John being the sweet husband he is after making a quick chicken broth run enters the house and hugs us all and says “I am thanking for Katie, Hannah & Mommy.” Katie follows with “I am thankful for my family and my friends.” I then say, “I am thankful for Katie, Hannah, Daddy and my family. I am also thankful for having a wonderful house to have our thanksgiving in.” When we asked Hannah what she was thankful for she said “…cookies”.

Upon noticing I had inadvertently turned the oven off while the turkey was cooking and was commenting to John that dinner would be delayed by a 1/2 hour Katie responded “What happened to the big beast?”

It’s not shocking that the girls had a ball on Halloween. They loaded up on candy and charmed everyone they met. And LOOK! Hannah’s not wearing white! (Wish I could say that for the rest of the days.) ; )

What a treat! (Trick or treat!) Uncle Douglas and Aunt Marilyn came in for a visit to do a little pumpkin carving for Halloween. SPOOKY!!!!!!!!!!!

Ms. Bethany’s is always full of adventure. They are so creative about finding fun ways to entertain the kids. This is one of Katie’s favorite things to do all year. I think now Hannah too!

“Hannah. Did you mess with my coin collection?” Katie

Well after 6 years I am just now getting to editing all my raw video tapes. I just finished a long and short version of 2008. Clearly I am publishing the SHORT version here. They were so adorable. They are growing up so fast. I do wish sometimes I could just freeze time.

This was a little routine Katie’s dance class did right before Christmas to “Santa Claus is coming to Town”. I just ran across it so I had to post!

I just love summer and wish it would never leave. The girls and John love it too. The swimming pool and the swing sets; Katie riding her big wheel and Hannah being pushed by me in her mini-bike. We’ll miss it as the fall leaves are already starting to turn… Bye summer. We are sad to see you go.

“Mom. This candy is so sour it’s making me blink.” – Katie

Oh my little Hannah… As most parents John and I have learned the fine art of giving our children options when we want them to do something. After a fun day out and about with the family poor little Hannah is just exhausted. She has had no nap so almost immediately upon walking in the door we let her know it will be bedtime in 5 minutes. When her 5 minutes are up we ask her who she wants to put her to bed, Mommy or Daddy. She thinks about it for roughly 30 seconds then answers “Katie!”. Gotta love her!

I went out last weekend and found two really cute matching dresses for Katie and Hannah. I had intended to use them for some pictures of the two of them but also for their pictures with Santa. Katie LOVED hers and wanted to wear it to school. I explained that fancy dresses weren’t very good for school because you can’t play on the playground and get dirty in them but she could wear it at the Christmas pagent if she liked. She thought about that for a moment then decided she would take pictures of it for each of her classmates and bring it to school to show them. Today I was talking with the mother of one of the boys in class and she said that Sam had come home with a picture of Katie’s dress. He also stated that Will didn’t want his but he wanted his because Katie was his girlfriend and that’s what boyfriends do.

I hear Katie calling me from the bathroom. “Mommy… I had a little accident.” I come in and she looks up at me and says, “I couldn’t get on here in time. I had my princess dress in this hand and my cookie in this hand.” Well who WOULD put a cookie down?

We are a pickle eating family! As we are enjoying some pickles John makes a comment on how we ought to move to Mt. Olive (where our pickles are made in NC). To that I continue with how John should get a job there instead so we could get free pickles. In typical fashion John then passes the buck and says to Katie “Why don’t you get a job at the pickle factory?” Katie’s response… “I’m not prepared for that.”

What a fun little tea party. Katie and Hannah had a tea party with their two good friends Dagny & Carter. They have been playing with Dagny and Carter since moving to the new house a couple of years ago. The girls got to pick out all kinds of jewelry and dress up. They had a blast. It was Dagny’s birthday so it was a perfect day for a party. We plan to hand tint these and use them for decor on her friends wall which is decorated in all Fancy Nancy. Can’t wait to post the final images. Should be fun!!!

Katie and I were driving to the store when she noticed a police car up ahead. She asked if he was giving someone a ticket.  I said no that police don’t always give tickets but he was probably driving around looking for bad guys.  Being curious as to what Katie thinks a bad guy is I asked her “what do bad guys do that makes them bad?”.  She said, “They steal.  They steal cars. They steal phones.  Purses.  And toothbrushes.”   And we ALL know how valuable those toothbrushes are!  ;  )

Hannah is getting to the age where she LOVES playing in the sand box. So John went to Lowes this weekend and bought a bunch of sand which we put underneath the play house. The girls have loved it and it has kept them very entertained. Sunday afternoon Katie and Hannah come in. I can tell something is up but I can’t quite make it out. No one is crying but it just doesn’t look right. I pick up Hannah and say what’s wrong Hannah. Katie promptly replies, she ate sand. I ask why she did it and Katie reply’s “I made a sand birthday cake and told her to eat it. Are you mad at me Mommy?” Needless to say, I responded, “Well, I am not happy with you.” And gave her a lecture on how doing things like that could actually HURT Hannah. Then John and I got a good chuckle later when they weren’t watching. Poor Hannah. Such is the life of the little sister!

While we were sitting around waiting till it was time to leave for school I looked at Katie and said, “I totally forgot to tell you!  We are getting a baby elephant today!”  I have never seen so much excitement and surprise on her face.  Shortly followed by “April Fools!”.  It was almost if the color drained out of her face.  But it was quickly replaced by laughter and a smile.  So then we had to call Daddy and tell HIM we were getting a baby elephant!  Then we talked how we would fool all the teachers etc.  So at the point it is time to leave for pre-school I think she gets and and won’t be fooled again so I say, “Guess what?”  Katie, “What?”  Mommy, “We are taking a flying car to school today.” Again EXCITEMENT but this time I said it quickly before she got too worked up.  “April Fools!”  She laughed and laughed.  On the way to school she said, “This is the best day of my life!”  How funny!!!  She fooled everyone all day long about how we had a baby elephant at home.  Including her best friend in class Lily.  Later that night she asked if it could be April Fools day everyday… How funny.