Decorating the Christmas Tree!

Decorating the tree is ALWAYS a lot of fun, not to mention a big job!  This year we decided to have two trees -- we needed the extra room for the girls' ornaments!!

Danielle decorating her and Ashley's tree.....

...and helping Mommy and Daddy to unpack all the ornaments....

And Daddy always makes a good ladder....

Ashley enjoyed looking at the lights!

Right before Thanksgiving.....

So the weekend before Thanksgiving (yes, I know my blog is not in order here), Marc and Sonja stopped by with the kids on the way out to Marc's sisters place.  We got to have wild and crazy cousin fun and slumber parties for a few days....

Uncle Bobby got to entertain them all with the guitar...

We attempted a 'nice' picture....

....discovered that wasn't working so we just went for silly....

Eli had so much fun playing with Ashley!

....and of course, there were plenty of pile-ons with lots of camera flashes going off all over the place.....Much fun had by all!!

Thanksgiving....in North Carolina!!

For Thanksgiving we loaded up our two little cutie pies in the van and headed out for a quick (14 hours, including traffic) drive down to see some our family.  We hadn't seen them since last year, so it was LOTS of fun catching up and each cousin got to introduce a new member of their family!!  Heather and Steve welcomed Wyatt (3 months old), Katie and Bill welcomed Harper (6 months old), and we got to show off Ashley (10 months old).  Garrett and Danielle had a blast playing together and got to work on sharing trains with each other.

Here's Harper and Ashley playing together.  Harper learned how to sit up all by herself while we were there!!

....and I got to have fun making funny faces at Wyatt -- and even got a few smiles back from him!

Here's Danielle and Garrett looking at a Thomas the Train book together....

The beautiful cook with her turkey -- YUM!

....Steve is just the master carver.....he even makes it look easy.....

The table is loaded and we're just starting to sit down.....

Uncle Danny and Bob even managed to get out for a few rounds of golf over the long weekend!

Gretchen got in some extra cuddle times.....

....and Ashley made some silly faces....

All in all, a WONDERFUL trip!!!!

Happy Halloween!!

So we had LOTS of fun dressing up the kids this year.  Bob also had fun taking Danielle out in the rain this year!  These pictures are actually from last night -- our church had a great Harvest Party -- just think slightly controlled chaos with a bouncy house, lots of candy, a popcorn machine, cotton candy machine, tons of cookies, juice and umteen million kids!!!

So here's our little family rendition of VeggieTales:

This is actually after the party -- when I found the camera!

Aren't they adorable? (and yes, I think my Mom would be proud of me for figuring out how to make the costumes!)

Just out of the shot is the cotton candy stick....

....and here's a happy little girl with cotton candy all over her face and hands!

So the story from tonight is that is started sprinkling this afternoon -- but was about 70 degrees out.  So about 5:30 we got Danielle all ready again, Bob took a big golf umbrella, and we gave Danielle her own little umbrella (just a little travel size one).  Ashley and I stayed home to hand out candy.  So for the first few houses it just sprinkled.  Then the heavens opened and it POURED.  In the middle of the downpour, Danielle's umbrella turned inside out.  So Bob is holding the broken umbrella that's turned inside out, the candy bucket, his umbrella, and crouching down to cover Danielle.....apparently it was basically impossible to see where they were going.  It stopped pouring, but they were pretty soaked so they started to head home.  Needless to say, once both arrived, a full change of clothes was needed for each.  The good news is that they both had TONS of fun and Danielle still got lots of candy!

Bad Mommy!!

So, yeah, it's been just over a MONTH since I've posted anything and I'm pretty sure that makes me a bad Mommy.  Sorry.  So here's the scoop:

We've been busy.

Really busy.

Like so busy I haven't had a chance to post anything!

Ashley is crawling.  All over.  Must keep an eye on her at all times.  She likes to try to follow you into whatever room you're going, which is a problem because she's learning about her boundary at the entrace to the kitchen.  She doesn't like it, but she's learning.  She also loves to climb on you as though you're a jungle gym. 

Danielle is three.  Need I say more?  She is currently learning all about being potty trained.  It's a LONG road.....but we will all get through it and hopefully nothing will sidetrack us again (like the last three tries.....).  She has also developed a taste for fruit.  She loves it.  Especially apples.  Especially the apples that she got to go pick from the trees with Grandma and Grandpa.

So without further ado, here's the cuties!

Super Baby!!!

Concentrating on my book....

I'm gonna getcha!!!

See, Mommy?  I stopped before the seeds!! (yes, this is a BIG deal)

CHEESE!!!! (and yes, she got a haircut two nights ago!)

More catching up....

Several of you probably heard about the spider bite that Danielle got.  Here she is showing that her eye ISN'T swollen shut anymore!  (sorry for the messy hair shot, Danielle!)

....the little tiny red mark above her right eye is the bite....

Aubrey organized a play date at the park last week -- the girls had so much fun!  What you can't see in this picture is that Ashton (4 1/2 months old) is also on his tummy and the two of them are laughing at each other.

Danielle insisted on going on the carousel at the park, and then promptly decided she was too scared to ride a horsey....so we rode on the bench seat instead....

And Ashley has learned how to sit up!  She's discovering just how much fun it is to be able to get to any toy that she has dropped (and Mommy is loving it, too!).....I can't believe how big she's getting!!!

.....and she's learning how to crawl!!!  Waaaaa!!!!  How is my little tiny able to do this already?!?!  I'm not ready for her to be mobile!!!!

Just Hanging Out!

It's been a pretty busy month and I've fallen behind on my postings, so here's an attempt at chatching you all up with our little corner of the world....Ashley has graduated to the high chair! She loves squash and peas.....actually she loves it all, but carrots and green beans seem to give her a little rash if she has them too many times in a row....we'll see if she outgrows it! Danielle is learning how to share. It's not easy -- everything used to be only hers and now we ask her to share ALL her toys with everybody.....even Mommy and Daddy. Did I mention that she is also learning how to nicely ask for help? This is her asking Mommy to please help make Laura the Carrot from VeggieTales..... ....and every once in a while we get to hang out together!!! Ashley LOVES her Daddy -- he can always get a smile and laugh from her.....

....and did I mention that she's usually pretty chill? Especially if it involves just hangin' with Dad!