Away in a Manger

We took Annie and Charlie to see the Life-size Nativity by Trinity Hospital. Annie put straw on baby Jesus to keep him warm.

They enjoyed riding on the camels with the Wise Men.

Annie and Aunt Angela

Charlie and Uncle Joe

Fun Times with the Girls

After making the cookies, we hung out. Charles fed Elizabeth cookies. That was more fun than eating them.

He may have fed her too many cookies.

Then we played the paino and sang songs. Elizabeth even got her first paino lesson.



Charles was the center of attention. He loved being tickled.
Do you think my kids had fun? They did not want to let go of Catherine.

The Finished Products

The Gingerbread House

Would you like some cookie to go with your sprinkles?

"UMMMMY COOKIES!"

Cookie Making

We had a fabulaous time when some of the high school girls decided to come over because they wanted to help Andrea make some cookies and a gingerbread house. Mary brought her camera and took some amazing pictures

My How Time Flies!

I am sure every mother blogs and/or reminisces about time flying by as toddlers and babies consume every moment of the day (and sometimes night) that they're awake, but I have been thinking this so much since Charlie turned one. I cannot believe he is 1 year old. With two kids there is just never a dull moment and the cleaning could suck up my nights if I let it. As I've been thinking about this I looked back at the blog and realized that we started the blog around when Annie turned one. If you have some time, you should really go back to the beginning and enjoy the similarities and differences. I am glad that time keeps on moving, even though so quickly sometimes, so that Charles could be here and we can enjoy all the new things he will discover.

The Angry Face

When Charles does something he is not supposed to do we say, "Ta-Ta Charlie". It sounds silly but my friend Missy always says it and it just comes naturally. The idea behind the phrase is to delay the word no. I just think it is more fun to say "TA-TA" and I know the theory behind it does not work because I am pretty sure Annie was advanced in figuring out the word no. So we say, "Ta-Ta." It's actually kind of nice because Annie will start saying "ta-ta Charlie" and I will come around the corner and the little bugger is about to put his hands in the toilet. Annie enjoys the "ta-ta" patrol. John and I were saying, "ta-ta" to Charlie for throwing his food on the floor yesterday and John decided to give Charlie the stern look. Charlie's feelings were so hurt he immediately burst into tears and started crying hysterically. He's apparently already intimidated by daddy's angry face.

Annie "Helping" Charlie Walk

We are helping Charlie walk right now. Since we have the added hands in Ohio we've really been pressing him to try to walk. Guess who got a little jealous of all the attention. Here is Annie attempting to walk too!

Cake Testing

Annie and I wanted to do a test run of Charlie's Ho-Ho cake before the BIG DAY. It was a good thing we did because the frosting tasted a bit like brownie batter. Sure it's Yummy when you lick a little off the spoon but layered on cake not so good. Maybe I left something out or put in too much of another. This is quite a possibilty to the cake flop since I was supervising my tasting sidekick chef. Well you all will be spared and we will stick with good ole messy chocolate cake and chocolate icing. See Everyone Sunday!

At The Park

We had a wonderful day at the park with Gina and the girls this week. It was beautiful outside.


After switching between the two playgrounds a couple times. We went for a walk on the paths and Emma and Annie chased each other. The outdoors is great for their relationship: plenty of space and no toys. (lol)

More Halloween Photos

Our Pretty Princess

Emma loving the Puddles


Annie Being Goofy with her Aunt Mary

He's ready for some candy!

They look like they're going to prom with Kaitlyn's pretty dress and Charles' bow tie.

Halloween

Annie loved trick-or-treating with her cousin Emma. The two princesses! It poured the second we started trick-or-treating. Emma loved it. She was jumping in the puddles. Annie not so much. We all ran under the front porch to wait out the rain. When it ceased, hundreds of kids flooded the streets again only to be drencehed by rain again within a few minutes. We caught the rest of the houses back up the street and then headed to sonic for 50 cent corn dogs, tator tots, and milkshakes. Kaitlyn and Charlie were troopers and cute ones at that!
Kaitlyn and Emma both got to be Tinkerbell. Too cute!

Cousins

Annie looks way too mature for John in this picture

Annie looks like Cinderella in this picture as if she's just lost her glass slipper and she needs to make it back before midnight.

Goodnight Hug

Pumpkin Patch

Friday morning was gorgeous outside so my mom and I took the kiddies to the pumpkin patch. For a few weeks now Andrea has been walking around saying "Bippity, Boppity, Boo! Where's the pumpkin mama?" When we told Andrea that we were going to get her a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, she was thrilled. She lifted her eyebrows up in an exagerrated way like she always does when she wants the dramatic effect and said, "I AM SO ESITED! I AM REALLY ESITED MAMA!"


Our Little Pumpkin with his Little Pumpkin


Choosing which Pumpkin will make the Best Coach


I Love My Annie Pumpkin




Special Moments with Grandmama

Charlie and the Piano

Charlie is pulling up now so his new found friend is the piano. Enjoy Amadeus Charlie's first movement of his masterpiece. He even amuses himself its so good.

MIDTERMS ! ! !

Please pray for us as John is conquering midterm week/weekend! We are drained. I know that we really have nothing to complain about but I was just lamenting for a second and if you are praying for us if you would just ask for some perserverance for our family and wisdom for John. Love you all and sorry we've been out of the loop for awhile.

Boshears Air Show

We got to go to Boshears Air Show today with my mom. Annie ran around with "all the kids" as she kept calling James, Mark, Martin, Sebastion, and Lucy. We ran into the Dooley and Krementz families. Annie decided that Lucy was her new best friend so we had to stick with her. The kids climbed in all the planes and tried to navigate out of the Daniel Field Airport. Luckily no one took flight. Then John met up with us and we saw the men parachute from the planes, the angels soar past each other, nine planes spiral around each other, and this super fast green and blue jet speed by us every couple of seconds. Annie's favorite part was the "RED HELICOPTER" that was giving rides and took off and landed every five minutes or so. It was good to get out of the house since I've been without a van for a few days and more importantly it was the first day my children did not have runny noses anymore! Woohoo!

The Computer Crash!

I tripped over the computer cord so we have been without a computer for a couple weeks, but it is working now. It only cost $50 to fix. (Oh and three nights on the phone with Philip and his computer guru friends. Thanks guys!) We're back now and will be blogging like crazy to try and keep you updated on all the crazy stunts our darlins are trying out.

Patience

With our little two year walking around we are constantly singing our "Patience Song".

"Have Patience
Have Patience
Don't Be in Such a hurry
If you get impatient you only start to worry
Remember, remember you must be patient too
If you learn to wait for others, they will wait for

I paused for Annie to sing and she screams ME :) !!!

We are learning patience with our little girl but a priest reminded me recently that they only need you for a little while and soon they will be teenagers. "Oh!" I remembered that I would rather be loved by over attention and neediness from my daughter right now than forgotten by her. Oh our little Annie, how we love her.

Playhouse Disney

Handy Manny

Tigger and Pooh

Rocket

Little Einsteins

Mickey Mouse

Playhouse Disney was in town this weekend. My mom ended up getting the day off today so I asked her if she'd want to take the kids, knowing how much Annie would love all the characters, especially "Little Einsteins".





Even Charlie loved it! We were in the front row center on the balcony so they were perfect seats for Charlie to watch all the characters.

I've Been Working on the Rai-Choo Choo

I've been trying to catch Andrea singing this on video for months.

Prayer Time

I was reading for my Bible Study this week and this year we are reading Scott Hahn's Intro to Scriptures. Well Hahn is all about covenants. The Old Testament proclaiming the New and the New Testament fulfilling the Old. Annie came over to me and I was caught up in what I had just read and I said, "Annie, do you know that one day we will see Jesus?" She runs to the door and says, 'JESUS IS GOING TO BE HERE PRETTY SOON! JESUS IS COMING TO MY HOUSE!'

At the End of the Day

Some days are crazier than others. Like days when Andrea decides that during her rest time she'll get out of her bed and dump all her little buckets from her organizer behind her bed. Example below:



We sang the "CLEAN UP" song a lot today. But at the end of the day, who can complain when you have this little guy grinning away at you.