Yesterday, we celebrated Piper's second birthday! I cannot believe how fast two years have gone by so fast. It was just a moment ago that I was holding her in my arms and bringing her home from the hospital. Well...enough reminiscing. We don't have time for it! Piper decided that she wanted an Ariel themed party and has very much been involved with The Little Mermaid and everything that goes with her. I see some similarities: tint of red hair, spunky attitude, winning disposition, etc., etc. Piper definitely is my little firecracker!
Thanks to a little nudging by my friend Robyn, my sister and I decided to take Emaline and Piper sledding at her Dad's house, which has a supremely awesome hill for sledding. After Pepere and Nana got Em a Penguin sled for Christmas, she was dying to try it out somewhere. So, we picked up Aunt Kayleigh and headed over to the Cooper homestead and suited up for some fun in the snow. I was so excited to see them both out there on the pretty white fluff, but when we got to the house, poor Piper was crashed out!! So, she slept through her first sledding expedition :-) Emaline, however, did not and was ready to conquer that hill! Thankfully, we got to borrow some much needed clothing and a couple sleds. Then afterward, Miss Jan fixed us up some killer hot chocolate! Mmmm, yummy! It was a great day--thanks Coopers!
I think this picture says it all! We had an awesome time, thanks to the Haarmanns (and everyone else) for a wonderfully Happy New Year! Mmmmm....crab legs.
Whew!!! What a day! It was another success Thomas/Little Christmas! We started the day off at home where the girls thankfully didn't get up until around 9am! I was really surprised, but we all got up and gazed at the goodies that Santa brought us. Emaline got a Barbie Glam Jet and Piper got a new bike (among other things). Then we opened our gifts to each other, thanks Josh for my new Xbox Kinect! I love it and it is so fun to play with the kids. We then hopped in the car and headed to the Littles where we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast (Thanks Audrey!) and opening gifts with everyone, including Madisyn, our niece. It was really laid back and we didn't even get out of our jammies! I love that about our Christmases.
Then after taking a short break at home (dropping off gifts) and grabbing the dog, we went over to my parents' house with my sisters and opened MORE gifts. It took us quite a bit of time to get through everyone! The kids loved playing with each others' new games and books and we adults laid back waiting for an awesome dinner by Nana. We had a great day, but it really was long. Piper of course had no nap, so she was really tired by the time we went home and Emaline was ready for some rest too, not to mention Mom & Dad. :-) We came home and put the girls to bed and enjoyed some down time.
I only wish we could see my CA family at the holidays. That would be the only thing I would change about our holidays. Otherwise, I think me and my family have very blessed times together. We have food in our bellies, roofs over our heads and enough love to choke an elephant! Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year and I only hope my girls learn that love of family and friends is what keeps that going, oh and believing in the Christmas spirit! Santa is always watching ;-) Merry Christmas!!
We had our annual Thomas Family Christmas party this past weekend and had yet again a wonderful turn out! It was so good to see friends and family members that we didn't even remember to take any pictures! Geesh, horrible blogger, but fantastic partier!! At least that's something. This year it was a little rough though because the girls and I had been so sick the week before and quite honestly Emaline was still not feeling well on Saturday night. Not enough sleep added to the fire and she was not her happy-go-lucky self for the first part of the night, but she picked herself up by her bootstraps and got downstairs with all the rest of the kids. It was madness now that so many little ones come to the event! Thanks to everyone who came and spent time with us. It is so wonderful to know that we have friends like you all!
On Sunday following our dinosaur excursion, we got up early ( waited for Josh to get home from work) and got dressed and headed west for our annual Christmas tree hunt. We met the fam at the IHOP in Lake Saint Louis and had some awesome cinnastack pancakes. Mmmm, delish! Thankfully, all the kids ate and were fueled up for our big outing into the 29 degree weather! Think Randy from A Christmas Story, that's how I bundled up my girls. I'm surprised they moved at all...We went to a new place this year, Valley Farms in Foristell. It was actually their first year with Christmas trees and I think we did pretty well for ourselves. The price wasn't too bad either, I think it was $6/foot, which is pretty normal for tree farms. We decided because it was cold that we shouldn't dawdle and of course everyone got a tree before I did. I was the last to pick, as usual. Finally, Piper and I found the perfect one and Josh and the girls did their duty and cut it down like experienced little lumberjacks. Then my sister and I proceeded to put the tree up on the roof of my car and tie it down. Where was my husband you say? Yeah, talking trash and watching from the sidelines with my brother-in-law. That's cause us Thomas girls get it done!! :-) I let him slide considering he was up for 24hours straight. We all got home at a decent hour and got our respective trees up and ready for decorating. Another year a success! So happy that we have this wonderful tradition. I wouldn't have it any other way! Merry Christmas everyone!!!
This past Saturday, me and girls went to meet Aunt Stephy, Uncle Adham, Kaya & Kellen for some digging for dinosaurs! It was at Bowles Elementary in Fenton, so it wasn't too far of a jaunt for me, but quite a haul for the Ahmads! Thanks to them for joining us it was so much fun and the kids loved every minute of it. I couldn't believe how well they were all behaving and helping each other. These Parents as Teachers events are really something fun to get into and you meet people and the kids have such a good time. Real cheap fun too, it was only $5 per family! The kids got to do fun activities such as: digging for dinos, obstacle courses, games, playdoh, stamping, painting, coloring, puzzles, blocks, reading, etc. They had it all! Such a fun time, can't wait to do the next one!
Yesterday, we celebrated Piper's second birthday! I cannot believe how fast two years have gone by so fast. It was just a moment ago that I was holding her in my arms and bringing her home from the hospital. Well...enough reminiscing. We don't have time for it! Piper decided that she wanted an Ariel themed party and has very much been involved with The Little Mermaid and everything that goes with her. I see some similarities: tint of red hair, spunky attitude, winning disposition, etc., etc. Piper definitely is my little firecracker!
