Wrapping Gifts

Nora got into wrapping gifts this year and had to wrap all her toys and put them under the tree. Molly on the other hand just sat on the paper while we tried to wrap!

Vist with Santa

I took Nora and Molly to the mall to visit Santa. You don't see Molly because she really didn't like sitting on his lap! Nora on the other hand talked his ear off. She just sat there and chatted forever..I guess she is like her mom:) Nora told Santa that she wants a horse. That is all that Nora wants for Christmas...I keep telling her that it isn't going to happen. We will see how she handles it!

Merry Christmas

This is the Christmas card picture we used this year. It was taken by Heather Jahn and she did a great job. The girls looked so cute in their matching outfits!

All I want for Christmas

Nora is a pretty smart three year old and really thinks about things. This Christmas she has decided that she wants a horse for Christmas (and a cow and sheep depending on the day). We have had the talk about how we live in the city and it just wouldn't work-she has a million ideas for how we can keep the horse. "We can put it in dad's office, and I can feed it carrots!" So that is the preface to this story.

We went to church on Sunday the 13th and Pastor Brooks sermon was on how to pray. Nora was sitting with us in church this Sunday and she was coloring (and I guess listening). Brooks talked about how we as adults sometimes pray like children. He used the example that a child like prayer would be "please God give me a pony for Christmas" and then he used other illustrations of how a child might pray for a pony. If you want to listen to the whole sermon (it was great!) you can download it at http://gracecommunitynet.org/ then go to resources and sermons.

So as you can guess Nora picked up on this illustration that Brooks used. We got home and Nora said, "Mom, did you hear what that man at church said?" I asked her what she meant. She said, "He said if I want a pony that I need to pray." Hmm...how do you handle this?? I just said, well he did say that but he was talking about how we pray. So we got ready to pray at lunch and as I was finishing the prayer she jumps in, "don't forget to pray for my pony!"

I then caught Nora the other day looking out the window going, "Dear Jesus, I want a horse and we can put it outside."

I went ahead and told our pastor this story and he laughed. I don't that he understand that she really thinks that she can pray and get a pony. Any suggestions on what to tell her would be great!! Before Christmas if possible!

Blizzard 09!

So they are saying that we are having a "blizzard" here in Iowa. It has snowed for the past two days and the wind is gusting at 50 mph. The photos below don't really do justice for what it is like outside. Last I saw on the news with the winds it is -10! The driveway has been plowed out three times and you still can't see it. Each time the wind closes it. I have enjoyed the day at home with the girls. As of three in the afternoon none of us have gotten out of our pajamas!

Merry Christmas

It is fun to have girls that you can get dressed up. This is a photo of Molly on Sunday before we went to church in her Christmas dress. So cute!!

Ready to shovel?

It had only snowed two inches and Nora and Molly were excited to get out and shovel with dad. It was fun to put all the winter gear on for the first time. (I am sure it will become not fun soon!). Brian said that it was hard to spot Molly out in the snow because she was camouflaged!

Cookies with Lizzie

We had Nora's friend Lizzie over this week and made some Christmas cookies. The girls LOVED the frosting and a little of the actual cookie. Of course Molly helped out during the process, her job was eating all the candy and dough the girls got on the floor! Molly can clearly say the word "cookie" now.

Merry Christmas!

Nora with my table centerpiece on her head! Why couldn't it be a hat mom?

Gingerbread House

Nora and I worked together to make a Gingerbread house, or as Nora would say "A Gingerbread Baby house". She talks about how the Gingerbread baby is going to come and live in the house. (She gets this from the book Gingerbread Baby that we read). We put doors and windows in the house so that the baby could get in to sleep. She did such a great job and was very serious about the decorating. I love that she is older and we can do these fun things together. Next year we can let Molly help (this year dad just took her to Wal-Mart during the decorating).

Ohio State

Brian and I went to out to Ohio for the Iowa Ohio St. football game and got to spend some time with our friends. We stayed with Andy and Lisa at their house in West Liberty both Friday and Saturday and met up with Phil and his wife Amy at the game. They were Ohio State fans, but we let them be with us!! The game was really close and the stadium is great. The band formed a Hawkeye that really impressed me! It was just a fun weekend to get away and be with friends. Now that we all have kids it is hard to find time for weekends like that!

Peterson's visit

My cousin Marlene, her husband Brent and their daughter Meg came to stay with us for the weekend from Minnesota. The adults went to the Iowa Minnesota football game and the girls had fun with Ashley (our babysitter). The picture above is cute because it shows all the blond girls playing together. The funny thing is that my side of the family doesn't have blond hair so it is rather strange that all the girls have the same color hair. It was exciting to take Brent and Marlene to the Iowa game and see how they liked the tailgate and the stadium. They did a good job of being neutral during the game and not all out cheering for Minnesota! It is great that we got to spend time with them and hopefully it is something that we can keep going.