Christmas Tree 2011

We visited our favorite Christmas tree farm and enjoyed some tree-hunting. The kids were super excited this year, which made it more fun!

Blogger is loading my pics out of order (whaaaaat?!). This one is super cute because the kids got themselves all bundled up and then put their antlers on over their hats. Love their cuteness!!

Super fun random Amish buggy!!

Carrying the little Christmas tree we got for Todd's office:

The kids really got into the decorating this year - SO fun!

Finished product: (I think it looks wonderful!)

Gotcha!!

Zachary got Grandpa good this past weekend while he was taking a nap out front!

Click HERE to watch the 20-second video.

The perks of OCD

Mommy: "Zachary, you get to clean out the car today as part of your punishment for coloring on your seatbelt."

Zachary: "OK. Is Allie gonna help?"

Mommy: "No, Allie didn't color on her seatbelt."

Zachary: "OK. I have an idea."

Mommy: "That's fine, as long as the car gets cleaned out."

Zachary: "I'm gonna need 3 buckets."

Mommy (confused, but very intrigued): "Alright, I'll bring them to ya. What are you gonna do with the 3 buckets?"

Zachary: "You'll see."

This is how he cleaned out the car: (toys, clothes, shoes)

I love his quirky genius little self!!

Thanksgiving Feast

Zachary had this Thanksgiving Feast on Thursday. It's always cute to see him with his friends!!

Because the feast was on a Thursday, Allie didn't have school, so she joined us at Zac's. See her food? Wide variety, as usual.

Operation Christmas Child

Grammy put together all the stuff for the kids to do some shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. We've had the stuff at our house for a month and the kids have been telling people, "This is stuff for kids in China because they don't have any markers or toys."
So last week, I had the kids watch the videos from their website of children receiving the shoeboxes and using the contents for school or play. It was pretty neat. Then they packed their own boxes. Allie packed the girls' boxes and Zac packed the boys' boxes. On Sunday, they carried their boxes to church with big smiles. Nothing like doing something special for somebody else!

Special Friend

Allie brought this picture home from school yesterday and carried it around the entire afternoon & evening. She told me it is from a boy at school who is her friend. His name is Barrett and he made this picture for her at his house and brought it to school to give to her. She pined over the picture and continuously referred to it as her "Barrett paper." So cute!

Misinformed, but in a good way!

We were at a department store the other day and saw a display of collectible Santas. Allie stopped, pointed and said, "Mommy! Look! It's Noah!"

Roller-skating

We took the kids roller-skating today. It was their first time actually putting the skates on and skating out there. We all had such a fun time!!
These are Allie's skates (so cute!!):

We realized that Allie is a natural. This girl put the skates on and went right out there without any hesitation or even really any dependency. She wanted to conquer that rink.

This is a cute little "skate gate" they allow small children to use while they're learning to skate. See how confident, relaxed and independent she is?!!

Zac, on the other hand....This kid was goofy and wild! I'm not sure if he just isn't coordinated or if he just had trouble with balancing, but Zac was flailing all over the place!!

The kids loved it and we had a great time. I think they'll both catch on pretty quick if we go a few more times.

First Lost Tooth!

Well, Zachary lost his first tooth tonight! So fun!! He's had the bottom middle two teeth loose for awhile now (maybe 3 months?) and has really been working on the one on the right side. Last night, he was eating an apple and got really brave & started chomping down trying to get the tooth to get stuck in the apple pieces. We were certain he'd lose it last night.
However, the apple-eating wasn't quite enough. Tonight, Todd & Zac were messing around just before bed and Zac let Todd wiggle the tooth. Todd pushed it back pretty roughly and could tell it "snapped" off. So, the two of them ran to the bathroom and Zac saw the blood, which was disheartening to him and made him cry a little. By the time I got to the bathroom, the tooth was literally just laying on the gum. Zac pushed it out with his tongue and it landed in Todd's hand. We jumped up & down in excitement and he finally smiled! A few minutes later, he was super excited to put his tooth in the little container under his pillow.
Once it was bed time, I was laying with him and he said, "Mommy, it feels so weird now!" He also said, "I'm gonna keep my eyes open all night so I can see who the tooth fairy is." So cute!!