Molly's Songs

Here are some more of Molly's songs she has learned in school. Isn't she amazingly cute and smart? Yes, I'm bragging. I'm allowed to do that a little bit, right??? :)
She can really point out all of those South American countries on a map and tell you all about the Andies Mountains, the Amazon River, and the rainforest, too!

Can YOU name all of the countries in South America?

More Merry Christmas!!!

We tried getting a family photo on Cory's side too. It could be better, but at least we have a photo together. :)


Lee, come on... I KNOW you can smile. :) Please???

This one is better except Cory is covering up Alex and Molly is screaming or something.

Alex found Grandpa's grabber arm thing (similar to the toy one Alex loves). I'm not sure if Alex was trying to grab Grandpa's glasses here or what was going on...

Here he is trying to grab the camera.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We went to SD to spend Christmas with our families. Here are some photos from my side:


family Christmas photo

Our family: Cory, Emily, Molly, and Alex

Alex and Molly in their new pajamas and slippers they got for Christmas. Molly had just helped Grandma make gingerbread men, and Molly and Alex were about to eat their first cookies. Aren't the PJ's cute? Molly and Alex loved them and wanted to wear them all week (not just at night, either)!

Alex with Grandma and Grandpa's puppy Fancy. He LOVES her. Fancy is still too much into jumping around and playing to love sitting in his lap, but Alex was determined to try!

Church Christmas Program

Molly and Alex were in the Children's Christmas program at our Church on the 21st. This was Alex's first program. His class just sang one song, but it was really cute to see them up on stage. Molly was one of the wise men. The program focused on the Christmas star and how it showed where baby Jesus was.


Molly is 2nd from the left.

Alex singing "This Little Light of Mine". He is wearing the red and black sweater in the front middle.

It was cute. The kids all did a great job! :)

Isn't this how you sleep?

One morning, when we Alex woke up, we found that instead of having his random assortment of stuffed animals and things IN bed with him (as he had been doing), he had lined them up on the front of his bed. The only "comfort item" left in his bed was his grabber toy. Yes, this is one of those robot arm grabber toys where you squeeze the yellow handle and the red claw closes on the item needing to be grabbed. It is one of Alex's favorite things. He MUST have it IN bed with him UNDER his covers inorder to sleep.

The items on his bed: 2 Cars slippers, 2 stuffed puppies, 1 stuffed tiger, 1 sippy cup of water, and for some unknown reason.... 1 gray sock.
He has now had these things lined up while he sleeps for about a week. He wears his slippers sometimes, but they always have to be balanced carefully up on his bed before he can go to sleep.

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Alex loves to be funny. Tonight we were in the middle of dinner (which is why his face is all messy in the photo), when Alex got up from the table and ran to get something. He came back seconds later and sat down as if nothing strange had happened and waited for a reaction. Yes, that is a nerf suction cup foam target stuck to his forehead. :) Silly guy.

O Christmas Tree

We decorated our tree a while ago, but I haven't gotten around to posting the photos. Here they are. Molly and Alex loved helping.

The finished tree. We keep it simple with lights, gold beads, and colored balls. We have a few special ornaments on there too, like ones we have gotten on vacation. I think the tree itself is probably one of the prettiest live trees we've ever had. Sadly, it might be our last for a while. Live trees seem to be getting more and more expensive, and since we're never able to actually be here for Christmas... maybe we should just go artificial. The practical side of me thinks artificial makes sense, but I really do like real Christmas trees.

Here it is with the room lights dimmed.
Merry Christmas!!!

Old Spaghetti Factory... and more

Cory's birthday was on Saturday, and we went out for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Cory and I love that restaurant, but we haven't gone there much at all since Molly was born. It was a busy night at the restaurant, and we almost didn't stay because of the parking issues and the 45 minute wait, but I'm very glad we did. Molly and Alex really loved it! Better yet, because they loved it, Cory and I were able to really enjoy our meal. Usually the kids eat 2 bites at a restaurant and then get squirmy and want to go. This time, they were actually still eating when Cory and I decided we really should go so bedtime didn't get too late.

Another amazing thing happened. Molly declared it one of her new favorite restaurants AND asked if we could go there on her birthday. This is a big deal because until the Old Spaghetti Factory, the only place Molly ever requested was McDonalds. We live 4 blocks from a McDonalds and Molly and Alex STILL act excited every time we drive by (daily) and ask if we can go there. They usually start chanting MC-DON-ALDS! MC-DON-ALDS! MC-DON-ALDS! and beg to go there even if we have JUST eaten a meal at our own house. I really don't understand the obsession, and I am VERY thankful to get a normal, nice, non-fast-food restaurant on Molly's list of favorites.

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Peanut butter blossoms are Cory's favorite cookie, and we made dozens of them on Saturday (for us and for a cookie exchange). I bought 3 bags of Hershey's kisses on Thursday in preparation for our cookie making time.

Alex was with me when we bought them, and begged to have one. I told him no, and told him we had to save them for the cookies we were going to make. Later that day, I didn't see where Alex had gone, so I called his name. He peered out from the office and told me to go back downstairs. I love that at this age it is always really obvious when someone is doing something someone should not be doing.

I walked to him and found him standing with his hands inside the center front pocket of his sweatshirt. He told me I should leave him alone and go back downstairs.
I asked him what he had in his pocket. He just stared at me, trying to muster his best innocent look. I told him he had to show me what he had in his pocket, and reluctantly he pulled out one hand after another. Each held a chocolate kiss.

I saw a scissors behind him and the corner of the bag on the floor. I asked him where the bag was, and he showed me. He had stashed it into a desk drawer!!! Oh, so close yet so far away! :) He thought he'd have his own private chocolate stash. LOL! Too bad Mommy ruined that idea!