Christmas Letter 2012

Merry Christmas, Everyone!  I hope that all of you have enjoyed your holiday season.  Ours has been busy, busy, busy, but we have enjoyed the time with family and friends.

Emma and Taylor started kindergarten this year.  That seems impossible to me, but its true.  We put them in different classes and that has proven to be a great choice.  They have both blossomed as individuals and learned how to make friends on their own.  Their teachers are perfect for them and they both love school.  Taylor's favorite school activities are math and PE.  Emma's is art. 

Now that I have more free time I've started substitute teaching two days a week.  I have enjoyed getting back in the classroom and experiencing the different grade levels and subject areas.  I have also spent some time volunteering at the girls' school.  On my days off, I continue to do laundry, grocery shop, and sweep floors.  I truly admire those women who work full-time and have spotless homes.

Will finished his second year working for Lighthouse Properties.  He is now embarking on a new work adventure.  We are starting our own business!  This is something Will has been interested in for several years.  After much prayer and council, we have decided that now is the time.  He will be doing custom woodwork and remodeling.  I will be doing bookkeeping and marketing.  Please remember us in your prayers as we start this new chapter of our lives.

We love hearing from each of you.  Thank you for continuing to be part of our lives.  We hope that God blesses you richly during the next year!

December

December has been a whirlwind of activity.  Strangely, I think January is going to be busier.  This month has brought a lot more volunteer opportunities at the girls' school, which I've enjoyed, and of course, all sorts of holiday festivities.

The first weekend of the month my parents and sister went looking at Christmas lights with us.  I've decided that we just went too early.  Not very many lights were out yet.  We went to the parade on the river, but because of the recent drought, there was no river.  We found a few houses to look at, but overall, it didn't meet my high expectations.  We did enjoy spending time with family, though.  I wish I would have taken a picture of my mom, sister, and me crammed in the backseat.

Last weekend we took the girls to visit Santa Claus.  They were not impressed by the first Santa we saw.  In fact, Emma wouldn't even sit on his lap.  They were convinced he wasn't really Santa and questioned how he got is suit.  We finally decided that Santa needed some helpers and lent some suits to a few guys to help out.  We then headed way across town to find the "real" Santa.  We drove so long that one of the girls asked if we were driving to the North Pole.  Relieved, we found the real thing.

I was happy to find that this year, the girls were actually very helpful in the cooking baking department.  Past years have proven to be more work than fun for me.

Thanksgiving 2012

This post is kind of late, but I forgot my camera at the girls' school and couldn't get it until today.  That's just the way things go.

Emma and Taylor's school had a Thanksgiving feast last week.  It was a BIG deal.  Parents donated, prepared, decorated, and served the kids.  Each grade had a responsibility for helping - the kindergarteners made place mats.

All the kids got to eat with their buddy.  I have great pictures of the girls with their third grade buddies, but I'm not posting them because I don't know or have permission from their parents.  Emma and Taylor absolutely adore their buddies.  I even caught Emma's cutting her meat for her.  How sweet.

The days leading up to Thanksgiving we spent time every night talking about one thing we were thankful for.  We wrote it on a "leaf" and glued it to a stick.  It was our tree of Thanksgiving.  It was good for the girls because they sometimes had a hard time thinking of things.

Here are our lists:

Will

getting off work

Mommy's good cooking

having dinner together

days off

weekends at home with the family

a wife who makes my lunch every day

T.V.

*I kind of think that maybe he likes us. :)

Emma 

Jesus

pumpkin pie

nature

blankie

snow

turkey

Taylor

bugs

colors

my mommy and daddy

my toys

my dogs

my sister

money

nature

Alisha

Jesus died for me

dishwasher

books 

coffee

getting to be a stay-at-home mom

getting mail that's not a bill

music

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

Just Cuteness

Here's some cuteness I'm thankful this year.

Emma calls fruit cocktail, fruit cottontail.

I was threaten the girls by saying, "If you continue to talk that way, I'm going to wash your mouth out with soap!"  They both looked at me in a shocked way then Taylor said, "I eat soap anyway, so that would be okay."

While watching a high school production of Bye Bye Birdie, there was a scene with a building and to the side was a phone booth.  A man was talking on the pay phone to a woman in the building.  Emma said, "They're very close to one another.  Why are they talking on the phone?  He just needs to look over there and he would see her!"

This was hat day at school.

I've really been trying to correct this one.  They both call Tootsie Rolls, Titsy Rolls.  Do you see why I want it corrected?

This was sports day at school.

 

Democracy

I ordered a mail-in ballot, but after a few days of consideration, I decided not to use it.  I wanted to take the girls.

While talking about it with the girls, I explained that in America, we have a democracy.  Knowing that they would not know that big word, I explained that in this particular election, we were voting for a new president.  One from each party.  I told them it wasn't really a party. 

Emma said, "its like a meeting". 
"Yes, kind of.  They have different ideas."
Taylor said, "its a boring meeting."

I know people get riled up about politics, but it feels so much worse this year.  I'm sure its just because I have a facebook account.  I'll be honest.  I did unfriend a few people.  These people weren't just expressing opinions.  They were making general statements that attacked the character of entire political parties.  That's what I can't handle.

I don't talk politics.  I don't tell people my affiliated party.  I don't tell people who I voted for.  I know some of you think you know.  I'm still not going to tell.  Even if I did, I'll admit, I don't always vote for my party.  I said it.  Its true.

It makes me sad that people get so hateful.  I know these are emotionally charged issues.  But I want my kids to learn about it in a respectful, God honoring way. 

Okay, anyway.  The girls didn't want to go with me at first to vote.  Once we were there though, they enjoyed it.  They whispered, "who are you voting for?"  the whole time and Taylor worked very hard to make sure the dividers were protecting my privacy.  She kept checking to make sure no one was looking at my votes.  Emma, on the other hand, tried to read the other people's answers.

It was a good lesson in democracy.

Halloween 2012

The girls had two opportunities to dress up this year.  The first was their school's Fall Fun Night.  It was an event filled with carnival style games, candy, and incredible balloon creations.  Taylor was a zebra.  My mom had this body suit, but it didn't have a head or tail.  I had to make those.  I was pretty impressed with myself.  She didn't like wearing it much.  It inhibited her ability to see.  Its a miracle we got any pictures of her in it.  Emma was a bride, which she decided on two days before.  Luckily, Will's mom had previously given us this beautiful white dress.  Thank goodness for grandmas.

I told you they were impressive!  Emma's was a bear hugging a heart.

Taylor's was a butterfly sitting on a flower.

We carved jack-o-lanterns a few nights before Halloween.  I encouraged the girls to just do plain ol' jack-o-lanters, knowing that we wouldn't do a pattern justice.  They chose patterns anyway.  Taylor chose Snow White and Emma chose Minnie Mouse.

I'm trying to teach Taylor that she doesn't have to be a ham in every picture.

Minnie looks pretty good, but Snow White looks more like a piece of modern art with block features.  Unfortunately, I was the artist of that one.

Halloween night we went trick or treating with good friends.  I couldn't get the camera to work right so we didn't get many pictures.  Turns out I didn't have the flash on.  Who would think to check a thing like that?

By the time we got to the end of the block, Taylor had taken off her hat and we'd forgotten her tail.  Emma had taken off her veil and we'd forgotten her flowers.  So, it turns out that they went trick or treating as a girl in a pretty dress and a girl in a leotard.  That's okay, no on seemed to care.

Leader of the Pride (Emma)

Yeah!   Last week Emma was chosen to be the leader of the pride for her classroom!  If you're not sure what leader of the pride is, you can read about it here.

Here she is receiving her certificate at the assembly.

Her teacher wrote, "Emma has spook-tacular kindergarten behavior and academics.  Emma is always ready for a new learning adventure and is always up for a challenge.  She always tries her best and is a super friend who always encourages those around her!"

She got to eat pizza with the principal and other leaders of the pride.  She also got to ring the school bell on top of the building.  She said she rang it four times, with the help of the principal because it was too heavy.

I can't really express how proud I am of Emma.  Entering kindergarten she was a child who refused to do anything herself, clung tightly to her sister, and was afraid that no one would like her.  She spent a lot of time in time-out and didn't want to learn anything new because someone else would eventually do it for her.

Now, she is thriving.  She has not gotten in trouble once at school.  She has a list of friends that are just hers, not Taylor's.  She is learning new things and has become pretty independent.  She's more thoughtful and is learning better how to control her emotions.  Its exciting to see the person she is becoming.

Abilene, Kansas

I have to get my posts caught up!  I know people will be clamboring to see pictures of the girls' Halloween costumes, but I can't go out of order! 

A few weeks ago, (I feel like I start a lot of posts that way) we went to a family reunion in Abilene, Kansas.  We got to visit with family and enjoy the charming town.  While we were there we took a ride on an old fashion carousel.

It was different than what we are all used to.  Instead of the horses going up and down, they rocked jerkily back and forth.  It had a pipe organ that blasted the music instead of a recorded song.

We spent time with Will's cousin Callie, and her daughter Hailey.  Its nice that we have cousins our age to hang out with!

We spent some time exploring the downtown antique shops.  The girls enjoyed looking at everything shiny, fancy, or girlie.

I was really sad that we didn't get to the soda fountain before they closed.

Looking forward to our next visit!


 

First Concert

The first concert I remember going to was New Kids on the Block.  I was in fourth grade.  I remember every detail of it.  Waiting in line to buy tickets.  Wearing my holey jeans with my giant NKOTB button on my shirt.  Driving home from Wichita with Emmy, Crystal, my mom, and Crystal's mom, Olivia.  I could go on with the details, but you get the picture.  It was a big deal.

A few weeks ago, we took the girls to their first concert.  The Imagination Movers.  Here's a link for you to watch.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQHjg0vhQKw    I have to admit, Will and I like the Imagination Movers just as much, if not more, than the girls.  Its music that gets us all dancing. 

I don't know if you've ever watched a video of a "kid" concert, but our experience was right out of a commercial.  There were balls thrown into the audience and toilet paper sprayed from the stage. Confetti shot out of cannons.  Taylor and I were immediately up on our feet doing all the dance moves we had practiced so often at home.  It took Emma and Will a while to follow suite.  Emma just watched from her seat with her head in her hands, a smile plastered on her face.

The end was approaching and they took the fun to a more subdued level.  They thanked the parents for bringing their children.  Thanked us for giving them the gift of our time and attention.  I looked at Taylor and she had tears rolling down her cheeks.  I didn't say anything.

In the car on the way home she said, "I was so happy when they talked about you giving us a gift that it made me cry!  That has never happened to me before."  She is definitely a child after my own heart.  I explained to her that everything makes me cry!

Please excuse the terrible phone picture - I forgot my camera.

Sick Days

Three weeks ago Taylor was home from school sick for two days.  This past week Emma was home from school sick for two days. 

Sure, they had some sick days last year during preschool, but that was different.  I only had the sick one by themselves for two and a half hours.  Now I have them for seven hours.  Seven. Long. Hours.

I can hear people with only one child now. 
"I entertain my kid all day, every day!" 
I know, having twins has spoiled me.

When you're sick, that's the perfect opportunity to watch t.v., but I have a problem with that after we hit the 3 hour mark.  I can't help but feel like its sucking the life out of them.  Wanting them to stay low-key, I encouraged things like reading or play-doh.  Taylor does a pretty good job of playing by herself, but Emma struggles with that.  She needs constant companionship.  Having a twin has spoiled her, too.

Actually, I ended up really enjoying the time I got to spend with each of them.  I discovered that Emma has been hiding a secret from us!  She is becoming quite the little reader!  I already knew that about Taylor, but Emma hasn't shown us much in the area of academics.  Emma also decided that the ideal way to take her temperature is under her tongue.  She has refused to do that up to this point.  It's like she grew a whole year in two days.

To top things off, both girls decided that they don't want to sleep with any stuffed animals or dolls anymore.  They are just growing too fast.

I now have a different view of sick days.  I'm looking forward to the next one.

These are Emma's special treats that she made during one of her sick days.  In case you were wondering, she won first prize in the queen's baking competition and she made $1,000 in her bake sale.  She will use the proceeds to buy more baking supplies.