Merry Christmas

Our Christmas started out early this month with a squadron Christmas party. Santa flew in on a Huey. He passed out presents (books donated by Scholastic) to each kid who sat on his lap. Then there is this wonderful Christian group called Armor of Light who has adopted our squadron. They made breakfast for all of us and then had brand new toys donated. Each kid who sat on Santa's lap (or in our case tried to sit on his lap) got to go and pick out any toy they wanted. They had some really nice things to choose from too. Barbies, Legos, clothes, dolls, sports equipment, etc. The twins were terrified of Santa as you can see from their picture.
Christmas Day was very nice and quiet for us. Just us and the kids and the critters. The dogs got new beds and the cats got treats (they got a big tower not too long ago!). The twins had a blast opening presents. It took for-ev-er. They wanted to play with everything immediately. They like to open presents but haven't caught on that there is more coming! It was fun. Then we took them to their rooms where their "big" present was waiting. Luci got a Disney Princess vanity that has a small keyboard and all the accessories are instruments too. Eli got his very first Thomas the train set. They were both excited. It was a very nice and quiet day.

Family picture in Huey

Santa-not our favorite person-YET

Stockings!

Presents!

The Twins Turn 2!!

Has it really been 2 years already?? Wow! The twins are growing so fast and they are such little sponges right now. Luci is a parrot and will repeat everything you say. She is already trying to count to 10 and does pretty well. Eli's speech has really blossomed as well. His favorite word is "helicopter". Luci is now into dolls and dressing up and Eli is into trains, trucks, helicopters, and guns. It's been fascinating to watch them grow. We don't push "boy" "girl" stuff on them but yet they've each gravitated toward boy and girl things on their own. Their actual birthday was during the week and daddy had to fly at night so I took them to McDonald's and we got an ice cream cone and then went to Walmart and picked out a small toy. Then last Saturday we had a birthday party for them. Our closest friends came with their kids. We all had lunch, ate Elmo cupcakes (Hailey and I each got some cupcake in the face!), and then watched the twins open their presents. Luci got a baby doll stroller, a purse, and a doll and Eli got an Elmo backpack and a travel Thomas train set from Grandma and Grandpa Workman. Then they got money from Aunt Gail and Uncle Lance, Memere and Pepere Raymond, and Mataunte Weezie. Mataunte Nancy got them super cute jammies. Luci also got a baby doll, tea set, coloring books, and clothes. Eli got a Thomas train, Elmo, clothes, coloring books, blocks, and a tool belt. We got them the Jumpolene (a toddler inflatable trampoline) and some other things. They scored big time! I had to clean out the old to make room for the new!

Yay! We love tea sets!

A Handy Manny tool belt!

Luci's Elmo cupcake

Eli's Elmo cupcake

Grandparents Arrington Visit

Mom and Werter came out to visit the beginning of the month. They babysat the twins on the 10th so Dan and I could go to the MC Ball and spend the night without worrying about the kids. Then we took the twins to the zoo on Friday. We also opened grandma and grandpa's birthday presents so they could watch the twins open them. Mom and I did a little shopping. Overall, it was just a week for quality time with the grandkids! Luci and Eli loved having them here. Eli played guns with Grandpa. Luci enjoyed being made over by Grandma. Grandma was able to get Luci's hair in her first ponytail and Luci loved it. The twins also got their first haircut by Grandma!

1st Trip to Zoo 11/13/10

While Mom and Werter were visiting we took the twins to the zoo for the first time. A little pre-birthday present. The Brown family joined us. It was a nice warm day and all the kids had a good time. The twins' favorites were the monkeys and the elephants. A fun little train ride capped off the day.

Our First Haircut

Mom and Werter were here visiting last week. While she was here she gave the twins their first haircut. They were both very smart and sat still. Fruit snacks helped! Eli looks so cute. Luci had one side in the back that was longer than the other so Mom just evened it out. She cut around Eli's ears and straightened everything out. Luci can now also wear little clips in her hair!

Trick or Treating

Wow what fun! Luci dressed up like a leopard princess. She kept her ears on long enough for a picture. But she did let me paint her nose pink and put whiskers on her cheek. Eli was originally going to be Elmo but he was terrified of the costume. So he ended being Superman. He let me paint the Superman "S" on his cheek. At the first house Luci wanted her candy right away so I told her that we were going to go and get more. A minor tantrum and then she caught on quickly! At the second house Eli tried giving the homeowner the candy from the first house. But after that he caught on too! Eli had the most fun. He was right up front holding out his basket saying something that resembled "trick or treat". Then he would say "thank you" and "bye". Luci got up there too but not quite as fast as Eli. She also used her manners (which we have been pushing pleases and thank you's pretty hard lately). They were really cute and it was so much fun.

Superman

The Leopard Princess

Pumpkin Carving

Okay. This was totally not what I expected to happen. I expected the twins to gross out at having pumpkin on their hands. Instead, Luci took the spoon and dug out some pumpkin guts and started eating it! And liked it! The after I carved out eyes they each took the pumpkin piece that came out of the eye and started chewing on it. These are pics of our first pumpking carving together. Definitely one to remember!

Live Fire Demo

Dan's squadron had a "Live Fire Demo" this past weekend. The twins got to see Daddy in action. We watched 2 Huey (the new 4 bladed Yankee) helicopters and 2 Cobras shoot targets and blow stuff up. Dan was the division leader and responsible for the helicopters' show. It was a great time. The twins loved it and screamed "Daddy" a lot. It was very exciting, even I loved watching, especially knowing that it was Dan flying. We then went to the squadron and watched the helicopters taxi in. Eli was so excited when he saw his daddy walking from the helicopter.

Pumpkin Hunting!

We took the twins to their first pumpkin patch yesterday. It was so fun. There was a petting zoo, pig races, corn maze, a train, and tractors. Eli liked the tractors. They also enjoyed petting the goats. We chased them through the corn maze with the Brown kids. Luci is attached to Hailey. She stuck with her all morning! At the end we looked for the perfect pumpkin. Eli found a really little one he was excited about. Then they each found one they could pick up without dropping. I can't wait to carve pumpkins with them. They hate to have messes on their hands. Wait until they stick their hands inside a pumpkin!

The family

Luci found one!

Eli found one too!

Busted! A moment of sweetness caught!