Playing with Dak

Makenzie and Ashlyn enjoyed spending time with their cousin Dak. We returned to our house one evening after dinner to hang out and let the kids play. Makenzie and Dak had a great time playing chase with aunt Sherry and Aaron, while Ashlyn enjoyed having a book read to her by cousin Niki. We are so glad they could come visit. Makenzie asked several times after they left if we could go see Dak sometime. Perhaps one of these days we will make it to Georgia for a visit.

Grossology Exhibit

While Aaron's Aunt Sherry, cousin Niki, and her son Dak were in town after Christmas, we took the kids to the traveling children's exhibit called "Grossology: the Impolite Science of the Human Body. Being a former science teacher, I was excited to see the kids slide through a portion of the small intestine, climb a wall of human skin covered in hair and warts, and observe/learn about other parts of the human body. I was very impressed with the amount of hands on activities offered at this exhibit....too bad it wasn't available to see when I was teaching this to my students.

Christmas Morning

Wouldn't you know that of all mornings, our girls decided to sleep until 8:30 am on Christmas day. I think b/c they were still half asleep, neither girl seemed overly excited to see what Santa brought them. Makenzie noticed her stocking first so she decided to take a peek. Ashlyn still doesn't know what's really going on so Makenzie helped her quite a bit. We enjoyed watching the girls open their gifts, let them play awhile, then headed to Aaron's parents' house to celebrate Christmas with the McGilvrays.

Still Catching Up

I am still trying to catch up from Christmas. Aaron's grandparents were able to make a quick visit to Plano before heading down to Houston to see more family. They live in Montana so we don't get a chance to see them very often. The girls were very excited to spend some time with their great-grandparents and I am sure they had their fill of little ones running all around! We spent all day Saturday before Christmas at Aaron's parents' house eating, playing, more eating....
Dale (grandma) kept with her tradition of making cookies for anyone to decorate. Makenzie is now a pro, but Ashlyn still has some learning to do. We enjoyed spending time with family and hope to see great-grandma and great-grandpa Smith soon!

Gingerbread Fun with Zachary (Zach)

Makenzie's friend Zach and his little brother Ashton came over for some Christmas crafts and attempts at a gingerbread house. I didn't exactly follow the directions (mainly b/c we were running out of time) so it took a while for the gingerbread house to come together. I think the kids still had fun once they were able to actually decorate the house. Plus, my friend Stephanie and I had a few good laughs through the whole process. The kids also did a great job making their tree ornaments. I found some great ideas on the Family Fun website and look forward to trying out some new crafts next year. Thanks Steph for bringing the boys over to play. We had a great time!



starting on the house










Zach taking a break to enjoy some icing










Ashlyn & Ashton










starting crafts











completed tree ornament

Plano's Christmas Tree Lighting

We headed to Plano again for a third year for their annual Christmas Tree Lighting. Makenzie remembers the nativity scene that she saw last year so we told her we would take her to see baby Jesus again. Tera and Trent joined us for the festivities. Makenzie had to settle for a baby doll as Jesus this year compared to a real baby playing the part last year. One of the local churches offered something new this year as they opened up a room for children to participate in a few indoor activities/crafts. Makenzie, Ashlyn, & Trent favored the block building station over all the others. Plus, they got to be inside where it was warm and enjoy hot chocolate with the big kids. It was a pretty cold evening so we called it a night after leaving the church.

Marching band

The girls had Trent over for some play time while his mommy went to her doctor's appt. Makenzie, Ashlyn, & Trent decided they were going to be a marching band with Trent being the lead drummer. I think that Tera and Jeff have a little musician in the making! The girls have so much fun when Trent comes over to play. Plus, we are helping Trent out by getting him used to being around girls as he will have a baby sister in May. We are so EXCITED for Tera and Jeff! Here are some pics of the kiddos...

1st Snow of the Year

I have been meaning to post this for a while now. I am trying to catch up, so the next several entries will be from our December events. We had our first snow of the year on December 1st. Of course, we get excited here in North Texas if anything sticks to the ground since we rarely get anything but a miserable ice storm. The girls seemed excited at first to plod out in the snow, but their excitement was short-lived as they were both eager to get back into the house. Ashlyn was pretty much done when she ran to join up with her sister and fell to the ground. She refused to get up so I had to go rescue her from the soggy ground. I did manage to snap a few shots before the fun was over.