It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

Its that time of year again. You know the time when all the crap comes out of the basement to clutter up your house AKA Christmas! Don't get me wrong I do love Christmas, but I am not a huge fan of decorating. But this year we went all out! There are three small trees in the bedrooms(not ours) and our one big tree in the family room. Garland is everywhere and I even let Rusty put up one stand of colored lights over the mantle! I detest colored lights. I am a strictly white light kinda girl but I do allow one strand for Rusty! (I am nice like that) Jaden was very helpful this year when I was hanging the decorations. I let her do the bottom of the tree. For some reason she decided she wanted all her ornaments on one limb. Needless to say I have fixed that and they are now evenly dispersed! My OCD would not allow them all on one limb!




We have also had a new addition to our little Christmas traditions. We have a new friend named Elmer AKA Elf on the shelf.
I find him a little creepy but Jaden is very into him. She is quick to tell me that I am not supposed to touch him! And she was quick to point out that he had not moved the other morning. I explained to her that he must of overslept and forgotten to go see Santa! She was relieved to see that he had done his job last night and was now watching her from the kitchen!

This year we also went all out on the outside lights. We have to decorate our trees closest to the street so that our street can be all lit up, but this year we added a few more items for the yard. We replaced the deer that were so brutally murdered three years back!

Rusty also put up his Santa airplane this year!



So now we are ready for the jolly ole man to make a visit to our home. I have even done all my shopping for a certain little girl! We have hit the mall a few times to check out Santa but she has not gathered enough courage to sit on his lap yet! We have had fun at the mall though playing with friends!






And just because I think it is funny, here is a picture of Lancie in Kayleigh's bed!


Yes the bed is made for Kayleigh who weighs 5 lbs and Lancie weighs 85 lbs! You try telling her she doesn't fit in that bed! And yes her eyes are glowing, that would be the devil coming out in her!

Gobble Gobble!

For Thanksgiving this year we headed down to visit Rusty's parents for the day. His mother just had surgery so myself and my sister in law were in charge of all the food except for the turkey. I decided this was the perfect time to introduce a southern Thanksgiving to my yankee family. I cooked cornbread dressing, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, fruit salad and Mississippi mud pie! Everything turned out great! Of course my dressing was a little late coming to the table because we had to dry it out so we didn't have to eat dressing soup, but it was good for my first try. Everyone ate till they were stuffed and couldn't eat anymore. Jaden had a good time playing with her cousin Eliza. Poor Chase wasn't able to make it because he woke up with a fever so he and his mom had to stay home. We will get to see them soon for our Christmas in a few weeks!

My little kitchen helper!

I have been cooking all day for our Thanksgiving with Rusty's parents tomorrow. While I was cooking Jaden was happy to be my helper. Of course she was not being very helpful so I decided to give her a little "job" to keep her busy. I realized she had never licked the beaters so that was her job. And I found out she really liked that job! I guess I will let her do it more often!

Chinese fun!

Today we had our Chinese class again. It was a little bit calmer because a few people weren't able to come. We started it off with a little dancing with our ribbons.

After our vocabulary words it was time for crafts! Today we decorated a person and did our footprints!




Now we are taking alittle break from classes for the Holidays. We look forward to restarting in January!

Now that Jaden has her own camera I have found that she is more willing to pose for pictures. I tell her if I can take a picture of her she can take one of me. So far it has worked!


Jaden was also excited to get a package from LSU today! She got her stuff for being a member of Mike's kids club. She kept saying Go Tigers! We are trying to raise her right!

Through the lense of a 3 year old!

We got Jaden her very own camera for her birthday. She is always asking to take pictures so I decided she needed her own. This camera is supposed to be able to take falls down the stairs and keep working. I am sure that Jaden will put that to the test very soon. She has taken so many pictures in the last few days, only a few of which I can tell what the subject was. There are alot of the floor and the walls for some reason. The majority are also blurry because she can't be still. The other day I was in the bathroom and she opens the door and told me to say cheese. Needless to say that one has been deleted! Here are some of the pictures she has taken...






And here is my picture of our little photographer!