for! i guess it's not a bad thing that my daughter doesn't get santa yet...

and, sometime recently, she has learned to say her "l"s more pronounced. i will try to get a vid, but it's so cute and so sad at the same time. she sounds so grown up (and almost overexaggerates it), and yet, my baby who couldn't say her "l"s is gone. she's such a big kid. such a fun kid. such a girl. i love her so much and am so excited to see what her life holds, yet so sad that my little baby is growing up so fast.

and james. sweet baby james. what an angel. and what an imp! he is in a hitting phase. we are at a loss!! (although, just got some great advice!) but he's so sweet. today, he was going into the nursery and FLEW into the worker's arms. (if you know how hard he's struggled with leaving me, you know what a HUGE deal that is!) he asked for his drink, and she asked him what he should say. he said "sorry" (and he says "saw-rah" in the sweetest voice!!). he's getting used to saying that! she was looking for "please"!

he's such a fun kid... also growing up too fast. so big... he's starting to learn to count. it's so fun! and he finishes phrases and songs we say/sing. he has nicknames for people... "cho-cho", "jammie", "sissy" or "new". ahh... love those kids today!!

some pictures... and a story.

nora feeding her kid today. and she called me mom-mom. umm... scary!!!

sweet baby boy. just wanted to sit on the stairs! love him... and his sweet personality!

sweet girl in the dressing rooms on sunday with coco and me. she has learned to better say her "l"'s. it's so sad and so cute and so grown up.

today, i was trying to make james an appointment and told nora to wait in her room. (it was quiet time.) i had just put jamey in bed, and he was crying. i ran downstairs to grab something, and came back up to find nora in jamey's room, chatting to him. normally, i would have been mad, but she was just so sweet. and, when she left, he went right to bed. i was impressed. and so thankful for my sweet babies.

dinner and a movie...

no one but leigh would pose. and, this picture is why we aren't allowed to be friends anymore. dayton was over, and we were talking about how boys sometimes like to dress up in princess dresses. dayton decided he wanted to (kids weren't in the room for the convo), and i couldn't dissuade him. leigh said it was okay!! so, here are the two kids in their princess dresses (it's really okay.... we are still allowed to play together!)

nora opening Christmas presents from aunt debbie... who ALWAYS knows how to pick them. princesses!!

jamey carrying his present.

nora in her new Christmas princess dress. i made it. from mom's old skirt. isn't it SO FUN?!?!?!?

jamey fed himself yogurt this morning for breakfast. he might have gotten a bite or two in his mouth!!

mmm... "YOG".... (as he calls it!)

climbing the stairs...

did i mention that grammie is here? we have had so much fun!! she and nora made gingerbread ornaments today while i finished a baby gift. and watched jamey while i ran to joanns... so fun that we are this close to family!!!

i went to see a movie tonight (with leigh)... so much fun! i love our tuesday night dates.

The chair... finished!!!

I am so excited about this chair! I feel like I have a whole new piece of furniture... and it only cost $30 and 2 hours of my time!!

the patient is doing well... only occasionally saying "it hurts". he is still waking up to get his medicine (motrin) in the middle of the night, but he is tackling his sister just fine!!