My favorite time of year!!!

Jumping for joy with his jingle bells


Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus
Mary, Joseph, the Shepards, the Angels
An Angel and Myles as a Wiseman

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I enjoy all of the Christmas parties, shopping, and busyness of this time. There are so many fun things to do with the children. LOVE IT!

Friday Myles had a program at school. He was a Wise Man. First they presented a retelling of the Christmas story. It was so sweet. We listened to the story (on CD) and the children entered as it told about them. Keep in mind these were 2 and 3 year olds all dressed in costumes. Several of the children cried for mommy the entire time. Not Myles - He was so glad to have mommy, daddy, GG and G-da there to watch he couldn't control himself. Actually, he did good during the story but then it came time to sing and that's when he let loose! He jumped, jingled his bells LOUDLY, and was WILD - acted just like his daddy! They sang Feliz Navidad and Jingle Bells. It didn't matter if they screamed or didn't make a sound - we were all so proud and they were all precious in our eyes! It was VERY sweet. After the program we stuck around for finger foods. Most of the parents had to return to work and the children handled it nicely. I was shocked. I wanted to share some of the pics with you.

Sydney's program is on Monday so I'll have pics to post then.

Ornament Party and Cheer Clinic

What a busy day today was! This morning we had our annual Family Ornament Party at the church. Sydney always has a great time! This year Myles enjoyed making ornaments at the first 2 stations and then decided he'd rather rearrange the furniture and climb in all the chairs in the Fellowship Hall. I was glad for him to "run off" some of his energy before we came home for naptime!

This afternoon Sydney participated in a cheer clinic at Louisiana Tech Univ. She was so excited and thoroughly enjoyed it! They learned several cheers and a short dance. Tonight they performed at the LadyTechsters basketball game. She did great! I was so proud of her. They had her stand on the back row with the older girls because she is so tall. I hope you can find her in the pics - she's got the big blue bow in her hair. My mom got some better ones so I'll post them later.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We had a fun time decorating the tree this year as a family. Sydney was very much into it this year. Ofcourse, while we were putting the tree together (it's artificial) the kids had a wonderful time playing in the box. It's big enough for both of them to fit inside. I got some cute pics so I'll post. Sydney enjoyed hanging the ornaments - too bad she could only reach the bottom third of the tree. We were heavy on the ornaments in that section. I rearranged a little after bedtime.

We got Sydney a new tree for her room this year. It's pink and precious! We decorated it with silver balls.

We moved her old tree into Myles room. He picked out Cars ornaments for his tree. It's cute and he likes it lots!

Elf on a Shelf

On Sunday night the kids were in the bathtub and the doorbell rang. I was in the bathroom with the kids and we could hear Tedd talking. In a few minutes he came in the bathroom with a wrapped gift for the kids. He told them that an elf brought it by from Santa Claus. When we got out and pjs on they opened it. It was ELF ON A SHELF. If you aren't familiar with Elf on a Shelf but have children you need to purchase one. It comes with a small toy elf and a book. The book explains that the elf watches the children and flies to the North Pole each night to report to Santa on the child's behavior. He flies back to the house early each morning and when the kids wake up they have to find him to see where he is hiding and watching. They LOVE it! This will be a tradition in our family for years to come!

The Pledge of Allegiance

Myles started a new day care in August. They follow a curriculum like most daycares - there's only 1 difference - they actually DO the curriculum. He has amazed me in all that he has learned. He can identify letters Aa-Ii and tell you the sounds of each letter. It's unbelievable to me that a 2 year old knows this. He also can recite the pledge of allegiance. It's precious - he can hardly say some of the big words but I'm going to post it. Check it out - it's only about 20 seconds long.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for... a forgiving Lord, healthy children, family, friends... the list could go on and on! We spent Thanksgiving with my family in Ruston. Jason, Jada, Jalyn,and new baby Jase were there. Shane and Jamie came in from Texas, Sam was here from Arkansas and so were Scott and Emily. (These are Francis children.) Shane and Jamie have a 3 year old, Chloe, who loves to play with Sydney and Myles. The feeling is mutual. They played all day yesterday and today.

Friday the girls went to Canton and left children with the Daddy's. They went to the movie and played while we shopped! We had a really good time together.

I can't believe that the week is coming to an end and we will go back to work on Monday. 3 more weeks until Christmas!!!

Potty Training

We are trying to conquer the task of potty training! We started several months ago with #1. We have accomplished this and are attempting #2. Myles has other thoughts on this issue!

He loves Thomas the Train. We've told him for the past 2 weeks if he will poop on the potty he can pick out a new train. This hasn't encouraged him. One day earlier in the week we decided we would go ahead and buy the train. We set the new train on his bookshelf in his room so he could see it everyday but he can't open it until he holds up his end of the deal. The first few nights he was ok with this. He dropped his pants and sat on the potty several times for atleast 10 minutes. One time his legs fell asleep and he wasn't happy! It's been 4 days now and the train is still in the box!

He told me earlier today "Mommy, tee tee just keeps coming out!" He doesn't understand. I'll post some funny pics of him tomorrow. Wish us luck!