A Whole lot of Happy

Before the busyness of Christmas is in full affect, I wanted to share Anna's "happy"s.   It so magical this time of year, and to add a child's birthday to it makes it even more magical and joyful!!   

She started her day with a birthday kiss from her brother.  

Then she went to school and shared donut holes with her friends.   I tried to go early to take pictures but she put on a grumpy face and stuffed all the donuts in her mouth when I pulled out the camera : )

We then had Anna's favorite dinner...(she's a cheap date!)   

We opened presents, with the major gift being the Loving Family Doll House (shhhhhhhhh don't tell her I bought it at a garage sale, unless of course she ends up being a freak like me and appreciates garage sale gifts). 

We ended the night with a trip to Ben and Jerrys!   Yummy!!!   

On Saturday we went with our Aunt Lynn and Uncle John to the Gaylord Texan to see all of the Christmas decorations.   This. was. a. hit.  (and we captured great photos to boot!)  

Looking at trains

Eli teaching her how to make a wish

Playing their favorite game...chase!

We wish you this same kind of happy-ness for the rest of the year!!!  

2 Cute.

Do you remember this little girl?   I do.   That's Anna Davis, born on December 8th 2009.   Her name means "full of grace" and two years into it I believe it.  The Lord was so gracious to bless me with her.  I don't deserve to be her mommy, and yet I am.   She loves to dance, sing, accessorize, kiss, hug, sit, cuddle, play chase, go down slides and be held by her daddy.   She loves grapes, ice cream, sour cream (I think she thinks it's ice cream) and salsa.  She hates the cold, and loves the water.   She loves carrying around any/all her stuffed animals and God help anyone that tries to take it away from her (I'm talking to you Eli).  

Anna, 1.

  

 We are celebrating you tonight with your favorite dinner (grapes) followed up by Ben and Jerrys.   This weekend we will take you to see Christmas decorations at the Gaylord.   While I know this isn't as big of a party as last year (that may have been the biggest party of your life apart from your wedding), trust that I will help you accessorize your little heart out.   

I love you, Anna D.  

November Photo Album

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Holding on to Gratitude

We had a simply wonderful Thanksgiving.  My mom and dad came into town which is always a treat! (to read more about it click here, here, and here ...my mom is clearly a better blogger).  It was a great time to sit back and look at my life and realize how thankful I am for so many riches in my life.

The kids enjoying Aunt Jane's train display

Anna and Uncle Rich feeding the ducks

Inhaling pumpkin pie

Crafts with Aunt Jane

Riding in the "Candy Cane Express" pulled by they're favorite elf (a.k.a. Grandma) 

 

 

 

 

While we are so thankful for our life, friends and family here in Texas the reality of being so far away from our life, friends and family in Missouri really hit us during the holidays.   Thank you to all that keep in touch with us; it helps us not feel so far away : (  That being said I'm trying to go back to the meaning of season and be thankful for what I DO have instead of missing what I DID have.

So today my focus is being thankful for the advent season, and a family to enjoy it with.  Seeing the excitement of Christmas through my kids eyes is one of the many blessings of being a parent.   Todd and I this year (with the encouragement of our church) are really trying to focus on Advent.   Each night we are lighting the representative candle (this week it's HOPE) and going through the Big Picture Story Bible (which I highly recommend to parents of toddlers/preschoolers or the Jesus Story Book Bible for older kids)  We are having a blast together reading stories about hope and talking about why we celebrate Jesus' birthday.   To be honest I love how it's keeping me focused as the shopping/planning for the holidays sometimes distracts me from the big picture.  We hope you enjoy getting excited for Christmas as much as we are and are holding on tight to what you are most thankful for. 

Drinking Egg nog : )  (not me...yuck!)

Our make-shift Advent wreath and candles

Anna reading to us out of the Bible : ) 

EAisms

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I thought I would share the latest insights from my thoughtful children.  

Eli:

*He saw a hot air balloon and asked if he could ride it to Kansas City (to see his cousins)
*When we told him we were going to downtown McKinney he asked if he was going to lose his teeth there.  (?!?!)   There was awhile when he was obsessive about losing his teeth (like freaked out).  I think a kid in his class "lost" one.
*He asked if he could have a beer that floats.  "That's my favorite kind of beer." 
*Todd told Eli that bats use echo"motion" to talk to one another.   Eli corrected him and said, "No, Dad.  It's echo"location"."  (Eli's right).
*His therapist asked him to draw a person.   When she looked at his final result she couldn't quite make out his drawing.   She asked him what was what and he said, "Here are the lungs, the heart, the stomach..."  (He had drawn the INSIDE of a person).
*When Anna sings the alphabet she leaves out a few letters.  He feels like he needs to correct her, "No Anna.  Wee Wee is NOT in the alphabet". 
*On Halloween when he saw a skeleton hanging from a tree he said, "those are Jesus' bones".   He was really trying to fit Jesus into the holiday.   I tried to explain while Jesus likes having a good time, he is not in EVERY holiday. 
*He started put random objects around the house (pillows, toys, etc).  I asked what he was doing and he said he was building a "popsicle course".  
*When I declared Saturday morning a cleaning morning, he said, "why?  Who's coming over? "
*During "rest" time he said, "Hey Mom!  The boat is floating in the toilet because I put it there on purpose". 
*When there was static on the radio he said, "the radio is farting".

Anna:
*She decided to pull out the word "boobies" when the painter was here and she was sitting on my lap.
*Her Halloween joke went like this:  A, "Knock Knock".   Me, "Who's there?".   A, "heeheehee".   She thought that was the joke.   It actually was hilarious.
*When we left the house she pointed to some dirt on the floor and said, "bye, bye dirt". 
*Normally she gets a squeaky clean report from school.  One day she did not.  They said she threw a fit (uncontrollable crying) because they made her take off her bracelets.  (Don't MESS with her accessories.)  
*She said , "I like this song, Mommy" for the first time while listening to a Derek Webb song.  She makes her daddy proud.   


Thank you Eli and Anna for making me thankful EVERY DAY that I get to be called your Mommy.  

Favorite Things + Deal!

A lot of you already know this, or don't care, BUT this by far is the best family magazine (once your kids hit about age 3...).   It has the best craft, book, tradition, video and recipe ideas.   I wanted to post about it because there is a deal going on where you can get 10 issues for a total of $3.50* (a $29 value).   Just click HERE  (or www.tanga.com) It will say it's 9.99 and during checkout enter coupon code DISNEY.  This would also make great Christmas gifts for those special Moms in your life.  I went ahead and maxed it out at 3 years because I love it that much and I rarely see "deals" on this magazine.   Enjoy it, I know I will!     

*Keep in mind that the way TANGA works, the more people that buy it the price goes up, so hurry and snatch it up if you are interested!

Texas Tuesday

Oh, the Texas State Fair.   If you want to read about it from a more personal stance you can click my earlier blog post here.   But this one is devoted to all things fried.   There was 1 commandment the wise men gave us upon entering the gates to the glorious fair....

"Everything we eat today that is not a liquid, must be fried" ~ Todd Warren, David Peterson. 

So, we set upon a journey to enjoy the riches that deep fryers had to offer us.  

This boys and girls is chicken fried bacon.  It was a close contestant, but not quite our favorite.  

lunch for the kids

tempting, I know.

Fried Alligator:  the men's choice for lunch 

The Texas State Fair Winner

Fried Banana: The Peterson/Warren declared winner.  This thing was out of this world (and it did have SOME nutrition)

 P.S.  The Fried Snickers and the funnel cake MAY have come close to the fried banana, but I'm too embarrassed to share all that we ate and enjoyed.  Oh wait, I just did.  

October Photos

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For those of you that like to see lots of pictures (or want to download some full size ones), this blog is for you!  We had a fun 266 photo type of month : ) 

Peterson-palooza Day 2

The second day of Peterson-palooza was just as fun as the first AND it was a day I was looking forward to!   After going to the Dallas Arboretum with my parents, I knew this was the perfect place to take the girls.   So I instructed them to bring their best princess attire for a magical day.    

They rule a pretty cute kingdom.

The royal line up.

Fairy Godmother

Snow White

Handsome Prince

Cinderella

Sleeping Beauty

The royalty and their royal servant

The King and Queen

In awe of the glass slipper.

Riding in the royal carriage

Fighting off the bad guys.

 And they all lived happily ever after...until about midnight when the magical spell wore off... (and they all got the stomach flu.)

Peterson-palooza

Where to begin?  Oh...the Petersons.   To let you in on how deep this relationship runs, Todd and Sega (David...whole 'nother story) met in middleschool BEFORE Todd even moved to St. Louis on a youth trip.   I met Sega and Tricia (who had already been dating for 3 years) when Todd and I first started dating (it was kind of like meeting the parents).  So as couples we've been friends for 13 years and going strong.   Sega was Todd's best man and Tricia is a dear, dear friend of mine.   When we told them we were moving they pulled out their calendar and committed to coming as soon as they could.   We love them.   Needless to say we were giddy to see them.  

We started out Peterson-Palooza running...well riding.  We promised the kids a train ride to the good ol' Texas state fair.   

 We HONESTLY thought this would be the quickest/cheapest/most fun way to go.  Well 45 minutes later, the kids became less and less enthused.  

Finally we arrived and were greeting by Big Tex!  

This thing was BIG, Texas BIG.   We didn't know where to begin.   Ok, so we did.  We ate A LOT of fried food (so much that it won it's own Texas Tuesday blog so stay tuned).   Then we finally let the kids have their fun. 

We saw pot belly pigs, kangaroos and lots of pick up trucks.  Even with all that this fair had to offer we had the most fun just hanging out and having fun with some of our favorite people.  

Peterson-palooza, Day 1.