It wouldn't be Christmas without...

A picture of a crying baby on Santa's lap...

I had a feeling that Averi wasn't going to like Santa this year.  Arielle was afraid up until a year ago when she was four.

A little bit of Christmas

I like how my Christmas mantle turned out this year {with the exception of the orange candles which I didn't find time to replace}. 

I finished my Christmas Advent Calendar just a few days before December 1st.  It was totally worth the time it took to make it from scratch.  I used Carrie's idea but modge-podged every square inch of the box and lid.  We filled it with Squinkees and Christmas themed candy this year.  Arielle loved it!

I let Arielle put the ornaments on the tree all by herself but found that many of them were placed too close together (you can tell by looking at the picture below) so after she went to bed I reorganized them.  

We always get good pics while waiting in line to see Santa at the mall! 

Halloween Fun!

I always love our annual visits to the Pumpkin Patch because of all the great photo opportunities!  The weather was great (it's been unusually warm this Fall) but the wind started to pick up so I pulled the shade down on Averi's stroller.  A few minutes later I looked down to check on her and realized that she was peering out from under the shade with her head sideways...it was so funny so of course we snapped a picture!

We created a Frankenstein jack-o-lantern which turned out pretty cute for being designed by a five year old!  Arielle actually helped me clean the pumpkin guts out this year...with a spoon {she and Zak think the guts are the most disgusting thing ever!}.

This year Arielle dressed up as a "Pink Pirate" and she was very excited to wear real makeup (eyeshadow and blush).  This was the first year that Averi dressed up and she was the most adorable ladybug ever!  Except she hated wearing the hat so that only lasted for the five minutes that we tried to get a "good" picture of her wearing it. 

We went trick-or-treating with Arielle's BFF from school.  Averi went too and she enjoyed every minute of it.  She kept pointing to the houses and babbling from her stroller.  I think she had just as much fun as the older kids :-)  Arielle decided that each house with their porch lights on was "in business" so she kept telling her friend, "It looks like this one's in business!"  Zak finally told her that it is actually "open for business" but it was really funny while it lasted. 

Heritage Square ~ Golden, Colorado

We had a very nice three day holiday weekend despite Arielle's 48 hour stomach bug. The night before the 4th of July Zak and I got about 3 hours of sleep because Arielle was running a fever of 102-103 most of the night. The next day she was feeling better but the weather wasn't very cooperative. The temperature ended up dipping to 55 degrees and it was raining and quite windy so we ended up watching the fireworks from our house just like we did last year. Fortunately we have a view of at least five firework displays and a lot of neighbors that like to light their own {extremely big and loud} fireworks. The next day Arielle was back to her old {fiesty} self so we ventured out to Heritage Square, a small amusement park in Golden, Colorado that is home to the largest Alpine Slide in our state. Arielle rode many rides including the Tilt-a-Whirl and Scrambler for the first time ever. The Tilt-a-Whirl was by far her favorite and she made Zak go on it two times in a row which did him in! Averi and I spent a lot of time sitting around in the shade because spinny rides make me sick. She was so good all day until the car ride home when she cried the whole way because I didn't bring her afternoon bottle with us. Averi has gotten so interactive and she babbles just as much as her sister, if not more! She laughs and smiles a LOT too. Lately she has started crying when someone holds her if I am in the same room. My mom says I was the same exact way...there is no mistaken that she is my baby from her looks to her personality.

Here are some of my favorite pics from our outing:

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

My Easter Peeps

We all had a wonderful Easter this year! The girls really enjoyed their baskets. I asked Arielle her favorite thing about the day and she said, "Spending time with you and Grandmom and Grandpop and the eggs." Yesterday we went to an Egg Hunt in the neighborhood so she got to bring home some plastic eggs which she hid all around the house and kept making everyone look for them. Her favorite one is half green and half dark pink. She is so easily amused!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Spreading the love

We took these pictures on Valentine's Day but I never ended up doing a post. Today I decided to spread the love!

I may never know what it is like to have a sister but I can feel the love between Arielle and Averi and it amazes me!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

I know it's late but...

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

We are looking forward to the New Year...

~Momma to Bug~

Trick or Treat Girls

Arielle dressed up as Barbie Mariposa this year {a butterfly fairy}. She looked beautiful as always! Zak and I both got to go trick or treating with Arielle while Grandmom stayed home with Averi. We organized a neighborhood trick or treating group so Arielle got to go with three other 4 and 5 year old girls. She kept saying, "Come on girls!" to them the whole night. She is such the motherly type.

Thanks to the Cook family for Averi's Halloween outfit!

~Momma to Bug~

Pumpkin Patch Fun

We managed to make it out of the house last weekend to visit the pumpkin patch. It was a very warm day so we just couldn't resist. Arielle had a blast enjoying the activities even though we didn't stay for long. Best of all, she got to go on a roller coaster! You should have seen the look on her face and the way she had her arms wrapped around the bar as if she was hanging on for dear life. It brought me to tears to see the fear in her eyes but she didn't shed one tear. She just got off and said, "that was really scary". Averi slept the whole time {thankfully}.

~Momma to Bug~

Easter recap

This Easter was fun for everyone. We died eggs the day before Easter and managed to keep her fingers clean this time. I tried to explain to Arielle that the longer you kept the eggs in the dye, the brighter the egg would be but she was too impatient. Although the eggs turned out beautiful anyway because we used the vinegar method this year.

The Easter Bunny's egg hunt was a great adventure and his Easter basket was a success! Even Mommy and Daddy's gift, a new Leapster game, was greatly appreciated. Arielle was so excited to find the hidden eggs and discover that some of them had candy in them. So much so that after she found all of them, she reorganized the jelly beans and chocolate from her basket and made sure that each egg contained a sweet goody! She played with her presents ate a few bits of sugar heaven and kept herself content most of the day. I was even surprised when she ate her ham and green beans then asked for more two hours later! The one thing I am dissapointed with is how bad all of the pictures turned out this year and the fact that the weather was too cold to dress for the occassion so we stayed inside all day.

~Momma to Bug~

Merry Christmas to all!

I love ChRiStMaS!

My favorite part about Christmas is to see the JoY in Arielle's eyes when she comes downstairs on Christmas morning and discovers all the presents under the tree!

{I love how she has the same cheesy grin in all of these pictures!}

Have a VERY merry CHRISTMAS!

~Momma to Bug~

Christmas tidbits

I can't believe that there are only TWO days left until Christmas and this is the first post I have done about it! It was not my intention to skip a couple of months of blogging in order to live my life but unfortunately that is what has happened. If only I had a quarter for every time I heard this expression but it really is true..."There is not enough time in the day."

We had a lot of fun decorating the tree this year as it was the first time Arielle really participated and I even got a little creative by tying ribbon to glass ornament balls and hooking them over the kitchen window. It was a quick, easy and inexpensive way to decorate for the holidays! Even so, Arielle keeps asking me when we are going to decorate for Christmas...I don't think what we have done is extravegant enough for her. We have already had our share of cookie decorating parties also, an event that Arielle enjoys solely so she can eat the very sugary, toppings!

Arielle has been counting the days down to Christmas on her My Little Pony Advent Calendar {which was a last minute decision since I didn't have enough time to sew one up myself which I intend to do for next year}. She has done well in understanding the countdown and when another day has passed us by so if nothing else it has taught her that but I think it has also taught her some patience too!

This year when we visited Santa at the mall, Arielle wasn't afraid of him but she played shy so Mommy had to sit next to him too. She told him she wants a digital camera so she can take her own pictures and the camera that she wants has to have stars on it {like the one she saw in a catalogue}. I love that the number one thing on her list this year isn't actually a toy...I never would have imagined that. Arielle was also lucky enough to meet Santa again at the May family's annual Cookie Party and this time she wasn't so shy nor did she forget to tell him that she wants a digital camera for Christmas!

Oh and I am happy to report that I finally schedule Arielle's Christmas portraits to be taken the first week in January...like I always say, "Better late than never."

~Momma to Bug~