It's been a while...

Thanks to Uncle Buddy and Aunt Judy for the Wal-Mart gift cards that bought Katelyn this cute Winnie the Pooh outfit!
And those same gift cards got Ethan this cool church outfit which he is posing for us!

Aren't they cute cuddling together?

Katelyn's Valentine's outfit (you know it's been a while since I last put a post!)

Tonight Ethan and Katelyn were playing on the porch with Grandpa.

Katelyn is joining in the fun!

Not too much has been going on here--no 20 inches of snow or anything! We've been busy with church and school and work and things and doing well! : )

My Singing Cuties

Katelyn's attempt to sing Jesus Loves Me.

Ethan singing "Jesus Loves Me" (one of his favorites).

February Fun

The kids decided to carry around bags and Katelyn looked too adorable in her hat, necklace and purse (which she calls backpack)!
A close up of the cutie!
When I was busy with Katelyn, I came back to find that Ethan had emptied out my diaper bag on the floor and was playing with a hair barrette.
Ethan stealing my shoes and then running from me when I wanted to get a picture of him!

What a busy couple of weeks! Since our snow week, it's been tough adjusting to a real week of work! : ) Though lots of people have been sick, we've been fortunate to not have any sick kids. They had runny noses for a couple of days, but no fevers or coughing. Tracy and I have gotten the head cold, but are doing pretty good despite that. Today we went to Nana's house to celebrate Uncle Kelly's birthday. I forgot my camera, of course, so I didn't get the pics of Ethan helping Kelly blow out the candles or Amy (aka MiMi) running around the house with kids laughing hysterically. It's just so wonderful to be near family! : )

Finally our snow pics!

Katelyn enjoying her first real snow!
Look at that sweet face!
This is the next morning--a lot had already melted!
They like to climb in their closets and play!
Fingerpainting the other night

I'm an Avon rep now! : )

I'm now officially an Avon rep! I've always liked their products and wanted to make some extra money on the side. I'm contemplating doing the website, but I wanted to see if there was any interest out there. I have some customers here to whom I give catalogues), but for the website, anyone can order from it and have it shipped directly to your house. If you'd think you'd be interested in that (or in receiving a catalogues) just send an e-mail to me!

Funny Videos!

Last night we were listening to the kids' CD and in the middle of the CD, a lullaby comes on and Ethan says it's time to take a nap and he lies down on the floor. It was so cute so I had to have him act it out again!

While we were still playing this game, Katelyn takes the opportunity to do her favorite thing: steal Ethan's toy. Note how she looks for an opportune moment and runs with glee when she finally has it!

Katelyn making banana bread

Ethan smashing bananas

Making Banana Bread

You can tell she is having fun here!
Papa stood close behind to make sure she didn't fall of the chair!
Ethan really liked mashing the bananas!

What's funny is that after all the work and fun and making the banana bread--Ethan wouldn't try it and Katelyn tried it, but didn't like it! Oh well! We still had fun!

Updates

I keep forgetting to mention this, but it is so sweet. We took the Christmas trees down on New Year's Day and Ethan cried. I forgot to warn him ahead of time and he was so upset. He kept saying "I don't want to take the Christmas tree down." It was so cute even though I felt bad that I didn't make it an easier transition. Since then he keeps asking for more Christmas presents and telling me he doesn't want Christmas to be over. I think he really liked Christmas! : ) Also, last night Ethan and I decided to make some banana bread (pictures coming soon!). He mashed the bananas, put the eggs in the bowl, poured the sugar and flour and sprayed the dish with non-stick spray. He had his own little ladder to stand on and while we were doing this, he said, "This is fun! I like cooking!" It was too precious!

Katelyn is the sweetest little smiley girl. She loves being tickled and kissed under her chin. Dad and I were going through the list of words she knows and were amazed when we realized she knows and uses close to 50 words. Among her favorites are: ball, eat, more, yeah (and she says it so cute!), noooooo (especially if someone asks for a kiss), chocolate (which sounds more like chocka), book, please, thank you, hat, eye, ear, help, Dora, Diego, Max and Ruby , uh oh and bye bye! She is a bundle of energy and hardly ever sits down.

Birthday and Christmas!

Here's me and my baby girl celebrating my 30th birthday!
Me and my baby boy!
At the church Christmas party.
They got to see Santa and Ethan actually talked to him!
Katelyn did not appreciate me putting her on Santa's lap!

On Christmas day in front of Katelyn's new kitchen!
Ethan playing with his new tool bench!
Ethan first being brought out to see what Santa left him!
Katelyn's new toys!

I thought this was so cute that he wanted to sit there and eat his banana and look out the window!
In the bath--he wanted me to talk to the duck in his hand.
Katelyn sporting her Dora sunglasses in the bath!

Christmas was really fun for the kids. They have been enjoying playing with all of their new toys and we enjoyed being home together during the break. Some funny things over the break are that Katelyn's favorite song is the Alvin and Chipmunks Christmas song. Terry played it for her every day and she sways from side to side while lifting her legs (we call it the sumo wrestler dance). She also walks all over the house pushing her little stroller. Ethan said the funniest thing to me the other day. He was playing with his new dumptruck when he came up to me to tell me that his truck had been rude to him. I came over with him and had a "talk" with his trucks when he decided that they needed to be put in timeout! He put them in timeout and then after a while let them out after telling them to be nice. I almost died laughing. His favorite play with his toys is discplining them!

Christmas Gifts for the Babies

I've had a couple of people ask me what the kids need, so I thought I'd do a post. Really, they don't need much, especially in the way of toys, but here a few ideas anyway:
Ethan
sizes (3T for tops and 2T for bottoms)
-collared shirts for church (long sleeve)
-sweaters
-shoes size 8

Katelyn
(size 18 months for tops and 12 months for bottoms, but for a an outfit together 18 months)
-dress outfits for church
-shoes size 4 (tennis shoes size 5)
-sweaters

For either (since they'd share)
-books
-themed music CDs like Blues Clues or Backyardigans (we don't have any and they love music)

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! : )

Christmas Spirit at Nana's House!

Katelyn looking like a cutie in her Aristocats sweater!
Nana and DaddyBob's Christmas tree that Tracy and Uncle Kelly put up.
Ethan enjoyed getting to help decorate another tree!
Katelyn helped too!
The kids loved this Santa that sang "Jingle Bell Rock" and shook his hips. We finally had to unplug it for our sanity!
Playing with Papa!
Putting them to work--Ethan and Katelyn helped me clean on Saturday by wiping down the oven, frig and tile around the fire place. It's never too early to get them helping! : )
Being adorable on our deck. We put lights out there and the kids enjoy the new ambiance! : )

Ethan and Katelyn reading together and being oh so cute!

I didn't have time the other night to type anything, so I figured I'd just put a quick post now to give the update! Ethan really enjoyed putting up his own Christmas tree (which is the teeny 3 ft tree we used in our tiny apartment). When he was done, he said it was so "beeeautiful"! His job every night is to turn on the big tree and the one in his room. Katelyn has also been fascinated with the tree, but learned quickly not to touch the ornaments (she's allowed to touch the ornaments on Ethan's tree though since they're not breakable). Dad, Terry, Tracy and I are getting more and more in to the Christmas spirit listening to our Christmas music and even putting up lights outside. We need to take night shot of our house with the lights on so you can see it. The Christmas tree is in the window too and looks pretty!

We had fun in the Christmas parade on Sunday. The kids got to ride in the train (I held Katelyn) and throw candy to the crowds. Tracy and Terry and Dad got to walk along side.

There are lots of fun Christmas things going on right now that I'm looking forward to doing with the kids! We still need to take our Christmas pic and send out cards.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

Ethan has our old three foot tree in his room and he really enjoyed decorating it!

We were in a Christmas parade on Sunday. Doesn't she look in her hat?
Ethan looks cute too but wouldn't wear them for long!
Our Christmas tree this year decorated with Ilona's lovely ornaments!
Playing tent!
Ethan and DaddyBob at Ethan's first football game! He was SUCH a good boy too!

Reading in Katelyn's room!

In the Christmas parade, Ethan fell asleep in his little car. Everyone took pictures because they thought it was so cute!
In the Christmas train for the parade!