Our Little Sweethearts!

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Our Little Artist

James has a new passion, but it still mainly involves cars, trucks and tractors. He's been very busy this winter filling our wall with art. He loves to draw firetrucks, tractors, rainbows, trees, houses, snowmen and even Mickey Mouse's house. He'll proudly tape his art up on the wall as soon as a completes a new masterpiece. He's got quite the little gallery started in our kitchen and we love that he's so proud of his work.

James has sent grandpa home with some special tractor pictures and I'm pretty sure Grandpa was thrilled to see that James only draws blue tractors.

Hide and Seek

I do realize that some of you might be going through withdrawal after not seeing our cute kids over the past month. Yes, it has really been a month since I have posted anything. The start of a new year always seems to keep us extra busy just when we thought our lives would calm down after the holidays...

Here's a little Claranna cuteness to start this week off on a happy note (and to remind you what it might be like to have a VERY BUSY little one in the house)! The pics are pretty self-explanatory. Claranna loves to color with markers. You can see her beautiful self-expression in the first picture.

She also loves, loves, loves to hide and is getting pretty creative with her hiding spots. One morning she was right next to me as I bent down to put on my shoes in the laundry room. When I stood up two seconds later, the room was strangely quiet and still except for the swinging dryer door. Claranna was pretty proud of herself and thought she found a soft and warm place to hide and relax. We're a bit concerned by this new skill of hers and you can bet we'll now always check the washer and dryer before we turn it on!

Here They Come a Caroling!

Now you can pretend the kids are Christmas Caroling at your house!!

Merry Christmas!

We had some extra time to play in the snow today since our plans changed a bit. The kids were pretty bummed that Grandpa and Grandma O. did not come down today because of the snow, but playing in the snowfort always cheers them up.


We'll be headed to church late in the afternoon and we're excited that Ella and James are singing a special song tonight with their choir. Merry Christmas to family and friends near and far!

A Santa Stop!

Santa stopped by our house tonight to check in on the kids. They were, of course, being extra good! Claranna was a little shy at first, having recently awoken from her nap. She warmed up to Santa once he opened up his sack and handed her a little present. James was quiet certain that a red light we saw up the street after Santa left must have been Rudolph's nose glowing. Ella informed us that it wasn't the real Santa, but quickly added in a matter-of-fact voice that it was one of his helper Santa's. Thanks for the visit and gifts, Santa! We are now even more excited for Christmas Eve to arrive. It will be fun to celebrate with family over the next few days. Happy Birthday, Jesus and Merry Christmas to All!

Visiting Santa

We were fortunate to get in a visit with Santa before the big blizzard. It's so fun to watch the kids prep for the big visit and listen to their chatter on the way to the mall. James was very serious in his conversation with Santa, but he remembered and thoughtfully listed three things he is hoping to get and Santa listened very carefully. Santa told Ella that he knows she's been pretty good this year, so now she's quite hopeful about what she might receive on Christmas morning. Claranna didn't cry, but she didn't smile either. She sat on Santa's lap and James and Ella told Santa what they think their little sister would like to see under the tree. Only one more week!! The kids are counting down for us!