Ponytails and Hippo Teeth

Anna is growing up so fast! She is 7 months old, and she can now sit up all on her own really well. (Her sock monkey can too!) And she has two little hippo teeth that just poked through on the bottom. Her hair is also just long enough to pull it into the tiniest little ponytail. I made her a new bow to mark the occasion. I used this tutorial that I found on pinterest, and even though it didn't turn out anything like the example in the photo (likely because I didn't follow the directions very closely), I think it still turned out pretty cute.

Baby Anna and her sock monkey.

Splashing in Muddy Puddles

When you are 3, there is really nothing better than putting on your rain boots and splashing in some muddy puddles. So when it rained last week, that's what we did. Well, not we. I stayed on the porch and took photos from a distance. It was really cold, so we didn't stay out long, but fun was had by all. Then we went inside, got dried off, and had some warm cocoa. Not hot cocoa. That would burn us. (That's an Erik quote).

Happy Heart Day

The Harris family had a very happy heart day. Anna was sick (it turns out she is really sick, but doing much better now that she is getting the medicine she needs), but she was still in a pretty good mood. And just cut her very first tooth! She also got her first taste of strawberries.

David and Erik went to a Valentine's Day party with some friends from church. We had such a good time making cookies, passing out valentines, and playing with friends.

They loved making their valentines too. Thanks to pinterest, we had tons of great ideas for gifts. We decided to make homemade (well, more like recycled) crayons and kool-aid playdough. I found some cute boy cards and then modified them a little to make them into treat bag toppers.

For the crayons we didn't have a heart shaped mold, so we used the square one I had on hand, and they turned out great. Taking the papers off took a really long time, and I ended up with crayons in all my fingernails. We divided the crayons up into color groups, and the boys really enjoyed deciding where each crayon went. Before filling the molds, I put the crayon pieces in plastic bags and let the boys hit them with a hammer. They thought it was extremely awesome. And it made for great looking crayons.

We followed the playdough recipe pretty close, though I added some cream of tartar (to help it last longer) and some glitter for fun. I think we added more kool-aid too to get the color brighter too. The pink lemonade didn't turn out as pink as I wanted, but both flavors smelled great. The fruit punch was so good, I'm certain I'm going to need to remind the boys not to eat it. David and Erik love cooking with mommy. This recipe didn't really require any cooking, but they consider any time at the counter "cooking" time with mommy, so they enjoyed this project too.

The boys even enjoyed stuffing the bags. We work assembly line style, and it was really fun. I wish we had more time to decorate their boxes. I wanted to let them cover them with stickers, but we ran out of time. They do love their boxes though, especially now that they are filled with cards and treats.

Anna enjoying her 1st valentine's day.

Look closely and you can see her hippo tooth!!

David and his valentines box.

Erik with his treats.

Our homemade crayons.

And our homemade playdough.

Steve and I both agree that ridiculous puns are the best part about valentines.

Christmas morning

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was Anna's first ever of course, the boys' first that they are likely to remember, and our first time celebrating with just our little family. It was heavenly.

I was worried that we wouldn't have much, but Steve assured me that it would be fine. He was right of course. We made a lot of gifts and found great deals for everything else. Our Heavenly Father really provided for us.

I was also a little worried that the boys would be upset about not getting to open gifts before church. We have church at 8:30am, so there really wasn't time for much present opening. So we just opened stockings, went to church, and then opened the rest. The boys were fine with that though. How nice that they don't have any expectations yet.

The boys behavior at church was far from amazing, but they enjoyed the music, and we felt the Spirit. We spent a lot of time this month singing Christmas carols. I think music is one of the best ways to spread the true meaning of Christmas.

When we got home, the boys opened their gifts, and they loved them all. It is funny how our little Christmas ended up being so bountiful. God is so good, and he provided more than I thought possible.

And of course the best Christmas gift has already been given: our Savior, Jesus Christ. May we always remember Him, His life, His death, and His resurrection all year long. He is the way and the life.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas jammies!

Every Christmas growing up, we always opened one present on Christmas eve. And it was always pajamas. As a little kid, I can only imagine I thought it was cool. I got to open a present a day early! But as an older kid I remember thinking "Pajamas?!?! I want to open something good!" My mom continues the tradition, and as an adult, I love my Christmas jammies.

We decided to carry the tradition on in our family too. So here are the kids opening their Christmas jammies on Christmas eve. Afterwards we piled in the car and went to look at Christmas lights. Now whenever the boys wear these pjs, they ask to go look at lights.

David tearing in!

And he looks pleased!

Erik going at it.

Pajamas!!!

Anna opening her first Christmas present!!

Apparently, it is delicious.

All three kids in their new Christmas jammies. The boys just adore Anna.

And Anna adores them right back.

Happy, Merry Christmas Eve!!

Decorating our Christmas tree

Sorry about all the catch up posts.

David and Erik helped decorate the Christmas tree this year. They loved it! I would hand them ornaments, and they would place them on the tree. The ornaments ended up a little (well, a lot) clumped, but it was so fun to let them help, and they had a great time. And of course after I took pictures, I moved them all around so it looked nice.

Erik choosing a spot. You can see their favorite spot in this photo. They hung half the ornaments on one branch.

David placing an ornament on the tree.

Mommy handing out the ornaments.

This spot looks a little bare.

Ta da!!

Ready to ring in the holidays!

Pictures with Santa

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Our tree is up, the stockings are hung, and the kids have been to visit jolly old Saint Nick.

David and Erik loved seeing Santa this year. We told them all about how Santa bring children presents, and they though long and hard about what they wanted to ask him for. When we went to the mall, there was absolutely no one else there to see him (it was in the middle of the afternoon on a school day), so the boys sat on Santa's lap for over 5 minutes just talking to him. They loved it! They both asked for "a real fish to go in the water" and also a train. It started out that David wanted a fish and Erik wanted a train, but both liked the other's idea as well.

So they had a great time, but the pictures were awful. Not one had both kids looking at the camera or even looking happy. And the cheapest package was $25. I wasn't about to pay that kind of money for a terrible picture.

Thankfully Santa Claus also visited our church Christmas party, so the boys got to sit on Santa's lap again. When asked what they wanted for Christmas, I was shocked to hear them both ask for a horse!! A horse?!?! Um, I don't think that's going to fit in Santa's sleigh this year...

Anna got a turn on Santa's lap too. She was as pleasant as could be expected of a 4 month old baby sitting on a stranger's lap. And I was able to snap some pictures of them, which aren't amazing, but they were free. =)

David and Erik sitting with Santa.

Anna meeting Santa for the first time.