Day 6
We doubled up today because S found one of our craft activities and couldn't wait to make it! We made Christmas balls to hang on our tree. She squirted different colors of paint into the tops and then swirled them around. They turned out so pretty and she decided that she would give some away as gifts.

Then we went to Joseph Beth bookstore and she picked out two books to donate to their book drive. She also chose one for the book exchange they will be having in her class. She was also understanding that she was not getting anything for herself while we were there. While we were walking in, Mr. Claus was sitting in his chair and she couldn't just walk by without talking to him! We didn't have Wolfie with us, so we didn't get pictures taken. Well, to be so scared of the jolly old elf for so long, she sure has turned a corner!! She was all over him, talking his ear off! It was hilarious!

Day 7
This morning we got up and went to Krispy Kreme! If you have ever stayed with us, you know that Suzana just assumes that we will get those warm, delicious, sugary, totally horrible for you treats! We never travel to that red HOT sign under normal circumstances; however, today we went and then delivered three dozen to the Ronald McDonald House (which holds a very special place in my heart!) Well, of course we had to get a couple for ourselves ;-) We were welcomed with many smiles and S and L both liked looking at the Christmas trees in the house. S asked where all the sick kids were, and I told her a million times how the RMH operates and the children were in the hospital where daddy works. I think she finally got it!

Advent 3,4,5

Well, we were off to a great start and then mama got sick! We had to miss our third day, but it actually worked out because the activity we had planned really called for colder weather, and it has felt more like spring here than late fall, so we will just reschedule it and double up another day!

Day four was our annual trip to Southern Lights! This is one of my favorite things to go to in Lexington. The Walker family came to see us and went with us. Suzana, Kirk and Leo had so much fun together! I haven't had a chance to upload the pictures from my camera, as it takes forever, but I did include one of Suzana and Kirk looking at a book while we waited to be seated for dinner (well, at the first restaurant we went to! Haha) Suzana's favorite part was getting to ride up front in the car to look at the lights. Kirk and Leo were such brave boys and rode on ponies! Kirk thought it was really "bumpy!"

Day five we talked about why we put up Christmas trees and how God's love is "ever" lasting. We each painted a hand green and made a Christmas tree to hang up every year. Leo thought painting his hand was hilarious! Of course Suzana loved painting all of our hands and helping with the tree!

A lot of exciting things coming this week...

Advent-days 1 & 2

We got home from Chicago last night and all Suzana wanted to do was get out "when Jesus was born" (that would be our nativity) with Gi Gi before she went home. They set it up and Suzana told us who all the different people were.

This morning we got out our Little People "when Jesus was born" and our Bible. Suzana used the people to act out the story as I read it. Leo liked looking at the Bible and playing with the animals. After we read about the star, she decided on her own she would like to make some stars for our tree and as gifts.

We are off to a great start and I think this year will be amazing watching her "get" what the season is all about. Although Leo is too young to really understand what all we are doing, he loves to do whatever his big sister is doing and it will be a great foundation to build from each year as they both get older.

We have some great activities planned, so stay tuned to see what unfolds!

Coming soon

We are going to be staring our Advent activities again today, and I promised myself that when they began I would start keeping up with our blog! So stay tuned for updates at least weekly, hopefully more often. We wish you a Christmas season filled with wonderful memories!

3 1/2 and 1/2 birthdays!

Well, hope someone reads this. I am sure most of you out there have given up on this blog, but it has seemed to fall on the backburner since the man of the house has been so crazy busy and I have been a single mom for the majority of the past few months. Picture at Great Wolf Lodge. We had such a great time as a family and when our friends the Cains came too! This was at PJ storytime. The pools were amazing! Josh catch-up: in Washington DC from January 23-February 18 for a four week lecture. He said it was very informative, I say it was the hardest endeavor for both of us ever!!! We made it though and I now have such respect for military and single moms/dads! He has started his interview trail for his fellowship; so far he has interviewed at Wake Forest, Charleston, SC, and is at UVA right now! He is still going to UNC (my dream undergrad school, but glad I ended up where I did or I wouldn't be typing this blog today, haha) , Duke and Cincinnati. He really liked Wake and said it seemed like a great fit. We won't know for sure until the end of June, but know we will end up where we are meant to be. On top of all of this, he has had the craziest schedule EVER at work. Nights, midnights, call! We miss him!! Now for the kiddos: Suzana is now 3 and a half!!! So hard to believe! We celebrated with blue pancakes and icees! She picked out a Dora Ballet DVD at Target as her half present. She LOVES dance class!! Suzana at 3 1/2 (I am allowed to brag since I am 99.9% sure the only people who read this are family...and Kelly W!!) *can name all letters(sometimes confuses Y and K), their sounds, and give at least one word for most of them *can recognize some words from memory *can count to 30 *can spell her name, Leo, mom, dad *can write the above names, however does still need help with the S and Z in her name (why did I pick a name with all of the hardest letters to write, lol) She also writes many other letters. *says the blessing for our food and reminds us if we forget *is the best big sister/helper I could have EVER asked for *is destined to be in the medical field! She is not grossed out by anything and loves to take care of everyone! *has an imaginary friend named Johhny Kate *loves art and painting *loves to dance and tumble *loves to play outside *can cut out things on the line *is HILARIOUS!! and tells the best stories ever! *got amazing reviews at her parent/teacher conference!! *loves to read, read, read!!! *has the biggest heart a three and a half year old could ever have! I have seen her mature so much since the baby arrived. Of course we have some challenging days, but listening to us and following rules have become much easier. I can't even begin to explain how much I love this girl!!! Here is a story to portray how God created her extra special: We went to Chick-fil-a with one of her classmates a few weeks ago. The baby was sleeping and the mom of her friend had two other little ones with her, so we sat in the dining area while they played. When it was about time to go, I took Leo to change his diaper. The other mom said that while I was gone a mom from the play room came up to her and asked if the two kids in the playroom were ours. She said yes, thinking something was wrong, but she was wrong! The mom told her that our two kids were the sweetest most polite children she had met and that you don't find kids like them too often these days! Well, I guess it is a good thing that she was having a good day and wasn't tired or hungry, lol! I am one proud mama! (As is Suzana's friend's mom!) Leo also had a half birthday this month!! He is six months!! Holy cow! Wasn't he just born?? Why does time fly by so incredibly fast? It breaks my heart!!! Leo at 6 months: *sits without support *loves his big sister and laughs at her until he gets hiccups *weighs 17 pounds 10 ounces (55% percentile) *is 27 1/2 inches long (75% percentile) *LOVES to jump in his bouncy exersaucer *sleeps in his crib for naps and some of the night *thinks his toes are super yummy *likes to eat sweet potatoes, squash, peas and carrots (so far, getting ready to start fruit) *has the sweetest smile! *wears size 3 diapers *wears 6-9 month clothes *pushes up all the way up with his elbows straight *can hold himself in a standing position for a few seconds while holding onto a table *cracks up at other babies *is going to pop a tooth any day now *likes to listen to music *books are his favorite thing to play with/chew on (wonder where he gets that?? Miss Suzana!) *filled a spot in our hearts we didn't even know was empty *has very long eyelashes that curl up! *LOVES his daddy and takes much better naps when he is home! *is such a good boy and rarely cries *is very wiggly and delicious!!! These two ages are probably my favorite!!! They are both so incredibly fun! Sorry to go on and on about my little ones, but since they are only this age once and so many of our family members dont't get to see them often, just wanted to provide an update on them! Oh, and I am not a very good blogger these days, so wanted it to take a while for everyone to read this, haha!!! My heart overflows!!!!!

Five months and ready to eat!

Baby Leo Wolfie turned five months on Saturday! It is seriously crazy to me how fast time goes by after you have kids! I just love him so much and feel so lucky that he is ours! He is hilarious, just happy and giggly pretty much every minute of the day! He adores Suzana and smiles the second she comes into the room. She loves having him to entertain too. Watching them together is the sweetest thing! He has recently been sitting up without support for a few minutes, but then as soon as he spots his toes, he tries to eat them and, plop, down he goes! He can also push up with his arms straight while on his belly, but again gives up when he sees the blanket under him and wants to chew it to bits! HAHA! Obviously, he is also teething like crazy!! Everything is in his mouth. We are pretty sure he got a taste of Fun Dip the other day when he grabbed Suzana's hand and tried to chew on it :-) He is also getting more "boyish." He is always grabbing, touching, feeling, pulling, rolling, "talking," yep, I am pretty sure that he is going to be into EVERYTHING!! But no worries, Suzana was too! I wouldn't trade them for anything!!

Turning five months meant that we could start giving him rice cereal. The first night he wasn't sure about it, but now tries to grab the bowl and drink it! Another boy characterisic I guess! Suzana wouldn't touch the stuff when she was a baby!

First bite....not too sure about that stuff!!
We were so glad daddy could be there too!

Starting to like it a little more.

Of course big sister had to help feed him!

Who knows what she may feed him next, today she handed him a raw potato! HA!

Go Away Winter!

Well, between Suzana and Wolfie having two sicknesses each within two weeks and preschool, dance, and everything else in Lexington being cancelled, we are ready for some warm weather. We are so ready in fact, Suzana wore her bathing suit in the bathtub and pretended she was at the pool! I am not one to wish time away, but this weather can not leave soon enough. Thank goodness for some sunshine yesterday and today!Mr. Leo is a big fan of his exersaucer these days! He can play with all of the toys on it and spin around. He is really interacting with everything and everyone these days! It is so amazing how fast he has gone from a newborn who just slept, to a sweet boy who loves to play, roll over, crack up at his sister and chew on everything! He has also started "telling" us when he is mad or unhappy. I told Josh he sounds like the dad on "A Christmas Story" when he is fussing at the heater. Frickin' Frackin', haha! It really is hilarious! He is so sweet though!!

Suzana totally shocked me the other day while we were cutting and drawing. She can write so many letters, more than I even knew, and now she can cut out a heart! I mean, cut it out perfectly, right on the line! I had cutting homework when I was in Kindergarten because I was so shaky, so thank goodness her daddy passed on his hand-eye skills, haha! She is just so amazing!!!!

More Christmas Pics

One of my favorite pictures ever of my favorite baby boy ever!

My big girl on her bike, with a seat for her babydoll on the back, from Santa!!
Suzana made the trip to WV in her jammies! She loves helping Gi Gi cook, especially yummy Christmas cookies! Leo and Paw Paw are making sure they make them just right! :-)

The two cutest, sweetest boys I know! Luke and Leo on Christmas Eve. Hmmm, wonder if I will still be saying "sweet" in three years? It may be more like "trouble!" LOL!!

Josh and Suzana spent two hours shopping for snow clothes and about 30 minutes actually in the snow at Grandaddy's! Haha!
Uncle Cam and Suzana opening her box FULL of awesome Jessie (from Toy Story) things!

Night, night sweet girl!

Thank you!

Suzana Kate and Leo Cameron had the most amazing Christmas EVER! Thank you to all of our family and friends for the awesome gifts. We loved spending time with you over this special holiday season. I downloaded 144 pictures from Christmas, ha! Way too many to choose from and download on this very SLOW site. I will add more throughout the month when I make other posts. Happy New Year!! We can't wait to see what this years holds in store for our family!