January Part 1

The start of a new year always brings lofty resolutions. This year one of my goals is to do more arts & crafts with the kids. To that end, I bought the kids long sleeved art smocks and some chunky paintbrushes. So now when Lilli says she wants to paint, instead of thinking about the mess and the cleanup I just put her in her smock and let her go. I'm not completely insane, though - I only let her have a few colors of (washable) paint. I cut out a few sections from an egg carton and tape the sections to the easle and squirt the paint into the sections.


Lilli is still enjoying her play kitchen.

The first snow of the year! It wasn't much of a snow. It didn't really stick on the ground, and it turned to rain about 20 minutes after this picture was taken. But the kids and I went out to play in it, and I showed them how to catch snowflakes on their tongues.

This was the Christmas that kept on giving. Several boxes arrived from Grama Kay and Papa. Inside were gifts not only from Grama and Papa, but also from Uncle John. Here Tipton shows Obi Wan Kenobe's starfighter - a gift from Uncle John. You can't tell from the picture, but Tipton was really, really excited about it.

Uncle John gave Lilli twin baby dolls. Lilli is all about babies and dollies, and she is always talking about her baby (twin) cousins Cam and Tru - so this gift was a HUGE hit!

Tipton's big gift from Grama Kay and Papa was the Deluxe Marble Race. And he was ALL about it!

They gave Lilli a new Elmo/Sesame Street puzzle. She wanted to open it right away. Here she's asking Daddy to open it.

Lilli likes to take her socks off at the dinner table and hang them on her chair.

Tipton could not wait to get started with his Marble Race. First thing in the morning he set to work.



Lilli is feeding one of her new twin babies. Notice the rocking chair? It belonged to Great-Grandpa when he was a little boy!



Lilli models the new scarf that she begged me to make for her. It is a lovely scarf and she was very happy with it. Unfortunately, she will not wear it (or any scarf) when she plays outside.

Again with the Christmas that keeps on giving... Aunt Jenni came to visit and brought Christmas gifts for the kiddos. She'd just come from India, where she'd bought a sari for Lilli. Lilli LOVES it. (Unfortunately, it was just a size or two too small.)





Aunt Jenni brought Tipton a new hot wheels toy.



Of course, Lilli must accessorize her new sari.




A visit from Aunt Jenni isn't complete without a sword fight.



Tipton, the dutiful big brother, comes to his little sister's aid to battle Aunt Jenni.



This is just such a great picture of Lilli. You will note her "pony tail." Lilli is growing out her hair (she has finally stopped pulling it out!)





And still giving... A third and final box arrives from Grama Kay and Papa. Inside is Lilli's big present - pots and pans for her play kitchen. They are just like the ones Grama Kay has (only smaller, and plastic.) You can tell Papa did the wrapping/packaging. Lilli was getting a little frustrated with all of the tissue paper.



And just so Tipton would have a little something to open from this box, they got him some Star Wars action figures. I do believe these are the biggest hit of the Christmas season.



The other part of Lilli's big gift was a little microwave. The buttons make noise when you push them and when you press the 'Start' button, the turntable turns around and the timer counts down. It is just the coolest thing! And it came with more play food. By far the biggest hit for Lilli.




Another visit from Aunt Jenni. And in my effort to keep true to my goal for the year we did some arts & crafts. Paper machier! We started off with simple balloons. Then Aunt Jenni made balloon animals - a giraffe and an elephant. I only got this one picture (we had just started) because then I sat down and started 'helping' and was way too messy to go near the camera. Lilli really got into it. But Tipton didn't want to get his fingers messy!




Lilli loves to help me in the kitchen. She is always asking me what I'm making. And she always wants to help. Here she is helping me make chocolate chip cookies.



Lilli's first time on ice skates! We signed Tipton up for an ice skating class. He loves it! (His friend, Samantha, is also taking the class.) We were going to have Lilli take the class, too, but she prefers to hold onto me while she skates. So while she is physically able/ready for the class, she is not yet ready emotionally. We'll try again next year.



Samantha and Tipton ice skating.



One Saturday morning Tipton and Lilli decided to create a big "family" with all of their stuffed animals. They got all of Lilli's stuffed animals and all of Tipton's stuffed animals and lined them up on Tipton's bed.