MLK Day

So we spent MLK Day with friends in Springfield. The girls had a blast with their "adopted" grandparents and our friends the Nelles'. Kristen and I went to Cedarville together and though it seems we should be able to get together more often than we do, it just doesn't happen. Her oldest in in Kindergarten and with our kids being in school, getting together during the week is difficult. And what with busy weekends...well it just doesn't happen! So MLK was a special day! We spent the day with her parents in Springfield and we had so much fun. They live a bit more in the "country" and have lots of land. And a tractor! Papaw hooked a sled up to the back of the tractor and the kids had a blast. Not to mention the fact that they had probably 6 inches of snow and we have none. Add that to having friends to play with the day was fantastic! It is a lot of travel for one day and the kids really wanted to spend the night. But of course, school beckoned:) I thought I would post a few pictures of our day.

Ellie Loves Dress Up!

Here are some recent pics of Ellie getting dressed up. I loved them and so I thought I would post a few:)






And here is Mackenzie and her recent foray into being a bunny...




And I just had a recent haircut. I brought Mackenzie with me because she wanted to come and she decided to get her haircut too. Apparently it took me a while to get my hair cut because when I went to find her..I couldn't!! At least I didn't recognize the person in the seat she was previously occupying. But I stuck my head around just to make sure and wouldn't you know it..it was her.. with her hair straightened! I had never seen her with her hair straightened and she looked adorable! So I will post a few pics of her hair and mine:)

Star of the Month

Ainsley was selected as star of the month for November. She was honored at this months' PTA meeting and so we decided to go. However it fell on a Tuesday which is cell group night. So we opted to have me go with Ainsley and Jeff take the other two to cell group. She originally wanted to go but as it got closer to the time to leave, she changed her mind. I told her in no uncertain terms that we were going. So we got to the school and she was really nervous. She told me she didn't want to walk up there so I told her that was ok. We would just stay and watch and pick her certificate and prizes at the end. But as the evening wore on and she saw the other kids go up from all of the other classes, she seemed to pick up confidence. At first it was.."I'll go up if you walk me up" and then it was "I think I can go up alone." I wasn't sure if she would do it but she did and I was very proud!

Here are a few pics from the big night!

Christmas Pics

Here are some pictures from Christmas. I you can see the girls did Gingerbread houses. Jeff's mom has brought them the last two years. I think she decided that next year they would all be pre-assembled as Ainsley really had some issues with hers! Faulty construction I say!:) Ellie is also now into dressing up. She loves to get dressed up and get her picture taken. The only problem is that she doesn't stay still very long because she want to see herself in the camera immediately. So it means that often the picture I take don't come out that great. I think she is learning but getting a picture where she is looking at the camera these days can be difficult!

 

Can anybody help me?

I have tried multiple blog layouts and editing and I can not get our blog to post the date for each entry.  I have edited it to post it and several different layouts thinking maybe it was just that layout that wasn't working but that isn't it.  I have removed almost everything and still it won't post the date.  And obviously I really want the date.  It has been missing for months and have tried many times.  Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

I came, I saw and I forgot to blog about it...

As par for the course, I haven't blogged in a number of weeks.  I have been too busy following my friend's blogs to actually keep up with our own!  And my friends..they all seem to be doing great in the New Year:)  We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.  Jeff's mom and brother came in the day after Christmas and we spent 5 wonderful days with them.  We received a Wii from Jeff's mom and stepdad and have loved it!  We have had a lot of fun learning how to play multiple different games.  I, of course, have spent the least time on it and Jeff has spent the most. The girls have actually spent a bit of time with it and Mackenzie has reached a World Record on the rowing event on Mario Olympics.  She's pretty happy...Ainsley not so much since she can't beat Mackenzie!  But Ainsley enjoys the bowling a lot and does well at that and they both duke it out on tennis.  I think I may have arrived at my first Wii injury, which is fascinating since I play it the least!  Apparently, I have a very violent throw when I bowl so I need to learn how to bowl without throwing my shoulder out of joint:)

Christmas was just a great break to catch up with each other as a family and we had such a nice and relaxing time.  We didn't travel, didn't actually get out much but had fun together just hanging out!  Our friends, the Lukes, were in for New Year's Eve and stayed till Jan 3 which was a fun treat.  We don't usually get to see them that much over Christmas and we had a blast as of course did the kids!  What could be more fun than having 3 teens give you attention!:)

And now our New Year is off to a great start.  We are looking forward to the New Year and all the exciting things that God has in store for us this year.  The girls are still really enjoying school and Ellie is making some great strides in her speech.  I am hearing her start to say 2 word phrases which is good.  Often it seems to be that she takes some strides forward and then back which I have noticed since every one has gone home from Christmas but I am sure she will settle in and continue to progress.  She seems to have the most difficulty adapting to change in routine but she loved Christmas this year!  It was fun to see her open gifts and have fun.

I will post some pics when I have a few more minutes but thought it was time to catch up and not just follow everyone else's blog!