Black Friday!

I think we have finally recovered from our Black Friday shopping.
Yesterday Ellie and I started our morning at 4, we quietly snuck out of the house, in hopes to not wake the others and made our way to the mall. Ellie was so excited to see all the cars, I on the other hand didn't enjoy the dilema of trying to park, but after only a few minutes we were able to steal a spot and not 40 acres away! :) The stores were packed but the holiday spirit was all around and the hope of getting that great deal was like a drug, addictive and controlling. Ellie had fun shopping for family and picking out very special presents, but the checkout line was a little longer than she hoped. After 3 hours and the completion of our lists she was ready to get back to her jammies and playing with her sister. And now we wait patiently to deliver those presents and smiles.

Jace had his 6 month check and he weighs in at 19lbs 6oz (76%), and is 27 1/2 inches(79%) tall with a cute little noggin 44cm (54%). He is doing great and we are very blessed with a happy little boy!

"the greatest gift you can give your children is a sibling."

Ellie's first quarter report card

Ellie had a very successful first quarter. Her math and reading/writing skills are among the highest in her class. She is also an independent worker who is able to accomplish tasks on her own. She is able to work very well with all students in our classroom and has been a kind and caring role model to others.
~strength: sounding out words to write sentences.
~goal: continue to improve in reading skills.

Jace is 6 Months old!

Jace is now 6 months old and its hard to remember a time without him. The girls are enjoying every new stage he hits. He has been sitting up unassisted for the past 3 weeks, he has also learned how to roll across the room, of course it takes him a bit but he likes that he can move by himself. He has gotten so big we had to retire the bouncy seat- you know it's time when his bottom is resting on the floor! He also grew tired of the floor gym, so now our living room isn't the obstacle course it used to be. :) The last week when he plays on the floor he pushes up on his arms and then slides his body in reverse and continues to do that to get to toys or the girls. They have so much fun watching and helping. Ellie and Sydney wanting to change his diaper, I let them and they thought it was lots of fun, and Sydney insists on holding his bottle and feeding him, a few more weeks and I am going to be out of a job! :)

He also has started on veggies and just dives into the food, as you can see there is no lacking of substance for him. Unfortunately for Mom and Dad, he deprived us of the funny faces. He just opens his mouth and swallows, its like he doesn't even taste the peas or beans. (the girls whenever they tried the different veggies would make yucky faces and sometimes whince-not Jace, just wants food, doesn't matter what kind)

And just like the girls likes to sleep face down, we just wonder how he breaths. He loves his blue blankey and nuzzles in and konks out. He continues to be a great sleeper, taking a 2 - 31/2 hour nap in the pm, allows Mom and Sydney for 1 on 1 time. :) Or a nap, once in a blue moon.

Sunday afternoon was spent doing leaf cleanup, even the girls were helping out. The best part for them was jumping in the piles Mom raked together. We had to work hard and fast to make sure to get done for the big game at 3!

Halloween was a little cold and living in the North we had to do a costume change, so instead of Ellie being a witch she went as a Princess wearing her tiara, carrying her wand and wearing a perfectly pink fur coat. Sydney instead of being Dorthy went as a pretty pink Carebear. The kids stayed warm and made out like bandits when it comes to the candy! They also thought it was pretty cool to see the firefighters and truck in our neighborhood and get yummy candy from them. After an hour and a sack full of candy we headed back to our house and gave out treats for the remaining hour of trick or treating. Ellie liked handing out candy more than getting it, until she was able to eat some of her loot.

We took the girls to Sweet Street and they had a lot of fun. They played in the bouncy house, rode down the big slide, trick or treated and had a yummy "Dirt Dessert" as you can see it all over Sydney's face! :) Jace had so much fun he fell asleep, literally!

The girls didn't like scooping out the pumpkin's tummy! But they did have fun with making their faces and eating their seeds.

The girls had lots of messy fun decorating Halloween cupcakes. They tasted so good!

Girl Scouts

Ellie started Girl Scouts this fall and is having lots of fun. The had their Fall Harvest Dance last Friday and Ellie was able to bring Sydney with. They did a Halloween craft, ate yummy Halloween treats and danced to a DJ. They did the Macarena, the Locomotion and the Hokey Pokey. It was lots of fun to watch the girls dance to the songs. Sydney however wasn't too fond of the loud music. And for attending the dance Ellie received her first patch. Here are a few pics from the dance.

Addiction

Addiction means something different to everyone, for me one of my addictions is picture frames, I am not sure how it started, just a few short years ago my Aunt Dee was telling me I need to put something on my walls. Now as I walk from room to room I don't see much of the walls I so carefully painted. Our children have become our works of art, each picture beautiful and unique. A picture is worth a thousand words, that's what they say but the most important word that comes to my mind is Love.
And so I challenged myself to count the picture frames that have been added since our first baby arrived and if you think this is not an addiction, it is, the grand total 76. So the next time I visit the craft store I plan to skip the frame aisle and go right to the paper aisle, another of my addictions, however that is an addiction I can conceal in folders, boxes and even the closet. :)