You Won't Find These In Colorado!

From the kids' perspective:

SADIE:
Sadie points to every palm tree she sees and says,  "Look!  A Hawaiian tree!"  Not sure where that came from, but I laugh every time!

MORGAN:
Last year (2010), when we visited Brian's family in Arizona for Christmas, I remember having the following conversation with Morgan, then age 4.

Morgan: (pointing to a palm tree trunk) Mom, what is that?
Me: That's a palm tree.
Morgan: That's not a tree.  Trees have branches and leaves!
Me: (pointing up to the top of the tree) See, the leaves are up at the very top.
Morgan: Well, it's not a Colorado tree, then.

6 MONTHS OLD!!

Wow!  How time flies!  I can't believe our little guy is already 6 months! 

In honor of his birthday, for FHE, we each shared our favorite thing about Carson.  Then, we celebrated with Golden Spoon!  Yummy!

Here are some favorite (and not-so-favorite) things about Carson:

* He rolls all over the place and loves to explore (he recently got his head stuck under the ottoman reaching for a toy)!

* He smiles and cries at the same time!

* He loves to blow bubbles with Grandpa!

* He pulls his socks off and undoes the velcro on his shoes  (notice the picture)

* He charms everyone he meets!

We love our little buddy! 

This month, Morgan is learning about American History, and last week, she made a Statue of Liberty Crown.  This is how she walked out to the car after school.  Notice the "torch" in her hand.

The girls received even more train tracks for Christmas.  They got out the blocks and Sadie built a city and Morgan built the tracks.  It's pretty impressive!  Sadie even created the suburbs with smaller buildings apart from the tall buildings downtown!

Meet Fillmore

Or, as the girls are always saying, "Carson, here's your friend...Mommy, what's his name again?"

I've been searching for a lovey for Carson for a few months.  First, I couldn't decide on an animal (all the fun ones are taken by cousins--hippo, lion, giraffe, monkey...).  Then, I didn't know what I would name said animal, once I decided.  So, I kept searching.

I happened upon a frog named Fillmore, and thought it was a very fitting name, but I didn't like that Fillmore.  So, I continued to search.  I found a different frog, named Ponds (original, huh?), and I just decided that his name would be Fillmore.

He came in the mail last week.  Carson loves to chew on his face and grab his hands (legs??).  It was love at first gnaw.  And, the rest will become a fun family journey, just as Rae and Lulu have.

Sadie's Latest...

I knew from the day she was born that Sadie would always have to do things on her schedule.  That being said, I haven't pushed her to learn her letters, numbers, etc.  I knew that eventually, she would take an interest, and, at that point, she'd dive in full speed ahead!  

She's been counting for a while, and about 4 months ago, she started wanting to recognize letters and numbers, but still no writing.  So, I started doing workbooks with her, but at a very casual pace.  

Two weeks ago, she said to me, "Mommy. I want to write my name.  What are the letters?"  And, after only tracing my dot letters three times, here's what she did all on her own!  (And, of course, to document her first name writing, it had to be on a piece of scratch paper.  Oh, well!)

(side note:  right at her 2nd birthday, I remember talking to her babysitter about my concern that she might be colorblind--she was that aloof to learning!  But, I now know that's what happens when you compare siblings!  Morgan was eager to learn at an early age.)

Twinners

Carson and his cousin, Jack, must have received the same church shirt for Christmas from Grammy.  Both times that the Jones family has been up for Sunday dinner since then, Jack and Carson have both sported their new attire.  And, for those of you that think taking a picture of all your kids is hard, try taking a picture with a toddler who is intrigued by his bald cousin's head.  Yeah.  Here's proof that it's really interesting (to Jack, at least).

And, here's the best we could get.  At least Alie and I look good!

Only in California...

 ...can you play in the sprinklers on Christmas Eve.

100% Boy

 Look at this kid.  We love every last bit of him.  Even if he does make a huge mess while eating!

Christmas 2011

Here's a quick recap of our Christmas:

Christmas Eve:

Fondue at Grammy and Grandpa's

New Christmas PJs

Christmas Morning:

Sadie

Carson

Morgan

Christmas Adventures

We had lots of fun participating in a couple of Christmas activities this past weekend.

We started off the weekend decorating gingerbread cookies with our great friends, the Whettens.  The activity definitely didn't go as planned, when we looked over and saw Andrew frosting his hand, not the cookies!  Yummy!  But, the kids had lots of fun and the Whettens have the perfect BIG kitchen to make a mess like that!

Then, on Saturday night, we went to visit Santa.  Our closest Bass Pro Shop is pretty far, so we found a house that my mom remembers taking us to as children (www.christmasonknobhill.com).  This cute couple decorates their yard each Christmas and every night (except Wednesdays, Santa bowls) Santa sits on a chair in the driveway to greet the children.

Here's our little bunch on Santa's lap:

Carson's first visit to Santa!

We met Grammy and Grandpa, who brought Baby Jack (he's no longer a baby, but he's not just "Jack"--what do we call him now??).  Jack was super tired, so he just went along with sitting on a stranger's lap.  He did give his classic, "I see you're trying to give me something, but I won't touch it" look when Santa tried to give him a candy cane.  He didn't even reach out his hand, so Santa gave up.  Oh well, maybe next year.

And, just for Alie, here are a few pictures of Christmas puke joy, complete with a flying pig.  There were so many lights and so many moving decorations, I couldn't get a clear picture!

Merry Christmas from California!

A Little Bit of Everything

On occasion, Morgan still takes "sleeping naps."  Oh, those are fabulous days!  This day, in particular, she was determined to not fall asleep (hence, no blanket or pillow).  

We've been learning about Pilgrims and Indians (Native Americans, to be correct) in Morgan's history packet for school this month.  One of the activities we did was to make a edible tepee.  We cut a tortilla in half, "glued" it with peanut butter, and stuck pretzels out of the top to resemble the real sticks used.

Oops!  Forgot to rotate this one.  This little guy fell asleep on our bed yesterday morning and slept for 3 hours!  There's something about sleeping in mommy's bed (even if I'm not in it) that helps him sleep better.

Sorry for the bad lighting.  Here's Sadie Bug, complete with disheveled hair.

Morgan opted out of a trip to the aquarium yesterday, just so she could stay in her footsie pajamas all day long!  She still wasn't dressed when Grammy Tammy came home at 3:00!