Merry Christmas Halloween Day!!

All the holidays right in a row have Alli a little confused. I think she is still processing Halloween and we've already blown past Thanksgiving and are on to Christmas. So it makes some sense that she can't seem to separate them. She either says "Merry Christmas Halloween Day" or "Happy Halloween Christmas day." Her poor little 2 yr old brain just can't keep up!

Anyway, we went to visit Santa Claus today and it went amazingly well!!! I was shocked because for the last few days I've been asking Alli if she wants to go see Santa and she says "Yes sir" (yes, she was talking to me not her daddy- we need to work on that. "you mean yes ma'am") Then I would ask her if she wanted to sit on Santa's lap for a picture and she very quickly would say "No, I don't want to."

So, I was convinced that neither one of them would sit with him and that I would for sure be in the picture again this year. So, I put some nice clothes on and did my make-up to be ready for my Santa picture and to my surprise, it was for nothing (well, there was that nice lady who said I couldn't possibly be old enough to have 2 kids- that was definitely worth it! what every mom needs to hear right?) The point was that the kids sat with Santa all by themselves!

However, it was a good thing that we were the only people there cause we spent LOTS of time talking to and warming up to Santa first (he and his elves were so very patient). And the first photos looked a little something like this (or worse)...

Notice Santa seems to be the only one smiling. So after another 15 or so pics and mom sitting on the floor acting a fool playing peek-a-boo, we got this...

Yay- I think I see some smiles! I still can't believe they sat there long enough to finally get a good one. Then when it was time to leave, Alli could not quit looking over and waving at Santa. Now she keeps asking when we will go see him again.

On the way to see Daddy at work after visiting Santa, she started misbehaving and I told her Santa was watching and he wouldn't bring her presents if she wasn't a good girl. Her response was "Santa's not here anymore." Ha!

In no particular order...

I'm back!!!! It's been a rough few weeks- cold and flu season hit hard, but I think we're on the road to recovery- FINALLY!! Now, I'm terrified to go anywhere for fear of catching something else. But, I think we might venture out to visit Santa this week.

I spent today explaining to Alli that Santa was an old man - "like Pawpaw" I said :-) For some reason she was convinced Santa was a lady. Anyway, be watching for some upcoming Santa pics. Hopefully she'll sit with him, but it's not looking promising. She says she does want to go see him, but she does not want to sit with him and she is pretty adamant about it.

So in no particular order, here are some pics of stuff that I didn't take time to post while we were coughing up lungs around here...

CHEEESE!!!

Bath time fun!

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Thanksgiving at the Dement's

Cousin Lyndee and AlliTJ was not feeling too well that day which explains the constant thumb in the mouth.
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A visit from Julianne and Mary- the daughters of mommy's very dear childhood friend, Rebecca...
Just a swingin'
Aren't these two girls just beautiful. If you've seen their mommy, you know why!

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More bath time fun....

Alli's new obsession...

This is a little game called Bee Safe or Bee Sorry (thank you so much Ashley!) Mommy and her cousin Ashley played this game a lot as kids. Alli insists on playing it every evening after TJ goes to bed. Funny thing is she won about the first four games we ever played (and we make sure she plays fair). She calls it the buzzy bee game. It's fun but I think mommy and daddy are ready for a new game. Right now this is the only one we have and it's getting a little repetitive.
Alli sleeping with her new "titty tat" pillow and blanket. She LOVES them. Thank you Uncle Roger, Aunt Christie, Lyndee and Meg. Awesome gift!
Taking the babies for a stroll.
Notice she was sure to pack everything- fake tarantula and all. The basket underneath is full too! Gotta be prepared.
TJ just couldn't wait for his bath.

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Making play dough!

FYI: the stove was not on. Mommy took over for that part.
Blowing on the play dough.
Yay! Now we can play with it!
There- I think that's it. For now at least!

The Candy Wranglers

My little cow people went trick-r-treating and made out like bandits. This was the first year that we all really had a lot of fun. Even TJ caught on after a few houses and knew just what to do after that. Mommy's favorite house was the one with 2 Japanese women that handed out origami and Japanese "bubble candy." How neat!

This pic was the last of many failed attempts. FINALLY! Now, let's go do this thing!

Cheeeese and YEEHAW!

The hatless cowboy...

There was NO keeping that thing on. Even when we tried to just hang it around his neck, he chased it like a dog chasing it's tail- pretty darn funny!

And, my sleepy cowboy. I love this pic cause it really shows off his curly locks...

"Alli show us your boots!"

We stopped by Alli's friend Jack's house for a pic...

It was well worth it- the friendly Cajun neighbor invited me over for some gumbo, spicy crackers and spinach-artichoke dip- YUM!!! Oh yeah, and because we got to visit with Jack and his mom and dad too.

Enjoying their treats after the big night. Only one boot left for TJ, candy all over their faces and hands, and hair in Alli's face.

I think it's time for a bath and a couple of beds! Can't wait till next year!

Brusha, brusha, brusha!

TJ has discovered that brushing his teeth is fun...

OK, so what he really likes is holding the toothbrush under the faucet and then sucking the water off over and over...

You gotta admit- that's a super cute little blondie boy!

Lord Help Us!

I've been teaching Alli some songs that we used to sing as kids in church. One of them is "This is the Day that the Lord has Made." You know how that one goes- "I will rejoice and be glad in it..." She really likes it and has been requesting

that I sing it lately.

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So, the other morning at the breakfast table (seems like a lot of my stories happen at the breakfast table), she starts singing loudly without being prompted and it went something like this...

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"THIS IS THE DAY... THIS IS THE DAY. LET THE LORD HELP ME"

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I cracked up. Isn't that just so perfect. Yes, He has made every beautiful day and we should rejoice and be glad in it, but sometimes we need some help to get through it, don't we? Wisdom from the mouth of a 2 yr old confusing the lyrics of a song- couldn't have said it better myself. Gotta love it!

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And, just because I feel like I can't have a post without a picture, here's a cute pic of the kids after their bath...

Alli insisted we take this picture of them and she insisted on this particular location (I would have picked something better, but that's ok). They love these towels.

Catch up

We did a lot of fun stuff in the last month or two only some of which I have posted, so now I'm taking the time to catch up! So, here goes.

August and September 2007 in no particular order...

My entire world sitting on the kitchen floor

After sitting herself down with big and little Elmo, she insisted I take a picture. "Get the camera mama"
Monkey see, Monkey do!
After delivering a present to each Elmo, Alli sat down to read them a story. She is very much into taking care of her dolls and stuffed animals right now.

Alli and TJ looking so cute at a birthday party we went to.
She was REALLY enjoying all that the party had to offer.
And, TJ was really enjoying that music. Spinning is one of TJ's versions of dancing (the other is bouncing).
Alli's first pinata experience. We're gonna do what to Dora? Surprisingly she didn't hesitate at all to whack Dora with a stick, nor did she seem bothered when Dora was beat to pieces. I guess it's hard to worry about that when there is candy to be had.
Another first- a lollipop for TJ.
Swimming, a clown, Dora, a pinata, bags full of candy, cake, borracho beans (there was also other yummy food, but this was the kids favorite), music and friends- Alli must be thinking "We should really do this more often!"

Alli helping us clean the boat for our Lake LBJ trip.
Who says it's not OK to play with your food. Not sure exactly what was happening here, but I do know the lizard was one of the things she took care of for awhile. I guess he was hungry for a banana and some fruit loops.

Alli not too comfortable with Pete the penguin at Sea World.
Mom and TJ feeding the Dolphins
They both really had a lot of fun at Sea World (mommy too) and even sat still for the Sea Lion show. TJ kept pointing every time they would come out or do a trick. Lots of pointing.

"Can Jack come over?"

So she didn't say it quite like that, but Alli invited a friend over for the first time this past week. It went more like this. We were sitting at the breakfast table eating luch. Alli looked out the window and said "There's my pool."

I said "That's right. Would you like to go swimming this afternoon?"

Alli responds "Yeah" followed by a brief pause and then "Jack is my friend."

Thinking that was kinda random I politely say "That's right." Then she says "He's gonna swim with me." Now I see where this is going. So I explain that we have to call his mommy and if they are not busy, then maybe Jack can come over to swim.

Well, needless to say it worked out. It was a beautiful day for a backyard swim. We're trying to get as many in as possible before the Texas summer is truly over. Here are some pics of the day...

Alli flies down the slide in a somewhat out of control fashion.

Jack on the other hand carefully sits at the top of the slide before easing himself down, shoes and all.
The fancy red watering can was a very popular toy that created a little bit of a sharing issue.
TJ joined in the fun too.
It's good to have friends!