Saturday, November 30, 2013

This little piggy

Surely by now you all know how often these two kiddos are side-by-side...


Apparently, their little piggies are best of buddies too.


The pigs even sit at the table with them while they have supper and do their schoolwork!


Just like two pigs in a blanket! 



Friday, November 29, 2013

Welcome home, Ella

Ah, Ella, welcome home!
Its been a busy year, but we've missed you while
you were at the North Pole. 
The kids are so excited you have returned to keep an eye on them 
and report their good, and bad, behavior to Santa!


Each morning, we look to see where you've settled after
your nightly report to the big guy. 
Its a game we play to see who can find you first!



Sometimes, Ella was a little naughty too!
She wrapped our Christmas tree in toilet paper!  
Wavy calls her the sneaky little elf.


Thursday, November 28, 2013

My little turkeys!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

We made our own turkeys, using our hands and feet of course! 
We never skip an opportunity to paint!


Of course, dinner and family time is our favorite tradition. 



I spy a Harlan...


We hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Christmas Cuties

It's time for Holiday pictures!
This year, we played dress up at home and had our own photo session in front of our lovely Christmas tree!


Harlan's Happy for the Holidays!

Waverly wishes for a white Christmas!

Of course, every photo session has its share of out-takes!



Sunday, November 24, 2013

Woman of Many Hats

The many hats of Waverly... 





Or shall I say, the many faces of Waverly?  


Thursday, November 21, 2013

Keep calm & dance on

No ring-around-the-rosy here!
These girls are all about learning the proper ballet form for their plies,
or as Wavy calls them, plays.


They practice their skipping and galloping, and pointing their toes ever so carefully.


Posture and balance are important...


But mostly, its important to just have fun!


The coolest kid I know

I had a visitor at work today!


One-on-One time is hard to find, so even if its a morning at the 
office with mom, its still a fun day!


Harlan loved being the star of the show!
All of my co-workers adored him, and of course, they loaned him all the toys in the office. 
He thought fishing was the best!


But, of course, who could resist charm like this?

Sunday, November 17, 2013

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree


This year I've insisted on more than just the usual family Christmas tree!


This picture shows the tree decorated in gold that is on the front porch, 
but if you look in the window, you can see my red and white tree as well. 
And I had a little fellow sneak into this picture as well... 
can you find Harley?

Saturday, November 16, 2013

The Children's Museum

Our first vacation as a family of four!

That's right, we braved the world of toddler travel
and went on an overnight trip!

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
was a wonderful place to go!


The Tower is a sculpture of blown glass
that is made from over 3,000 individual pieces.  
The Tower is in the middle of the museum and you can see it from all sides,
since the ramps and walkways circle it. 
The kids loved playing with the hands-on exhibit 
where they could build their own towers
with similar pieces (made from a durable plastic!). 

The little boy in the picture (top right)
was afraid to walk on the shiny tiled floor, 
so Harlan helped him out. 
It was so adorable to see him explaining to the boy that it was okay to walk on the floor.  
*Proud Mommy moment!


One exhibit that I was most looking forward to, 
was the Anne Frank story. 
There was a recreation of the family's hidden home, 
complete with bedroom and kitchen.  
You could breathe in the history and it was wonderful to see such an exhibit for today's children to learn about making a difference.  
Waverly was instantly intrigued by the typewriter! 



The kids loved being on tv as news anchors!
This was for the Ryan White exhibit, 
who suffered from a blood disease and contracted AIDS in the 1980s.  


Perhaps the favorite stop of the day
was the train station!
The first sound of the train whistle was so exciting!
Harlan was mesmerized by the real train.  It was so big!


Both Wavy and Harlan loved the playscape!
The room is only for families with kids age 5 or less, 
so we were able to let the kids explore on their own. 


All in all, I consider this a wonderful family get-a-way!
We had such a nice time and it was all geared toward the kids. 
They felt really special, just as they are!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Mixin' Muffins

One thing we love to do together is bake!


Especially when it involves stirring!


Both kids love to help in the kitchen. 
I give them little tasks like pouring in the ingredients and taking turns stirring. 
Wavy is even learning how to measure!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Everyone says its too early to decorate for Christmas...
but I adore Christmas trees.  
Besides, there's only a short couple of weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 
So, we are decorating early!


We had a bit of a rough start, 
since our poor little tree was missing a leg of the tree stand. 
With the help of Wavy's Halloween pumpkin, 
we got it started and then a replacement part later, 
the tree was ready!


We decided that the kids would like to have Christmas trees in their rooms this year,
so we went shopping together and let them pick out their own trees!


Both wanted blue Christmas trees and blue ornaments and bows. 
We had to find the perfect stars to top the trees!


I think they are delightfully tacky!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Pretty in Pink


Just posin' for a picture in my new sweater.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

The world is your stage

Or in this case... 
a picture album on the bed is your stage.


Eh, Own it!


Horsing Around


I'm not sure how the game of Horse began, 
but it must come naturally because these two just picked it up out of no where. 

Yucky


I don't think there's any explanation needed... 

Friday, November 1, 2013

Are ya scared?

Happy Halloween!

The kids have really enjoyed Halloween this year. 
We went out and bought decorations for the house, some spooky toys, 
played with scary masks and had a lot of candy!

Since it rained on actual Halloween, we got to go trick-or-treating 
on Friday.  We went to Trick-or-Treat on Main in town.
The kids were great all dressed up!



Wavy said she was a "mean" witch, 
which is totally silly since she's the sweetest kid around.


Harlan was a "scary ghost!" as he puts it.  
We had a scary ghost on the door at home and he loved running from it 
yelling, "Scary Ghost!"


They just were so surprised that everyone was giving away candy!
Main street was filled with little goblins.  It was a great way to trick-or-treat!
Local businesses, the fire station, the churches, were all set up on Main Street. 
The kids got in a long line and went booth by booth.  

Harlan wanted to quit and eat his candy after the first booth. 
He quickly caught on that if he kept going, he'd get more candy!


The kids were very quiet when I could get them to say "Trick-or-Treat!"
They are just a wee bit shy!
But they always said thank you and walked away with a big smile!


Of course, their favorite part was eating all that candy!