Chanukah and December so far...

December has not slowed down yet! After a rough start , and some downtime for mommy ,we are back up and running almost full speed.  We are still in the first 2  weeks  and have so much to share in December.  I am going to try and  update everything to come this month... I believe I said try :)

So to start, here are 2 pics of the girls in adorable matching outfits that they got for Thanksgiving and just love. They are just cute and I wanted to share ...

We attended a Holiday Parade the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the girls got these Antlers that they love wearing.  They were looking so cute playing dress up one morning just after waking up. Hence why Rory doesn't have pants on... I had just changed her diaper  and she didn't want pants back on. She is starting the naked phase that comes with being 2  :) .. Let's hope that it is not as bad as Jolee's was!

The same morning as playing dress up, Rory was exhibiting one of her other favorite games. She takes all the stuffed animals she has from all over her room, piles them in one spot and jumps from her chair into the pile... this is her before jump smirk :)

 Still no pants , but looking cute in the pile of toys !

Chanukah was super early this year as it started on the first . Here are the girls looking sleepy , but showing off their gifts from the first night. Jolee with her pillow pet and Rory with her Foofa sneakers.

First night candles. I love having 2 menorahs in the house . Since Jolee turned 4 this year, she got her own. She loves her new ballerina menorah from Softa!!  Thanks Ema!

 Jolee got a makeup and dress up jewelry set  for the second night of chanukah so of course here she is modeling it! You can't see but she is covered in the entire bottle of body glitter as well .
She is such a girly girl is still cracks me up . Love her 4 going on 14 attitude.... most of the time :)

Our Community has the best holiday events. Every year they host a Bedtime Stories with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  The kids all get dressed in their jammies to see Santa,  have story time with Mrs. Claus and then have cookies and milk before heading home. It is awesome and with the "Real " Santa of course!
Here are my cuties while being read to....Mrs Claus reading to a group of the kids

Jolee and  James waiting to see Santa.
James is not so happy at the thought of sitting with Santa still... Jolee was happily waiting her turn.

 Baby Grace at just 2 weeks in her holiday Jammies getting ready to see Santa. She is so sweet in her Daddy's arms :)

 Jolee and Rory with Santa.

 Jolee having a chat with Santa about her wish list. He is so patient and sweet with the kids. Love him!  And I just love the look on Jolee's face in this picture. It's priceless :)

 Rory having her chat time with Santa

 Enjoying that cookie with milk.. Rory style ( which means shoving the whole soggy milk drenched cookie in at one time. )

Jolee admiring the candles on the last night of Chanukah.
This has got to be one of the sweetest pics I have and one of my personal favorites.

November 2010

November was filled with so many wonderful happenings. I cannot believe how fast the past couple months have flown by. I feel almost overwhelmed at the pace of our lives these days.
This November , Rory turned 2. I can hardly believe that my baby turned 2! Rory is such a big girl now. She is talking up a storm and wants to do everything Jolee does, including going to school.  She is still Yo Gabba Gabba obsessed and has pretty much every toy they make! Rory is such a sweetie , a bit goofy and is even handling the terrible two's pretty well so far. Much milder than her big sister.
 Between running the kids everywhere they need to be , the everyday life and the holidays I feel like I need a nap everyday! I am looking forward to January to just have some downtime and rest!

Here is what November held for us ....

I hosted a Baby shower for Renee before baby Grace's arrival.  Here are some of the ladies that came to the luncheon to celebrate Renee :)

Rory has learned a new "trick". She Hulk's out! She loves the Hulk and it's even funnier because the Hulk was Joey's favorite and I have pics of him doing the same thing at her age.  And she did it without Joe teaching her! So silly :)

 Rory the morning of her second birthday opening and playing with some of her new gifts just after waking up. She loved the blocks that her big sister got her :)

 Jolee helping Rory open more gifts

 Rory modeling  her new slippers

Isn't the breakfast cupcake the perfect way to start any birthday!

Breakfast frosting mustache

 More cupcakes at her party at the park with friends

Lollipop cheers with best friend Hallie

 We welcomed a new extended family member. Baby Grace was born to Renee and Matt on November 18th.
She is gorgeous and we are so happy she arrived healthy and the family is doing so well :)
 We love you Lab Family!

A playdate at Common Ground Park with friends!

For Thanksgiving I made Turkey Cake pops :) They came out so cute and yummy!
Snowman ones are coming up next month .... and maybe Santa's.... not sure yet :)

October 2010

So it's been a while so I figured that I would do  a quick update for each month to catch everyone up :) \

Here is October's update. October was a busy month with Jolee's class having lot's of activities, our fall garden growing like weeds, Rory's birthday, our 7th Wedding Anniversary and Halloween.  Enjoy all the pics  and look for November pics too :)

Jolee , Rory and I had many picnics out by the garden this fall. It's one of Jolee's new favorite things to do :)

Here is a salad made completely from our garden!

Jolee and Rory looking adorable in hats made by Off the Hook Creations!

Jolee and Rory watching cartoons one morning

Jolee's class Fall festival                           

Jolee and Rory as Dorothy and

                                                                              Glenda the good Witch!

For Rory's Birthday we went to Yo Gabba Gabba Live and had a blast!! Me as Brobee and Jolee as Foofa in DJ lance glasses.

Rory in her Foofa shirt and Brobee headband!

September

Well September started with the celebration of my 30th birthday and this is the beautiful cake that Joe and Jolee made for me . It is decorated it Jolee's and my favorite colors and then some of Jolee's dress up jewelry  ( to dress up the cake of course!) .  Since Jolee spends so much time watching me make cakes these days.... I was extremely proud!

 This is Jolee and Rory sitting together before leaving for school the morning of Jolee's school pics. They love their boots. At least Jolee's wouldn't show in her school pics! :)

 In the mornings after dropping Jolee off at school, Rory and I come back and work in the garden. One morning the lighting was so beautiful that I had to take pics of Rory eating her banana in the garden. Wearing her boots of course :)

 Rory so desperately wants to be going to school too. Jolee helped get Rory dressed this morning, backpack and all. They are so cute together when they get along!

 My first time baking for a fall classroom party for Jolee. I am sure this is the first of many cupcakes I will make for the girls classes over the coming years....

                                The finished school pics  :)

Lionel

 We introduced a new member to our furry family in August. We had a rough time with having to get rid of some of our pets not that long ago due to allergies and asthma. So this time around we started looking for something small and with alot less hair.

So here is Lionel.  He is a wire hair terrier mix. And he is a whopping 7 lbs now at 6 months old. He is very sweet and well behaved. The girls are really enjoying him, and the fact that he is the first dog that we've had that they can actually walk!

First day of school... late

I am not even sure where the months went, but I am a bad mommy for not posting the pics from Jolee's first day of school for everyone to see!  To update you all , Jolee LOVES school and her teachers.

 The first few weeks were tough as getting her out of the house was hard, but once at school, she's great.

After her first parent teacher conference of the year I can happily tell you, that she is doing great in class as well. They told me that she is bright ,happy, enthusiastic and a great student over all. I am very proud.