Shoe the Elf and Some Pictures

This is Shoe, our Elf on the Shelf.  He shows up every morning in a different place in the house, doing something silly.  So far he has been riding a reindeer, hanging from a light fixture, been fishing in the toilet, and decorated the Christmas tree with panties, diapers and socks.  He magically flies to the North Pole every night when the kids go to bed to play with his friends and let Santa know how the kids are behaving. 

Decorating the tree.  She dressed herself. :)

Decorating. 



Before church today.  So sweet!





Loving on Daddy!



Thanksgiving

I know it's December but I'm just getting around to posting about Thanksgiving.  Oh well!  I don't have a lot to tell, really, just that B-man was actually sick right around that time...with the stomach flu and fluid in his ears (still).  He will go see an ENT this week and most likely get tubes in his ears.  We are just ready for him to feel better!
For Thanksgiving, we took a quick trip out to Marion for part of the day to celebrate with some of our family.  It was nice to see everyone and the food was super fabulous!
Enjoy the pictures.

Clara's Tea Party

Ava and her nana went to Clara's Tea Party at the Wichita Historical Museum on the Saturday after Thanksgiving (and I tagged along).  We got to eat little sandwiches, cookies and fruit and have tea and hot chocolate.  Ballerinas from the Nutcracker were there and Ava was too shy to talk with them--but we did snag a picture.  She was able to do crafts, get her face painted, listen to the story of The Nutcracker, and we enjoyed touring the museum.  Lots of fun!

 

Stuff

Last Sunday was the collection day for the Operation Christmas Child gifts at church.  So, Saturday evening I took the kiddos to the Dollar Tree to fill a shoebox-sized container.  Before we left, I explained to Ava that we were going to buy some little gifts for a child that might not get anything for Christmas.  We talked about other children not being as fortunate...this is not a new conversation, as we talked about this all the time when I am trying to get her to eat her dinner.  Anyways, when I told her about the gift, she got very upset and asked when she would be getting a present.  My eyes got big and I think I even gasped.  Erick and I continued to explain that it was important to give to others and she gets gifts all the time from so many people.  All of our talking didn't really seem to convince her that buying a gift for another child was a great idea.  So she pouted all the way to the Dollar Tree.  When we got there, though, she decided it was pretty fun picking things out (this is not to say that she didn't ask many times for me to buy her this or buy Brecken that--I held strong though) and thought the gift should be for a five year old girl.  Here is what she packed in the box: toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, washcloth, princess comb and hair clip set, yo-yo (of which she had a very hard time letting go), a pink ball, crayons, a notepad, stickers, a picture that she colored.  We took it to church the next day and showed her all of the other boxes that were waiting to be shipped.  She said, "Wow!"  She stared at all of the gifts and told us, "I don't want a present anymore."  :)
The latest random pictures:


Ava wanted to put on a play.  She got to be Little Red Riding Hood.





Just having a snack and being silly.  Excuse their orange teeth...I promise we brush them.  It's the goldfish.





Ava is very intently watching "Annie", one of my favorite movies ever!  She has started playing with her hair again when she's watching t.v., reading, or tired.  She did it when she was very little and for some reason it's started up again.  Kind of sweet. :)



Last Video

Video #2

Blogger won't let me put these all on the same post, so here's another video.  One more to go. :)

A Visit to the Doctor

Brecken had his 18 month well child check-up today (he's just a little over 18 months).  His height is 31 3/4 inches (30th percentile) and his weight is 19 pounds (not even on the charts yet).  The doctor said it's great that he's at least growing taller, but he's sure not gaining much weight!  We told him we weren't too surprised since he and Ava both are such picky eaters at school and sometimes don't even eat there.  Plus, he has been sick every other week!  When the doctor was looking him over, he found that he STILL has a little fluid in both ears.  So we are now on round three or four of antibiotics.  He hasn't taken this particular one before and the doctor said he wants to see him again in a few weeks to see if his ears have cleared up.  If not, we may be looking at tubes for his little ears.  Other than that, our little munchkin is a happy and healthy boy!  He is talking more each day.  I tried to take a few videos of him saying things.  Hopefully they will load on here, but who knows? 
A little funny...While we were waiting on the nurse to come in for shots, Ava was looking at all of the pamphlets in the doctor's office.  She came to one about circumcision.  :)  She sat down, opened it up and began to look at the illustrations. 
"What are they doing to this penis?" she asked. 
Erick and I quietly laughed and gave her the answer.  She listened, then continued to look at it and take everything in.
"Do we have to do this to Brecken?" 
More smiles from us.  We told her that he already had it done when he was teeny tiny. 
She was quiet again and continued looking.  Then she said, "I just wish we could do this to him again."
We told her that wasn't possible.  And then I put the brochure away before the nurse came back. :)