Easter Morning

On Easter we all got up. Once we were all ready, we opened the baskets. The girls enjoyed seeing all their things. Then they had candy and I fixed us some cereal (yes candy before breakfast on holidays!) :) After church we went over to my parents house and ate Easter dinner. It was a rainy day so my parents hid eggs in the playroom and we had a small egg hunt. It was a fun day!

The girls' Easter baskets

Allie going through her basket

Leah with her "choo choo" cup

(it has Thomas the Train on it)

On the front steps Easter morning

Easter morning

Pensacola, FL

Pensacola Beach

Over Spring Break we were invited to go camping with 3 other families from church. We left very early on Sat and stayed through Tues. This was the first time camping for the girls and they loved it! All 4 of us slept in a tent on a queen size mattress (although Kevin jokes that it was a full. Haha!) During the first night, I think Allie was the only one who slept very much. If a blanket touched her, Allie would start kicking and waving her arms wildly. I eventually slept at the foot of the bed that first night. After that Allie was moved to the foot of the bed where she could have as much or as little cover as she wanted. :) We all slept so much better after that. 

We went to the beach everyday for several hours. The weather was fine. The water was chilly but Allie didn't seem to mind. Leah didn't want to get in except on the last day when the sun started coming out. However, Leah did love playing in the sand (not being covered but just digging)! Allie played in the water everyday. She would ask to change when her lips were blue and she was shivering. :) Of course, we would change into some dry clothes and then she would play in the sand. All the kids had a great time!

The last morning we were there Allie asked Jess (the mom who set it all up) if we could please come back with them the next time. That is the sign of a good time...asking to come back before you even leave. 

 All the kids on our camping trip

Leah, Allie, Will, Luke, Tyler, and Conner

(As you can tell, Leah really didn't like being covered)

 Allie and Kevin's sandcastle/village 

(the dinosaur is the king)

 Another view of the castle/village

Visiting the Naval Air Museum

On our last full day, we went to the beach and then went to the Naval Air Museum. This is where the Blue Angels practice. We didn't get to see their practice while we were there. The museum had a lot of full size planes in the museum. There were also several cockpits to try out. 

As we were pulling into the museum, Kevin said "Look girls a plane!" There was a huge plane in front of the museum. Allie said "Ok. Look Daddy a trolley!!" Then both girls starting chanting "Trolley! Trolley! Trolley!" I started laughing and Kevin just shook his head. Haha!

Once we got inside the museum, the girls had fun climbing in and out of the cockpits. They also really liked the playground which had 3 levels and lots of buttons to push, wheels to turn, and lookouts. 

We stayed at the museum until it closed and then headed back to the campground. While we were waiting for dinner to be ready the Blue Angels did fly over twice. It was really cool! The fly over got Allie and Will really excited and they started running around flying their Blue Angel planes they bought at the gift shop. 

 Kevin and Allie in a Blue Angel cockpit

 Kevin and Leah turning the big gun at the museum

Our girls in front of the Blue Angel cockpit

Our trip was so much fun! We all had a great time and plan on going again next year.

From the Mouth of Babes:

-Allie has been saying "awwww" in a whiny voice about everything. Leah has also started to pick up on it. Well, this drives me crazy so I banned that word from our house. I told Allie "No one can say awwww again or they are in time out." 5 mins later...Allie said "What if Mrs. Hammond (her teacher) asks what sound a o makes?" I said "Ok if Mrs. Hammond ask you then it is fine. Just don't say awwww" (I demonstrated the whiny voice). 20-30 mins later....awww almost comes out of Allie's mouth but she stops herself. I remind her of the banned word. Allie says "What if I see a sweet puppy? Can I say awwwww then?"

In Nashville our weather has been a little crazy. We have some warm days and then a few days later it will be cold and wet. So on our warm days we spend most of the time outside playing. I took this picture one afternoon when we were playing. I absolutely LOVE how the girls play together and seem to have lots of fun.

We were shopping at Walmart for the girls to pick out their Valentines for Kevin. We also had a few other things to pick up too. Leah started using her box of chocolates (Kevin's Valentine) as a pillow.

I had to leave the room during lunch for about 2-3 minutes. I came back to this. The girls had painted their faces with ketchup and thought it was so funny! There is never a dull moment around here. What am I going to do with these crazy girls? Haha!

From the Mouth of Babes:

- We were having a make your own pizza night. Everyone had their own personal pizza and could put whatever they want on it. Leah grabbed the cheese and poured all of the cheese on her pizza and then looked confused when I started taking most of it off. Allie then poured all the cheese on her pizza too. I asked why she did that. Allie said "I wanted extra cheese." Haha!

SNOW!!

 All bundled and ready to play in the snow

 On our way to go sledding

 Allie and Kevin sledding

 Allie having lots of fun sledding

 Mommy and Leah sledding

Leah fell back in the sled and couldn't get up without help. :)

 Leah having fun sledding

Kevin and the girls with their snowman

Leah found some water to play in

We woke up on Saturday morning to about 1/2-1 inch of snow. This was a surprise for all of us! So we got ready and went out to play in the snow (before it melted). We started with a snowball fight in the backyard. Then realized that we could probably sled a little. So we all got in the car and drove down the road a little to a hill in our neighborhood. When we first got to the hill, Leah just stood there and watched Kevin and Allie go down the hill. She wasn't so sure about sledding. We asked Leah if she wanted to go down the hill and she just looked at us. So, Kevin got in the sled and went down with Leah. Leah loved it! Next Leah went down the sled with Allie while I was waiting at the bottom. The two girls liked going down together. Allie went down quite a bit. She even went down head first! After sledding we went back home and made a snowman. Allie was a big help! Kevin and Allie built the snowman. While they were building, Leah found some water to play in. Haha! After playing outside, we all came in and had some hot chocolate and watched a movie. It was a fun snow day!

From the Mouths of Babes:

Allie: 
- I was telling Allie that we could go to the store so she could buy her Dora toothpaste with her money. She said "Let's just buy it from Amazon so we don't have to go to the store."

- Allie came and told me that "Leah almost hurt her."

-We normally have dinner and then go to bed afterwards. For some reason, we had dinner a little early and when we were done it was too early for bed. I said "you girls can stay up a little and clean up the toys in the living room." Allie said "YEAH, we get to stay up!!" It was 5:45pm. Haha!

Leah:
-I was singing Leah her lullaby before bed. I looked down at Leah and she was sticking her fingers in her ears. I guess she didn't like my singing. This also happened while I was reading her a bedtime story.

-At dinner Leah ate really fast! I'm not sure why but she cleared her plate fast. Then she started looking all around for her food.

-Leah fell asleep in the car. When we got home, she woke up as I was taking her out of the car seat. She immediately started saying ME!!!

-We went to Logan's for Sunday lunch. I noticed that Leah was giving Allie some dirty looks but I didn't think much about it. Then Leah got my attention and said "Allie, trash, and (then pointed at the ground.)" She was not happy that Allie was throwing her peanut shells on the floor. We told her it was ok and to not worry about it. Then a little while later the table next to us was throwing their peanut shells on the floor. Leah started pointing and saying "Mama, trash!." Kevin and I couldn't help but laugh and tell her that you are suppose to do that at this restaurant.

A Few Pictures of Our Girls:

I had forgotten that I took these pictures of the girls back in October. After school one day, we went to the Ellington Agriculture Center to hike a little. Allie had a pajama day (that is why she is wearing her pjs). I thought I would share them. 

Hanging Around the House:

The girls are starting to play together more and more. I love hearing the giggling, laughing, and playing. They get along really well!  

Allie and Leah coloring and sharing some popcorn. Leah LOVES popcorn!!! If you just mention the word popcorn, she starts dancing and chanting POPCORN! POPCORN! I'm going to try and get it on video.

Stephen and Julia (Kevin's sister and brother-in-law) had a papasan chair and they didn't need it anymore. So, they gave it to us for the girls. It is so nice to have a place to sit and read in Allie's room. Both girls really like the chair for reading. 

We have moved some toys to the girls' rooms so they can play in their room a little. I had Leah play in her room while I was taking a shower. It was really quiet. I went to check on her and this is what I found. She had fallen asleep. :)

Here the girls are playing with Play Doh. Allie got a new cake station and it is a lot of fun.

From the Mouths of Babes:

Allie:
-Kevin and Allie were going outside to play with a small airplane that Allie gave Kevin for Christmas. It had a rubber band that would shoot it. Kevin was reading the instructions and it said "don't shoot at people or animals." Allie: "What about hyenas?"

-One morning Allie was wearing a black uniform sweater for school. After breakfast I saw several white spots on it and asked her what that was. She said she didn't know. Then she paused for a couple of minutes and said "Don't worry about it. The stain is Lipscomb colors and matches my uniform." Turns out it was a little spilled milk and no big deal.

-"The next time we are going to have an accident. Let's just go a different way."

-"Mommy don't wreck this car because then we won't have a car." This was before we bought Kevin's new car.

-A couple of weeks ago, Allie wanted to set her alarm and get up on her own. We did it for a few days and then she stopped wanting the alarm. Tonight I asked Allie if she wanted to set her alarm for the morning and she said "No Mama, you are so much sweeter saying Good Morning, Allie. My alarm doesn't say that."
     -Kevin says he agrees. :)

Leah:

-Sometimes when I tell Leah to clean up, she looks at me with a stare that looks like she doesn't understand English.

- While cleaning up Leah was walking around with her hand on her face like she was resting and too tired to clean. Right before clean up time, she was running around playing.

-Leah likes to put her winter hat on over her face and pretend that she is a ghost. She also likes me to pretend like I can't find her when the hat is over her face.

-At church a family came in late and sat down in front of us. Leah gave them all air high fives (we do this at home). However, they had no idea they were getting high fives for coming to church.

-At dinner Leah likes to blow on her fork full of food to help cool it off. Tonight she forgot to blow on the food BEFORE she puts it in her mouth. Food went everywhere and then she looked at me confused.

Christmas Morning!

 Leah on Christmas morning

 Allie with her rain boats and umbrella

 Opening presents

 Leah stopping for a minute to take a picture

 Allie with a make your own headband set

 Leah with her new puppy

Mommy and the girls

 Leah loving her new hat and gloves

The girls after all the presents were opened.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun this year!! Allie woke us up around 7am so not too early. She then ran into Leah's room announcing that it is Christmas morning and to wake up! We went on downstairs to open our stockings and to see what Santa brought. Allie and Leah was so excited! 

As we were opening, Allie gave Kevin his gift from her (a lollipop). Then it was my turn. I knew she had wrapped us gifts from around the house about 3 weeks before but I never checked to see what she wrapped. Allie didn't want me to take her to the store because I would see it and also have to pay for it. So, she handed me my present. I opened the gift bag and found a homemade card, lollipop, and a banana (yes, the banana was 3 weeks old!). Haha! I just laughed and said "well, this part of the gift didn't work out." Allie thought it was so funny! We went and threw it away. I then told her thank you for thinking of me. I did think it was really sweet of her to think of Kevin and me. Allie told me later she put the banana in to make me laugh. Well....it worked. :) The girls loved their gifts!

Leah got a puppy this year! It is the perfect dog for us. There is a power switch. Haha! When she opened it she just started laughing. The dog will bark and walk around in a circle. 

2 of the gifts Allie got was a remote control My Little Pony car and a create your own headband set. She really loved playing with those on Christmas.  

As I was putting Allie to bed, Allie said "I wish Christmas was everyday!" This happens every year. She gets really sad when Christmas day is over for the year. We all had such a great Christmas!! 

Christmas Eve

Last year we started a tradition of having a nice dinner on Christmas Eve. We do appetizer, entree, and dessert. The girls and I spend the day cooking and then enjoy the dinner that night. We started with the cake and both girls were a big help. While we were cooking, I gave Leah a spoon to stir the batter. Instead of stirring, she took a big spoonful of flour. Haha! I helped her drink some water and said we will lick the batters at the end. 

Once the cake was in the oven, the we all loved licking the beaters and finishing out the bowl. The cake cooled and then it was time to ice the cake. Leah loved spreading the icing all over the cake. She didn't try and eat too much of the icing. :) Allie worked on the icing too. She did the sides and the sprinkles. I was so proud of them. Leah was done helping after the cake but Allie continued to cook with me. It was fun for us to spend the day cooking together!

Our Christmas Eve Dinner Menu:

Parmesan Crusted Crab Cakes-appetizer

Pork Chops-entree

Salad

Yeast Rolls

Carrots

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing-dessert

 

 All ready to start cooking

 Cooking all together

Leah had taken the big spoonful of flour 

right before the picture. :)

 Stirring together

 Licking the cake batter from the beaters

The finished cake

Every year after dinner, Kevin reads Twas the Night Before Christmas. Then it is bedtime. Amazingly, both girls were asleep within 10 mins! 

Reading Twas the Night Before Christmas

That night the girls slept just fine all night. Kevin and I were the ones checking the clock to see if it was time to get up and open presents! We were really excited to see the girls opening their gifts. 

Breakfast with Santa

 Santa said no presents for Leah! (Haha)

 Allie going over her list with Santa 

(candy, fruit, and remote control car)

 Allie, Santa, and Mrs. Claus

 Allie working on her picture frame

Leah walking around and playing games

Our church had their Breakfast with Santa a few weeks ago. Allie was ready with her list. She wanted to be sure to give it to him. Allie was really excited to see Santa!

We had taken Leah to the mall to visit Santa a couple times before Breakfast with Santa; and we played with Santa around the house. I even put a small figurine Santa at the table to try and help her. I was hoping all that would help her not cry.

As you can see, it didn't help. While I was holding Leah in line, she kept saying "Mama" and pointing at Santa. I would say "yes, you are going to get your picture made." I tried to sound really excited. She soon realized that this wasn't working with Mama so she wanted Daddy. :) Kevin held her and talked to her. When it was our turn I told Santa we are just going to do this. He said ok and I handed her off as quickly as possible. I have shown Leah the pictures of her and Santa. She just keeps pointing at Santa and saying Allie. Haha!

After getting our picture made, we were able to do a craft and play some games. It was a lot of fun. I love going to Breakfast with Santa every year.