Christmas 2008

So, I live by the mantra "Better Late than Never". That being said, below is a recap of our Christmas escapades! Enjoy!

The weekend before Christmas we went to Hot Springs for a Burton Family Christmas. We go every year and get together with all my dad's siblings, my grandparents and my cousins to have one fun-filled Christmas party. It's always tons of fun playing Wii, Phase 10 and dirty Santa. We also had tons of family fun at Garvan Gardens to see the MILLIONS of lights!

Christmas Eve and Day is always spent with just the 4 of us. We have our own traditions of making candy and cookies as well as other various activities to help our girls understand the true meaning of Christmas. (and yes, there is present opening included!)

Christmas afternoon, my parents came up and I hosted my first ever Christmas! We had steak, potatoes and salad for dinner (thanks, mom and dad) and enjoyed tons of togetherness. It was great! I only took this one picture of Daddy Brooks and Hannah...nice hair bow Daddy Brooks!

Saturday after Christmas, we went to Travis's mom's to spend time with his mom and company. We had a blast playing Guitar Hero and tons of other Wii games. It was wonderful spending time with everyone.



This past weekend, we headed to DeQueen to spend time with Travis's dad and the rest of the family. We had so much fun playing outside and letting the girls hang out with Travis's Mimi (their great-grandmother). My camera battery was dead, so I have no pictures to document the fun.

So, there you have the abbreviated version of our Christmas. We are very blessed to get to spend so much time with all of our family throughout the holiday season. And trust me...ours was filled with food, family, fun and love!

Hannah...future model?

OH Hannah....

Last night, I was taking pictures of Emma before her program and I wanted to take some of Hannah.

Here is Hannah's new smile...what am I going to do with her?

Then, I thought I would try to get some of them together. This is what I got...

Is Emma hugging her to trying to choke her?

Sick and tired of pictures

What is the world am I going to do with her? If you haven't gotten our Christmas card yet, now you know why!

Emma's Christmas Program

Last night, Emma had a Christmas program at school. It was quite the spectacle. All ages from 2 through Pre-K came out and sang two songs.

Emma sang very loud and proud. If you can get through the beginning of the video, she has a small solo at the end. She did a wonderful job and we are so proud of her!

Branson

This weekend, we took the girls to Branson to visit Silver Dollar City (or as Travis and I refer to it "Redneck Vegas"). Both of them are obsessed with Christmas lights and this was the perfect place for them.

Hannah stayed in her stroller most of the time as it was SUPER cold. Emma had fun riding the rides. The best thing we did was go on the Train through the woods and hear about the Christmas Story. The ride was wonderful and the girls loved it, despite the 1 1/2 hour wait.

As we were leaving the park, the big Christmas tree on Main Street was doing a light show. It was so neat. There is a picture below of Travis and the girls...they were in awe!

We were so busy the whole time we were there, I didn't take many pictures. But, we had a blast and are already planning to go back this summer.

Slacker

So, I have been a blogging slacker lately. We have been so busy that I have had very little time to post.

Since I keep this as a record of what our family is doing, I am going to catch up.

Thanksgiving was nice. As usual, we spent it in Hot Springs, ate too much and played way too many Wii bowling games. Unfortunately, Travis's grandpa passed away. So, he and I went to the funeral on Saturday.

We got our Christmas tree put up and all the decorations up. It looks so pretty. I am hosting Christmas for my side of the family this year at my house. This will be the first time EVER! I am really excited, but want everything to be perfect. (fingers crossed!)

Emma is getting ready for her Christmas program at school. She is doing great and has been the star student TWICE in the past month. We are SO proud of her!

Hannah is fast approaching two years old. As most of you know, with that come pushing the boundries to see just what she can get away with. She is so stubborn and strong-willed. We love that about her, but it does get her into trouble.

Since it is the the Holiday Season, I am sure I will have many posts with tons of pictures. I will leave you with these of the girls playing outside! ENJOY!

She's a POTTY girl!

My sweet Hannah is getting so big. She is wild and crazy and MUST do everything just like Emma. She even claims her name IS Emma, most of the time!

We have been "working" (not hard at all) on potty training lately. Hannah was interested, so we let her do it. She started to lose interest, but I never forced the issue. She usually only wants to go if Emma goes with her. Yes, girls going to the bathroom together is a genetic trait and my girls prove it!

Last night, I was giving the girls a bath. Hannah let a little toot slip out and looked at me with wide eyes. She said "MOMMY! I go poppy" (potty). I grabbed her out as quickly as I could to make sure she didn't poop in the tub.

Yes, it's happened before and yes BOTH girls were in the tub...

I sat her on the potty. Another potty ritual is we have to sing on the potty...not sure why, but we do. So, we started singing, "I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee. Won't my mommy..." AND THERE IT WAS...a little tinkle in the potty! She went poopy in the potty later that night.

I am still not going to force the issue, but seeing the gradual end to the diapers is really exciting me.

I love Fall!

Yes I did...

I voted today! First time ever...

Please don't lecture me. I figured it was better to make no decision at all than make an ill-informed decision. So, I just never voted.

But, I did do it today, and I made an informed decision.

However, it was very disappointing...they didn't even give me a sticker!

Family Pictures

A couple of weekends ago, we met Dee (our family photographer) at James at the Mill. She attempted to capture our crazy family on film. I think she did an excellent job. We took some at the mill and others at Wilson Park. As stated before...Hannah is not fond of the camera. By the time we got her to look, Emma's "smile" was wearing off. Nonetheless, it was fun! Thanks, Dee!

Happy Halloween

Halloween was lots of fun around our house this year. Emma was a witch and Hannah was a black cat. They were SUPER cute.

Friday, both girls had to wear their costumes to school. Emma had a party and parade for the little kids. Hannah just had a party. I went and helped in both of their classrooms. It was tons of fun.

Friday night, the girls got dressed up again to go trick or treating. They got lots of candy and dove in as soon as we got home. Emma would ring the doorbell at every house, then, Hannah (my impatient child) would try to open their door. However, both of my girls plesantly surprised me with their good manners. They said "Thank you" (or in Hannah's case some form of it) at each house. I was beaming!

**Hannah has rebelled against the camera...as you can see below!

**Yes, that's chocolate running down her chin...