Welcome back Elvis

Just like the commercial says, "having children changes everything".  My first Christmas as a parent I decided that I was going to start some traditions that we would do every year and that hopefully my kids would cherish and continue on with them when they had their own familes. Some of the things that we do are....the kids get to open a present on Christmas Eve...this present is ALWAYS going to be new pj's so the pictures look good in the morning!=), Santa brings ONE gift (after all, he can't carry too much in that sleigh (the rest are from mom, dad, and family), Santa leaves a bell from his sleigh along with a thank you note for the milk and cookies, we are going to have birthday cake for Jesus, and Elvis hangs out at our house for the month leading up to Christmas!!!  Yes, you read that correctly, I said Elvis hangs out here at my house!=)

Elvis is the name that we gave our Elf on the Shelf.  My sister, Marie, gave him to us last year. The Elf on the Shelf is a book that she got that basically tells the story of this elf that comes to your house and watches over the kids.  He flies to the North Pole each night to report to Santa about the kid's behavior.  The next morning he is sitting somewhere different so the kids KNOW that he left and returned!  He sure helped to keep Tyler in check last year!=)

We got the tree up today.  I decided not to spend my holiday season yelling at the kids so I didn't hang up all my good ornaments and went easy on the decorations.  I let the kids help decorate the tree that went out front and they were good watchers when Marshall put up the tree.  Tyler did help me with some of my family ornaments before he went to bed but I finished the rest after the kids were asleep.  

Happy Thanksgiving

Marie came to stay with us for this week so we had lots of fun with her.  Tyler is quite concerned about the fires in CA so he has been trying to convince her to move here to Tucson where it is safe...keep your fingers crossed that his big blue eyes will be able to convince her!=)

On Monday we all went went for a walk, it was pretty cool in the morning so I bundled the kids. They got quite a kick out of having to wear gloves.

My friend, Marie, had a hair appointment on Monday so we watched Evan for a few hours.  I guess since I already have Tyler married off I might as well do so with Emma.  Here are she and Evan having a quick smooch!=)

Tuesday we went to the Y in the morning and then dropped Tyler off at school.  Marie and I went home and showered and she, Emma, and I went to the grocery store.  After we had lunch and got Emma down for her nap Marie stayed here while I went to Target to get some Christmas shopping finished up.  She even helped me wrap everything I had bought.  Have I told you that I wish she lived here?!!  That evening Marie and Tyler did some baking, he enjoyed being her big helper=).  

Wednesday we again went to the Y, but when we were finished instead of going home we went to stand in line at Costco for pies and rolls.  You might think that sounds crazy, but there is only one Costco on this side of town and when they run out you are pretty much out of luck. When I called the night before to find out what time they opened I was told that there would be at least five hundred people through the doors the first hour so I should get there early.  The kids were very patient and we scored enough rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with our friends the Valenzuelas.  They have a big family and always include in-laws and strays like us.  There were about 48 people at dinner.  The kids did awesome.  Tyler got a bit revved up toward the end of the night but I think drinking soda and eating a plate of cool whip had something to do with that!=)

This was the first year that he sat at the kid's table and didn't require me being right there next to him.  He loves playing with all the big boys and they are so good to him.

Emma was also fascinated with all the pretty "big girls".  

I have so much to be thankful for.....two beautiful healthy children, a kind, caring, funny man who is not only my husband but also my best friend, a wonderful family, and supportive friends. I am thankful to God for such a good life.  I hope that each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I love you all and am so glad that you are in my life.

PS-I got my picture CD but I decided not to post any until after I send out my Christmas cards!  The pictures came out great.  I am so pleased with them.  Here is a tiny sneak peak!=)

Look at him go!

For as athletic as my little man is, pedaling a tricycle has been quite a challenge for him.  I am happy to report that he finally got it.  His new favorite thing to do is ride around on the pavers in the backyard or down the sidewalk out front.  I am thrilled that he finally hit this milestone---it sure was a tough one!=)  

Check him out.

Emma's first haircut

I finally broke down and got Emma's haircut.  It was getting pretty long but it is so thin and scraggly.  I just wanted to have it trimmed up in hopes that is will start to grow a bit more evenly. She did AWESOME!  She sat so still and didn't fuss at all.  She was quite the hit at the salon so I am sure everyone fussing at her made her feel very important!=)

BEFORE

AFTER

Nov. 21st

We went to the park the other day and found a digital camera that someone must have dropped.  I called the Parks Dept. and they transferred me to the place at the Police Dept. that deals with lost and found.  They actually sent an officer to pick it up from us.  Tyler was SO excited that a real police officer driving a real police car actually came in to our house.  

We had family pictures done last weekend at a park here in town.  I am not sure it was the best location...there seemed to be a lot of trash around and it didn't have a ton of shade, but I am hoping that we get a few good ones.  The photographer is supposed to have the CD with all the pictures mailed to me this week.  She was a wonderful girl with a ton of patience...I guess you need this in order to photograph kids.  She spent almost two hours with us.  She emailed me this photo--- if it is any indication of her work I am going to be thrilled with the outcome.

This season of Dancing with the Stars is coming to a close-- I think the finals are next week. This makes everyone in our house very sad.  Both of the kids love to dance along with the stars. Tyler is especially fond of Warren Sapp.....he always says, "He is a BIG football player".  

Here is a quick video of Tyler and Emma dancing .

Tonight we went to Tyler's school for a Kindergarten program.  They had the preschoolers help with some of the songs.  It was so cute.  Here is the Blessing Song that they sang at the end. Notice that Tyler's wife is next to him.  She was looking a little sad because she couldn't find her mom in the audience but throughout most of the performance they were holding hands!=)

And last but not least, here is a funny picture of my two little early risers right after waking up. They both love to come out and cuddle on the chair and watch Handy Manny first thing in the morning.

Maybe they wouldn't look so rough if they would sleep past 6 a.m.!!!!!=)

My Princess

Emma is OBSESSED with Cinderella.  I am not exaggerating when I say this either!=)  Fist off she calls her "Ra"  and she walks around the house clutching something "Ra" most of the day.  She can spot Cinderella on things from a hundred yards, so going to the store has become a massive pain.  She will actually throw a fit if you don't hand her the thing she spotted with Cinderella on it.  Now, don't think I buy her something every time we go to the store but I do let her hold it until check out time...I can handle a melt down as we are leaving it is just an entire shopping trip meltdown that I like to avoid.  A good example is that while grocery shopping yesterday she spotted "Ra" on a can of spaghettios and started screaming and pointing.."Ra. Ra, Ra", so she spent the rest of the time clutching the can of food...I did buy this one because it was 88 cents and she will eat it.  

Every Tuesday and Thursday when we go pick up Tyler she has a mini stroke because not only are there about eight "Ra" lunch boxes lining the counter as we walk in but also Ms. Sheri has a "Ra" book that Emma runs and gets as soon as she walks in to the classroom.  

I keep asking myself where this little princess came from because she sure isn't like me!

Here she is looking at princess stuff in the newspaper insert.

We took her to the park on this day and you should have seen how many times she fell trying to go up the stairs because she WOULD NOT let go of either the tiny Cinderella or the little book.

Update

Not too much going on around here lately...we seem like we are so busy each day but if you asked me what we did I can't seem to account for all the hours in the day.  Last weekend we broke the bank buying winter clothes and shoes for the kids.....these kids need to stop growing so darn fast or else we are going to be broke!=)  The mornings in Tucson are pretty chilly so we always have to dress in layers.....which is such a pain.  They both were in need of socks, underwear, pj's, coats, and a few winter outfits----I am telling you, we may have to live on mac-n-cheese this month!=)

I guess I could skip the mac-n-cheese and just feed them bean burritos every night...both of my kids LOVE Mexican food.

Monday we went over to visit Marie and Evan.  The kids made tambourines which they have enjoyed playing with and eating (Emma seems to love uncooked pasta).

Yesterday I went to talk to the school to go over Tyler's speech evaluation.  He did not qualify for and therapy but they gave me some pointers to help him learn to say /g/,  hard/c/ and /k/ sounds correctly.  The good news was that he did really well with the preschool screening and was above average in everything but articulation.  My friend, Marie, is a speech pathologist so she is going to give me lots of pointers so hopefully we will get this corrected before kindergarten.  

Saturday we are going to go to the park and have family pictures taken.  The girl that took them last year isn't doing it anymore so we are trying someone new.  She has a tough act to follow..remember these sweet pictures?  They sure have grown fast this past year!

Mr. and Mrs. Brown

Funny story...

A week or so ago when I picked up Tyler at school a mom came up to me and told me that her daughter had told her that she and Tyler had gotten married.  In the car on the way home I asked Tyler about it and he said that yes, he and Kayleigh were indeed married.  I asked him if he had had a wedding and he said yes.  I asked him who went to the wedding and he told me that Ms. Sherri and all of his friends were at his wedding.  

Fast forward to this past Tuesday.

When I picked Tyler up at school Ms. Sheri told me that he had had a rough day.  He didn't nap and was VERY tired and he had gotten in trouble for tackling another boy (twice).  When asked about it Tyler said that they were playing football (this happened in the classroom) but Ms. Sheri wasn't exactly sure what had happened because she had just seen the end when Tyler had flattened this boy little guy.  I am a bit surprised that he has restrained himself this long in the year because poor Emma gets tackled on a daily basis.  I guess a little while after the first tackle he decided to do it again....at this point Ms. Sheri told Tyler that she was going to have to talk to mom about it.   I guess he settled down but at at nap while all the other little angels were sleeping my  guy was having Ms. Sheri scratch his back while they talked about the day.  She asked him what was going on and if anything was wrong that was making him act up in class.......you are going to LOVE this..........his response to her was, "You know Ms. Sheri, I am just sad today because my wife isn't at school."  She had to turn around to keep from laughing but I guess little blue eyes used his humor and charm because she said it didn't matter what he did the rest of the day, every time she looked at him she couldn't help but laugh!=) 

I guess this first love is a true one because this morning after he got dressed he looked at me and said, "Mom, I sure hope my wife is back at school today."

PS...She was there and it was a great day!=)

Walk for an Angel

This past Sunday was the 6th annual Walk for an Angel that raises funds for Amyloidosis.   Our dear friends, The Valenzuelas, lost their sister/daughter from this disease 6 years ago.  They have put together this memorial walk to help raise funds for research to find a cure for this disease. The walk has grown each year and it is a wonderful way that the family honors the memory of Eileen Cochran, their angel. 

The kids did great.  Emma was her little diva self and never took off her sunglasses or pretty beads...she is just too cute!=)

After the walk Tyler had a blast riding one of the kid's scooters.   He also really enjoyed both riding in and driving this jeep.  (We now know for sure that he will LOVE the blue one that he is getting for Christmas!)

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