Santa Hat

Isn't she adorable in her little Santa hat?

Santa Picture

Grace gets a good look at the strange, bearded man whose lap she is sitting on. Meanwhile, Gabriel gives Santa his Christmas list: a police car and trucks.

Grace is thinking, "What the h%$&? Get me out of here!" Gabriel says, "Cheese!"

Now Santa and Gabriel realize that Grace is panicking.

I think that these pictures are hilarious. This is exactly what I would have expected with a two-year-old and a one-year-old having pictures taken with Santa.

Bass Pro Shop

Every Saturday and Sunday between now and Christmas, Bass Pro Shop has a craft for kids and a free picture with Santa. I have decided that it will be fun to try to do as many of the crafts as we have time for. This week Gabriel made a bobber Santa ornament.

Daddy and Gabriel made the ornament together.

Grace and I waited in line for Santa pictures.The finished product! Isn't it perfect?

Fort, House, Camp . . . Whatever!

Gabriel has been building forts, houses, buildings, camps (whatever!) with ALL of our couch pillows, blankets, large toys, and containers. He drags them all into the kitchen and builds his "thing" under the kitchen table. He is so funny!

I have no idea what Grace was doing here, but her face is so funny that I thought I would include it too. HA!

Goofy Kids

Gabriel dropped a toy in Grace's play pen so he decided to go in after it. He thought that it was just hilarious. First he stood on a toy and leaned over the side of the play pen.

Then he fell in head first.

Finally, he retrieved his toy.

Grace LOVES to stand in the chair that Aunt Linda got her for her birthday. And she certainly prefers the lavendar one over the blue one. Go figure!

Xmas Tree

We put up the Christmas tree yesterday morning. This was Gabriel's first time to help us with decorating.Gabriel played with Daddy's hat while we "fluffed" the branches.

Here is our little boy putting ornaments on the tree.

TA DA! A decorated tree and two cute kids!

Quiet Thanksgiving

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at our house. The food was yummy and the company was fun.Uncle Brian and Papa enjoy some of Grandma's Death by C hocolate.
Grace finishes up her first Thanksgiving dinner. Gabriel was too distracted by the television and our company to eat much.

Before the rest of us were finished with our dinners, the Ellnor boys had the cards out!

Grace visited with Grampy. Gabriel decided to draw with his markers on Uncle Brian's hand.
It was okay because Uncle Mark evened the score.

Crash and Burn

Dan was in the living room and while Grace was playing in the kitchen. He noticed that she had gotten quiet. When he checked on her, this is what he saw. Yes, she fell asleep in the middle of the kitchen floor. He said that she slept for about twenty minutes like this.

Silly Girl

Grace is so silly. She loves to climb, and she loves to crawl into small spaces. Tonight she was completely inside the toy basket playing with toys.

Walking Girl

Grace has been taking steps for nearly a month now. This weekend she started letting go of the furniture and walking a few steps at a time. Each day her little walks are getting a little longer. It is only a matter of days before crawling is a thing of the past for her.

Sleepy Sunday

This is what Gabriel looks like at 10:30 AM when he wakes up at 6:08 AM on a Sunday! The little stinker whined this morning when I woke him up at ten minutes before seven. Aaaargh!

Tooth

Grace's first tooth came up the week of her first birthday. Her second front bottom tooth broke through this weekend. See!

More Pictures from Dinner

Here are more pictures of Saturday night's dinner at the Masonic Lodge. This is what Daddy hopes to see one day.

Grampy and Gabriel

Ben and Grace

First Hair Cut

We took Grace to SuperCuts for her first hair cut this afternoon. This is the before picture. Her hair is just nuts!

Grace didn't seem to mind having her wet sprayed with water.

She was a little wiggly for her trim.The hairstylist said that Grace did a great job. She got the "Dorothy Hamil" do.

Good job, Grace! You look beautiful!

Dinner at the Masonic Lodge

We went to dinner last night at the Masonic Lodge. Yummy Food and Good Company! Gabriel enjoyed his dessert --- cherry pie!

Ben held a wiggle worm, Grace, while he talked to Gramma.

Grampy and Pawpaw relaxed after a big dinner.

Proud Mama

I have to take a moment to brag on my kids:
1.) Gabriel had his last session with Mrs. Dawn from First Steps today. He has met all of his goals and is doing well with both gross and fine motor skills. It was a bittersweet morning. Gabriel loves Mrs. Dawn. She enjoys working with him. She has taught him, Staci, and me so much.

2.) I took the kids to the health department today to get Grace's 12 month shots and Gabriel's flu shot. The waiting room was packed and hot. We had a 30-45 minute wait before seeing the nurse. The kids were near-angels. They ate raisins together. Gabriel played with a toy truck. He sat in a chair and talked in a reasonable inside voice. Both kids were cooperative and well behaved. I am so lucky to have such fantastic kids.

3.) The kids were so good about their shots. Gabriel did not shed a tear. Grace cried for a moment; she got three shots. Once the shots were over, she was back to her grinning self.

I can't even express how much I love these two awesome kids. They such joys and blessings.

Playing in Leaves

Tuesday evening when the kids and I got home from work and Staci's, we found Dan in the backyard blowing leaves. Gabriel did not waste a minute before going outside and playing in the leaves that Dan had blown into piles.

Living Room S'mores

We made s'mores tonight in the living room fireplace. Daddy made the first one for Gabriel.

Gabriel LOVED his sweet treat!

Grace got in on the toasted marshmellow action too! Mmmm . . . .