Happy Birthday, Banty!

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of spending Banty's birthday with her. The kids helped me make a strawberry cake for her and we took her out to dinner with Nana and Papa. Thank you for spending your special day with us, Banty!

The kids loved the beaters with icing on them!

Nana lighting the candles, which Emmy "helped" to blow out.

Tate added the candles to the cake, can you tell? :)

A few of our favorite things...

Here are a few of Tate and Emmy's favorite things this week...

Hanging out!

They are never very far away from each other. When you see one, the other is surly near.

Wrestling!

Here they are wrestling Papa. Every night, Tate has to get in his wrestling session with Daddy.

Anything sweet!

Last week, I made a strawberry cake for Banty's birthday and guess who got the beaters?

Singing on their "stage".

A crowd favorite is "Jesus Loves Me" (at the top of their lungs)

Playing "Mary and Joseph"

Here is Tate (Joseph) with Baby Jesus.

Climbing!

They never did much of this as babies, but they are making up for it now. They think anything is a step stool!

Riding their "Pop-Tops" around the house.

Here is Tate giving Pop Top a much deserved drink of Huckleberry's water!

And most of all...Each other!

A Horse Encounter and a Hula Girl...

On Saturday, Boots and Daddy woke Tate up from his nap with a surprise. Boots was riding Sandshoe. We brought Tate outside to see, he was not as brave as he wanted to be. :) He let Daddy hold him...he did pet his nose, but that was about as close as he would get. Yesterday, he was telling Papaw about it and he said the reason he did not ride was because "I was sick...no, I just wanted to ride Pop-Top." Excuses!! :) He did say he will ride next time. We will have to wait and see... Keeping a safe distance

Tate and Daddy

He did want to pet his nose.

Emmy stayed safe on the front porch with Banty

She said, "I don't like it!"

Tate's barber shop!

Last night, Emmy wanted to put on her hula skirt and lei that Boots and Banty brought from Hawaii. Here she is showing off her moves...

Silly girl!
This was the "ula" dance...

Getting down!

A Saturday at the Ranch

We decided to go south this weekend to the ranch to visit with Boots and Banty, and so Daddy can have one more chance at duck hunting. It is very chilly outside, so we have just hung around the house today. Here are the kids ready to go to the barn to feed the horses.

Here is Emmy modeling her new swimsuit, with the pink boots of coarse! As you can see, it has a "tur-tul" on the front, and as a bonus it is pink, so it will match about 99% of her wardrobe.

Tate is in there right now wiped out from all the walking and playing he did earlier. Aunt Courtney, you can see he still has on his apron from earlier!

Friends...

This weekend, we had a great time with some of Tate and Emmy's friends. On Saturday night, Brad's friend (since elementary school), Philip, and his daughter Ari came over. The kids had a great time with Ari. It is amazing what 3 kids can do to a playroom in one night! Tate, Ari and Emmy listening to a book.

Playing Candy Land.

Then, on Sunday, Brad had over some guys from Sunday School to watch the Cowboys game. Our friend, John, brought over his son Hunter. They watched videos and played in the already destroyed playroom. It is fun to watch Tate and Emmy with their friends.

Hunter, Emmy and Tate watching Boz.

Hunter and Emmy

Calling the Fashion Police....

This is what our Saturday looked like... I was putting up the Christmas decorations and the kids were just hanging around the house. Emmy decided she wanted her ballerina dress on and her "heels" (on the wrong feet!!), so Tate decided he wanted to put on some of Emmy's red cowboy boots and refused to put on anything else. Since it was 80 degrees, I just decided not to fight that one! He was also very insistent on posing next to his fire truck. Here they are in their fashion "don'ts"

Super close up. (Excuse Tate's nose!)

This was Emmy on Monday (Yes, still in the ballerina dress and "heels" on the wrong feet). She has been working on the potty thing. I just had to snap a picture of her all dressed up on the potty!!

We are watching Sadie Jane (Banty's dog) this week and Tate loves to put her on the leash and take her for a walk around the house. She is surprisingly a good sport about it all!

Miss Emmy...a.k.a. Cinderella

Aunt Laci, Uncle Todd and Ellie gave Emmy this Cinderella dress from Disney World for Christmas. Aunt Laci and Banty took Emmy back to Banty's bathroom and did her hair with the tiara one afternoon while we were in Clifton and these pictures tell it all. It completely changed her demeanor...she thought she was a real princess... Her and the "tialllla" (tiara).

This was what we called the princess pose.

Hamming it up for the camera.

Emmy looking in the mirror at herself.

I love this picture of Brad looking at her.

Last night, we were saying our prayers before bed and I asked Emmy what she was thankful for. She looked at Brad and said, "Him!". I think she stole her Daddy's heart all over again!

The Unwanted Visitor...

While we were in Clifton for Christmas we had a little unwanted visitor...the stomach bug!!! In all, I think it hit 9 of us! Not fun at the time, but looking back, we were all pretty good sports about it. :) Brad and Uncle Rooster were the only one's not hit and we are not sure how they escaped it! Here are some before pics...

And the after pics...it just wiped them out for 2 days...We watched lots of movies and slept!

Daddy makes us feel better!

Christmas with The Greene's

On Christmas afternoon, we went to Clifton to see The Greene's for Christmas.

We had a great time with everyone.

Boots and Banty re-furbished Aunt Laci's old kitchen from when she was young. They loved pretending to make cookies and dinner.

Aunt Courtney made the kids these adorable aprons and hot pads. They are so cute!

Chef Tate

Boots and Tate eating Christmas Dinner

Tate got this firetruck from Boots and Banty. He loves it!

This picture makes me laugh!

Emmy with several of her presents...The Cinderella Dress from Aunt Laci and Uncle Todd, the pink cowgirl hat from Boots and Banty and a borrowed cell phone from Ellie.

All three kids in front to of the Christmas tree...They were not in the mood!

Paw and Dorothy came by Christmas evening for a visit. They brought everyone new coats! Thank you, Paw and Dorothy!

Christmas Morning...

We were at our house on Christmas morning. The kids had a great time waking up to see what Santa brought them. Emmy's presents included a pink ballerina dress (this was her request after seeing The Nutcracker - Mommy was at Target Christmas Eve looking for this!), a Barbie fishing pole, a highchair/swing/bouncy chair for her babies, and a stocking full of stuff.

Tate's stuff...a HUGE tractor set (I think it had over 100 pieces to it!), a Scooby Doo fishing pole and a stocking full of stuff.

She insisted on wearing the ballerina dress all morning over her red pajamas! Here she is testing out the chair for her doll (Carol Jane).

Mommy made Mimi's recipe for cinnamon rolls. This is something my mom did every Christmas morning for us. It just would not be Christmas morning without them. :) (Of course, this was the second attempt at making them. Let's just say, the second batch was MUCH better (and edible) than the first...I have never claimed to be a cook/baker!!!)

Tate playing with all his new "manimals" and tractors.

They also got new baseball gloves from Mommy and Daddy. As you can see, we have a little work to do with Emmy...she had the right-handed glove on the right hand...we will work on that!

Tater and Daddy opening a gift together.