Tennessee Christmas

Santa visited the Tennessee grandparents too :) Curly Bear is modeling Goldilock's new sunglasses.
We celebrated Christmas with Mama Bear's dad's family on Saturday. My cousins LOVED the nerf guns Bryan gave them
Annual group photo
Curly was mesmerized by the Sesame Street DVD she got. She sat and stared at it for a good 5 minutes, which is a long time for someone her age!

Christmas Day

Some friends of ours gave us a small bouncy house that their kids had outgrown, so we saved it for Santa to leave on Christmas morning. Goldilocks was thrilled and hopped right in, but Curly Bear didn't have any clue what was going on. She was speechless.
After the morning excitement, we packed up and headed to TN for the rest of the weekend. My friend Samantha and her husband dropped by to say hello. Samantha's baby belly was Cute!!
We celebrated Christmas with Mama Bear's parents and Bryan that afternoon, then celebrated Goldilock's birthday after dinner with them. Goldilocks and I had made a pink Christmas tree since we had leftover pink fondant from her Cinderella cake.

Visit with Santa

Right before Christmas, we went to the bookstore because we heard Santa was going to be there. Usually wee D refuses to see him, but all nervousness went away when he offered her a candy cane. Lil' Abner didn't care and I couldn't believe I got a couple of good pictures so easily. After the pictures were over, Santa asked a few questions.

Santa: What do you want for Christmas?
D: Didn't you get my letter?
Santa: If you sent it, we got it and put your list into the computer. How old are you?
D: I'm STILL 3 (insert big sigh)
Mom: but tomorrow you will be...
D: 4, FINALLY! (throws hands up in the air)

Pictures and Princess Birthday Party

We did not mail out our Christmas card this year, but still took a family photo at the farm.
We also took pictures of the girls ourselves instead of heading to the local photo studio this time.
Here's Curly's 18 month picture (she is 19 mths today!)


And Goldilock's 4 yr picture
We already had her princess pizza party with some friends last week

Fernbank/Zoo

When our good friends came to visit recently, we took the kids to Fernbank so the the dinosaur crazy boy could see the bones. It was amazing to see how big these replicas were. In our house we call them dinosaurs, but we got an education that week about all of the names of the different dinosaurs and what they ate and stuff.



After lunch we decided to take the kids to the zoo since we were close by and the weather was nice after weeks of cold and rain. Here is the annual pic of these 2 buddies.
The animals were really surprised to see us after all the cold weather, and we saw maybe 10 other people at the zoo that day. Even the male panda stopped and stared at us for a few minutes, I've never seen the pandas pay any attention to people before. Here is a picture of the funny bird that likes to follow little girls.

Birthday!

My birthday was fun to celebrate. Goldilocks picked out a present for me and helped me make the cake. I even got a princess card fit for a 5 yr old ha!

Disguises

Birthday Fun!

This week we celebrated Papa Bear's birthday! Goldilocks and I made a cake with just cake mix and 12 oz of Coca-Cola. It turned out to be delicious and Goldi put the sprinkles on top. The singing birthday cards were a huge hit! Curly Bear picked out a spongebob card, and Goldilocks gave him one with Mr. Rogers singing about cows and ducks. If I can figure out how to put video on here, I will show you these silly singing cards. We were very proud of Goldilocks - she decided on her own what she wanted to get Papa Bear for his birthday, picked it out at the store, helped wrap it, and kept the secret for 3 days! We couldn't believe it!

Under the Sea

Ariel is evidently THE character to help celebrate your birthday this year (if you are a girl, and a kid). So far I've made 2 Ariel doll cakes in the past month and a half, and have 1 more to make this weekend. Did I mention I had to turn down someone (too busy!) who wanted this same cake a few weeks ago?
Lucy Belle's cake was the first one. I based the design on a picture of another cake that Lucy Belle's mother found online.
When Anna Grace saw a picture of this cake, she wanted the same cake, so I got to do it again!
This week I'm going to do it all over again for another special little girl!

October 6, 2009

Evidently I'm not very good at keeping up with a blog...

My heart hurts for our friends. It was so good to see their faces and hug them a few weeks ago, but I think I still cry almost every day when I think of them. Pray for them - www.maxeyweb.com

In more normal news, Papa Bear is finally permanently employed!!! Now we just need to get rid of a little debt, and build the emergency fund back up. We are praying Papa's car and the house behave themselves until the finances are back in order. It will be nice to have real health insurance (don't get me started) and prescription coverage again.

Goldilocks is enjoying AWANA at church, it thrills my heart to hear her learning Bible verses.

Curly Bear is continuing to grow her curly hair, is a daredevil, and loves to smile! She is gaining print awareness at 16 mths. go girl! she starts yelling the names of letters whenever she sees the alphabet.

We are really enjoying our zoo pass this year, and we are able to take friends with us on our pass. Last week, we took our youth ministers' family with us and I made sure I took the camera and posted the pictures on facebook for him to see. (He is d*ployed right now)

Curly Bear was being a little goofy...

The big girls

This semester I am taking Theory of Reading - yuck! Material isn't all that interesting, but I love my professors, and the class of almost 40 has a lot of, errrr, "interesting" personalities in it. I've got part of a paper due monday, gotta get cracking! My other class is about Co-teaching, sort of interesting. I'm studying for a midterm on Thursday.
I'm already looking forward to graduation this next summer. We are definitely throwing a party!

Life

Happy 8 month birthday Baby Bear!
Papa Bear's last day of work is February 6, and we have no idea what kind of work he will be able to find in the next two weeks. We need steady income, but thank goodness for emergency funds. Papa Bear has changed jobs several times before, but I was always working before and it was no problem at all for him to take his time looking around for work. It is quite possible that he will be a stay at home dad next fall, and I will work full-time and finish my master's degree. He is hoping to get some training in the technical side of things, and have a new career. So, we plan to be here at least until I finish my masters, then who knows where we will end up. Papa has lived in this house for 8 years, longer than any other house he has ever lived in. I am about to go nuts in this house, either its gotten too small or we have too much stuff.
Today Goldilocks wrapped a blanket around herself and said it was a wedding skirt. She proceeded to pass out 'tickets' to use and we flew to a wedding Little Eistein style "we need more patting! faster! put your hands in the air and yell blast off!" I wonder if I could really fly that way, think of the gasoline money I would save...

To Blog or Not to Blog

Let's see how long I can keep this up!

So here's what you do, copy it to your own post, bold or change the color of the things you have done, and then tag 4 other people to do it. Sounds like fun, right??Mine are all in BOLD what about you?
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (I've been to Disney World, does that count?)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (maybe one day)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept in an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (petted a few)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (solar)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke (Sesame Street karoke counts, right?)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (no, but I've been the recipient before)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (not officially, but I've taught piano lessons and friends hire me to bake cakes)
58. Taken a martial arts class (no, but I think tim has this covered)
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (eaten my fair share)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (think I've read most of it)
86. Visited the White House (I've seen the outside in person)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day
OK, so there's my list, and I tag anyone who happens to read this!