Monday Manifest on Saturday

What Sonya Calls The Characters in Wizzard of Oz

1. Dorfy
2. The Straw Guy
3. The Silver Guy (he is her favorite becuase he is "handsome")
4. Lion
5. Muskins
6. The Wica Wits of da Wist

The Course

The other  day I had blue painters tape out, so I could tape something to the wall.  Sonya asked if she could play with it.  It was 5pm, so whatever makes them happy this time of day works for me.  As she pulled the tape off the roll I remembered an activity I had seen on this blog.  

All you do in put the tape on the floor and let your imagination go.

The first part of the fun was making up which way our lines were going to go.  Sonya loved this part.  We made zig zags, straight lines, and curved lines.  

Then I showed Teddy he could push his trains along the course like choo choo tracks.

The blue tape also became a balance beam that we all walked on, and since Sonya has been really into The Wizard of Oz it also became the yellow brick road.  A super fun, super easy inside activity to do with the weather being so cold.  You may notice a lack of pictures of Sonya. 

 This is the day she decided to not wear clothes, so this is all I can show you.

How are you passing the long winter days?

I Heart Faces- Self Portrait

The theme on I heart faces this week is self portrait.  

This is a photo I took of myself while on vacation in Texas last summer, in the hotel bathroom.

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The Tree

We got our Christmas tree over Thanksgiving weekend.  We have never gotten tree this early in the season, so I hope it makes it the whole month.  In our almost ten years of marriage this is only our fourth Christmas tree.  I definitely had to push Josh to go and get the tree.  I knew once we got the tree he would be excited, but getting him there was half the battle.  
I know lots of people go and cut down a tree or go support a charity when they purchase a tree, but we headed here.

This was the tree Josh was hoping we would get.

But this is the tree we ended up with.  It was actually the first one Josh pulled out. 

We left it outside on Saturday night, so the branches could fall.  Then I brought it in Sunday morning and strung the lights so we could decorate that night.  The kids absolutely loved putting the ornaments on the tree.  We did have to redistribute a few ornaments, but all in all they did a good job.  
Here are few highlights from our tree.
This was the ornament I got Sonya for her first Christmas.

 This was Teddy's first ornament. 
Josh and I took a quick trip to Austen, TX last December and we picked this out for Teddy.

I love our "12 Days of Christmas" ornaments.  That song holds a a special place in my heart because when we were kids our entire family would assign all 12 parts and sing it every Christmas.  We would even record ourselves and then play it back the next Christmas.  
It sounds kind of dumb as I type this story out, but it is one of the best holiday memories I have. 

I had the really cool wax letters that spelled NOEL, but the E broke.  
So I pitched the other letters and kept the "L."

This is one of favorite ornaments.  
It is a little fairy my sister Gretchen gave to me.  
I think she is so precious.

I have these pretty little butterflies all through out the tree perched on the branches.

Here is the star on top of our tree.  
I think I got it the first year we were married.

Sonya, my girl who is some what camera shy, did give me this ridiculously cute pose.
I could just eat her up.

This could be my favorite shot of the whole night.

Here are my sweet guys.

Since the buddies don't get to much blog love, here they are all snuggled up.

I love having the tree up in the house.  I feel like it has calming affect on all of us, especially me.  
I have been able to reflect on the love I have for my family and on the love that the Lord has for us, in giving us his son Jesus.  
It blows my mind as a parent to think about what God allowed his only son to go through just to be close to me, and I am forever grateful.   

Monday Manifest on Tuesday

Things We Did WIth The Kids Today That I Loved

1. They unrolled an entire roll of tin foil.
2. They both fell asleep on my lap at 11:30am.
3. They stole bell peppers from me as I chopped them up for dinner.
4. They played with our mini shop vac for over hour.
5. They played with a squirt bottle for 45 minutes.
6. Sonya chose to be naked the entire day.  
7. Teddy ran across the room multiple times to to get a cuddle and a kiss.
8. They practiced taking turns and sharing.
9. Teddy imitated Sonya.
10. Josh and I squirted whip cream directly into their mouths.
11. Gave them a bath....it had been since last Thursday.
12. We all danced around the house to Christmas carols, with all of the lights turned off except the Christmas tree.

I Heart Faces- Scenic B & W

This week on I heart Faces the challenge is scenic black and white.  

This photo I took this Fall at the pumpkin patch. 

Here is my cute family making their way through the pumpkins. 

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I Heart Faces.

My New Baby

My wonderful loving husband gave me my Christmas present a little early this year.  

Let me introduce you to the newest member of my family.

Here is a closer look.

I have wanted her for quite some time, and now she is mine.  

I wanted to give her a nice 1950s housewife name, but with all of my naming abilities, I was stumped.  

My sister Gretchen suggested Doris, but that didn't fit.  

I have taken to calling her Lady, but we shall see.  

Now that I have an amazing dough hook, for Lady's inaugural run I decided to make a rustic Italian bread.  

I am still figuring out all of how to use her the best of her ability, but the bread turned out divine.

Be prepared for a lot more baking posts.  

If you have any baking requests let me know.  

I would be happy to oblige and bring it to you, so I don't look like I am smuggling loaves of bread down the back of my pants.