Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Each of the girls performed "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on Christmas Eve. Both were pretty cute if I do say so myself! :)

Elaina was cracking us up. She was really worried that Santa was going to come before she was in bed, as you can tell! And by the way, the actions are an exaggerated version of her Christmas dance recital performance.

My Elaina Girl

Elaina is growing up and I have mixed feelings about this. Overall, I'm so proud of her and love watching her learn and explore her little world and what she is capable of. On the other hand, she still says "haynguber" (=hamburger) and "smarshmallows," and I never want to correct this! I think it is so dang cute. It's like the last little bit of toddler in her that I'm not going to be the one to change. :)

However, Elaina came home from preschool yesterday with the assignment to read a story to me (one that they brought home from preschool). I sat down with her and was shocked to hear her read the whole thing, with help on a few words. I'm amazed at what these little minds are capable of. I really haven't worked with her a whole lot on reading yet, but I'm going to practice reading with her every day because she loves it and most of all, it's great to see her recognize the potential she has to read on her own. However, I'll hold off on showing her the proper way to spell and pronounce "smarshmallow" and "haynguber" for as long as I can!

Erin Teaches Mommy How To Talk

Erin was trying to teach me how to say "Ashley" and "Steve" (her aunt and uncle's names). Here's how it went:

Mommy, say 'A'
Now say 'sh'
Now say "uley"
Good, now say "Ashuley" (with emphasis on every syllable). She cracks me up. The best part is that she pronounces it wrong herself. :)

Next was Steve:

Mommy, say 'ssssss'
Now say 'teve'
Good Mommy! Now say "Steeeeeeeve"

How would I ever survive without this girl??

Elaina's Lunch Time Logic

The deal is that if Elaina finishes her sandwich (or at least eats more than 2 bites...), she can have an oreo for dessert. Halfway through her sandwich, she seems to get these horrible pains and feels deathly ill. Elaina believes that the sandwich is causing the problem and suggests that leaving the sandwich unfinished and having that oreo now will make this all better. Mom believes that an oreo is definitely not the answer to a stomach ache.

Hmmmm, Elaina is wondering what to do now.

"I just feel a little bit sick. I probably should rest." As soon as these words come out of her mouth, she realizes that this might be the answer to not having to eat that sandwich, but would not solve the problem of how to eat that oreo now.

After a soccer match with kitchen magnets (between Elaina and Erin), and a glass of spilled orange juice all over the floor, table, and chair, Elaina suddenly realizes that Mom is always one step ahead of her and if she'd just do what Mom says life will be a lot happier (I love moments like these!). She finishes her sandwich, and gets the oreo.

Now on to battle Erin, who doesn't logically try to get the oreo; she has a tantrum, and throws herself on the ground because of how unfairly she's being treated. She wears herself out trying to get the oreo and finally gives up. She will learn. Someday she'll turn 4 and try to use logical methods to trick me into giving her an oreo, and finally concede that Mom knows best and she should always do what I say :) And then we will all live happily ever after.

Erin Sleep-Eating

After Steve & Ashley's wedding at the temple, we went to the luncheon. Erin was apparently exhausted because she fell asleep...but continued to eat her roll. It was pretty funny. Mike's Dad caught it on video:

Multicultural Day

We attended a multicultural fair in College Station earlier this fall. Most of the pictures we took were of the Arabian cultures, to send to my parents I guess, but all the booths were interesting. I love these kinds of things.

Mike, wearing a Saudi ghutra

Bedouin Tent

The camels were a big hit!

Playing musical instruments. I can't remember which country these were from

Utah Trip

In October we were able to go to Utah for Ashley & Steve's (Mike's brother) wedding. We were so glad we were able to be there!

Elaina on the airplane

This is how Erin traveled. She drew a lot of attention riding through the Dallas airport like this

This is how Elaina travels

Mike's favorite BBQ restaurant in the world, which is interesting since we live in TX and are surrounded by BBQ!

Ashley, Steve & Elaina

Elaina and Opa (she was a little pictured-out!)

Mike and his cousins

Erin & Staci

I love this picture of Elaina and Ashley!

Elaina with Uncle TJ & Aunt Kelli

Elaina & Grandma

Jonny & Erin
Me and Mike

The girls with Mike's grandma

We were able to spend time with my sister Jen & her husband Jared, and see several of our old friends as well. It was such a great trip!

Halloween

This shows you how behind I am in posting. Here are the girls' Halloween costumes this year. They were both pretty cute :)

I love that Erin decided that this (while Mom is trying to get a pictures!) would be a good time to steal candy meant for the trick-or-treaters!

Elaina is so funny on Halloween. Part of the excitement, for her, is handing out candy to trick-or-treaters that come to our house. This year she got a small notebook in her bag, and as kids would come to our house she would tear a piece of paper out of her notebook and try to stuff it in their bags. Sometimes she had time to color a picture on it, and sometimes she didn't, so some kids just got a blank piece of paper with torn edges along the top. The older kids would look at her like "what's this?" Some even said "I don't want that!" She was completely oblivious. She just looked at them with this huge grin on her face, as if she'd just given them the greatest gift they could ever hope for, and said "it's your picture!" She is such a sweetheart. I hope she stays this way forever.

Going Un-Private

In an effort to find the motivation to blog more regularly, this blog is officially open to all readers....but no creeps allowed! :)

San Antonio Trip

In November we were able to tag along with Mike to a conference that he was presenting at in San Antonio. The girls and I went to the zoo one day and spent the rest of the time exploring downtown San Antonio - including the riverwalk, and The Alamo.

Here are some pictures from our day at the zoo:

They're giving the goats hugs :)

My favorite Elaina moments in Utah

Elaina had some of her funniest moments on our trip to Utah last week.

*Before we go on a trip, I lay everything out on my dining room table to make sure that we don't forget anything. When I was about ready to put everything in the suitcases (and hopefully make it all fit!), Elaina came up to me and said, "oh, I just need to get my dress-ups." I told her we wouldn't be bringing any dress ups because there wouldn't be room for them. She was obviously bothered by this. Then she reassured me with a solution: "oh, it's ok Mom, I'll only bring my dress up skirts." As she marched away to the toy room to get all of her dress up skirts, I again told her that we wouldn't be bringing ANY dress ups - including skirts. She assumed that this must mean that Uncle Steve has some dress up clothes at his house that she could wear. When I told her that he did not, then this little drama queen put her hands on her hips, and, with as much attitude as a 4 year old is capable of mustering (which, is alot!) she said to me: "but Mo-om! How can I be a princess if I don't have my dress ups?!?"

*Elaina walked onto the plane in College Station and asked the flight attendant if she was going to drive the plane. She told her no, but let Elaina say hi to the pilot. Elaina continued to try and figure out who this lady was, and so later, as the flight attendant was preparing the plane for take off, Elaina stopped her as she was walking down the aisle and in a very loud voice said, "are you the pilot's special helper?"

*We've been talking about the temple where Uncle Steve and Aunt Ashley are going to get married (the SLC temple). Elaina's been really excited about this because we have a picture of this temple in our church bag (she calls it "the temple that we bring to church"). She also believes that it is a castle. The morning of the wedding I was explaining to Elaina that she wouldn't actually be able to go inside the temple; she would have to wait outside. Of course, she was crushed. She exclaimed: "but then I won't be able to see Ashley and Steve dance!" I told her that she wouldn't miss the dancing since there is no dancing in the temple. This totally shocked her. She asked what the wedding would be like, and when I told her that Ashley and Steve would kiss at the end she exclaimed, "oh!!!!! And then Ashley will get her true love's kiss?!?" Perhaps this girl watches too many princess movies???

*At some point during the day, Elaina must have picked some flowers and been told not to because she marched up to Ashley (who was getting pictures with her pretty bouquet of flowers) and reprimanded her: "Ashley! You're not supposed to pick the flowers!"

*Elaina was so excited when she saw Ashley come out of the temple in her wedding dress. She gasped when she saw her and said, "oh, Ashely looks just like a beautiful princess!" She kept telling her that she looks just like Princess Aurora (despite her dark brown hair). Then, as we walked around Temple Square, Elaina was enamored by all the beautiful brides. She walked up to each one, as they were getting pictures in front of the temple, and in her most polite voice, said to them, "Hello Princess."

Catching up from our Calgary Trip this Summer

It seems like I'm always playing catch up lately! Oh well, better late than never! Enjoy some more fun pictures from our trip to Calgary this summer

Elaina & Erin with Uncle Dave

Erin and my brother David

Sneaking some brownie dough

Happy Girl

The girls in my family have a major shoe fetish. My Mom tops it all with her hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of shoes. She often brings home entire suitcases full of shoes for Erin and Elaina because she can buy them so cheap overseas. So I guess we're passing this shoe fetish along to the next generation. This time, however, she brought shoes for the big girls! I think this is a good new tradition too :)

Erin at the park

A swing built for 3!

My beautiful sister, Heather

My other beautiful sister, Jen, with Erin

Arabian Princess

Elaina's favorite pastime - doing puzzles

My Nana was an Elementary School librarian. She was excited to take Elaina to the library and get some children's books!

Erin is my little monkey. She loves to get up and climb on anything she can!

Hopscotch

This is how we climb the monkey bars

Mike bowling