Winter break how I love thee

I just want to say how much I have loved School Winter Break this year. 2 weeks with no school. No waking up before 8am to get Emma off to school when I had to work the night before, no having my life being scheduled around the girls preschool and school schedules, no worrying about what time the girls are getting to bed. It has been nice to not have to be a responsible,time scheduled parent during Winter Break. Spring Break here we come! :)

Mia's Blessing

My sister Lindsay blessed her baby on Sunday. Both my parents were there and Jeff's parents and sister came into town. It was a nice day filled with family.

Christmas!

I had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year since I've been just awful sick. The girls put the tree up almost completely on their own. I put the lights on and that's about it. However, while they were decorating the tree the stand broke. Oh well! I guess we're due for a new tree, but I wasn't about to try and fix the stand so the tree just leaned against the wall for this season. Leo decided to try and eat the tree lights, so the bottom strand stopped working and the branches got bent from him trying to get decorations off to play with.



The girls had a good time opening presents. They got exactly what they wanted from Santa, and Emma asked why Santa has the same wrapping paper as we do. Eddie told her that Santa's sleigh got in an accident and he asked Dad to wrap the presents for him, because he was running behind schedule. :) She was satisfied with that!

I have to say that Emma took all these pictures with her new camera she got for Christmas. Which is why she isn't in any of them. Sorry! Like I said, I wasn't really in the Christmas mood.

Leora got a Barbie guitar from Santa, iTurtle from Mom, He-Man movies & microphone stand from Dad, and Pterydactel from Emma.





Emma got a Cake Bakery Set from Santa, digital camera from Mom, He-Man movies & microphone stand from Dad, and lip gloss from Leora.

Emma and Leora gave Eddie a stuffed Boxer, and Me a new nightgown and robe.




It was a nice christmas having family come into town and stay with us. Family is really what christmas is about for me.

Emma's School Christmas Program

Emma's school puts on a christmas music program each year. Here's a video and pictures of the event this year.


Emma and her friend Lucy

Soccer Season is Over

Emma's soccer season is over! They ended with 7 wins 2 losses and 1 tie. They had one of the leagues best scores in their age group. At the end of season party Emma was named the most inspirational player on her team and given the game ball, which they played all their games with. She was so excited to receive the game ball, she slept with it that night.

Lil Mia Jane

My sister Lindsay had her baby girl last week. Oct. 29th via C Section. She was 8 lbs 7 oz. Her name is Mia Jane Brown. We are so excited she is finally here. We were able to take dinner over to the Brown's on Sunday when they came home from the hospital. Luckily for us, Lindsay slept most the day so we got to play and hold Mia a lot. Here are some pictures:


Emma held her for over an hour. She loved every moment.

Leora kept saying "I'm so excited to see the baby!" on the way over to heir house. She must have said it atleast 10 times.

Halloween Pics of the Girls

Here are some pics of our girls this year. They went trick or treating with their friends Alexis and Ethan. They had lots of fun. They were running between houses, so Leora was playing catch up most the night (short legs!!)and got tired on the second street. Got lots of good candy though!

Firestation Field Trip

Leora's preschool had a field trip to the Firestation. Leora was very hesitant at the beginning. She didn't want to try any of the gear on, but by the end she was excited about everything. Thanks to Firefighter Nathan who helped her overcome her shyness! When we left Leora said, "Mom, this firestation is awesome!". Here are some pictures:
In ambulance with Firefigter Nathan

Firefighter Brian showing what all the switches do

Firefighter Nathan suited up and Firefighter Nanette talking about fire safety

Done driving the fire truck

Riding in the ambulance

With Firefighter Nathan in the ambulance measuring Leora's oxygen levels

With the class, Teacher Becky, and Firefighter Nathan

Leora and Lily watching the truck lights flash

Leora trying to lift the oxygen tank, no luck! Too heavy.

With Firefighter Brian who gets to really drive the Fire truck

Costume Party!

We were invited to a Halloween party by some friends. The hitch was that we had to dress up. I have never been able to get Eddie to dress up for anything, let alone Halloween. Since Eddie really likes Trent, who was hosting the party, he agreed to dress up. Here are some picks of our costumes.

Too Young to be Expecting!

Both girls had school off on Friday so we went up to Bellevue to visit my sister Lindsay who is very pregnant. Due any day now. We were able to spend the afternoon helping hang curtains, clean, and fold clothes in order to get the nursery ready. Emma vaccuumed the room and Leora gathered all the baby's toys together. After the hard work the girls found a bag of balloons in the nursery. Lindsay let them have the entire bag and this is what they ended up doing with some of them:




The girls are sooooo excited for their Aunt Lindsay to have a baby! Emma is already talking about babysitting her. Lindsay has already broken the news that Emma will have to wait until she's older.

A Day in San Diego

On one of my days of while in Long Beach, CA for Jetblue training I drove down to visit my sister in law Deeanna and her family. I hadn't seen them in over a year, and was born in San Diego, so decided to take a trip. The drive down was very memorable. It brought back so many childhood memories just driving along I-5 toward San Diego. I really need to take Eddie and my girls there next summer.

I spent most of my time playing board games and card games with Toby and Zoey, had Marlie pretend read to me her library books, and watch Elijah "Not" doing his homework. This is Elijah not listening to his mother:



And here is Marlie showing me her princess dress:



Thanks to the Manning for letting chill with them for the day!

Leora in Preschool!

Leora has finally begun preschool. She was so excited, and is still excited everyday she gets to go to "school". She is so eager to grow up "like Emma". Notice she finally has enough hair for pigtails! Hurray! Here are some pictures of her at preschool.

Eddie's Birthday!

Here are some pictures from Eddie's birthday yesterday. Emma wanted to make him a football cake. He's 32 now!

First Day of 2nd Grade!

Emma started 2nd grade today. Her teachers name is Ms. Brittain. Here are some pictures: