Making Gingerbread Houses

We gathered around our kitchen table tonight to make gingerbread houses for FHE.  This is only our second year doing it, but we had so much fun.  For the first time, Lia and Logan had their own houses to decorate.  I helped Logan with his and Lia decorated hers all alone (frosting and all)!  Ella mainly was Lia's assistant--she picked up one candy at a time and either passed it to Lia to put on her house or put it in her mouth to eat!  Oh, that baby!  Overall, we had a good time.  It's so fun making these family traditions of our own.

Lia striking a pose for the camera while Ella hungrily eyes the candy.

Helping Logan decorate his gingerbread house.

Lia's gingerbread house in the making.

And Logan's house, too.

The gang smiling at the camera.

A Bownanza of an Evening!

There is definitely something we have noticed about Ella's personality the past few months--she is a girly girl!  She loves wearing bows in her hair, walking around in my high heels, carrying purses, and putting necklaces on.  In fact, she can throw a full blown tantrum if one of us attempts to take one of these girly items from her.  So, it came as no surprise tonight when Ella LOVED it when Lia began putting bows in her hair while the kiddos were getting ready for bed.  Lia had already put a few in her hair when I walked into the bathroom and discovered what was going on.  So, we put Ella up on the counter and really went to town covering every empty inch of her head.  Ella didn't mind it at all...instead she just ate it up!  So, here are some of the pictures I snapped of our baby girl covered in bows.  So cute!

Girl Scouts and The Santa Parade

For the third year in a row, Lia and I braved a cold, dark, (and this year rainy) night to join her Girl Scout troop to walk in the Santa Parade in downtown Puyallup.  The troop's theme this year was Dr. Seuss, so we dressed Lia and her good friend, Mollie, up in matching shirts and wigs so that they could be "Thing One" and "Thing Two" from The Cat in the Hat book.  The girls looked darling and had such a good time riding on their troop's float and waving to all of the people watching the parade!

Lia and Mollie showing off their Thing one and Thing Two costumes.  I bought extra large children's t-shirts that were big enough to fit OVER their winter jackets.

Lia and most of her troop lined up in front of their float.

Lia with the five other girls from her troop who attend the same school as her.  From left to right, Addyson dressed up as Cindy Lou Who, Caroline as the Grinch, Mollie and Lia as Thing One and Thing Two, and Sienna as the Cat in the Hat.

The girls up on the float waiting their turn to go! 

Our troop leader, Nancy, brought her older daughter, Bella, and some girls from her Cadette troop to hold the sign at the front of our float.

And, they're off!  Lia's troop heading down the road!

A Night Out in Seattle!

I decided to take Lia to see the "Sound of Music" a few months ago when my sister-in-law, Natalee, sent out an email asking the ladies in my family if we were interested in going.  We bought tickets and looked forward to a fun night out in the big city during the holiday season.  I made sure to check the movie out from the library a week in advance so that Lia could watch it a few times and familiarize herself with the storyline and the songs.  As I had hoped, she absolutely fell in love with the movie and was more than ready to go see it live on the stage.  We headed out last night at 4 o'clock in the afternoon hoping that we would not hit horrific, rush hour traffic heading into Seattle.  Amazingly enough, we made it there in a little over an hour (thanks to the carpool lane!) and met my mom, Natalee and her older kiddos, and Rebecca and Vivian at the Spaghetti Factory for a delicious dinner.  We then caravanned over to the 5th Avenue Theatre for the 8 o'clock play to begin.  We had a fabulous time watching this darling production and actually stayed awake for the entire thing.  And, believe it or not, Lia was still awake in the car when we pulled into the garage at 11:40 at night!

Lia eating dinner with Vivi and Callie.

The cousins lined up outside the theatre before they opened the doors.

Mommy and daughter doing the same!

The cousins sitting on the stairs inside the theatre lobby before finding our seats.  Aren't they so cute?!

20 Months Old Today!

It's hard to believe that this little peanut turned twenty months old today!  She is so little compared to Logan and Lia at this age that I still feel like she is my baby!  We all just think that Ella is the cutest thing on the planet.  Her personality has really started to come out these past few months and she really is starting to make us laugh.  Ella loves to dance whenever she hears music and runs from place to place in the house most of the time.  When she is really excited, she will run while screaming, "Weeeeeeh!"  Ella is still really active and gets into anything--mainly with the help of my white, desk chair that is in the kitchen.  She will drag that thing everywhere and then hop up on it when she has reached her desired destination.  I told Ron that we need to sing the Jaws theme song every time she grabs it.  A cute thing that Ella started doing this month is insisting on grabbing only one finger when we hold her hand to walk places.  She refuses to hold anyone's hand the "normal" way.  She also started saying, "choo choo," for train, but will only say it with her mouth closed.  I have no idea why she does this, but it is so funny.  Whenever Ella hears the train whistle blow in the distance, she will say it.  So cute!  Ella has continued on her journey of wonderful-eater-gone-bad.  She is still extremely picky and refuses to eat a lot of items at dinner time.  So sad.  She still sleeps great at night and takes an afternoon nap every day for 2 to 3 hours.  Ella LOVES her ya ya (pacifier) and asks for it ALL day long!  Although we constantly tell her that it is only for night night time, she will sneak upstairs and fish one out of her crib a few times a day.  She's a sneaky one that Ella.  She also loves her blanket and learned how to say that word this past month.  She loves cuddling her blanket and any soft, stuffed animal.  Ella adores her older sister and asks for "Weeee-uh" all day long after we drop Lia off at school.  Ella loves any attention from her parents or Lia and will giggle, giggle, giggle if one of us engages in any sort of game with her.  Ella loves her story time before nap and bedtime and really loves to be snuggled and rocked in her big chair before going to bed.  We just love this baby girl and can't believe that her second birthday is around the corner!

Trimming the Tree!

One of our favorite activities during the Thanksgiving vacation is put up our tree and decorate it!  We bought it last night and got it up tonight with minimal drama which is amazing considering the fact that Ron just had knee surgery one week ago.  The kids had such a fun time helping me put the ornaments on the tree.  This is the first year that little Ella was super involved in the entire process.  I just love seeing my babies (both big and small) get into the Christmas spirit.  It's so cute!  Lia, Logan, and Ella did a good job putting up a bunch of ornaments on the bottom half of the tree and I am happy to report that I only had to move a few of them around after they left the room! :-)

All three kiddos decorating the tree.

Logan striking a very strange pose for the camera and me.

Baby Ella working hard to hang up her ornament.

Lia putting up one of her many ornaments that she has acquired over the years.

Lia letting Logan push the music button on the beautiful, Cinderella slipper ornament that she got from grandma and grandpa last year.

Ella and Logan listening to the music.  Look how mesmerized they all look!

Lia letting Ella see the Cinderella ornament up close.

Ta-da!  Lia striking a funny pose with the ornament of the hour!

Lia's Fall Gymnastics Meet

Lia participated tonight in her third gymnastics meet at Roach.  Although Ron had knee surgery the day before and had to stay home with baby Ella, my parents agreed to drive down from Issaquah last minute to join Logan and me.  We found great seats on the front row of a little section that was set up right before the meet began and enjoyed watching Lia up close and personal for the entire meet.  She did a great job competing in all four of her events.  It really is neat to see how much she has improved in the last 1 1/2 years since she has been going to this gym.  I love seeing her straight legs and pointed toes.  She is such a cute, little gymnasts.  Good job, Lia!  I'm so proud of you!

Lia running down towards the vault with her coach looking on.

Lia jumping off the springboard.

And flying through the air.

Sticking her landing...

and going into a handstand.

Lia beginning her bar routine.  Look at those strong arms, straight legs, and pointed toes!

Lia going over the bar...

and coming back up again.

Lia finishing her back-hip circle...

and sticking her landing.

Lia finishing off her bar routine.

Lia starting her beam routine.

Lia going into an arabesque.

Lia going into her standing lunge on the beam.

And going into her dismount..

Lia finishing off her beam routine.

Lia participating in her final event of the evening--her floor routine.

Lia doing a handstand.

And a cartwheel.

Lia finishing off her routine with a passe.  Look how cute she looks in that pose!

At the end of the meet, all of the kids got called up onto the blocks to receive their metal.  Here is Lia posing to the audience after receiving hers.

And then she turned directly toward me to pose for a picture.  Such a well-trained child. ;-)

Lia posing with her grandma and grandpa who were so nice to drive almost an hour to watch her!

Lia posing for my camera one more time after the meet was over!