25 Days of Joy: Day 25

Family. I am so joyful that we live close to our family. I couldn't imagine raising our children any other way. The Lord has blessed us with such a wonderful family.

Merry Christmas to all. Hope you are surrounded by family & love this season. Happy Birthday Jesus

25 Days of Joy: Day 24

I love the glow from a Christmas tree at night. Its all winding down. This is right after "Santa" came. Another year almost over.. I can't believe it!

25 Days of Joy: Day 23

We had dinner with my grandparents tonight. If that wasn't awesome enough she gave me these cuties. She crocheted them when I was an infant. I remember seeing them every year growing up. She asked if I would keep them to pass on to my girls. They are nestled under a little tree in my living room and I love looking at them and thinking of my grandma :)
Thanks Grandma, Love you

What I want to Remember....

I thought I want to record a few things I'd like to remember about 2010 and what the girls are up to right now. There is something about this time of year... its nostalgic. We watch the same movies we did as kids, we have traditions with family, and we tend to eat & cook the same dishes each year. But, one thing that will never be the same is our children.

It seems like daily I notice something new and fun that my girls are learning or imitating. Its so amazing and makes me wonder why us as adults slow down our learning curve. Why are we not constantly learning and changing? That is my prayer for 2011. Id like to sit down next year this time and reflect on growth in all aspects of the word.


Leah is now 20 months old. She seems tall for her age, though we do not have a well check until she turns two. I have noticed her maturing. She isn't as aggressive. She is easy to reason with through her moments of fits. She is definitely Not going to be a passive personality. She is strong willed and emotional like her Mommy. Which isn't always a bad thing.


She jumps with both feet off the ground, can almost do a somersault unassisted and runs all over the place. She loves to be active and put on a show. She is destined to entertain. She loves to make people laugh and demand your full attention. She'll say "isten Mommy, isten" and pull my head toward her. She continues to speak so well. Leah can count to 11 and sing her ABC's, Twinkle, Twinkle, & Itsy Bitsy.


Ayla is 3 1/2. She is starting to talk about preschool and seems to be excited about. We haven't totally decided on where, but confident she will do well. We have slacked off a bit this winter in our daily learning activities (bad mom). This season has knocked me off my feet. Recognizing several letters.... A, L, H, O, P, Q, Y, Z (I believe). She doesn't quite get the phonics part yet, but I know that will come. She has such a sweet faith and I love having conversations with her about God & Jesus. Yesterday she said, "Mom, Jesus is special because he is God's son." I am so thankful for a wonderful staff in her sunday school who help us nurture her.


Lately, she is very into pretend play... tea parties, vacations, playing house, walking the dog and sometimes being the dog. Most mornings when I am cleaning you can find her up on her bed in a mound full of books and random objects that will make up the particular scene she is in. She allows Leah to play with her most of the time. When I ask her who her best friends are she says Leah & Meredith & Wyhatt.


The girls are typical sisters... they love playing together and whenever one is not with the other we often get asked where the other is and when they are returning. It is very sweet. But they love to torture each other hehe I break up many a tiff over "that's mine" etc-- then its over and fine. Kids.

Favorite Things at this age:
Ayla... still requests to have us sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" every night (usually more than once)
Leah... still wants to snuggle, rock before bed even though her legs are getting to big for the rocker

Hardest Things at this age:
Ayla... dramatics, she gets upset over the littlest thing but its the end of the world sometimes
Leah... testing our limits, seeing how far she can go before she gets scolded

Looking forward to:

Ayla... loving school and learning in a happy, loving environment

Leah... learning to play with friends and taking her first gymnastics class

Dance has been crazy and rollercoaster-ish. Which is pretty typical. We are getting into the busy season now. Meaning the rest of winter will probably fly by much like this year did. I try to take time to family day during the week. Jeff is super-dad, no lie. He is amazing. I couldn't ask for a more involved daddy.

25 Days of Joy: Day 22

Jeff and my fave food is sushi and jap. OOOh. Makes me drool thinking about it. The other night Jeff indulged me by taking me back to Evansville (again). This time we took the kids for dinner, a little more shopping, and fam time.

It was really nice. We got in at the right time and didn't have to "entertain" the kids too much. The girls both loved the food. Ayla especially! My joy was watching my girl use chopsticks like a pro and totally digging sushi!

25 Days of Joy: Day 21

Love notes bring me joy. Enough said right? I got a good man :) Too bad he doesn't even read my blog! hehe If he did, he could see how much I appreciate him forever in the world wide web.

25 Days of Joy: Day 20

Today was Leah's first haircut! She did really well. Sat still. Thought it "tickled" :) We trimmed it at Mimi's house and then she ran off and played with her cousin Parker.

25 Days of Joy: Day 19

My newphews.... These are the Owens boys. They all are so different and SO cute! My girls love them so much. Fischer, the oldest is goofy and has such a sweet heart. Wyatt, blondie, is spunky and Ayla's fave person ever. Ridge, is sweet and loves to sing. We all wish we saw them every day :)

25 Days of Joy: Day 17 & 18

Day 17: Traditions.

After learning a few of our friends made gingerbread houses with their children or as kids themselves I knew it was something Id like to try. See growing up we didn't do this, but I always admired the look of a finished house.

What I have learned is no matter how "imperfect" the house looks it still looks beautiful on display :)

Day 18: Sugar High

Who doesn't love a good sugar rush. This is what I think of when I look at this pic of Leah. She ate a huge amt of the decorations.. I mean candy. Better luck next year.

25 Days of Joy: Day 16

Today we made birthday cards for Jesus. His big day is coming up you know :) It gave me great joy to hear what my girls wanted to say or do for Jesus for his birthday. Such sweet girls.

Ayla wanted to say I love you.
And says she will be nice to her sister, sing songs, and clean her room.

Leah also wanted to say I love you.
She said she would be nice and a big helper.

The cards will stay in our CHRISTmas box. Until Christmas morning, then we will read them together.

Hope everyone is staying warm today!

25 Days of Joy: Day 15

I love baking. But, lately the girls have been really into anything I do in the kitchen. They pull their stools up while we wash dishes to play in the bubbles, and over to the counter hoping to help stir something up.

Ayla and I made the dough and we all rolled it and cut it out to bake.

What joy it was to watch my two girls enjoying something that I love so much. And who doesn't love Christmas sugar cookies :)

Ayla's first dance performance!

Mommy had my dance studio tonight and was very nervous about missing her baby's first dance performance. But, thanks to some tolerant parents and Brittany... I was able to make it with a few minutes to spare.

Mimi (my mom) came to get her ready. She curled her hair and got her dressed. She looked so sweet. My mom said she put on her headband and said- now I am ready to dance. Then something about "watch me as the curtain goes up" haha This is hilarious bc they danced at a nursing home! :) She makes me smile.

Not nervous at all. Followed all the girls in place. She had a good time and was so cute :)

25 Days of Joy: Day 14

Knowing my kids have friends who are raised the way we chose to raise our children. Knowing they can talk about God, princesses, playdough, or whatever. Miss Meredith is Ayla's best friend. They are too funny together. Ayla seems to want to do anything that spunky girls wants her to- even if she knows she shouldn't!~ ha Thats ok though. We love Mere too.

25 Days of Joy: Day 13

Girls made their first gingerbread "house" today. I say that jokingly because it fell apart before we even got through decorating. And Leah ate more than she put on. All in all it was loud, funny, and ended with 6 piece of decorated gingerbread unglued on Jess' table. haha.

Hoping to try another one at our house soon!

25 Days of Joy: Day 12

Finding vintage books in reprint for my kiddos. Especially at awesome prices makes this mama giddy and makes my girls SO happy. We love to read.

25 Days of Joy: Day 11

Getting dressed up for Christmas parties brings me JOY

Holly Jolly Holiday

Abby was talking about how she tries to snap some pics of her kiddos every year. Its always fun to compare. I def try to do the same. Its crazy what a difference one year can make. I wish I was as awesome with my camera as some of my photog pals or creative enough to do the same pose/outfit like Sandy. But, I just go with it.

Typically, I use them for our cards, but my head is somewhere in outer space. Meaning I almost "spaced" cards all together this year. Boo. So we kinda went a cheap, easy route. Oh well. Regardless, I had an awesome idea for a pic and wanted to do it for a couple years. Who knows. Maybe it will make it on my cards next year. Don't steal my idea... hehe kidding. (maybe) It was supposed to appear as though Leah wrapped Ayla up.

Last year I obviously had delicious lighting and willing partipants. This year, not so much of either. Oh well. I'll get it right one day.

Happy Weekend.

25 Days of Joy: Day 10

Leah "Sheepdog" Owens is ready for her first hair cut. This makes this Momma sad, but a girl's gotta see, right? I'll update post hair cut..

Day 9: Soul Mate

My hubs. :)

He is the main source of all joy in my life.

I love you, honey.

Day 8: Daddy-Daughter time

We made it to the UNC-UE game last night. We took Ayla with us. She loved it :) When we asked her what she liked the most... the cheerleaders.

Meeting Santa

Santa's visit was so cute. Ayla loved it. It was even cooler since Parker was there. We had a great Mommy-daughter time. She thought it was awesome that she got to wear her new coat (the one that Daddy stood in line for 1 hr).

Once there, she made cookies, a bracelet & antlers, and ate a lot of delish, sweet treats. Later that afternoon she got to be in the parade with my dancers. We had a really great day!~

25 Days of Joy: Day 7

December is flying by. I am trying to slow down and enjoy this season. Today's pictures are in rememberance of the year that has past. Just look at those babies. They are SO big now. I just tear up thinking of my kiddos being at that tender age. And if I think back another year Ayla was Leah's age now and I was 6 months pregnant. That is the kicker my friends. Time passes by so quickly. Take joy in the moments today and of the past.

25 Days of Joy: Day 6

I have been busy lately making Christmas gifts for family and friends. I've made alot of my happies for some little girl's in my life. Plus more ribbon & yarn trees for myself. What I am most excited about are these awesome necklaces reusing fabric....

and treat plates made from thrifted materials.

My pal Jess got one of these in our Christmas party gift exchange. This is the one I couldn't part with. I really love it :)

C

25 Days of Joy: Day 5

Ayla met Santa today. Actually, this is her first photo with the big man himself. See we don't do the whole "santa" gig. He's a symbol of generousity during this season for us. We don't tell our kids he's real... or talk about him alot. I think he thinks he's cool like Mickey Mouse and she's pretty in to him this year. And I am ok with that. We won't be waiting in any lines to get a glimpse. Plus Leah is fearful (see previous post). Get me a line to take pics with Jesus... Im there.

But, she loved meeting him. She walked up to him and said you know what I want for Christmas? haha Then he said what? She blanked. And just kinda got lost in his eyes. hehe It was cute.

25 Days of Joy: Day 4

I am so blessed to have such a fun, beautiful, generous group of friends. We had our annual friend "playgroup" party. The one night of the year we get together sans kiddos. Its always a blast and this year didn't disappoint!

Thanks girls for always being there for me.

I love you all.

(quality stinky- darn point in shoot)

Meeting Miss Mouse

We met Miss Mouse today.

Leah may look happy here, but this was NOT the case. HA. She was all good with cookies & letters to Santa. But once we waited in line for the mouse herself, she started clinging a bit. Then we got to the point where it was time to take a pic and it was Over. :) hehe She cried, trembled, and all not having it.

Ayla sat really well. I hear she even asked Miss Mouse if she knew Minnie & Mickey. Ay Loves her Disney characters. She's been pretending to travel to Disney alot lately. But we decided after Leah's showing today, that we'd wait a bit before trying more characters. haha

Ayla plopped down on her lap and read for a long time. My girls love books. We unfortunately had to wait a long time for our picture, but the girls were def entertained.

Season's Greetings.. hehe