Gingerbread Houses

We made Gingerbread houses on Saturday, and the kids both loved it. Elise had been begging to make one for weeks, so I knew she would be into it, but it surprised me at how Steven really was concentrating so hard on trying to get each candy in the right place. He didn't even try to eat any of the candy until the house was done. I'm not sure that our house is exactly a masterpiece, but we had fun making it so that is the important thing. And it turned out better than expected considering that a four year old and a two year old were the main contributers for putting all the candy on (although Dad did put the pieces of the house together and Mom did all the frosting).

Dear Santa, I Can Explain...

And boy do these two have a lot of explaining to do! Steven actually has been not feeling well lately, so we are going to blame his attitude on that. We had our Ward Christmas party on Saturday, and they had all the kids come dressed in their pajamas which was kind of fun. I decided since I had them in their Christmas PJ's and we had a fire going in the fireplace anyway, maybe I would try to snap a cute photo for our Christmas card that I have still done nothing about (oops!). As you can see from the photos below, Steven was just not very cooperative. Then we went to the party and tried to get a picture of the kiddos with Santa, but Steven was not too happy and wanted nothing to do with Santa. I would have just plopped him on Santa's lap anyway and gone for the classic "screaming" Santa picture, but Chris was afraid it was somehow going to end badly and so he rescued Steven from his mean Mommy and took him home from the party early. Oh well, maybe we'll have to try again for a photo with the Santa at the mall. Since Chris absolutely just does not do the mall for any reason whatsoever, he won't be there to rescue Steven this time. At least I was able to get a cute photo of Elise with Santa, who told him that all she wants for Christmas is a pink hula hoop. I'm not quite sure where she got that idea from, but I think Santa should be able to handle that.

Why Choose?

Why choose between taking a nap and eating your favorite snack when you can do both at once? Isn't Steven talented? He was sitting at the table the other day munching on pringles, and he was just so tired that he couldn't even keep his eyes open. His body kept slumping further down in his chair and his eyes were completely closed, but he just did not want to stop eating his chips. By the end of it he was completely asleep with a chip hanging out of his mouth, and was still sort of half chewing on it. What a funny boy!

LA Originals Knitted Baby Hat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

LA Originals Knitted Baby Hat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Little Mave Bloomer GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Little Mave Bloomer GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Following the Leader

Lately, Steven likes to copy everything Elise does. It is actually quite cute. One of Elise's favorite things to do is play "balance beams" on the curbs all over the back yard. Yesterday I looked out the window to see Steven following her on the "balance beam." Everytime he would fall down, she would help him back up. Awwww.... it melts my heart to see them play together so nicely.

A Lucky Day

Do you ever have one of those days where you just feel loved? Yesterday was one of those days for me. First, I got a very fun package in the mail from a good friend. Here are part of its contents:

What fun! It is a little wooden nativity set with a stable. It is great, because I am about to get out my Christmas decorations, and this way there will be a set that my kids can actually play with. Also, she sent the cutest little Sesame Street Advent calendar which Elise LOVES. Thanks, Elizabeth!

Then last night while I was putting Steven to bed, I thought I heard some commotion in the front yard, but I figured it was the neighbors so I just ignored it. It was actually the Young Women putting these cute hearts with messages all over our lawn:

I wish I had taken a picture of them actually in the lawn, but it was too dark last night, and this morning they were a little wilted from the dew.

They also left something which I have enjoyed for breakfast this morning. Yum! Just don't look at how many are already missing because it is embarassing. I just have no self control when it comes to good chocolate, so a whole box could be dangerous for me.

The problem with having chocolate for breakfast is that I have to hide from my kids so that I don't have to share it with them. It's worth it though.

I was able to distract them with eggo waffles. Lucky for me, they are easily distracted.

And don't you love the gold bow in Elise's hair? It came off the See's candy box. She found it on the counter and said, "Hey look Mom, the Young Women left me a hair bow for a present!" I just went with it because I didn't want to tell her it was actually from a box of chocolate that I was not planning to share with her. Don't you just love fun surprises?

Sweet Dreams, literally

Sometimes on preschool days, Elise is just so worn out that she can't even stay awake until 7:00. Today was one of those days. At 6:30 I told her that she and Steven could watch one episode of Dora and then they needed to go to bed. She wanted to watch Dora from my bed, so I let her. Well, she was asleep in my bed before Dora was half way over. I just went to move her into her own bed, and when I picked her up she was mumbling, "Those cookies are just really, REALLY good." She makes me laugh sometimes. I know she's got a major sweet tooth, but apparently she even dreams about sweets. She is quite a vivid dreamer, courtesy of her Father who occasionally walks and talks in his sleep as well :-). It certainly makes things more interesting when you never know what kind of "episodes" might be going on after dark.

10 Little Indians

Okay, it was actually more like 15 Little Indians, but whose counting? For Elise's Thanksgiving Program at preschool, each class made their own costumes. Her class were the Indians, another class was the pilgrims, and the youngest class were the Turkey's. They all turned out so cute. Too bad I somehow got out the door without my camera, and when I pulled out my cell phone to snap a picture the battery was dead. So, you will have to live with just a picture of Elise when she got home. Too cute! And please ignore the dirty face. She comes home from preschool that way nearly everyday. She must play hard while she is there.

Elise has actually become quite the little performer. She participated in her first Primary Program on Sunday and did a great job (other than waving at Mom everytime I made eye contact, so I had to stop looking at her). We will definitely be having a talk before the next time about "smiling" at mom to say hi, but not waving. She ended up with a long part because another Sunbeam wasn't going to be participating, and she still was able to memorize the whole thing. Her part was, "I lived with Heavenly Father before I came to earth. He loves me and has a plan for me. The family is ordained of God and is central to his plan." It amazes me how fast she was able to memorize this. Just a couple times through and she had it. She is one smart little cookie!

Sunday was actually an eventful day for us as it was my first day in the nursery. I am definitely excited to be the new Nursery Leader. I will miss the Young Women, but as I had been president for three years and served in Young Women for two years before that, it was a good time for me to be released, and definitely a cause for celebration in the Miller household (especially by Steven, who didn't really like to be left in Nursery without Mom anyway). This should definitely be a different adventure for me as I have worked with teenage girls for so long!

Fashion Sense?

It is hard to believe how fast Elise is growing up, and all of the new things she is learning so quickly. Lately we have been knocking heads a little because she often insists on picking out her own clothes and getting dressed all by herself. Not only does she not seem to understand or care about matching, but she also doesn't even seem to care if her shirt is on frontwards or backwards, so this can create a little friction. This past Saturday was a stay at home day. Since we weren't going anywhere I just let her pick out whatever she wanted and put it on herself. Don't you love the results? I particularly love how she picked out one orange sock to match her shirt and one pink striped sock to match her pants. And I'm pretty sure that the blue tennis shoes which she insisted on wearing on the wrong feet top it all off perfectly. Hopefully her sense of fashion improves with age!

Small Spaces

My kids have always liked fitting into small spaces. I have found both of them inside cupboards, under beds, and climbing into drawers countless times. The other day Steven climbed into a little tupperware box, and he was so proud that he had fit himself into it. It reminded me of a picture I took of Elise just before Steven was born. I walked into the room t find her sitting in a similar container. What really cracked me up was that she was really just sitting in the box chilling and watching Dora. Sometimes kids really do the funniest things! Of course, after Steven climbed in the box this time around, Elise had to check it out and see if she could still fit... and she does.

It's a Good Thing Someone Likes to Wear Woody's Costume...

Birthday Cake and Presents

We kept Steven's birthday kind of low key this year. We went to dinner at his favorite restaurant, Chili's (he loves the Skillet Queso). Then we came home and had birthday cake and opened presents. I figure when you are two, nothing beats cake and presents, so what else did he really need? Here are a few pictures.

Happy Birthday, Steven!

Happy Birthday, cute boy! It's amazing how the time has flown by!

Steven on the day he was born:

First birthday:

On his second birthday, lunching at In N Out with Mom:

Halloween

So as I could have predicted, little Grumpy refused to wear his Halloween costume I made him. There was something about the shirt he just hated, and he was not going to go near his boots. He finally conceded to wear his costume without the shirt or boots, but he just sort of looked like a pathetic attempt at a cowboy without the complete ensemble. Definitely not Woody. Chris says I'm never making Grumpy a costume again. We'll see. Maybe in a year or two he will appreciate it more. Here are a few fun pictures. In case you're not really familiar with the movie or can't recall, Chris is dressed up as Stinky Pete.