For Sandy Mounce (my dental hygienist and loyal reader)

I can't seem to keep ahead of this silly blog. If I didn't occasionally have someone comment on it, I probably would drop it all together. So, to you folks who comment out there, keep up the good work.

I meant to post this one a while ago. Edy and her best friend, Gibson, were Mary and Joseph for our children's Christmas program at church.


They played their parts well. Edy even did a quick solo dance number while onstage. Mommy was so proud. :)


There's an outdoor ice skating rink open in Bentonville now. We went on Christmas Eve and had a blast, despite being pretty terrible at it in general.


The girls are growing. And growing. And growing.


Hattie is quite the dramatic.


And Edy must practically be pried out of her princess dress for such lowly tasks as bathing and bedtime.


We took a recent road trip to visit my grandparents in Bryant...

And our dear friends, the Greers, in Bismark.


Their trampoline was a hit.

Edy also got to sleep on her first bunk bed while at the Greers. When I told her about it she looked excited but quietly asked me, "Do they bump hard?"

And Hattie started going to "school" on Thursdays this week.


This was her first day. She loved her lunch bag.

(This update was for you, Sandy :)

Silver Dollar City

This trip took place well over a month ago, but you know how the holidays are. Who has time to blog?


We had a great time. Edy is truly a ride-lover, like her mommy and daddy. As it was, we could only ride the kiddie-coasters, but someday + a few inches, we will take her on the Big Ones!






Free Advertising: Everyone should go to Silver Dollar City over the Holidays. And go with us! It would have been even more fun if someone else had been there to enjoy it.


So, for next year, any takers?

Merry Christmas

We hope it's happy, blessed and joyous.

P.S. We could've really used someone behind the camera to coax Hattie into smiling for the picture. Next year, perhaps?

Birthdays

Yesterday was a big one for Hattie and I. She turned one, and I celebrated the last year of my 2nd decade. (Sheesh, that sounds old.)


We had our usual waffles and homemade party hats- in honor of my childhood. My mom always made my brothers and I a birthday hat when we were growing up. And since fairness is of utmost importance when you're a kid, she would go ahead and make everyone else one too.


Edy wore hers almost nonstop. And, I just noticed, she had an obnoxious look on her face in nearly every picture I took. These "yes, we're having a birthday party, but, no, it's not for you" days have been hard for her.


Just in case it was for her, she erred on the side of being overly helpful when opening gifts.


Hattie took making her first wish very seriously.


And she made the sweetest little elephant noises every time she looked at her card from JuJu.

And I don't have any pictures to document the occasion, but my fantastic husband, in an extreme case of amazingness, successfully organized a surprise birthday party for me last night with several of my friends. They even all pitched in to buy me the most fantastically wonderful Kitchenaid Mixer ever.

(Have I said this before?) I am so blessed.

Houston

Ta da! Finally, pictures from our trip to Houston! I told you I would come through.

We had a great time. Jagger and Edy fell even more deeply in love (as in love as is appropriate for cousins, of course.)


We went on bike/stroller rides,




Jake fixed delicious breakfasts and even made Edy her yearly letter "E" pancake (which I completely forgot to do on her birthday and would have felt extra-terrible about if he hadn't already done it).


It was our first time to meet Jax. He was precious, chunky, smiley,


and terribly patriotic.


We went to the Houston Zoo. Yes, it was hot. But Edy got to see tigers and lions and elephants, Jagger saw monkeys, Mindy got her Dippin' Dots, and we all learned the important lesson to never, ever eat lunch at the zoo restaurant.




Mindy has always impressed me with amazing multi-tasking skills, and she did not disappoint this time either. I think she could strap another kid or two on there, don't you?



Before I had kids I always laughed at those people who pushed around empty strollers while their children ran free. However, this trip, we became people who pushed around strollers carrying strollers. Hattie was the only one who stayed strapped in (and that was because she fell asleep). Hint: Strollers at the zoo are a waste of time.


And just because his little rear has always been so cute:


The kids really had a blast.


There was dancing to be done and music to be played.


And a bubble bath that will go down in history.



Thanks to the Houston Smiths for showing us such a good time, and especially to Mindy, who scored these fabulous shoes for Edy. She has worn them nearly every day since.


We love you guys. Now come visit us already!

A Birthday

Edy is three today.


Sniff.

But it's been a great day.

She went to school, her favorite thing.


She came home for pizza, pink cupcakes, and a new shopping cart, ironing board, and princess dress. (I realized we were inadvertently preparing her for the life of Cinderella: lots of domestic work and occasional moments as a royalty.)


Plus Prince Charming, of course.



This is the kid we get to spend each day with. We are blessed.

An Update, Finally.

The combination of me no longer desiring to lug around two kids-worth of stuff plus a 10lb SLR camera in my diaper bag and said 10lb camera's final sad demise due to a worn out "sensor" (that camera has taken somewhere around 50,000 pictures) means that we took a small break from picture taking around the Hall House.

Until...we joined the wonderful world of point and shoot camera users! It's so easy. It's so tiny. It goes with us everywhere. It also takes a bajillion pictures. Now we have lots of going combined with lots of pictures, and once again, an overwhelming amount of photos.

We can't catch a break around here.

Needless to say, I have lots of catching up to do. We've been in Houston visiting Jake, Mindy and family but I'll have to get to that later. I'm going to start with the last month or so and bring all three of my readers up to date slowly. Wouldn't want to get folks too used to anything else.

Edy is turning three this week. She now spends most of her time in some form of costume.

Ballerina,



Princess (Thanks to Raegan Greer for the dress!),



and Southern Belle/square dancer/floofy-dress wearer.


They both love spending time with their grandmas,


their buddies, especially Pax (I don't know why Edy looks so grumpy in this picture. What's not too like? Tent. Check. Snack. Check. Paxton. Check.)


and sharing tasty treats from the ice cream truck.


Hattie prefers pointing, waving, and pointing some more.


She continues to praise the Lord. Loudly.


And loves overly-long, wet, open-mouth kisses.


They are a delight to my heart.

And have I mentioned that Edy is turning three this week?


Unbelievable.