Christmas 2010

Jon, me, & the kids headed to Louisville a week before Christmas. Jon had a week off which was great. Time was spent with family & friends who we haven't seen in a while. We celebrated with my Dad, my brother's family, & my Aunt Mary Jo Christmas Eve morning. Christmas Eve evening, we celebrated with Jon's family. The kids were happy that Santa found us in Louisville. Christmas day was spent bumming around, napping, & playing with new toys. Here are a few pics of our Christmas holiday. Unfortunately, I don't have many of the Day side of the family b/c Ordie is the family photographer.

The kids playing with the array of cool balls at Maw Maw & Paw Paw's house

Santa Buddy

Reindeer Madelyn

Ordie & Nolan sharing sausage, biscuits, & apple butter

Nolan, Ansley, & their cousin Graham on the inflatable at Incredible Dave's

Madelyn & Jon at Incredible Dave's

2 picky eaters: cousins Ansley & Emory sharing french fries for lunch

Christmas Eve at my brother's house

Proud Grandpa & the Pate grand kids

My little brother Brian & the maker of the best stuffed mushrooms EVER...my sister-in-law, Lea Ann

Jon & I

My Dad & my Aunt Mary Jo

How You Know He's the One

Our granite guy that is;)
Last night our granite guy came out to measure for our new counter tops. Not only did he get the measurements, but he also sang "He's got the whole world in His hands" with Ansley, chatted with Madelyn, picked up Nolan WITH a poopy diaper, & gave Nolan a kiss on the head as he left. Nolan wouldn't tell him bye-bye or look him in the eye b/c he was sad to see him go. Call me a sentimental fool, but this man's got the job!

btw...anybody seen the Yo Gabba Gabba with Jack Black as the special guest? I watched it this morning with Ansley & Nolan. Seeing Jack Black doing the disco roll in DJ Lance's orange jump suit made my day!

Happy Thanksgiving

My little helpers!

Above is my first Thanksgiving feast! I made a 6.5 lb turkey breast in my electric roaster, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn pudding, green bean casserole, my Grandma Honey's macaroni & cheese, rolls, cranberry sauce, & pumpkin pie. I know I don't get any points for presentation, but hey, at least I made the food! Jon worked on Thanksgiving day so we celebrated on Friday. It was just our family of 5, whom I am so thankful for!

Day, Party of 7...

is what we will hear if we are brave enough to take the family out to a sit down restaurant next year b/c we are 11 weeks pregnant with...TWINS!
Need I say more?

Disney World

Within 5 minutes of day 1 at Magic Kingdom, 2 park employees asked us if we would like to meet a special guest. Turns out it was Cinderella!

During our 2nd day at Epcot, we hurried to see Princess Jasmine & Aladdin b/c we had missed them the day before. The line patrol lady said we were too late & that we would have to catch them another time. So, we stayed & watched them sign autographs. Lucky for the girls, Jasmine told the line patrol lady that they could see one more family...us!!! Woo Hoo! The girls had worn their Jasmine outfits that day...I think that helped:)

Mulan was such a cool princess to pose as if she was sword fighting. I think she liked Madelyn's sword souvenir that we bought in Norway in Epcot! Madelyn likes Mulan, Pocahontas, & Jasmine b/c they're not as dainty as the other princesses.

This picture was taken at our dinner inside Cinderella's castle. Princess Aeriel took some time out for Buddy & did he ever appreciate it! I think he was in love!

We ended our day at Animal Kingdom with dinner at Rainforest Cafe. I can see why the food is overpriced...you are paying for the experience. Where else can you dine alongside robotic gorillas, elephants, & snakes?

The girls finally got their face painted during our 2nd day at Epcot. I say finally b/c they begged & pleaded for several days. Ansley chose a princess kitty cat & Madelyn chose cherry blossoms in honor of Mulan.

Nolan got kissed by Princess Belle at our princess lunch in Epcot. The poor little guy just couldn't hang on any longer!


Playing the drums at Animal Kingdom & Epcot was one of the kid's favorite things!

Nolan loved taking a break at the playground in Magic Kingdom's Toontown. He felt like a big boy b/c he could independently go up the stairs & down the slide!

Haircuts

I got a wild hair the other day. I bought some shears from Sally's Beauty Supply to give Nolan his first haircut. I guess I thought baby hair would be easy to cut...a few snips here, a few snips there. I may have gone a little short on his bangs. After feeling pretty confident with Nolan's do, I decided to "trim" Ansley's hair. Well, she got more than a trim! My blood pressure increased quite a bit when I saw how short it was! I put the kids in the bath immediately after the haircuts to wash their newly chopped hair. The bottom of Ansley's hair was very blunt. I was hoping (more like praying) that it would lay better after it had been cleaned. I was relieved to discover that the ends looked more soft & round after bath. In the end, I really like Ansley & Nolan's short hair. The great thing is that hair grows back really fast!
I see in the photo of Ansley that she's got a long hair on the front left side...I'll go get my shears right now!

Happy Halloween

Boy, Halloween was so much fun this year! We celebrated by decorating our house. Madelyn even drew Halloween pictures & hung them with paint tape on my walls. Matter of fact, Madelyn just noticed today that I took them down. I told her Halloween is over dear! We went on a couple of hayrides, one with RSA & the other with MOPS. We went to a couple of trunk or treats at friends churches. The best was trick or treating Halloween night! Our neighborhood was packed with kids. I left a bowl of candy outside our house so both Jon & I could trick or treat. There was candy left over when we got home...what an honest bunch of kids we have here (or maybe there's a larger percent of parent participation;). Either way, I was impressed!