Dino Craze!

Last week we went to the Museum of Nature and Science for their free day and they had the COOLEST dino exhibit! They had 3 dinos that moved, breathed, roared, blinked, followed your movements... it was fascinating! Elijah and Ella were mesmerized! I was too- we stayed a good long time just watching them- Elijah keeps asking when we are going back to see the dinosaurs!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

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The pictures I have before here are from Massachusetts and need to be scanned in the computer:) someday!


 Every year we take the kids to see Santa!

We have gone to White Fence Farm the past three years because its free but it is far! 

This year, we tried Southglenn because its 5 minutes from our house and were NOT disappointed!
I think its the best year yet! 

Santa was SO nice and talked to them for the longest time! He looked so real:) and it was free AND their was NO line- we went right in! You bring your own camera! 

The kids really enjoyed it! 

Cameras Ready!

MY sweet little Ella had her first Christmas preschool performance last night and all I could think about was how fast she is growing up! She is a beautiful little girl who LOVES to perform! She wasnt afraid in the slightest and sang her little heart out! 

 We were so thankful to have little Julianna there to watch!

 As well as Aunt Emy, Avery, Alex, Grandma and Grandpa! 

 Ella loves her teachers- Miss Debbie and Miss Pam! 

 The twins also had a little Christmas performance a week ago at Southglenn- a bit more casual:) 

They sang in front of a roaring fire while little white lights twinkled above! 

We were so glad that Grandma could come to watch! 

 Of course, we had to get a little Mellow Mushroom pizza in for dinner- YUM! 

ONe more performance to go- all of them- even Lij, will sing at church next week! 

They are dressing up as angels and shepherds! 

Melt my {HEART}

 I am in love with this picture! I LOVE how the sunburst hits the top corner- I love that my little girlies enjoy tromping thru the snow in the woods on our walk home from school! I love the snow! I love the beauty of God's creation! I love that I have children to share it with! I LOVE that I have one little blond girlie who looks like me! I love Colorado! 

 And this little guy CRACKS me up! He is VERY into superheroes right now, especially Wolverine at the moment. We went to the dollar store today to find some bells for the Christmas program at church and Elijah had the hardest time deciding on a knife or a chocolate Santa:) The knife won out:) He now says that his name is Wolverine not Elijah and hasn't put the knife down all day:) 

And just looking at this picture makes me warm and fuzzy! Little Knox was the cutest little bundle of baby I have seen in a while:) SO snuggly- he basically slept in my arms the whole time I was there:) LOVE IT!  He is SO handsome and LONG! He's teeny though! And I even smelled his little head and he had that wonderful newborn smell:) aahh! 

It was a good day! 

Out-takes- Merry Christmas!

A few weeks ago, we had a photo shoot outside with the tripod and the pics turned out great although we didnt use any of these for our Christmas card- they are a tad blurry because of the lighting- it was very low. But I sure have some cute kiddos! 

I made the girls skirts and brooches for the picture and they turned out really cute:)

I have been busy crafting away these days- its fun! 

I am about 80% done Christmas shopping- which is great! 

Mark has one last week of classes and his final is on Friday and the poor guy is almost done! He has to be there all next week to proctor exams and have meetings but it will be GREAT because he will be stress free seeing as his classes are done. He has been having tons of study sessions at night over at Solid Grounds and we barely see him but its okay because it will soon be over! YEAH!!!

Ella's preschool program is this week on Thursday night and she is bursting with excitement! I am too- I cant wait to see her sing her little heart out on stage! This is her first big performance in her life:)

We had our annual Ladies Coffee Jewelry Swap today- it was so fun! I just love our ladies! 

And we have some pretty cute babies too!

Speaking of babies, I get to see little Knox tomorrow and I am SOOOOOO excited!

 Little newborns are just precious! 

Off to keep sewing! 

Happy Tuesday! 

The Confession

An innocent man is about to be executed. Only a guilty man can save him. For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn't understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn't care. He just can't believe his good luck. Time passes and he realizes that the mistake will not be corrected: the authorities believe in their case and are determined to get a conviction. He may even watch the trial of the person wrongly accused of his crime. He is relieved when the verdict is guilty. He laughs when the police and prosecutors congratulate themselves. He is content to allow an innocent person to go to prison, to serve hard time, even to be executed. Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Dont Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row. Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Dont is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what's right and confess. But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they're about to execute an innocent man?


I just finished reading this exciting read by John Grisham- I just LOVE his books! They hold my attention to the very end and are so well written. You just HAVE to see what happens next which leads you to reading well into the night:)  I love the law side of it too- very intriguing. There are a few curse words and a small paragraph about the rape and killing. Overall, it was really intense and a must read! Next on my list is to finish.. Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your kids with the Love of Jesus!

The kids and I read every night (or try to) before bed and we are in the midst of Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary- I just LOVE her books- they are so funny and written well with lots of descriptions. I have tried to get my twins to read them by themselves but they dont get far.. so I decided to read them out loud at bedtime instead and they love it! I also picked up Homer Price by Robert McClusky at the library the other day- it reminds me alot of Henry Huggins and I vividly remember my mom reading this book to me! My favorite story was about how a diamond bracelet gets stuck in some doughnut batter and baked in a doughnut and tons of people come in to eat doughnuts to try to find the bracelet and win a reward- its really great! There are a few short stories in this book so its good for bedtime! 

Book Advent Calendar Countdown plus some more

I am all ready for December 1st! We are doing a  Book Advent Countdown- All the books are wrapped and we are ready to open one every night till Christmas. The first 8 books we borrowed from the library and the rest are all ours. I shop after Christmas and get GREAT deals on Christmas books- score! I need to try to weed out some Night Before Christmas books since we have 4- but I LOVE all the illustrations in these books! I want to try to find more spiritual Christmas books to replace them. I would LOVE your suggestions:) Every night before bed we will open a book and read it together! Im excited for this new tradition!

24.  Not Until Christmas, Walter
23. The Christmas Snowmen
22. Tackys Christmas
21. Fancy Nancys Splendiferous Christmas
20. Here Comes Jack Frost (Kazuno Kohara)
19. The Little Drummer Boy (Carolyn Quattrock)
18. Arthur's Christmas (Marc Brown)
17. Owl Moon (Jane Yolen)
16. The Night Before Christmas ( Clement C. Moore)
15. Baby's Christmas ( Esther Wilkin Little Golden Book)
14. The Wild Christmas Reindeer (Jan Brett)
13. Santa Mouse, Where Are You? (Micheal Brown)
12. The Velveteen Rabbit (Margery Williams)
11. The Night Before Christmas (Moore and Jan Brett)
10. The Twelve Days of Christmas
9. Christmas in a Manger
8. The Night Before Christmas (Moore and Weisgard)
7. GingerBread Baby (Jan Brett)
6. Who Is Coming to our House (Joseph Slate)
5. Santa Mouse (Michael Brown)
4. We Believe in Christmas (Karen Kingsbury)
3. Frosty the Snowmen (Annie Bedford)
2. The Legend of the Candy Cane (Lori Walburg)
1. The Night Before Christmas (Moore and Whatley)

We also are going to do a Names of Jesus Christmas Chain and reading the scripture that relates to the name. I will have the kids keep a little journal too- I plan to do this in the morning while we eat breakfast before school.

Ella also brought home a cute little Santa Countdown- She hung it on her door and this can be hers to keep track off:) each day you put a cotton ball on his beard.

And last but not least, my mom bought them little Chocolate Advent Charts- each day there is a little piece of chocolate in the shape of a Christmas thing:) My grandmother bought these for me every year till I was about 13 and they bring back FOND memories of my childhood!

Looking forward to this Christmas Season!