Picture with Santa

This past Friday we went to get our picture taken with Santa with our friends Erica and Spencer. The girls were super excited about it and kept talking about Santa's lap. I was psyched! Here is the best picture:

(think crickets chirping)

That's correct. There is no picture. The girls just yelled "NO SANTA!!!" and refused to get anywhere near him. Since then, whenever Santa or a lap is mentioned, they are again adament that there is to be NO SANTA LAP!

Oh well, here is a picture from the play area that at least shows them in their Christmas dresses:

Call me Martha

We are being so crafty (for me!) Here are the girls doing a Christmas art project (how cute are they in their little "smocks"):

My craftiness

Cause I am proud of myself...Here is my door decoration that I made all by myself (including the bow)

The Elf on the Shelf

My friend Lisa got us the Elf on the Shelf last year...but as previously mentioned our household didn't really do much for Christmas last year (and the girls were probably a little too young) So this year I was really excited to break out the elf (if you don't know about it, here is a summary: an elf comes to your house, you name it, it leaves each night to talk to santa, comes back the next day to a new spot, you have to find the elf). The girls LOVE it!!

D explaining the concept...they pretty much just know that they are supposed to find him each morning and then not touch him.

When they find him, they are supposed to run up to him and point at him and yell his name...which the girls cleverly came up with..."Elf."

Christmas is Coming...

The day we got back from Thanksgiving, we started our decorating for Christmas! We did not put up any decorations last year - it was really quite depressing. So this year we decided to risk it and go all out. The girls LOVE it! And they have been so good (knock on wood) about "No Touch" for most everything. We do have one are that it is ok for them to touch and that seems to help. Unfortunately I cannot currently locate my camera so this will be a short post, but I wanted to have a little Christmas spirit on the blog.

Misc. Thanksgiving

Not only were our flights to and from MS wonderful, but our entire visit went great! We split our time between Gramma and Gary (or in A&B world where they really do not utilize all 26 letters of the alphabet "Gah-gah" and "Gah-gee") and Granddaddy and Jane (Gee-daddy and Gain). We also got to see my sister and her family Amy, Ed, John David, and Will (May-mee, Eh, Da-da-da, and Wuh) Perhaps the most excitement was for the cat Max...the girls LOVED him and fortunately he was quite tolerant of them as well. We also got to visit with 2 of my friends from high school who I had not seen for years so that was very fun for me. The grandparents babysat and we got to go to dinner and see the movie The Blindside (very good - I cried extensively throughout the beginning)

Here is a recap in photos:

Girls gone wild!

Ducks gone wild!

Fun at the zoo...we think the animals were lonely cause they kept coming right up to the fence to visit with us.

Brooke: "Don't worry Awe-ee. I've got your back!"

Learning how to play a "big nano"

Brooke is a princess!

Making the topping for the sweet potatoes

John David "Now, Audrey...have you seen Charlie Brown?"

Brushing the very patient Max

One more, cause I just wasn't certain that we had gotten a picture of them in their striped jackets!

Thanksgiving Travel

I am feeling overwhelmed that I am so far behind...

We flew to MS to see my family for the week of Thanksgiving. I was quite nervous about flying with the girls. The last couple of flights had been hit or miss (oh I will never forget the flight on Mother's day where Brooke was crying hysterically in my lap and I was crying hysterically as well...)

But I am pleased to announce that the were SUPERSTARS!!! on Both flights. They could not have been any better. In fact, at one point I told D that I thought I could probably handle them on a flight solo....but I won't go crazy or anything and actually test that out.

We flew Southwest with 4 tickets. We sat 3 and 1. And the 1 was me!! perhaps that is why I felt like it went so great...I pretty much had minimal responsibility. Though they seriously were perfect little angels. That was certainly one giant prayer answered.

Ready for takeoff!!