Out of the mouths of babes...

Just thought you may get a chuckle out of a few conversations we've had or overheard at our house lately...

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While riding in the car one day Eva said something to Jaden. Apparently he couldn't understand her because his response was,

"I can't understand WHAT you are saying...you sound like you are speaking Spanish!!"

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Jaden: "Mommy, is juice made out of mud?"

Me: "MUD??!! No, juice is not made out of mud."

Eva: "NOOOOOO JADEN!!!! The only thing made out of mud is chocolate milk!"

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Jaden received a game that involves drilling screws into a board in a pattern for Christmas from my sis and her husband. When he opened it Eva got all excited and said,

"THE SCREWING GAME!!!!! I LOOOOOVE THE SCREWING GAME!!!"

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Unfortunately, I know there are a few more that slipped my mind lately. I'll update this if I think of them!!

It's a big step....

There are certain milestones in a child's life that are big. HUGE.

Taking their first step.

Losing their first tooth.

Well....a little while back we hit one of those milestones. Eva has officially learned to tie her own shoes.

I know to some this may not be a big deal....but in our home it was a VERY big deal.

She has worked hard at it...and she has definitely had to practice patience.

And when she finally did it the look on her face was priceless.



Love you Eva and we are sooooo proud of you!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope everyone out there had a wonderful Christmas! We looooove Christmas in our home. It's such a magical time. Aside from our little guy and Matt not feeling 100% this year, we had an amazing Christmas season filled with love and time spent with family and friends.

When I was a little girl my parents would always capture a picture of my sis and my faces when we first saw the Christmas tree after Santa had visited. I've stuck with the same thing with my own little kiddos....even way back when they were babies and didn't know the difference we still have pics of them first thing Christmas morning. Here are our little ones this year (poor little guy still wasn't feeling well)....

Another little thing we do is purchase a special ornament for Eva and Jaden. The ornament has to represent something special from the past year and they are allowed to open these on Christmas Eve. I love to see their excitement over opening something so simple. They both know it's an ornament...but they looooove to see what Mommy and Daddy picked out this year!

Jaden received a pirate ornament this year (he is slightly obssessed with pirates) and Eva got an ornament that celebrates her losing her first tooth this summer!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Just a reminder...

This is often a busy time of year. A time of family, friends, gatherings, and alllll the glitter that the Holidays bring. This time of year is so special.

But I have one request.

Amid all that glitters this Holiday season, I encourage you to take a little time this year to think of others that are not as fortunate as you.

Take a little time out of your busy Holiday schedule to make someone else's Holidays that much more special.

Something simple.

Take canned goods to your nearest food pantry.
Go to a local nursing home and spend some time with the residents (even if you don't know them).
Stop by a local school and offer to purchase a warm coat for a child that needs it.
Put cookies on the porch of someone that lives alone, ring the doorbell, and RUN!
Ask your church if there is anyway you can make the Holidays brighter for someone.
Write a letter to a soldier stationed overseas.

These are just examples...the list is endless.

And more importantly....if possible...I encourage you to give anonymously.

In giving we receive far more than we would ever ever imagine. Capture the true spirit of this Holiday season and make the world brighter for someone else.

Hugs....
Jamie

Staying Active!

Both Eva and Jaden love sports! It's so important to me that they stay active...especially in the winter months. This past session both of them gave up tennis for something else the Athletic Club we go to offers called Impact Sports. Impact Sports offers the little ones 8 weeks of tennis, baseball, basketball, and soccer. Eva and Jaden loved it!

Seriously....how cute is this? Love how tiny they all are. Love even more that their coach has so much patience with them and works hard to make it fun!

Our little guy practicing his mad tennis skillz!!!
Not sure what Jaden is doing...but it's obviously ticking off the kid next to him! Ha!

Eva practicing fielding grounders! She's ready!

They both love a little time in the bounce house during Impact Sports!

Eva is ready to make a catch! Love the smile on her face!

On top of participating in Impact Sports Eva has also been participating in a basketball clinic her school was offering. She was able to spend a little time with the varsity and JV basketball teams and practice all kinds of skills! During half time of a recent JV game she was able to show off all she learned. It was a short little demonstration....but Eva was in absolute HEAVEN!

The little ones ran out with the JV team and circled the gym just like they do for real games. I wasn't sure if Eva would be shy or not in front of all of the people. I think it's fair to say she is IN HER ELEMENT when she is participating in sports - she ran out with GUSTO and a HUGE smile on her face. Here they are ready to RUN....

Love that this girl still waves to her Mama...

She's got some talent when it comes to running and dribbling the ball.

Her favorite part of practice? "Goooooo EAGLES!!!!"

One of my favorite parts of Eva's practice was that at the end the little kids would all huddle around the coach...and then the JV and Varsity boys would surround the little kids. Together they would bow their heads and pray. I love that my daughter has a chance to witness role models of hers practicing their faith.

"Kids sports is a vehicle for self-discovery."

--Paul Clements

Welcome Winter

Today was one of those perfect winter days....I love that. We woke up to the first true snow of the season. The excitement in Eva and Jaden's eyes was contagious. They were soooo excited.

After we picked Eva up from school we went out to lunch together (and we were lucky enough to have my sis join us)...such a special treat! Afterwards the kiddies and I came home and all three of us took a looooooong winter's nap. I loved it. When I am sandwiched between my kiddies like that and can feel their little breath on my cheek I just soak it in.

After we woke up Eva and Jaden got bundled up to go play in the snow while I made some hot cocoa for all of us (we have a tradition in our house that we don't drink hot cocoa until the first true snow of the season).

After that we did one of my favorite Christmas time things....

We turned on Christmas music, started a fire, and snuggled up by the Christmas tree to color. I loved it...again, soaking in the moment.

These times are so special to me...so so so special.

"Welcome Christmas, bring your cheer. Cheer to all far and near. Christmas Day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp. Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we. Welcome Christmas while we stand...heart to heart and hand in hand."

--How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Time kinda stood still...

Eva has to memorize a Bible verse a week for school. This is SUCH a good thing for her to do...but it's also been difficult. Eva has struggled with memorizing her verses. We sing them, make up motions to them, and recite them over and over...and we still struggle.

Lately she has been working on Psalm 100.

She has been practicing a verse a week, and even though we've worked on it she was still somewhat fumbling through it. Her homework for the Holiday weekend was to recite Psalm 100 to 5 people.

Call me a bad parent....but I was kind of dreading it. I knew my heart would hurt as I heard her struggle through it and I was just imagining how many times she would look at me for cues as to her next word. It was going to be painful.

Today was the day....Sunday....we HAD to get to this homework. I am not a procrastinator but I had totally procrastinated on this particular assignment for Eva. I pulled out Psalm 100 and looked at Eva.

"Peanut, we're gonna have to really focus on this and try to recite it to 5 people today"

"OK Mommy."

And then she looked at me, smiled, and said,

"Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness, come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of the His pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His loves endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."

I had tears in my eyes. She did it. Not only did she do it she punctuated certain words...she MEANT it.

I love this little girl....love all that she is and all that she is becoming....and I looooove that with just one little Psalm she brought me to tears and I knew it was a moment I would never ever forget.

Budapest

I loooooved Budapest. I have to be honest, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect there. As I talked to other people on the trip it was fun to find out they didn't either!

Well...let me tell you...IT. WAS. BEAUTIFUL!

On top of that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are in Budapest right now and you BETTER believe I had my eyes open wide lookin' for them!!! Unfortunately, no celebrities sightings...but no worries...the views of the city made up for it!

In all this was an absolutely AMAZING trip and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to experience all of the things I did!!!

Austria

Me and my guy!

The picture below is in Vienna, Austria. It's a picture of Roman ruins....just kinda crazy to actually SEE something like that!

This is the UNDERSIDE of a spiral staircase...the detail is amazing.

Budapest pictures to come soon!

Prague

Did you think I fell off the earth?

Life over in our neck of the woods is slowing down a bit after a whirlwind October. After we got back from Disney with the kiddies, Matt and I turned around, packed back up, and left a week later for Europe!

Let me tell you....SUCH an amazing trip! I learned soooo much, experienced sooo much, and saw sooo much that I never in my life thought I would have a chance to see, experience, or learn first hand. I am forever grateful for that.

Here are some pictures from the first leg of our trip...Czech Republic (mostly Prague)....

The architecture was AMAZING!!!

In Prague, many of the streets and sidewalks looked like this...I thought it was sooo beautiful.

I'm an Italian girl at heart....sitting in Prague eating a little Italian food.

The picture below is of Matt at the same restaurant. I took it through the glass partition.

I became obsessed with doors on this trip....there were soooo many beautiful ones!

The church in the center of Prague...

This was the inside of the cathedral at the Prague Castle...

The church in the center of Prague at night...

The famous Astronomical Clock! We went to the top of the clock to see the views and they were breathtaking!
The views....

Just a few of the special people I am honored to spend time with on these trips...Me and my sis....love her.

Stay tuned...pictures from Vienna and Budapest coming soon!!

A Servant's Heart....

I've said over and over that one of the things I really want to instill in my children is giving to others. It's something that was instilled in me by my mother...and I fully intend to pass it down.

I love it when I see little glimpses of this in my children...little hints that I am on the right path to teaching them this valuable lesson. While we were in Disney I was fortunate enough to catch just a little glimpse and - ohhhhh - how it warmed my heart.

When we would visit with characters or other Disney staff they would often give Eva and Jaden stickers. Jaden would peel his sticker off an put it right on his shirt, but I noticed that Eva wasn't following suit. After awhile (and many stickers) Matt and I finally asked her why she wasn't wearing her stickers. She told us that she wanted to bring something home from Disney for all of her classmates...and she thought the stickers that she was being given would be something that they would all enjoy.

Seriously....melt my heart.

On top of that, every evening our hotel would put chocolates on our pillows. Eva would never eat hers...just quickly tuck it away. When I asked her why she told me the exact same thing. She said that the children in her class would probably really enjoy those chocolates.

I love this girl...loooove her. What really touched me about this whole scenario is that Eva never asked Matt and I to purchase something for her classmates - in fact she never even said anything to Matt and I at all until we asked. She simply took matters into her own hands and used the means she had to ensure her classmates would have something special too.

Soooo, after much saving and counting we came home with more than enough stickers AND chocolates for every single person in Eva's classroom. I wish you could have seen her face when she walked in and started passing them out.....I wish you also could have seen the children's faces....priceless.

"It's nice to be important...but it's more important to be nice."

--Unknown

Disney World 2010

Our family just returned from a magical vacation! I will be the first to admit I'm not much of a "character" person. I rarely dress my children in character clothing and I don't have a lot of character stuff in our home....however....there IS something magical about Disney World.

This is the second time we've gone to Disney with our children....and it's a trip I'll never forget. Disney is so REAL to Eva and Jaden right now. The characters are REAL (One of my favorite comments from Eva was, "that is the REAL Snow White!"). Everything is real. We had such an amazing time and I could seriously write a book on everything that we did and saw...but I decided to just sum it up with a few pictures (well...ok...more than a few....but at least I didn't include the nearly 300 I took)!! Ha!!

The WONDERFUL WORLD of DISNEY!

The MAGIC is real at this special place...
My little pirates! I should also note here that Eva and Jaden looooved the rides! We took them on Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain and they loved it! Obviously they were both a bit smitten with the whole pirate thing too!!

Our resort was beautiful and we would stay there again in a heartbeat! This is the view from our room...

My little girl on the beach...

The resort had three pools, but this is the one we spent the most time at. There was a huge water slide that started at the top of the waterfall and ended just under the bridge. I think Eva and Jaden went down it 100 times...then again Matt and I joined them on it quite a bit too!!

We visited with the characters as often as we could! We had dinner with them one evening, and made sure we got to spend time with them at Disney World too. The little ones were just in complete awe...

We spent one afternoon at Epcot!

Matt, Eva, and Jaden inside Bruce the Shark!

We left the resort area one evening and got dinner at P.F. Changs (one of our favorites) and then enjoyed some miniature golfing!

We attended the Not-So-Scary Halloween Party which was DEFINITELY a highlight of the trip! Eva and Jaden got to dress us in their Halloween outfits, trick-or-treat, enjoy a parade, and mingle with the characters.

To make the evening even more magical, we were able to meet up with our neighbors for the Halloween Party! They just flew in that day and the kiddies were sooooo excited to spend time together so far away from home!

Our last day there we treated ourselves to something special...a poolside cabana!!! It was such a fun little treat! We played, ate lunch in it, and Eva and Jaden were even able to lay down in it during rest time and watch a cartoon on the TV! They thought that was pretty special!

Our last evening there we had dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, the evil Step-mother, and her evil step-sisters. One of the step-sisters, Drizella, took a liking to our little guy. She asked him if he would marry her...and to our surprise he said YES!!! She gave him a BIG ol' kiss...

...which left a BIG ol' kiss mark on his face!

On the way home we always enjoy the view from the plane! Eva and Jaden are such good little travelers.

As I said before....there is just too much to write here! It was fun, exciting, and MAGICAL!!