Happy New Year

I know I am getting old, but it really does seem like just yesterday we were getting ready to ring in the year 2000! And in less than an hour we'll be ringing in 2010!
We spent this New Year's Eve with Cindy, Mike, Will and Sam. (We have a little tradition in the making here.....two years and counting:) We went bowling and then came back to our house for pizza, salad, cheese dip and chips, Puppy Chow, Chocolate and Butterscotch pies! It doesn't get much better than that.

Bill, Lauren, Mike and Sam

Bill, Lauren, Cindy and Sam

Allison bowling....I love her face in this picture

Allison, Cindy and Will

Sam's turn to bowl

Sam and Lauren


During the year 2010 we hope to get our house sold and find the perfect home for us settle into. I can't believe that Lauren will start Kindergarten in the year 2010. Allison will start preschool in the 3 year old class and I am hoping to maybe teach at that preschool with my good friend Cindy.

I am looking forward to what God has in store for our family this year. Happy New Year!!!

A Few Christmas Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas celebrations. These first few pictures are of Christmas Eve celebrating with Bill's side of the family.
Uncle Jared getting ready to try on the Santa hat.

Allison, Lauren and Parker on Christmas Eve.

Lauren and Allison opening presents on Christmas Eve.

Allison gets some new floor puzzles.

Lauren with her new baby doll from Aunt Jen and Uncle Dave.

Parker and his new bulldozer. He sure loved it!

Waking up Christmas morning at our house

For Christmas Lauren asked Santa Claus to bring her a scooter, a baby doll, and new clothes. She never asks for a lot. Allison asked Santa to bring her a new baby doll with hair and new clothes.

Opening presents on Christmas morning.

Lauren gets her favorite book Pinkilicious from Santa. She wants to check out that book every time we go to the library, so I thought it would be nice to have her own copy!

Allison wanted a skirt for Christmas. Lauren has been wearing her skirts while playing dress up and the only skirts Allison had were for summer.

Lauren with her new hat and gloves.

Allison opening a present from our neighbor Mrs. Maxine.

Lauren with her scooter! She loves scooting around the kitchen.

Christmas Day at my Mom and Dad's House

Allison get the book Martha Doesn't Say Sorry from Granny and Pawpaw.

Lauren gets the book Purplicious from Granny and Pawpaw.

Lauren with her new clothes.

Lauren gets a third book, Goldilicious from Uncle Bill.

Allison posing with her scarf and mittens.

Lauren posing with her scarf and sweater.

Lauren helping Daddy open his new pants.

Let the Celebrations Begin

Well tomorrow will begin the Christmas celebrations for our family. We are cooking dinner for Bill's family tomorrow evening (Christmas Eve). Bill received a 21 pound turkey from his work and he is in charge of cooking that big bird! I think he is quite excited about the task. His mom is making the dressing and green beans, Jen is making Broccoli Casserole and I'll finish out the traditional dinner with mashed potatoes and rolls. I am also making Banana Pudding. I told Bill that is not very Christmasy, but it is his brother's favorite dessert so I will make it because my sweet husband asked for it.
I have enjoyed making all the goodies of the season. I tried a few new ones that I have not made before. Tonight I made Puppy Chow for the first time. I think that may become a regular for us. I have made two batches of sausage balls, one that Bill took to work last week and then a batch for us this morning. I made Peppermint Bark and homemade hot chocolate for teacher gifts. The girls and I baked sugar cookies and Christmas M&M cookies. And I have made several batches of Holiday pretzels. (Those are one of my personal favorites!)
On Christmas Day after we have our family Christmas we will go up to my parents and spend a couple of days with them. On December 26th Bill and I will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary.
This year we have really enjoyed the Christmas season with our beautiful girls. I think from the time we saw Santa arrive in Knoxville at West Town Mall we have been celebrating all the fun of the season. The girls actually wanted to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas this year. We got a great picture of that first.
Lauren's favorite Christmas book and movie has been How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The first time I read the book to her she was very disturbed by how mean the Grinch was but was happy with the outcome of the book. However, the next night after reading the book, in Lauren's prayer before bedtime, she prayed that no one would take our Christmas presents.
Allison knows the words to more Christmas songs than I can count. That sweet angel amazes me with her singing. She is just like Lauren in that she wakes up in the mornings singing in her bed. There is nothing more precious than hearing that sweet voice in the mornings.
I truly feel that if I did not open one Christmas present this year, that this would be a perfect Christmas with all that we have enjoyed so far. I do look forward to seeing the girls on Christmas morning because they have been so excited for Santa to come.
So I'll cherish these next few days and enjoy my family and all the blessings God gives me each and every day.
Merry Christmas!

Privacy Please

This morning Lauren was going to the bathroom and Allison needed to go also. We do not usually let the girls go in the bathroom together because they end up playing or making a mess, so I was trying to get Lauren to get her hands washed so Allison could go to the bathroom. As Lauren finished washing her hands, Allison got on the potty and said very matter-of-factly,
"I need some privacy." That just cracked me up coming from my 2 year old's mouth. I have used that word before when I was using the bathroom, but this was the first time Allison used the word for the same reason.
Another funny thing about the privacy was the fact that we do not even have a door on the hall bathroom because Bill is replacing that door because it has a hole in it. Since putting the house on the market, we have had to replace two doors because they had holes in them from being pushed too hard against the little thing that keeps the door from hitting the wall. Don't know what that thing is called!:) That task has been much harder than it should have been because the standard door does hot fit in the frame. It is just a little too big, so Bill has had to shave a little bit off the end of the door to make it fit! Seems like the simplest projects always turn into something major for some reason or another! Oh well!

Just a Minute Mom

Last night we were sitting in the living room enjoying the Christmas lights while Grandma was here. We started singing and the girls were running up and down the hallway being silly. Lauren ran down the hall in the middle of a song and before going in to her room she looked back and said, "Pause it, Mom!". She wanted me to stop singing the song until she could come back and sing with us.
Sometimes when Lauren is watching a movie, she'll ask me to pause it if she needs to go to the bathroom! Now she thinks she can pause me! That girl is too funny.
It might be nice if I could actually pause her sometimes.:) I'd settle for even just slowing her down. She is quite a busy little lady!!!

Tis the Season to be Busy

This is the first year the girls wanted to sit on Santa's lap! They have talked about doing that since we saw Santa arrive at West Town Mall back at the end of November. This past Wednesday we went to the mall and both girls asked to go see Santa. When we got there, I asked them if they wanted to go sit on his lap and they both said yes! Without hesitation they went up and sat down on his lap and began telling him what they wanted for Christmas. I bought the picture they took there and was able to snap a couple of my own pictures with my camera. This is one of the shots I got. Not bad for the first time to sit on Santa's lap.

On Saturday morning we woke up to a Winter Wonderland!! We had the most beautiful first snow of the year! After our traditional Saturday breakfast of pancakes, Bill took the girls out for a little fun in the snow. Lauren just wanted to catch the snowflakes on her tongue. Allison was content just being outside! After a short stay outside, we decided it was time to get the girls some boots to wear in the cold weather. Last year we had a hard time playing outside in the snow because they only had tennis shoes to play in. So I decided it was time to go ahead and get them some warm shoes for this season.

By the time we got back home from boot shopping, the snow was mostly melted, but they were able to break in their new boots at the Powell Christmas parade that evening. We enjoyed the parade but it was indeed very cold!! The girls loved the parade and waved at everyone going by. They especially loved all the candy they collected!
Lauren catching snowflakes on her tongue.

Lauren cleaning the snow off the van.


Today we enjoyed a Christmas brunch at church. The girls always love getting to eat at church. We also enjoyed a Christmas program performed by our Children's Church and Bible Basics groups. The program was precious and I took several videos during the show, but all of them are too long to upload to the blog. I have not learned how to edit the videos, so I'll just have to wait to post any of those.

During the brunch, our preacher Mark was presented with a surprise gift of all kinds of hats from members of our congregation. Tomorrow Mark will undergo surgery to remove a brain tumor. We are praying for a very successful surgery and a quick recovery.

Our preacher Mark showing off a few of his hats.

After the Christmas program the children were treated to a special visit from Santa Claus. Here are Allison and Lauren standing in line to talk to Santa.

Allison, Santa (aka Aaron Tomlinson) and Lauren

Here is a video of the girls singing you a Christmas song!

My Little Singer

I love the fact that both of my girls love to sing. Music has been such a big part of their short lives. We listen to music and sing ALL the time. While Allison will sing for you anytime you ask her to, Lauren does not sing for an "audience" as readily as Allison does. Lauren does love to sing and knows so many songs. She amazes me with the words she knows to so many songs. I hope they continue to enjoy singing for years to come!

Here are a couple of videos I got of Allison tonight. The first one is kind of loud, but in the other two she is singing softer.

In this first video she is singing a song she learned from Mrs. Regina, her Sunday school teacher. It is my favorite song to hear her sing.

This next video is Deck the Halls.

This last video is Children Go Where I Send You. She didn't finish the song, but the part she started was very cute!

November Catch Up

Two weeks ago today we celebrated Bill's great Aunt Flo's 94th birthday with a surprise party. All I can say is that if I live to be her age, I hope I am in as good of health as she is. She is remarkable! It was a combined birthday and Thanksgiving celebration with Bill's side of the family. It was a beautiful fall day and the kids had lots of fun playing outside. We took the girls' bikes and the other kids had their outside toys also. It was a wonderful day with family.

Lauren on Ethan's motorcycle.

Allison on the motorcycle

Ethan, Parker, Allison and Lauren enjoying the fall day

Allison and Lauren jumping off the rock

Aunt Flo getting ready to cut her cake

Lauren, Aunt Flo, and Allison

Bill's cousins Dee and Rhonda holding Lauren and Allison

Jen, Dave, Aunt Flo, Bill and Cindy


We enjoyed the past few days with my family for Thanksgiving. Uncle Bob and Uncle Ben came up to celebrate the holiday with us. Mom cooked her traditional Thanksgiving feast and I must say her turkey was exceptionally good this year. We had lots of yummy desserts. Brother Bill brought his infamous chocolate cake. (Why does his taste better than mine?!) I made the chocolate and butterscotch pies, and Mom made a cheesecake. Tonight I was having withdrawals from the tasty treats! Lauren's favorite dessert was the chocolate pie. Allison didn't have a favorite. She had to try them all.

We shopped a little bit on Friday and then headed back to Knoxville today. We got home in time to get our Christmas tree up so the girls could help decorate it. (Or as Lauren keeps saying, "Decoration our tree".) It's great to spend time at Mom and Dad's, but it is always wonderful to get back home.

I didn't take very many pictures of the weekend. Here a couple I did manage to get.

Allison

Lauren

Allison trying on Uncle Bill's size 13(?) boots

Allison striking a pose in the boots.

The girls with their Uncle Bill. They sure do love their Uncle. He does not get a minute to himself when they are awake!

Bill and I are blessed with wonderful families and we are so thankful for them. We are now looking forward to the Christmas season! The girls watched a Christmas movie on the way back to Knoxville today and we have been singing Christmas songs all day! I love Christmas through the eyes of my children!

Dress-up

Lauren and Allison's idea of playing dress up involves finding clothes from each others wardrobe and putting them on. About a month ago I went in to Lauren's room one day while she was in quiet time and she had on her bathing suit. From that day on, it has been one of her favorite things to play. She calls it swimming. She gets on her bathing suit and uses her bean bag as the pool. She has even taught the game to Allison. They put on every bathing suit they own and go swimming in their "pools". I had to set the rule in place stating they had to ask me before they played swimming. It would be time for dinner and both girls would be undressed trying to get their bathing suits on. Or it would be time to go somewhere and they would come out with their bathing suits on.
From the bathing suits, they moved to playing "summer". This is where they wear each others shorts and short sleeved shirts. Poor Lauren comes down the hall wearing a size 2T shorts that are noticeably too tight (and look very uncomfortable) and a t-shirt that is equally too small. Behind her comes Allison wearing Lauren's shorts that are about to fall off her at any moment and a shirt that looks more like a dress. Then they try on every pair of shoes they can get their feet in. They can entertain themselves for hours playing with their clothes. The only downside has been that I have had more laundry to do because many of the clothes they would play in ended up in the laundry basket!
Here are a few shots of them in their "summer clothes" playing with their babies.

Lauren and Allison playing "summer"

Wow these girls look so much alike!

Sisterly love

Today Lauren was playing "summer" and had to wear her own clothes because she could not get to Allison's clothes because she was sleeping. Notice the stylish shoes and socks with her shorts. Also she asked me to braid her hair this morning. I had one small braid off to the side. After school she brought me more ponytail holders and asked me to put another braid on the other side. We ended up with 3 braids! In this picture she has those big sad eyes because I would not put her gloves on her. She came out of her quiet time about 4 times before this time and I told her I would not help her put anything else on.
Those are some really sad eyes. :(

This last picture I took tonight when I checked in on Allison before going to bed. I thought it was so cute how she was using Minnie for a pillow!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

I'll begin this post by saying I am not a person who starts celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving. I like to enjoy each holiday as it comes without blending the celebrations together. My brother and I would always start listening to Christmas music in the car on our way back to Knoxville after spending Thanksgiving with our parents. We never have put up a Christmas tree before Thanksgiving was over.
But tonight I broke that tradition somewhat because Santa Claus was to arrive in Knoxville at West Town Mall this evening at 6:00. The girls and I and their grandma headed off to the mall at 4:30 in order to eat dinner and get ready to welcome Santa. Our good friends the Watsons called and said they were coming also. We hooked up with them in the food court for dinner and had such a good time visiting that we almost missed the big arrival.
The festive event took place at the entrace to West Town there by where Ruby Tuesday used to be. Kids and parents were lined up outside of that entrance as well as just inside the entrance. We stayed inside because it was dark outside and we thought we could see Santa better inside where it was light! There was a big parade of all kinds of different mascots from different businesses, many of which I had never seen. A few familiar ones were the Ice Bears bear, the Shoney's bear, and the Chick-fil-a cow. Lauren was interested in giving high-fives to a lot of the characters, but Allison kept her distance holding on tightly to my leg.
As part of the festivities we enjoyed cookies and milk, well the girls didn't actually get to drink their milk because the gentleman handing out the milk asked them, "Do you want white milk or chocolate milk?" Well, duhhh.....which would you pick? My sweet little girls did not even know there was such a thing as chocolate milk!!! I know, I know we have sheltered them quite a bit. But why not enjoy as much healthy eating (or drinking) as possible when they are young. Soon enough we won't be able to control their choices as easily. Fortunately they were satisfied with their cookies and I told them we would have the milk tomorrow. Maybe they will forget about it by then. :)
Here are a few pictures from our fun evening. Happy early Christmas to you and yours.

A very cool balloon Santa at the entrance where Santa was to arrive.

Allison, Josiah, Lauren and Mackenzie waiting for Santa

Lauren and the Panda

And here comes Santa

The jolly old man

Allison & Lauren with one of Santa's elves

Allison, the Elf and Lauren