All Kinds of Wintery-Christmasy Things

Rhett, Colton, Tory, and Michelle came to spend Christmas with us a little early. We had so much fun! The boys taught Arabella how to go sledding, they all made gingerbread houses, and played more games of hide-and-go-seek than I can even count! What a great weekend!

Rhett, Arabella, and Colton

Rhett and Arabella working on their gingerbread house

The boys and Arabella with their finished products!

This is Arabella sledding down the hill... she is so little, she just FLIES down the hills!

My angel making a snow angel

Sledding makes me happy!

It was very hard for Bella to walk in the deep snow... it went up to her thighs!

Last week Dave and I decided we would take Arabella ice skating for the first time. We went to the Brenton Outdoor Skating Plaza in downtown Des Moines. She loved it. She even has her own ice skates (thanks to a hockey family that thought she should have skates last year - they FINALLY fit her now!)

Daddy spent lots of time trying to teach Arabella to skate

Having fun skating with Daddy - she looks so happy!

"Skate me faster Daddy!"

Taking a cocoa break with candy canes!

Arabella and Mommy - chilly noses!

"I looooooove skating!"

Having so much fun!

They had a mini zamboni and Bella really wanted to ride on it!

Not a happy camper because we had to leave... we promised we'd come back soon!

I'm So Dizzy

After 14 inches of snow and 45 mph winds, they finally decided we could have a snow day in West Des Moines! Arabella and I were so excited to spend the day at home. And to make it even better, Daddy's work closed and he got to stay home with us! We stayed in our PJ's all day, made a fort in the living room, and baked Christmas cookies!

While Arabella patiently waited for me to make her "Grandpa's Super Duper PBJ Sandwich" for lunch, she started randomly singing this song. Luckily I had the video camera nearby and was able to capture it! Daddy didn't know we were video taping and came in the room to join Arabella's concert. :) Ha ha! Here's the video and some pictures of our day! (Oh yeah, the best part is that we get ANOTHER snow day tomorrow! More fun!)

Making Christmas Cookies!

Daddy and Arabella getting ready to make cookies!

Licking the beaters

Decided it was lots easier to just stick her finger in the bowl

This was supposed to be a cute picture of the two of us...
But then again, Dave was in the picture, so....

Finished products! Don't they look yummy?!

Visit with Santa Claus

Arabella was very excited to go visit Santa Claus at the mall! She was even patient as we waited in the line for over 30 minutes! Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she said, "Cake. Chocolate cake and presents." She told me later that she told Santa thank you for her presents last year too. :)

Waiting patiently in line, Daddy found a great photo op!

Deep in conversation with Santa

Thanksgiving 2009

As you may have heard, Dave finally got a job in this awful recession! That was the good news. The bad news was that he didn't get to join us for Thanksgiving this year. He did get to spend Thanksgiving with his mom, brothers, and other family members in Omaha that day. We missed him a lot, but we had a lot of fun.

Grandma and Arabella riding Sarly.

Mommy and Arabella riding Sarly

Arabella rode Henks all by herself. She was so excited to feed the horses and ride them. She talked about the horses for weeks before we actually got to Nebraska!

Aunt Debby leading Arabella and Henks on a long horse ride.

Aunt Sara and Arabella had a lot of fun playing together.

Hockey

Mommy and Arabella watching hockey

Arabella and I went to a few hockey tournaments for Daddy's hockey team recently and one of the hockey mom's took these pictures of Arabella and I. I'm not sure what we were talking about, but I just couldn't pass up sharing them.

It's Almost Halloween!!

Arabella and I went to Sioux City for the weekend to hang out with Grandma Patti, Uncle Mark, Lori, Uncle Steve, and Aunt Joanna. We had lots of fun getting ready for Halloween!

Grandma Patti got a package today in the mail... so we decided to have a little fun with the box. It provided hours of entertainment!

Carving Pumpkins at Grandma Patti's house

"Ewwwwwwwww!!!!!"

Mommy and Arabella being silly

Grandma Patti and Arabella made pumpkin cookies!
She thinks it's necessary to plug your ears whenever appliances are running whether or not they are loud. I think she learned this from Grandma and her coffee bean grinder.

We Are The Dinosaurs

One of Arabella's favorite songs is "We Are The Dinosaurs" by Laurie Berkner... Bella tells me that at Miss Georgia's they are dinosaurs, so I videotaped her showing me what they do. She's the cutest dinosaur I've ever seen!

Hot Apple Crisp

Last weekend we picked apples at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Today Arabella and I made apple crisp! She was such a big helper! She was also thrilled that she got to wear her "Mom's Little Helper" apron (it ALMOST fits)! Now our house smells wonderful and we have yummy apple crisp for dessert!

"Daddy's Park"

This weekend we went to GG and Grandpa Bob's house in Omaha. It was great to see family again! On Sunday we took Arabella to a park that GG used to take Dave to when he was little... a quick walk from their house. Arabella loved it! She had so much fun! I love this weather!

Mommy and Bella on the big girl swings

Daddy, AB, and Grandma Patti
Grandma Patti really enjoys pushing Arabella on the swings

"Weeeeeeeee!"

Arabella climbed this all by herself! She only needed help

on the last step to get onto the equipment! She was so brave!

When Daddy was a little boy, he loved this digger... it was his favorite thing at the park!

He spent quite a bit of time today trying to show Arabella how to do it...

We finally had to convince him that it was HER turn! :)

Daddy says, "Dig and dump!"

Mommy and Arabella