A Beautiful January Day

All smiles at the park.

It was nearly 80 degrees. It felt like May. Deanna, Jodi, and Andrew met us there to run around and have some popsicles. Before we know it everyday will be in the 80's. Can't wait!

A Night Out!

It is a rare occasion when Jed and I get to go out. On this night we were celebrating our friend Stacy's 30th birthday. Ingris was set to babysit and we were headed to downtown Dallas.

In this picture the girls were anxious for Ingris to arrive. They have so much fun with her. We are grateful to have someone who loves hanging with the girls that we trust so that we can enjoy ourselves.

Jed and I at BARCADIA. Just like it sounds. It's a bar, it's an arcade and it's a great time.
The girls and I. From the left Stacy, Jessica, myself, Emily (who is such a good sport being 7 months pregnant, but wouldn't miss her friends birthday) and Anna.


Here's Emily and Ruben getting ready for a game of Jenga out on the patio. We had a ton of fun with this.

Almost February?

First of all I would like to appologize for our lack of blogging lately. I know we took some pictures these past few weeks, but am having trouble locating them. We got a new camera after Christmas and it seems that when we download our pictures they go to a random non-disclosed location. So, we are currently hunting them down. Until we find them or take more, here's Landrie imposing on Sammys personal space.

Christmas 2008

Here we are on Christmas morning. The girls were up at the crack of dawn eager to begin opening gifts.

Stockings first.

High School Musical 3 Barbies. A big hit!
Landries Rescue Pet. I had no idea what this was, but Landries daycare lady kept telling us about how she freaks out when the commercial comes on TV, so we found it and bought it.

She loves it. The dog walks and swims. It also comes with some very stylish green goggles.


Landries favorite part.
Walkie-talkies. Also a hit, but they try to use them while in the same room. We'll keep practicing.
Landrie also got a ride on princess thing. She can sit on it and scoot around the house. And the bonus is that it plays really loud princess music and has no volume control. Thanks Santa!

Jenna got a bigger bike this year. We are working on getting rid of the training wheels.

Christmas day was so nice out that we were able to got for a walk and test out Jennas new bike. I have to admit that a small part of me would have liked to be around a little bit of snow, but it was nice to be outside too.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Eve 2008

We allowed the girls to open one present on Christmas Eve. Of course the girls talked about it all day and were a little let down to open up a pair of pajamas.

Kylie's class made reindeer food at her Christmas party, so we saved it until Christmas Eve and went out to sprinkle it in the yard. For those of you who have not made reindeer food it is made up of oatmeal and rasins, with a little bit of glitter to help the reindeer fly.

It couldn't have been more perfect. The minute we walked out side a plane must have been flying by. Red bliking lights in the sky. We panicked at first thinking we should all get in bed quick in case Santa was a little ahead of schedule.

After the reindeer food was down we went inside and Jed and I enjoyed the easiest bedtime of the year. No one getting up for a drink of water or to tell on their sister on Christmas Eve...love it!

Sister Similarities

The other day, and a lot over the past month or so, Landrie made a face that reminded us of Kylie so we began our research. We went looking for pictures of Kylie when she was Landrie's age. As far as Jenna goes, that would require us digging through a bag of developed photos that span 4 years...no digital camera then. Here's what we found...

Landrie with her scrunched up nose smile. Christmas 2008.

Kylie with her scrunched up nose smile. Christmas 2005.

Landrie in the rocker at Pop Pop and Shanny's in Illinois 2008.

Kylie in the rocker at Pop Pop and Shannys' in Florida 2005.

Kylie Brynn

Kylie's class had their Christmas program last Friday. The theme was T'was Night Before Christmas. Each class had a different theme within the theme. For example there was a class that did a Dinosaurs Night Before Christmas, one did a Soldiers Night Before Christmas and so on. Kylie's class was a Texas Night Before Christmas. She slept with curlers in her hair so she could have curly hair for her program, or as Jed and I call it, "Big Texas Hair". She did a great job! Delivered her lines nice and loud and closed the show with "We Wish You A Rootin' Tootin' Christmas. Unfortunately we were not very close, so didn't get may great pictures.

Here is a picture of her at the microphone.
I am not sure what brough it on, but Kylie has a new obsession with Japan. For the last couple of days she has been carrying this book around pretending to read it. It is a guide to Japan and the Japanese Language. When the girls play school and she is the teacher they are always learning about Japan. She takes it to bed with her because Jenna always reads a little at night, so she looks at this book before bed.
She will "read" it to anyone who will listen.
Sammy seems to be her biggest fan.

Now that Jed and I laughed at her and took pictures of her with the Japan book I am sure that she will keep it up because she is a little ham like that.

She is our crazy one. She keeps us all laughing.

Making Cookies

Our Christmas Cookie tradition continued this year. Deanna and Jodi always do a fabulous job of hosting this event. The kids have a great time and make a huge mess.
Landrie enjoyed the frosting the most. At first she was dipping and licking the knife. Then she figured to skip the knife all together and just dip the coolie right into the frosting.

Here's Landries smile. Jenna had a great time. It is very interesting how different she and Jenna are. Jenna wanted to decorate cookie after cookie and finish fast and back outside to play. Kylie on the other hand would sit there decorating cookies all afternoon.

Prairie Lights

One thing we like to do every year is pack in to the mini van with Deanna, Jodi and Andrew for a drive through the Prairie Lights display. I wish I had pictures of some of the displays, but they did not turn out.

From the warmth of you car you can drive through the park and see all the lights, listen to music and Ooo and Ahhh. The kids love it. It might be the only time I enjoy listening to Christmas music. After the driving through the park there is a large tent with all sorts of things to do and buy . Jed and I call it the money pit. Pictures with Santa, hot chocolate, kettle corn, and a lights and music display.

Notice that Jed and I made the picture with Santa this year.

Our being in the picture was not by choice, more by necessity. Landrie wanted nothing to do with Santa this year. We even tried to put her on the cute rocking horse far a way from Santa, but no luck. I will say that for the first time, Kylie stood within his reach, so there is hope.

Girls Only Photo Shoot

The girls LOVE taking pictures, so here are a few shots from the other night just before bed. Landrie took turns going from lap to lap and the rest of us took turn snapping pics.

Only one small injury occured when Landrie threw her head back right into Kylies cheek. A few tears, but she survived.