It's Christmas!

Here's what we've been up to lately. . .

Decorating the tree . . .


Taking sweet and silly pictures . . .


Going to Alpine Village with friends and playing in the "snow". . .


Snuggling on the couch to watch Christmas movies . . .

Singing in the Mother's Day Out Christmas Musical . . .


And having fun with good friends . . .

Maylen is with some of the girls from MDO. These girls have been together for 3 years now and they are all so close. It's really sweet to see how their friendships have developed. (Abigail, Ava, Maylen, Lindsey, Finley, & Adeline).

Adeline with her "best friend" Mackenzie. . . they are partners in crime. They get in trouble during nap time for cutting up and making each other laugh, but they are really cute together.

What Christmas is really about!

December has got to be the business month on record for most folks. I think it's the most expensive month on record, too. I mean, I try to spread my Christmas shopping out and start a couple months early so it doesn't all hit at once. But with the parties, and the extra gifts you don't anticipate, like teachers you forgot to put on your list, extra desserts you have to make, parties, etc, it all adds up. It's all in good cheer and holiday fun. But I'm feeling a little drained right now, and not just of money--energy and time too. Ok, so that I don't sound like I'm complaining, I want whoever may still be reading my blog to know that I'm so thankful for all of these holiday activities. It's exciting, and memorable. I think some of my funnest memories are of holiday traditions. The excitement of the Christmas parties and the fun of baking and decorating a house to look festive, are all so fun and I'm very sentamental about them all. The things that have become my favorite are checking the mail everyday for Christmas cards -- I love the photo cards. And I love pulling the ornaments out and hanging them on the tree-- especially the ones that bring back memories of Christmases past (the girls handprints, the ones they made, the pictures of them). One of my mom's favorite ornaments of all times is of Steven, my brother, one year at Christmas when he was probably 4. He's got the sweetest little sad face. We always talk about how cute he was then. So now I've started getting pictures ornaments for the girls every year that I can put their picture in from each Christmas. Christmas is special, and I want it to be special for my girls. But I also don't want it to be so busy and crazy that we don't take the time to really enjoy these special days. I want the true meaning of the holidays to not be crowded out by our busyness. I was the joy of giving to not be squelched by the cost of a gift, or the busyness of stores. I want my girls to see the greatest gift as Jesus and His reason for coming to this earth. I want the girls to sing the carols and realize that the joy is that Jesus entered this very dark and bleak world to give us LIFE! JOY! PEACE! and an eternal life with Jesus, with lasting joy and no sorrow! "JOY to the world the LORD has come, let earth receive her KING! Let every heart prepare Him room! . . . And wonder of His Love!"

Giving Thanks in the Mist of Busy Life

We've had a lot going on around here! Too much to keep up with some days! The girls are growing and learning so much everyday. Maylen is now reading! She's doing a great job sounding out words, and has been adding to her "sight" words which is helping her read faster. We are so proud of her. We also had a little bit of a lesson in electricity the other day. Maylen thought it was fun to shock us with her kisses!


I ordered the girls portraits from their photo session at Lynn and Lynn. I can't wait to get them back. I'll have Adeline's portrait hanging next to Maylen's 2 year portrait over my mantel. I remember getting Maylen's done -- hard to believe that was two years ago. My mom, the girls, and I went to Anna Renee's tea room while we were in Oakland for my birthday lunch. I took some pictures of the girls. I had hoped to get some outside picture in front of the beautiful fall leaves, but since it's been so cold the girls weren't too happy with the idea.




William and I had the week of Thanksgiving off -- well William only had to go in to clinical one day. It was so nice having time at home to get things done around the house. William has been working on the house -- replacing siding, rotted boards and my bathroom window in preparation to paint the house. The actual painting might take place when there are some warmer days. One of our days home, Adeline was particularly self-entertaining. I found her in the bathroom painting Pooh with her paints. At least she was nice enough to paint on the toilet instead of the carpet! She's got that "caught red handed" look on her face.


We had a nice thanksgiving. We had lunch with the Janovich side of the family at Missy's house. The kid's table was full that day. Then we had dinner with the Pearson side at my mom's.



On Friday, I was eager to tackle clean up and decoration for Christmas. I had the girls help me rake the yard so that William could put the outside lights up. They were cute wanting to help blow off the driveway.



We are excited about the days to come and so thankful for the precious gifts that our children are to us everyday!

Time for an update . . .

Umm, let's see. . . I know there are many cute things that my kiddos have said and done since I last updated. And I've been losing track. I've been very busy with my business and so it has been hard to take pictures/blog/clean the house/keep up with all the things that I need to do/etc. Lately I've been going non-stop and haven't really gotten to sit down and write. By the time I get to sit down, I'm so pooped that I just want to crash in bed. That is just how this time of year is for me with my business. Tonight, after a long day at a show, I got to snuggle up with the girls for bedtime singing and prayer. I loved having one on each side of me, all cozy on this cold night, getting to love on them. It was by-far my favorite part of the whole day. I love them SO MUCH!
My video camera has been broken and I've been so sad thinking that I am not capturing all of these wonderful memories. I need to see about getting the thing fixed, but I'm not sure if people do that anymore. I remember when I was a kid, people took things to get them fixed. I think now days everyone just gets another one -- because technology is ever changing and my camera is 5 years old now. If you are reading this blog and you have any recommendations on this issue, I'd love to hear it. I'm not the technology-savvy type. I don't even own an ipod. haha

Here is a cute story. . .
Maylen apparantly buys into marketing easily. If she sees a commercial, she is likely to want what ever is being advertized. But this was particulaly funny. There was a "Mr. Clean" commerical that suggested that mom's can have a break because Mr. Clean makes her job cleaning so much easier. After watching, this was Maylen's response. . .
"Mommy, I wish we could get Mr. Clean, that way you could get a break."
I think she thought that the man actually comes to your house and cleans. I'd like for him to come clean my house too!

Here are some of the fun things that we've done . . .

Shampoo Dos

The girls enjoying some yummy S'mores. We roasted hotdogs and marshmellows over a bonfire at their cousins house.

William and I celebrated my birthday early by going to dinner at Jim's Place East. Delicious!
(Maylen was our photographer -- that's why we were both laughing)

Guess who wanted to be in the middle?

Maylen and Adeline playing in Daddy's sunroof.

Ok, so there's a little update. Now I'm off to bed. :)

Trick-or-Treat!

This year for Halloween Maylen chose to be a ballerina and Adeline said she wanted to be a princess. Adeline's favorite princess is Cinderella--she talks about Cinderella at least 4 times a day. So she told us when she was all dressed up that she was Cinderella. The girls were so excited that they were going to dress up for Mother's Day Out. They got to go door-to-door at MDO to trick-or-treat. Then that evening we went to the Pittman's house to eat pizza and trick-or-treat in their neighborhood. I think the girls though that that was the best concept ever-- dressing in costume and going door to door to get candy! That's their two favorite things in one night. They both crashed in the car on the way home. Good times can be exhausing.

Little Princess and Little Ballerina

How fun to dress in costume!

William thought the house was too quiet. When he opened the door to Adeline's room he smelled the candy. They were under the bed with their stash!

Trick-or-Treat!

Happy Birthday William!

This post is in honor of my wonderful husband on his 32nd Birthday! William, we are so thankful for your life, and so thankful that God has made you part of our lives. You are a sweet and fun daddy, a serving and loving husband, and a good friend. We are so thankful to God for you! Here are some of the things we love so much about you!

You've always been such a cute guy!

With you, there is never a dull moment!

You love the outdoors

You're handsome!

And such a classy guy!

Your athletic . . .


(and shirtless)!

You're fun to know
(Christmas while we were dating, 1996)

You teach us so much

You're a sweet daddy

and great-looking husband :)

Hope this year of your life is full of love and good memories!

We love you! Happy Birthday!

Oh my, where do they get this stuff?

Here is a conversation that I had with Adeline while I pulled up to my parents house today. My dad has been out of town for about 3 weeks now, and she has been missing her Papa.

Adeline: Is Papa here?
Mommy: No, Papa's not here. But Nana is here.
A: Is Papa working?
M: Yeah, Papa's working.
A: Well, he's not dead.

What do you say to something like that? I guess she was thinking, better working than dead. Which is true. haha

Cedar Hill Farm

I took the girls to Cedar Hill Farm in Hernando, MS on Saturday. William was out of town so we invited Miriam and Mary Chase to go along with us. Mary Chase is 3 1/2 so both girls enjoy playing with her. The girls had such a good time feeding the animals, riding the ponies, going to the pumpkin patch to pick their own pumpkins, playing on the playground, and getting their faces painted. We were exhausted by the time we got back home. Here are a few pictures from our day.

A Big Day for Adeline

We have been talking for a few weeks now about how it was about time for Adeline to give up her pacies. We told her that she could give her pacies to new babies at the hospital who would need them. Then one day she told me that she wanted to give her pacies to "Baby Tu". Baby Tru is my dear friend's new baby. I thought that was such a sweet idea. So we had talked about it some, and I told her that she would get to see baby Tru at church this morning. This morning she told me, "I want to take my pacies to baby Tu." So we put all her pacies in a bag this morning and Adeline took one pacy out of the bag at a time and put them in Tru's carseat. I'm so proud of her! So when we came home I gave her a special surprise for being such a big girl -- a set of princesses! She loves playing with little figures so she was very excited. Say a prayer for us at naptime and nighttime--hopefully she'll get used to sleeping without her pacies soon!

Baby Tru with his new pacies

Adeline with her new princesses

Maylen goes to College!

Maylen went with my mom, grandmother, and brother last weekend to visit my sister, Mary Elena at Miss. College. Maylen was so excited about going to visit Aunt Lana, and especially so that she was going to get to stay in the dorm room overnight with Lana. I was glad to know that Maylen did miss me and is not quite ready to head to college. I think I'll have a hard enough time sending her off to kindergarten next year.

Lana, Steven, Maylen, Nana, and Mamaw

Maylen, Lana, Heather, Erika, and ?

Lipstick!

Adeline got into my purse and decided to try on some lipstick. I think it is her way of supporting Sarah Palin!

Family Time

Lately on Sunday evenings we have been taking walks because the weather has been so nice, and because we don't have much physical activity on Sundays. I have enjoyed this time with my family. A couple weeks ago we went to a new part just before sunset. The skies were beautiful. Here are a few pictures.