It's Christmas Time!

I can never get these pictures in order, but here is Katelyn's Christmas tree. I had the same bow for Ethan, but he freaked out and said that bows were for girls!!

They enjoyed decorating Katelyn's tree.

Our decorated Christmas tree. I love Christmas! We had a great time decorating the tree as a family and listening to Christmas songs!

Katelyn playing with the nativity.

Tracy put up some lights outside and the kids say "Good morning, lights!" every day (even at night).

Ethan's Christmas tree!

Little People Nativity

Last year, Janice bought the kids this adorable nativity set and the kids love it!

Who says there isn't a difference between boys and girls?

Notice how cute and sweet Katelyn is dancing and then Ethan comes on the scene stomping feet and flailing arms! : )

TTEK

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Amy's funny Elf video

This is hilarious--Amy made this video with pictures of herself, her cat, Janice, Ethan and Katelyn. I died laughing. She did another one with Tracy and me too and as soon as I get it, I'll put the link too. Click here.

Ethan's Birthday Party

Ethan helped make his birthday cake.
The masterpiece! Ethan loves chocolate cake!

Yes, Katelyn got presents too, but Ethan really did get more and he has been so great about sharing!

Thank you Nana and DaddyBob--Ethan's playing this as I type! This toy may find it's way to Nana's house for a visit! : )

MiMi (Amy) got Katelyn the cute tiara and earrings and Katelyn kept saying that she looked like MiMi because she had earrings on. It was too cute!

About to blow out the candles!

All by himself--what a big boy!

The party got crazy after a while with the kids running around like crazy and Katelyn changing her wardr0be!

Ethan had a great birthday! Thursday night we stayed at home and just had cupcakes then Friday night we took him to see Bolt, his first movie in a theater. Ethan sat still the whole time and when it ended, he said, "Again!" For his birthday party, we just had family over and the kids loved it. The theme was Thomas the Train. Ethan got a neat Handy Manny toy that he and Katelyn have been playing with from MiMi. He got a guitar and big Lightning McQueen from Nana and DaddyBob (which he slept with) and he got a Thomas the Train train set from me, Tracy, Grandpa and Terry. We joked that it's going to be hard to beat this at Christmas!

Happy 4th Birthday!!

Ethan's 3rd Birthday

Ethan's 2nd Birthday


I can't believe Ethan is 4 years old. He's having his birthday party on Saturday but we had some surprises for him today--he got to wear a birthday boy Cars pin today, got some little presents (I found some Thomas the Train books at Goodwill) and cupcakes. After we sang Happy Birthday, Tracy and I hugged Ethan and told him how glad we were that God brought him in to our lives. We just love him so much!

A Maze, a Hayride and Lots of Fun!

"Tell me what it's really like to be a goat!"
"Look at those cute piggies!"

Riding the cow train!

On the hay ride!

Playing with the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.

They had miniature hay mazes in addition to the giant corn maze.

You can see Ethan holding a map here. I didn't take any pics in the corn maze, but he and his friend got to hold the maps and tell us which way to go. They took us all over the place, but they loved being in charge!

My friend and her son--we went to college together 14 years ago! I'm so glad she lives somewhat close by now!

Last weekend, a friend and I went to a nearby farm to take our kids on a hayride and to a maze. We stayed there all day and had a blast, but were exhausted when we got home. Maybe I should rephrase that--my friend and I were exhausted but the kids were fine!

At the park and Boo in the Zoo

We just finished a kiss when she took the pic!

Ethan didn't feel like dressing up!

I went to the park with a friend and took some pics with the kids. We had a great day! I also have some pics from when we went to Boo in the Zoo with some friends. It wasn't nearly as nice as the one in Louisville, but Katelyn enjoyed being a princess.

!

Pumpkin Fun

We decided a few weeks ago to get a pumpkin and carve it. We let the kids pick out a face from a book and they both wanted a scary face. Afterwards, Ethan was convinced it was watching him (much like Katelyn's Dora balloon) and wanted to throw the pumpkin away. We had a big talk about it just being for fun and it really being "a vegetable with a candle in it". This really helped! We've already thrown it away since it rotted, but the kids loved saying good morning and good night to it and lighting it at night!

Video from Katelyn's haircut

Ethan and Katelyn's school pics

You have got to see these pictures--they are so adorable! Their poses crack me up! Ethan's will be first, but you'll have to scroll down about halfway to find Katelyn (she's wearing a pink and black dress). Those stinkers certainly know how to get your money---Tracy joked that we won't have food to eat, but we'll have pictures of our kids! It won't let me link it so just copy and paste the address below:

www.richbeginnings.com/hdfall2008

Katelyn's 1st Haircut

Her before shot--her hair was pretty uneven and she had some curls hanging longer than others. The lady who cut her hair was the one who did Ethan's first haircut too!

We got her to sing songs to keep her occupied (video coming soon!).
Her after picture and she didn't want to look! I haven't got many pictures of her "look" here but this is her sassy "I don't want to do it" look!
I got my haircut too--doesn't she look thrilled?
Because she was such a good girl, we stopped by Big Lots and she got to pick out a small toy--surprise, surprise, but she picked out a tiara. She's really in to this princess thing. In fact, today in the car we were talking and I asked her if she was a baby and she said no. I asked her what she is (she usually says a big girl) but she said a princess instead. It was too cute!