It's a Wonderful Life...Christmas Day 2009

Santa brought snow with him! Finally, a white Christmas...just

what Alivia had asked for! I'm worse than a kid. I was up at 3:30. I laid on the couch waiting for one of the girls to wake up. Around 6:30 I heard some little feet running down the hall. I already had the tree lit up, so when Aleigh came flying through, she stopped to look. I was laying on the couch watching her. When I sat up, she saw me, and ran over to give me a hug. Then she said she had to wake up her sister. When she woke Alivia up, Alivia sat up in bed and said "It's Christmas morning!" and ran to our bedroom to wake up Shawn.

The girls have really enjoyed all of their presents...a new kitchen playset with all kinds of accessories, Tag readers, Text and Learn phones, movies, CDs, a karaoke machine, remote control cars, and new baby dolls with all kinds of accessories. Of course, we can't forget their Twinkle Toes shoes!

'Twas the night before Christmas 2009

We traveled to Russellville for Christmas Eve, and had a delicious lunch with Mimi, Papa, Mary, Katie, Stephanie, Brian, Nana, Joe, and Courtney. Mimi went all out! Turkey, ham, dressing, corn, peas, potoatoes and gravy, rolls, and all kinds of desserts. Yummy! After lunch, we opened presents. Alivia got a dancing Dora doll and dominoes. Aleigh got a SpongeBob doll and laptop.

We left a little earlier than we would have liked due to the possible winter storm. As we all know, when the weathermen in Arkansas predict something, the opposite usually happens. Not this time!! We left at about 3:30 and the temperature dropped 12 degrees on the hour drive home (from 55 to 43 degrees)!

After getting back home, we got on the computer so the girls could check NORAD and see where Santa was delivering presents. He was getting close so we had supper, and Daddy got out "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to read to the girls for their bedtime story. Alivia started asking to go to bed at 6:15, but we managed to keep her up until 7:15! She kept saying "He's getting closer, he's getting closer! I have to be asleep when he gets here!" She was out by 7:45 when Grannie called to tell her to look outside...record time! Aleigh was asleep by 8:15, which is very good for her, too.

Then to our wondering eyes appeared.....

Pre-Christmas stuff

Alivia is doing amazing at pre-school. She has been taking speech therapy after being diagnosed with a moderate speech delay. It sounds bad, but basically she was saying things like fumb, instead of thumb, or using the "w" sound for "l" and "r", and she had a slight lisp. She started therapy at the pre-school (through the Van Buren school district) in October, and she has improved so much! Her teacher sent a note home last week saying how great she is doing! The teacher performed other testing on her along with her speech tests, and she found that Alivia was ahead of her age group on just about everything else. We are hoping that her speech therapy will be finished before she starts Kindergarten. We give a two thumbs up to that!

Shawn is making good grades, too. He is almost finished with his first semester back to college, and it looks like he will have two A's and one B! He has already enrolled for next semester, and he will be taking four classes. We are very proud of him!

We are all so excited about Christmas this year! I will be off for four days around Christmas, and I am so happy! We have the tree up and decorated, and Shawn and Aleigh put up a lot of pretty lights around the house. I'm not quite finished Christmas shopping, but Alivia reminded us of something very important the other day. She said, "Christmas isn't about presents. It's a celebration! It's Jesus' birthday!".

Halloween 2009

Meet the two Dorothys!

One of the movies that we watched over and over this past year was "The Wizard of Oz". The girls were constantly skipping around the house singing "we're off to see the Wizard!". When I saw the Dorothy costumes, I knew the girls would love them. As luck would have it, Target had the perfect sparkling red "ruby slippers". Of course, the one in Ft. Smith only had Aleigh's size, but I did find some for Alivia in Fayetteville (near where I work).

We painted pumpkins instead of carving them this year. It was so much better because the girls could be creative without us having to worry about knives and other sharp items. Messy, yes, but we put the pumpkins on old carpet scraps! Great idea, Daddy! While I was taking pictures of the girls in their costumes, I asked them to stand by the door so I could get their dresses and shoes in the picture. The result...

Alivia went running to the door and when she got in front of it, turned and said "look scared of

the Wicked Witch, Aleigh!"

We always go trick-or-treating early so we can get back home to hand out candy. I think the girls like giving out the candy more than getting it! We cranked up the jukebox and proped the front door open. It didn't take long for the candy to disappear. Alivia and Aleigh wanted to keep handing out candy until I told them that the only candy we had left was what they had collected. They decided to stop! Alivia is dancing in the second picture below.