Twinkle, Twinkle

Dena at Everyday Moments Photography wanted us to get in the holiday cheer with this sweet Twinkle Light Picture of my cuties!

She also took one of Flower Power last year and this year!  Look how much she has grown!!!  I can't believe she'll be 2 in a week!! It's like Santa brought me a little girl!!!

Hope you are getting in the spirit! Don't forget to check out Dena's blog!!

Other Things I'm Thankful For

Here are some of the things in my life that I'm thankful for that make my life better!

11. MacBook Pro and Iphone! Seriously I could not function without these 2 Apple products!! It's my connection to everything other than the kids!

12.Swimming Pool! We added our pool this summer and we spent countless hours swimming since then! It's great exercise and the kids love splashing about!

13. Running! I realized this summer that I'm getting old....boo! My body does not metabolize the way it used to. So I decided with some encouragement from Dena that I was going to do Couch to 5K program! I can proudly say I can run for 30 minutes without dying! That is something I don't think I've ever done. I don't like running, but my body thanks me for it! Sorry no picture of me running, instead LL :)

14. Soccer! I am not a sports person, but when it's your child playing, it changes everything! I like going to Little Lion's soccer games and cheering them on! The 5-7 year olds actually have a good game going on and the excitement on their faces when they score is amazing! I am also thankful for soccer practice because I get a little friend time while LL is practicing!

15. Family Time! I love spending time with my family! We make a priority of it! We try to do something Fun every day whether it be playing outside, going to get ice cream or going to a theme park. I also love spending alone time with Mr.E and am thankful we go on vacation alone yearly!

16. Blog Readers! Thanks for continually visiting my blog and hopefully enjoying my family! Hope your holiday is wonderful and fulfilling!

Thankful for Friends!

I surround myself with positive people and I'm thankful for being a part of my life! Today I thank them in no particular order :)

 6. The Powell's! Our families mesh together well! Everyone gets along and enjoys being with each other. They are generous, creative, fun people! Mr.E and I laugh because I am Heath and he is Dena. Therefore, we are each other's counterparts. H and LL are soccer fanatics and I see P and FP playing more and more everyday. Also I'm thankful for Dena's photography skills!! I bet you are too :)

7. College Friends! This group of girls has been getting together yearly since college. We always pick up as if we see each other daily! Our kids love each other. We have watched each other grow into adults.

8. Ex Teacher Friends! Even though we don't work together anymore hence the ex part, we are still there to support each other! We get together for monthly dates to have fun and support each other. We always have fun and make ourselves a priority to each other!

9. Mommy Friends! I have met numerous Mommies that have helped me with advise and support in the adventure known as parenting! These are the best!  I'm also thankful for carpooling and knowing my kids are in good hands when they are with them!

10. Sorority Friends! In college I was a sorority girl and these girls were fun! We still keep in contact today, but not as much as we'd like. However, I know they'd be there for me and for that I'm thankful!

I've still got more to be Thankful of......

Thankful for Family!

I've been seeing all over facebook the Thankful Countdown to Thanksgiving. People are listing everyday something they are thankful for. I thought I'll do something similar. So the next couple of posts are about all the things I'm thankful for ALWAYS!

 1. Mr. E! He is my best friend and loves me even when I'm crazy:) He is a fantastic father and has more patience than I do! He is the playful one in the family.  Mr. E is good at everything he does.  He is loyal, honest, and hardworking. Together we are a pretty good team even if we are both Leo's and crave attention.  

2. Little Lion!  My first born, soccer lovin', smart boy!  LL is an independent guy who relies on himself and takes control to figure things out on his own.  He is intelligent and makes sure we know how smart he is and tries to stump us.  LL loves to be in charge of his sister and play with her.  Snuggling at night is a must with him!

3. Flower Power! My crazy, fun, smart little girl. Yes I said girl! She is getting more and more independent everyday! She loves singing and dancing. She too is a self learner. FP is a cuddler! Every morning she needs to cuddle with her blanket and me which always starts the day off right!

4. My Parents! They are always helpful and would put my family before themselves. They adore their grandchildren! They are fun and active. They always play with the kids and bring presents.

5. My In-Laws! We may not always see eye to eye, they are always a phone call away. I'm thankful they live near by! They love their grandchildren maybe a little more than their own kids:) They are always making their house perfect for the kids and love having them over!

More Thankfulness to come......

Roller Skating

I loved Roller Skating as a kid! Living in a small town it was one of the few places you could go and play with your friends. So I hoped LL would love it too and had visions of monthly roller skating outings as a family. Well that was a lovely thought until we went to a roller skating party last year. All that happened was both of us putting roller skates on and standing up and then taking them off. LL was not having it. He likes control and being on skates, he did not feel like he had it. I was bummed, but realized most of the 4 year olds weren't ready for skating yet.

 Fast forward to this past weekend. We were invited to another skating party. LL assured me he wanted to go and would skate. He learned how by watching Peppa Pig on TV....skate, skate, glide.....okkkkkk.

So we get our skates on and we start to go.  And by go I mean me holding him up and flailing his legs all around. We went to the practice area. Again more flailing, me get frustrated because he wouldn't even stand up. This led to him telling me he was N.E.V.E.R. skating again!!

 Well I left him there and chatted with another Mom.  LL started watching his friends who didn't skate either trying it out. So slowly he started holding onto the side of the wall and making his way up and down the side of it.  He did that for a half hour.  Then I started challenging him to do it one handed.  He was gaining confidence!  It was time for the party to end.  So I helped him skate to put his shoes on.  As we were going, I let go of one hand then the other hand.  He was doing it alone!!!  We decided to stay a little longer.  He could go by himself pretty well on the carpet because of the extra traction.  However, the skating rink had these fancy helper things that the littles could use.  Here LL is doing his thing with a smile on his face!

After we left LL declared he wanted to go skating next Sunday too :)  Yippee!!  Now if only Flower Power was a little bigger!!

Election Day 2012

Flower Power voted! Did you??? It's an important election year!!

We wait a loooonnnnnnngggggg time in line to vote! I'm pretty sure Flower Power turned 18 in the wait :) Can't wait to hear the results tonight!

Halloween Night

Yes this is a little behind, but I'm just now getting some down time from the busy fun filled week we had! Halloween was actually a perfect night! The weather was gorgeous, 70 degrees with a slight breeze. Both kids enjoyed going door to door and made it the whole time which is impressive for an almost 2 year old. Flower Power said Trick or Treat to all the neighbors and once she figured out she could get M&M's from most houses, she was all in!! Little Lion and his friends ran door to door and got a huge haul! Here is Fireman and Garden Gnome at the beginning of the evening.

Here are the cuties in our spooky yard!

My Dad was kind enough to come over and hand out candy to the trick or treaters while Mr. E and I both went with the kids. Actually he really just wanted to see all the kids :)

The only pic of us from the night. Mr.E was Spider Man...haha

Our group of kids!

And last but not last....the haul! Which we'll be eating for months!!!!

Now that Halloween is over....let the Holiday Season begin!!