Hannah's first dance recital...

Hannah and her sweet teddy bear debuted in their first ever dance recital on December 3rd.  They had practiced many time during dance class and did a great job performing.  Hannah got most of her moves and we were all impressed that she didn't suck her thumb once while on stage!  She loved watching the older girls dance after she was done.  We are very proud of our beautiful ballerina!!  

Hannah's teacher, Miss Emily, stressed the importance of finding their stickers on the floor so they would all know where to stand...Here are Hannah, Sophie, and Savannah finding their spots.

On stage, during intermission...

You are the tree most loved!

O Christmas Tree!!  How I love decorating and seeing all of the lovely ornaments that we have collected over the years.  I was a little nervous this year with Caleb and his desire to search and destroy most thing nice...we were pleasantly surprised, though, that although he paid it quite a bit of attention there was not one thing broken!  

Hannah hanging her ornaments...

The whole gang was involved.  Of course Hannah needed the stool to keep hers away from Caleb!

We love us a Christmas season!

The final touch, the star.

Our special guest from the North Pole also arrived, Pierre was his name this year.  Hannah loved finding him every morning and also enjoyed the special treats he would bring her and Caleb if they had been good.

Our first snow...

Caled wasn't sure what to do at first, but he was happy to be outside.  It's all better with a pacifier :).

Hannah LOVES the snow and was excited when daddy started building our first snowman of the season.  The snow was perfect for just that!

And, of course, a little sledding.  The perfect after work activity!!

We are thankful, we are thankful...

For our family, our friends, our home, our jobs, our health, our numerous blessings, and most of all the love of our Lord.  This year we went to Missouri to celebrate the holiday and to spend some time with my family at a family reunion.  The kids were amazing in the 10.5 hour car ride and for most of the time you wouldn't have known they were there.  Hannah was happy to watch movies and Caleb was happy to have a continuous supply of snacks :).  We had lots of both, so they were content.  We arrived in Overland Park, Kansas in the middle of the afternoon and were welcomed by our loving family!  The weather was absolutely gorgeous that week and we were able to play outside quite a bit.  The cousins had so much fun together and enjoys hours of playing babies and bouncing in the bounce house.  While we were there we were also able to enjoy Gracie's 5th birthday party--something that Hannah looked forward to for many many weeks!

Momma and Caleb on Thanksgiving day...

Two of my turkeys...

The whole gang at Mimi's house.  Ready to dig in to a delicious feast!

Mimi and her 5 little funny monkeys...

Abby (7), Grace (5), Hannah (3).  The best of friends and the best of cousins.  Hannah said to me.  "Momma, Abby, Gracie, and Emma aren't only my cousins, they are my best friends".  It is so special to share this time with them and even though we live miles and miles apart from one another they still have such a strong bond.  Love is amazing!

Some pictures from the park...a rarity for the end of November.

Hannah turns 3!!

On November 12th we hosted Hannah's third birthday party.  It was a beautiful day to honor our royal guests as we had a home full or royalty.  All the kids wore their royal attire and some of the grown ups joined in on the fun, too.  Hannah was so beautiful and so excited to share this time with her friends.

Jewelry boxes were stocked with jewelry and were waiting to be decorated by little hands.  Also, wands for the royal prince and princesses.

Hannah in her throne chair patiently awaiting her guests:

The King and his beautiful princess...

Hannah very patiently awaited  as her guests arrived.  They were quick to show off their dresses and royal accessories before they headed to the dining room to check out their crafts.

Hannah received many wonderful gifts and was so thankful for everything she received.  Mommy and Daddy bought her a bike so she can go on rides in the spring.  

The princess cake and cake pops were delicious and Hannah liked it when we all sang Happy Birthday to her.

Her princess tent, a gift from Grandma and Grandpa.  She and Caleb play in it every day and have LOTS of thing squirreled away inside!

November 17th was a Thursday this year.  Here she is helping daddy get everything ready for the day...lunches packed, coffee poured, and birthday chit chat to start the day off right.

We took the kids to "Old McDonald's" for birthday pancakes and lots of smiles!  The we headed to school where we took princess cupcakes to share with all of her friends.  Hannah got a crown to wear all day at school and enjoyed all of the fun attention.

After school we went to the "Moose Restaurant", Hannah favorite.  She LOVES their yeast rolls (a girl after her momma's heart!!)

We came back home for a few more gifts and cake and ice cream.  What a special week it was for our wonderful, smart, kind, beautiful daughter.  She is such an amazing little girl and is the sweetest thing you could ever meet.  She always has other's interests in mind and loves sharing and taking care of her big brother.  Her vocabulary is off the charts and she has been given the gift of gab!!  She is learning her letters and numbers and likes to write.  She loves to play outside and can't wait for the snow to start falling.  She has a mind like a steel trap and comes up with some pretty funny things.  We love her more than we could possibly put into words.  She and Caleb are our world and to think that she is already 3 really makes us treasure each moment that we share.  We are so blessed beyond words and love our special birthday girl!!

Trunk or Treat...

We had our annual Trunk or Treat at our church yesterday.  The kids had a fabulous time and thankfully the weather cooperated.  There were tons of kids who came out to celebrate and lots of wonderful costumes were worn!!  

Our little dragon looking for some candy...he quickly learned how to put it in the pumpkin and then take it out!!  He ate many suckers and didn't seem to mind that some of them still had the wrappers on them.  :)

 

I'm ready--let's go get some candy, guys!

Our sweet little cheerleader--she got lots of compliments on her braids and her Mizzou pride!

Happy, Happy, Happy!

Trick or Treat, smell my feet...we told Hannah that wasn't the most polite, so instead on the way home in the car she sang:  Patty Cake, Patty Cake baker's man, put some candy in my hand.  Much better, and where does she come up with this stuff ??

Our beautiful family...

Some bounce house fun...

The horse and carriage ride...

Caleb dumped the popcorn into the chair to be able to more easily graze!!

There's a dino on the loose :)...

He's getting pretty confident on his four wheeler and rides it fast.  He hasn't quite learned how to steer...that will come, though.  I can so see him doing these 'stunts' with his dad when he is older on his real 4-wheeler...

All MINE!!!

All that sugar got him going!!

We have a walker!!!  To celebrate Caleb's 14th month, he decided to get going and start walking!  We knew it was just a matter of time before he would figure it out.  Tonight at our trunk or treat activity at church I was able to get him in action...He is so proud of himself and so he should be.  He still does a mixture of walking and crawling, but our lives have forever changed with this new mode of transportation and independence!