A rock fell out of the sky...

We were driving down the highway when there was a loud thud on the roof of my car. We cautiously pulled back the sunroof cover, and this is what we saw...

It's never good when you can see the bright blue sky through your closed sunroof!

A rock fell out of the sky and hit the car in just the right place to break the sunroof but not leave any other scratches or other damage on the car. I bet that doesn't happen very often!

Easel

Lily loves her new easel - Here are some pictures of her first masterpiece.

Princess Jewelry

Merry Christmas!

We had such a wonderful day celebrating Christmas!  It started early, with both of the kids awake by 5:45.  The first thing Lily said was, "Santa brought me a ball!" before she had even made it all the way downstairs.  Santa brought Dylan a "Story of Christmas" board book for his stocking, and Lily immediately sat down to read it to him.  This is my most precious memory from Christmas morning - Lily telling her baby brother the story of Jesus' birth, in her own words.

After opening the gifts from Santa, we had some delicious cinnamon buns that I had set out to rise overnight.  There were way too many rolls for us to eat, but they were such a yummy treat for Christmas morning.  Then we spent some time online with Grandma Jenny, Grandpa Scott, and Uncle Mike.  It took a long time for Lily to open her presents because she really wanted to play with each new thing instead of opening the next gift.

It was a really fun Christmas morning, and before we knew it, it was time to get ready for Christmas dinner.  We spent the afternoon with our friends the Turners.  David smoked a turkey, and we had twice baked potatoes, scalloped corn, salad, rolls, and a cherry pie that was nearly a disaster (but it actually turned out to be edible!).  I love good food, and I love sharing it with loved ones on special occasions.

We had a fantastic Christmas, and we hope you did too!

Christmas Eve

We had a really nice Christmas Eve! We enjoyed opening gifts with the Cornings via webcam in the afternoon. It was fun to see Grandma and Grandpa Corning and Uncle Chad, Aunt Cara, Reagan, Rayden, and Callie! After that we had a special Christmas Eve dinner of Ham Balls and Green Bean Casserole. Ham Balls are a traditional Christmas favorite in my family, and I've enjoyed making them in my own home for the past few years. After dinner we scattered the reindeer food and then attended the Christmas Eve service at our church, where Lily got to go to "big church" with us. On Sundays she goes to her classroom during church, where she does activities and attends worship time with kids her age. But for Christmas Eve, we had a family church service with all the kids joining us in the main worship center - known as "big church" to the kids. Lily loves to listen to the music in big church, so we all enjoyed the service. When we got home, Lily set out some Peanut Butter Bite cookies and chocolate milk for Santa. And then she crawled into her new princess sleeping bag for the night, just in time for Santa to make his deliveries.

Reindeer Food

Lily helped make our reindeer food this year, putting oats and sugar sprinkles in the bag to mix them together. Then she scattered it outside in the yard so the reindeer can have a snack when Santa visits our house tonight!

Holding a Rattle

Dylan is learning to grasp and hold his toys!

A Night at the Movies

Being nearly three years old, Lily is positively obsessed with princesses right now. So when the new Disney movie, "The Princess and the Frog," came out, we knew we had to take her to the show. Lily had only been to the movie theater one other time, almost a year ago, so I don't think she really remembers that first trip to the theater. So this visit to the theater for a special new princess movie was a really big deal! She absolutely loved it. We had popcorn and juice for a snack, and Lily watched the entire movie. Dylan went along with us too, so it was a really fun family night out.

Meriplex Christmas Party

 I love this picture that Mary took of us at the Meriplex Christmas party this year!

Dylan's Blanket

My Aunt Lori sent a special blanket for Dylan. It's a quilt like Lily's, and I have one of my own from when I was a little girl, too. Thanks Aunt Lori, we all love them! And Lily obviously enjoys packing peanuts!

Shopping Trip

We had a fun day out shopping in November. Lily enjoyed the kiddie rides at the shopping center - especially riding with Ernie!

Gymnastics

Pictures from gymnastics on November 3rd

Trick or Treating

I had some pictures saved in a file with a different name from my usual system, so I managed to skip several activities from October and early November. We'll get caught up soon. Anyway, here are some pictures of Lily trick-or-treating this year. She went around our cul de sac before it got dark, and then we went back out after dark to go around our whole block. She tried to ring the doorbells herself, although she's not tall enough to reach them all, and she started saying "trick or treat" about halfway through. At one house she actually said the whole phrase, "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!" She had a great time, and of course she enjoyed sorting through and sampling her candy when we got home. One thing she didn't understand, though, was why there was no candy left in my candy dish on the kitchen counter... We had given it out to other trick or treaters!

Renaissance Festival

We visited the Texas Renaissance Festival on Halloween this year. We saw a couple of shows, Lily played a fishing game, had her face painted, and rode a pony. It was a fun day, and then we headed home for trick-or-treating.