"The Business"

This is a picture of Ella giving us what we refer to as "the Business!" It made me wonder if this is what daddy and I look like to her most of the time...? Ah, terrible two's? She's definitely her own woman these days as I think of her the other night "playing" in her closet when she was supposed to be sleeping. (Mommy's Christmas present to herself was an elpha system for Ella's closet to organize all her things) So she had taken all her pretty hats and shoes off the neat shelves and was playing dress up! How can you be upset when they are that cute? Ella had a visit from the Binkie Fairy on Jan. 10th and in its place she got a Dora sticker book with 160+ stickers of Dora in every season. (Thanks dad) It became her new security blanket for the following few days; going to bed, school and everywhere else with her but that has since faded. With the binkie days behind us, we are hoping to lose the diapers here shortly too. She was promoted to a new classroom at the end of last week and some of the kids are potty trained already, so we're hoping that with this reinforcement at school we will be able to make this transition soon. Avery just received his 2nd 9 weeks report card on Friday and he's doing exceptionally well - again, so very thankful. His progress in 9 weeks is pretty amazing and we're very excited about his new "take home readers" that started last night. He told me to circle "too easy" for his book and he wants a challenge. Hooray! He still says he doesn't like school and it's boring but he is doing well so we leave it alone. And of course laugh when he tells me in the car line one morning, "When I'm President I am going to make a law that no one goes to school!" Yep, in his own words... yikes.

Merry Christmas 2010!!

Happy New Year everyone, we hope you enjoyed your holidays as much as we did. It's been almost a month and finally getting around to posting. We extended the holidays as long as we could with lots of family time and fun activities. Christmas was in Texas this year, at our house, and we loved having Wade's family here to share it with us. Stephanie and Andy also spent their 1st Christmas as a married couple with us as well, the kids loved every minute and were spoiled as usual. Here they are making homemade sugar cookies with Aunt Shelly just in time for Santa's arrival. Daddy and Avery posing for the camera with his new cooler on wheels for NASCAR and the yearly river float. Many fun times ahead for that cooler! Ella loved her Dora dishes from Aunt Shelly. If we only knew then that she would refuse to eat off anything but Dora's face from that day forward! A Furr-Real kittie from Fess and Toni - her instant favorite toy. For the days leading up to Christmas, we got many laughs at the meowing box everytime we would turn the lights on or off... to quote Christmas Vacation "Aunt Edna wrapped the cat again!" We loved it! Thank you. Sandy sharing her gift to Avery - now he wants to donate all his used toys to Africa! GG with her great-grandchildren. They both adore her and vice versa. Presents under the tree for Christmas morning. (A big thanks to Grandma Trish for the handmade Advent hanging up beside the Christmas tree, so beautiful) - Santa has made his stop. Notice it's still dark outside and Avery is up, playing with his new Bow and Arrow from Santa! Ella opted to sleep in on Christmas morning. She really liked her Imaginext Sesame Street house. She just played all morning, peaceful and quiet. Her stocking has been emptied! I want more mom is the look she's giving... Action shot - I think he likes it! Wow, another Christmas has come and gone but wait, we have another Christmas to celebrate with the Schmiedecke's! A New Years Christmas, you betcha! Grandma and Grandpa flew in on the 26th and stayed with us through the 5th of January. Steph and Andy joined us on New Year's Eve for a full turkey feast and opened presents with fireworks popping outside. It was a great time. Andy even initiated the yearly tradition of the passing of the emergency snow shovel to Wade. Darn it, I have to keep that thing for a whole year! Grandpa got a renewal for his Sirius XM radio in his pickup Grandma got a pretty ornament and plane tickets for San Diego Quality time with Grandpa and Avery checking out Andy's new tool set. Avery posing with a learning toy and a big smile for his new game Pirates+Legos+Game = Happy Avery Say arggghh! Too bad the fun has to end. Back to work and school and everything that comes with it but we are thankful for these things all the same. Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Preparations and New Family in Town

It seems like an eternity since my last blog update, but life has been busy, real busy! Christmas is one week away and we've been preparing for holiday parties at school, Christmas programs and work gatherings. It's a wonderful time of year and next year I will remember to take a day off to be able to get ready for everything. Avery is out of school for winter break now but will be going to a 1 week "camp" where he will get to do all kinds of fun things like ice skating, hockey, etc. He is sure to love it and actually asked us to sign him up. Daddy and Ella will have some fun one on one time together while Avery is at camp. I must admit I am a little jealous! Ella had her 1st Christmas program at daycare on Thursday night. She was a big girl and got up on stage but was pretty shy when it came to dancing. Avery got up on stage with her halfway through the song and kept whispering in her ear... we all wondered what he was saying and when we asked, he said he was telling her the words to the song. Of course! Rockin' around the Christmas tree, how fun. This is Ella being shy in front of Santa Claus after the Christmas program. Avery is reading so well these days. He is always wanting to write and tell us what things say. Here he is reading one of the 1st books he learned to read by himself to Ella - Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle. So sweet. We also have family in San Antonio now! Aunt Stephers and Uncle Andy moved to San Antonio on December 1st and in the course of a week, they drove out here, found a rental house and then Andy drove a U-Haul across country again with their lives in tow. It's been quite the adventure but it's so awesome to see them with the kids and know that we have the opportunity to see them anytime we want! We are very excited to be able to spend Christmas with them at our house and hope that someday soon Grandma and Grandpa S will be here as well. 2011 - it's going to be an awesome year! In between the crazy days are the crazy nights - Ella was posing in her flower robe, she loves this thing! Thank you Kiki for the hand-me-down! Avery and Ella having fun at my company Christmas party- they were owning the play area! They must have gone down the slide together 20 times! At least it kept them warm on a very chilly afternoon. Now it's time to wrap the presents and bake cookies for Santa. Ella said that she is going to leave her binkies for Santa so let's see if this is the END of the Binkie!! Wish us luck!!

Trimming the Tree, it's Christmas Time!

In keeping with our family tradition, or so it has become since we moved to Texas, we spent the weekend after Thanksgiving trimming the tree and stringing up the lights! Avery and daddy went to pick out the tree while Ella and I unwrapped the decorations. She was such a big help! I thought Wade was playing a joke when he walked in with a 3' noble fir but he quickly explained that Avery "earned" his own tree from the man at Home Depot by sweeping up all the pine needles while he waited in line with daddy. The man just gave it to him, such a sweet gesture, so thank you kind stranger. It was such a great lesson for Avery to see that you are sometimes rewarded unexpectedly by doing good deeds for others. Tree aside, he learned a valuable lesson today, and his heart felt good to help he said. He was so proud. Avery with his tree. Maybe now it's ready for decorations after we used 2 cans of faux snow on the branches!! Avery posing with his new "favorite" ornament - Toy Story Fallin' with Style I love this sweet pic of Ella taking a break from the decorating... Mom had the tree almost finished when Ella woke up from her nap. Check out the look of wonder on her face! If this doesn't get you in the spirit of Christmas, look again! Happy Holidays Everyone!

Thankgiving at Aunt Shelly's

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!! We hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday, with lots of relaxation and good laughs with friends and family. We spent the holiday at Aunt Shelly's with the Larson gang. Great food and of course football, Gig'Em Aggies. We had quite the house divided with Aunt Shelly and her friend rooting for UT and us for A&M. Avery was hilarious yelling Go Aggies and with every score he would announce "We won!" Even more amazing was how he used his new love of drawing to make a special picture as a place setting for everyone before dinner. He made them "because he was thankful for each one of us." Our son has such a BIG heart! Ella is ready for a big girl bike, complete with training wheels of course. We'll wait to see what Santa, or "Grammie" brings!! Avery is giving her pointers of course... The kiddos had so much fun with their Uncle Chad. Avery was his shadow all weekend, they really enjoyed themselves. Avery and Ella were drawing and coloring their hearts out. GG and Ella shared some special time together as Ella tried every marker in Shelly's tub of hundreds!! So sweet!