Thanksgiving and Christmas Preparation

We enjoy going to our cousin's house for a delicious, homemade, yummy dinner.

I love how she decorated too:) Fun!!

We usually wait until Rachel's birthday, December 3rd, to put up the tree, but I couldn't wait this year. We put it up this weekend. Our neighbor friends helped decorate.

We have five stockings this year because our neighbors will be joining us for Christmas so Santa will visit them too! We don't have a fireplace so we used push pins and stuck them into the wall. It works for us:)

Here is the great advent calendar my sister gave us last year. Each pocket has a scripture that we are excited to read every night.

My sister gave us this magnetic nativity. The shepherd and animals didn't fit on the cookie sheet so they are off to the side. The shepherd is also watching over the Little Pony too:)

Finished!!

Our tree is always decorated with homemade ornaments and pictures of my children. It brings back great memories. Not exactly fancy, but so fun to talk about each ornament, each picture, and remember the past.

My Turkey

Erin Joy is dressed nicely for Thanksgiving dinner today.

She made me a turkey in school yesterday. She is so proud of her turkey because it looks just like me! "It's your twin, Mom!" She announced as she gave it to me.  I definitely see a resemblance. Notice the glasses:)

Table Manners

I should have posted pictures of Erin Joy's contortionist eating habits in my last post. I am CONSTANTLY trying to get her to put her legs down and eat like a princess. It isn't working so well. I had her eat a piece of bread to demonstrate...

The Contortionist

After I posted the picture of Erin Joy hiding in the washer, one of my friends called her a contortionist. Yep. That about sums it up!

Here she is hiding under a very small space under my bed...

This is how I find her every morning...she can hold this position for a very long time...trust me...this is why I am often late to work...I'm try to get her off the toilet.  (She is going to kill me in a few years when she sees this picture!)

Whenever she falls asleep in the car, this is the comfortable position she ALWAYS ends up in. I don't know how she can even breathe.  She can sleep for an hour or so on long trips folded just like a sandwich. Amazing!

Erin Joy's Great Hiding Spot

Erin Joy hid very quietly for a long time in the washing machine before I finally found her. Silly girl. Glad I didn't turn it on!!

Growing Crystals

Bubble Rock is a naturally ocurring Limestone mineral that is found in Western Utah. With proper conditions that are similar to a cave environment, it will grow its own crystals! All it takes is white vinegar. When the vinegar evaporates, crystals form. This was a great $4.00 souvenir that we bought last summer while visiting Southern Utah. It just took us awhile to actually put the rock into some vinegar. We have had a lot of fun watching crystals grows.

Just a Cute Picture

I love these girls!!

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Today we enjoyed a fabulous performance of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" presented by The Storybook Theater. We really love Storybook Theater performances and usually get season tickets and go to all the plays every year. Today's performance was excellent as always:)  My girls waited impatiently for the show to start...

I usually don't buy the music CD, but I really liked several of the songs. My two favorite songs had excellent messages.  The sheep sing one song called "The Grass is Always Greener" which talks about being happy with who you are and not trying to be someone else.  The mother sings a song to her son about the importance of telling the truth. The song has excellent analogies about being trustworthy.

My girls had other favorite songs. They listened to the CD a few times and prepared a performance.  I was amazed that they learned the songs so quickly. They are fast learners and the songs have catchy tunes and lyrics.

Anyway, here they are getting the chairs ready...

Every chair had a number...

Stuffed animals and dolls were given tickets that matched the chairs...

Even Bella, the cat, had a ticket and a chair.

I paid $100 so I could receive a ticket to the "Great Show".

I got seat 4.

Now it's time for the "Great Show"...I hope you enjoy the show as much as I did:)

(By the way, Erin Joy turns her shirt around for each character she is pretending to be. They used to dress up in costumes for their "great shows" and perform almost every night, but not so much any more. I rarely get "great shows."  They are growing up too fast...)