Today at Sadie's school, her class had a teddy bear parade. They decorated their own floats and brought a bear to pull around. Sadie was the first one to go from her class. She was very brave and very cute!!
Here are Elise & Sadie having fun with their Easy Bake Oven! The kids were a little disappointed in the size of the cake when it was done. I think they ate their piece in one bite! Talk about portion control. Maybe I should start the Easy Bake Oven diet :0).
Well, I'm wondering if maybe we should have moved back up to Northern VA afterall. Anabelle seems to have picked up a little southern drawl since our move! We captured her twang on video. Enjoy :0)
I think we all had a wonderful Christmas. The girls were so excited on Christmas Eve. They got glow sticks at church and decided to throw them all over the front yard so Santa would know where to land. After opening a few presents, their Christmas ornament, & their new jammies, Danny read them The Night Before Christmas and I read the story of Jesus' birth. After that, they were ready for bed! I think it was the easiest night putting them to bed. They definitely didn't want to take the chance that Santa would come while they were awake. I think it was 6:30 when Anabelle said, "Let's go to bed!!" We managed to keep them up until 7:30. Somehow I don't think we'll be so lucky in the years to come :0)! On Christmas morning, they spotted their stockings and had to take a peek on their way to find baby Jesus. Every year we hide a little baby doll and the girls prepare a manger for him by placing straw in it when they do something nice. They were excited that they had more straw in it than last year!
They girls were all thrilled to get the presents that were on their lists. A guitar, microphone, & American Girl doll shoes for Anabelle, jumprope, spray bottles, a brush, & a new "just like me' doll for Elise, and a piggy & Barbie w/ wings for Sadie. In Anabelle's letter to Santa, she asked for a picture of himself. To her surprise, she got an autographed picture that you see here. She made sure to brag to all of her friends that he left one for her :0).
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn- Great story and I enjoyed getting a glimpse of what life was like in Brooklyn during this time period.
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah- I really enjoyed the book, but thought it was a bit drawn out.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand- True story about POW. I learned a lot, but not my favorite read.
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh...this was my beach read for book club. I loved this book. It had a captivating story intertwined with Victorian meaning of communication through flowers.
Mockingjay
Catching Fire
Hunger Games
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert...Great summer read. I enjoyed the ' Pray' part of the book the most ...mainly for the information on meditation. I'm interested in learning more about intertwining Christian beliefs with transcendental meditation. I was intrigued by Gilbert's description of her meditation experience.
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dumant...Yes, another historical fiction book! I think I need a break from them. This book had a really interesting beginning and a pretty decent end. I didn't really get into it until the middle. I loved the personal story, but had no interest in the historical part.
The Shack by William Young...I read this over vacation & I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. The beginning was very upsetting to me and made me feel paranoid for days. The story has definitely left me thinking.
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi...Athough I had to drag myself through the first 200 pages, it got MUCH better at the end. It was about the rise of Hitler and the impact of the times from a dwarf living in Germany....a very interesting perspective.
Three Cups of Tea by By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Girl With the Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer...yes I loved these books :0) but the movies are horrible!!