Nana and Alanna have a special bond, and I thought this was a pretty good reflection of that. As Mom puts it...
Alanna - Ba-nah-na and Nana Banana.
Credits:
Template: Lisa Carter - Love U 2 Pieces - Digital Scrapbooking Place
Kit: Amanda Behrmann - Diva - at Digital Scrapbooking Place
Credits:
Template: Galiscrap
Papers: Kellie H. Mize - Designer Digitals Ad Challenge 111107
Credits:
Template: Meridith Tiede - M Originals
Kit: Marcee J Duggar at Digital Scrapbook Place
I see an addiction in my future...
They are embedded in the related posts below. I posted a bunch more on the Flickr account, so check them out there if you want. If you need access, let me know. I'll send you the info.
Happy New Year!
I finally figured out how to do a digital scrapbook page! I'm going to hate myself for staying up so late to do this tomorrow, but I'm psyched that I figured out some of the basic skills! Here is one of my first attempts...I have some tweaking to do, but I'm pretty happy with it!
Millions of Thanks to:
Cassie Jones and Katie Pertiet for the awesome tutorials at Designer Digitals
Template: Pattie Knox also at Designer Digitals
Papers: Suzanne C Walker at Digital Scrapbook Place - Thinking Green
Angelica E. - Almost Solids
Photos: Our friends the Patels...Thanks C& A!
For some reason, while my Aunt Janet was visiting, Emory insisted on calling her Uncle Jim. Is this because I showed her a picture of my dad and his brothers, Jim and Kevin, the day before Aunt Janet arrived...I doubt it, but who really knows?? She could say "Aunt Janet" whenever we asked her to, but if she was calling Aunt Janet herself...out came "Uncle Jim." We did lots of modeling, and if you asked "Where's Aunt Janet?," she looked right at her. The funniest thing was when we were gradually gathering a group of people under my parents' gigantic kitchen table. (Don't ask...long story...) Aidan, Alanna and Emory would call someone from the family to come find them (because we were hiding under the table.) Emory would run out to call someone from the kitchen at the top of her lungs and she'd crawl back under the table (giving away our position). When she wanted Aunt Janet...she ran with her hands cupped around her mouth and shouted "UNCLE JIM!!!" Everyone just cracked up!
Aunt Janet took it all in stride... the way she saw it was that at least Emory was talking to her and playing with her, which is far more than what occurred at the beach.
I hope my Uncle Jim reads this. :)
Aunt Maureen: "Aidan, what is your favorite toy Santa brought you for Christmas?"
Aidan: Hershey's Kisses
Alanna requested a "castle story" tonight...something I started doing on drives home past their bedtime, so that they wouldn't miss out on their bedtime story, but I could get them to bed without a fight. Tonight, Jason made up the story though, and I didn't want to forget it. So, I'm blogging it...for my memory's sake...it went (roughly) like this....
Once there was a beautiful princess named Alanna, a handsome prince, Aidan and a court jester named Emory. They lived in a castle, and one day a dragon came and said "This is my castle now!" Aidan replied "No, this is our castle, and right after I eat this chocolate....I'm gonna get you!" The dragon said "No, it's MY castle!" Alanna said "No, this is our castle, and as soon I finish vacuuming this floor, I'm gonna get you!" Meanwhile, Emory had climbed all the way up the dragon's back, and she was pulling on the dragon's hair and scales saying "Dragon...More Christmas lights! Dragon...More Christmas lights!...Dragon...More Christmas lights!" until he said "I can't take it any more!!" and he flew away!
It was cute, and I don't know if Aidan and Alanna thought it was as funny as I did, but I laughed out loud several times! Jason is very creative!
It has been a a busy couple of days, but we had lots of fun. Alanna, Aidan and Emory handled all the activities pretty darn well, though we definitely have signs of overtired children today!
We went to lunch at my parents' house on Monday, and the kids did really well...even with the crowd. Alanna wasn't too keen on the idea of a lot of people being there, but when Jason asked if she'd rather stay home, she shrugged and said "It doesn't matter; I just love Nana." And so we went, and they had lots of fun and were not too happy when it was time to go home. They were so excited to find out (after their nap) that we were going to a restaurant for dinner. Aidan gets so pumped about going out to eat, he practically falls to his knees with glee and giggles.
They really loved seeing so many Christmas lights. Emory spent the entire length of each car ride gasping and saying "Daddy...more Christmas lights!" "Mommy!...More Christmas lights!" I am not exaggerating when I say that she said it at least 100 hundred times on the way home from the restaurant. (And that was just one of the drives!)
Christmas morning was very exciting for them. They were patient enough to wait for us to get a few things done in the morning and to talk a little bit about the real reason we celebrate Christmas before jumping into the gifts. They had a blast discovering all their surprises, and Santa picked some real hits! Strangely enough, everyone was very excited about getting "my very own chapstick!!" as a stocking stuffer. Hmmm...nature or nurture? Is it possible to inherit an addiction to lip balm? I thought I was doing better, and I don't even keep it in my pocket all the time anymore. Oh well...there are worse addictions! Emory has the most kissable lips this side of the Mississippi about now. She and Alanna love keeping it in their new little purses.
They are all enjoying a little cleaning set we got them...particularly the vacuum/dustbuster combo. Alanna has been cleaning the heck out of the floors! Soon, I'll have to upgrade her to the real vacuum! Aidan had a very "Thomas" Christmas, so he's loving his new train tracks and engines and cars. Emory and Alanna each got an engine too, so they can share in the fun. Since Alanna likes singing so much, we found a little CD player with two microphones. She was a little hesitant at first, but once she figured it out, she was singing away...and wouldn't say anything without the microphone. There were several toys that they are really having fun with..and will continue to do so. I don't think I could keep these kids from being spoiled if I tried...there are just too many people working against me on that one!!
Here's a video clip of the kids playing with an obstacle course from Uncle Doug...
We had a delicious dinner...as usual...Mom sets the bar very high for herself, and she always surpasses her goals. Dinner was fantastic...a perfect end to a special day.
This afternoon we headed to the Millers' for a fun-filled afternoon of cookie decorating! Michelle called me earlier in the week and asked if we'd made our cookies for Santa yet. My response (roughly): "Uh...um...did I make cookies before?? I can't remember. I made lots of white trash though!"
(sidenote:google Alton Brown's "White Trash"...it's awesome, but I have to drizzle real chocolate over it...white chocolate doesn't cut it in my book.)
I had no idea what we put out for Santa last year, but I did know we put out carrots for his reindeer. I have great memories of elaborate cookie decorating with Doug and Maureen, so I knew it would be fun. So we crashed in on their cookie decorating festivities this afternoon. It was great, and the kids loved it. We were shocked when Aidan hung in there until the bitter end...frosting every last cookie he could muster. Emory and Alanna lost interest...no, actually, Alanna wanted to go play, and Emory had to be removed from the table for taste-testing every cookie she "frosted" and licking her plastic frosting knife. She probably thought she was in charge of quality assurance...she was just taking one for the team. She was hard at work sneaking bites of every cookie and any bit of frosting she could. But Aidan, he loved it...not so much the spreading frosting part as the "can I taste it" part. I think he thought the red, green, blue and white frosting might all taste different. :) Actually, he was very good and showed quite a bit of self-restraint. They all understood that we would eat the cookies after dinner...not during the decorating process. (Well, everyone but Emory...but hey, she's not even two. Her taste-testing wasn't making the other kiddos too happy though. No fair!)
I was hoping to get some cute pictures, but once we let one 4 year old, three 3 year olds and a 22 month old loose with frosting and knives...and sprinkles..., it became clear that my focus would have to be elsewhere. Oh well!
Here's a video clip of the boys dancing...
We decorated a gingerbread train earlier this week, and I'll post photos when I get a chance. Aidan and Alanna had fun, and Emory wanted all the turns to be her turn. Those of you who know her know that this resulted in a lot of screaming. She really enjoyed dropping her carefully selected candies into the train car, as opposed to actually placing them on the frosting, but that's okay! They had fun! Aidan and Alanna loved picking their little candies and putting them in just the right place. They are very proud of their train!
