Getting Ready For Christmas

We started the Christmas holiday season early this year! My Mom bought Katie a Gingerbread House Kit and invited us over to make it. It's not even December yet :p But that didn't stop us!

 I helped with the icing so Katie wouldn't use the whole tube on one section lol.

 My Mom already had Mistletoe hanging in her house.

 Katie did such a good job!

 Of course she also needed a snack while she worked so hard.

Thanksgiving 2013

We continued our tradition of going to the movies on Thanksgiving morning while all the food cooks. This year we saw Frozen. My Mom, Mary, Katie, Emma and I went together. Emma did great, she sat nicely in the movie for the first half, and then fell asleep =) Such a cute Disney movie, about sisters. Katie and I have been waiting for it to come out! It was adorable! After it was over we headed to my Grandma's house for lunch :p

Almost the whole family was here, just missing Desiree's family and Anthony's family. Anthony and Ashleigh took their girls to see Frozen at the El Capitan.

My little family =)

David got mad at me for putting Emma in here, but she liked it, I swear! She was so cute and smiley.

Emma was ready to head over to Dad's family's next!

The adult kids.

The Grandkids.

Emma's 2nd outfit of the day.

Emma's 3rd outfit of the day :p I had so many people buy her outfits, that I had to keep changing her so she could wear them all. She had a very fashionable day.

Thanksgiving was relaxing and nice. We were able to see our families, spend time with the kids, and just be lazy together. Thankful we live by our family so that we have the chance to see them often and spend time with them. I am so thankful this year for all the good that has come. I'm grateful David is home from the Army, that Katie is so smart and sweet and beautiful, that God has finally given me a second child that I have prayed and prayed for over the years, that my Mom is always there for me, that my Grandma is here with us for hopefully many many more years to come, for my house and car and material things, for my life.

The New Chuck

Have you seen the new Chuck E. Cheese mouse? So funny. I guess they wanted him to be thinner? Anyway, I wanted to take Katie somewhere since she's on Thanksgiving break and all, and Ashleigh agreed to go to Chucks with us after she got off work =)

Simple, but it got Katie out of the house and she had fun =)

Emma's New Beanie

My Grandma made Emma the cutest beanie! Little curly pig tails! Haha.

 She also bought this one for a dollar, but Emma didn't like it as much. lol

Reindeer Em

My Grandma bought Emma a few things from the dollar store for pictures, haha.

I went to visit my Grandma today with Emma while Katie was at school. Thankful for my Grandma. Glad to have her in my life for so long. I hope we have many more years with her. I hope Emma gets a chance to really know her. My Grandma loves Emma already, it's nice spending some time there in the mornings.

Girl Scout Fire Station

Katie is joining the Girl Scouts. I waited until she turned 5 so I could finally sign her up, and then I forgot to =/ But I remembered at age 6, and here we are! She is a Daisy for one more year =) Last week was her first day. I am still a bit confused, but we're getting there. After I paid the $15 registration she was good to go. When we got to our first meeting, it was mixed ages, no uniforms, and a disappointment kind of. They went on a tour of the Library since that's where we met anyway. After the meeting was over, the leader told us about a troop that is only for Daisies, instead of this mixed group. We wanted to try it, but the next meeting wasn't for a while, so we went back to this one one more time. They were headed to the Fire Station across the street, so we went. I like that they do trips, I'd just prefer kids the same age and a real troop with uniforms and stuff.

 Emma found her car seat toy today.

The tour was pretty cool. The kids were able to put on the jacket, boots, hat. Look at the truck, look inside the station a bit. The firemen were really nice =) They got called to a fire, so we headed back to our meeting. Next time we try the other troop that meets Mondays, 5-6. Wish us luck!

Thanksgiving Class Party

Thank you David for watching Emma while I went to Katie's Thanksgiving party at school =) When all the parents got there, they played a Thanksgiving Bingo.

 Made bracelets. Each color stood for something.

 The kids had pie and juice as a party snack.

 Katie was going around with my camera taking pictures of everyone, but I made her be in one too :p

Love being able to have some time to ourselves still. I love my precious girl.

I Love Her

I love this girl more and more everyday. She's so precious and smart and beautiful and sweet.

We were hanging out in the car, waiting for gymnastics class to start.

2 Months!

Time is flying! Emma still doesn't do much, but she is super cute!

Scooter's Jungle

Ashleigh invited us to Scooter's Jungle with her and the girls, so we went with them. It was a lot farther than I thought, took me an hour to get there! When we got there, Katie had a blast though!

 Emma just hung out with me.

 Katie went down the slides over and over and over!

 

 They even had a bouncy ball room.

 And of course a couple bounce houses to play in.

Afterward we went to the Disney Store. The kids love looking around in there. We ended the night with an Orange Julius and went home =)

Our Annual Trip To Knott's 2013

I was super bummed to find out that my Mom's work no longer gave their $12 tickets to County workers for Knott's. We have gone every year since I was 16? 17? Something like that. I just remember going to eat at Claim Jumper down the street with Lauryn and Blake when they were little and they ordered a huge meatball that they didn't like, lol. Earliest memory I have of our November Knott's trips. Anyway, I was thankful to find out that David could get us in this year! Since he was in the military, he just needed to bring his military ID, and he and a guest get in free =) Katie was still $22, but that's not a bad price since all 3 of us got in for it. My Mom came with us too. When we got there, we were hungry but nothing was open! Finally found a burger place that wasn't the best, but it was open. Grabbed one, didn't especially like it, ate most of it, and went on some rides. Yes, David did get a beer at 10:30 in the morning =/ A $10 tiny one!

 Emma's first time at Knott's.

 It was funny to see Katie try to get on this ride. It had a maximum height requirement, she had to be under 48 inches. I'm not saying she cheated a little, I'm just saying I saw those knees bend a smidge so she would be small enough to get on. She's growing up! She was BORED on this ride. This will be the last time she ever goes on it. There's no way she'll be short enough for it next time, when Emma is finally big enough to ride. Weird to think about. This same ride was sooo exciting to her as a 2 year old. Haha. So cool though. She's grown into a new age bracket, and is starting to venture out to faster rides.

 My Mom bought Emma a souvenir.

 This was more Katie's speed.Funny how you have to be taller than 48 inches for this ride. She's a sneaky girl to get on rides you need to be shorter than 48" for, and taller than 48" for. Haha.

 My Mom got to go on all the good rides with Katie, while I sat with Emma and David. Bummer. I did get to go on Katie's first roller coaster here with her though! My Mom watched Emma for me while David and I took Katie on Jaguar. At first she was nervous, didn't want to go on, made me promise it had no loops. She was trying to be brave though, and go on with us. After the ride was over, she LOVED it. She wanted to go on again!

 While David tried to take Katie on a ride, my Mom and I took Emma around to play with her and do weird poses with her, hahaha. The line ended up being too long, so they found us instead.

 I always loved panning for gold as a kid. Now Katie gets to :p

 Her little gold flecks. lol

 Thankful for my family. They are all such a blessing to me.

 Dinner!

 The old school house and her puppy she talked my Mom into buying her.

I love Knott's, I just hate when it's crowded. Today was in the middle. Not too bad, not the best. Still fun though. Especially for the price. I really enjoy taking Katie places. She's been to sooo many places in her 6 years, I feel proud!