Christmas

Christmas was very exciting this year. Caden and Caroline woke up early to find many presents under the tree. Before opening them we walk through the Christmas story using our Little People nativity scene. After opening presents at home we then went to Maw Maw Scruggs' house. We ate breakfast and opened presents with everyone there. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and seeing all of the MawMaws and PawPaws and aunts and uncles.
After naps we headed back to Raleigh to have dinner at Aunt Kris' house. The kids were able to play with their older cousins and see Grandma and Grandpa. Caden enjoyed watching the Planet Earth videos (but not the lions attacking the elephants).
Christmas was such a special day. We are so blessed to have so many family members to share it with.

The End of Ear Infections (we hope)

Before Christmas Caroline got her 7th ear infection. The doctor referred us to an ent. They wanted to put tubes in. So we scheduled the appointment the day before Christmas Eve.
We had to wake her up at 5:30 and be there at 6:00. Caden stayed with Grandma and Grandpa (and probably got less sleep than his sister). She couldn't have anything to eat or drink before the surgery. I thought it would be a nightmare but she did great. She handled the whole thing like a champ. When we got home she ate two bags of muffins and a banana then took at 4 hour nap. After that she was back to her normal fun-loving self. Hopefully we will not see any more problems with the ears. :)

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve Grandma, Grandpa and the Richardsons came over to eat pizza and then we went to church together. The kids did pretty well in church. Caroline did have to go out and walk around a bit. Caden really enjoyed singing Silent Night and lighting the candle. We chose not to let Caroline light hers:) After church MawMaw, PawPaw, Aunt Kristin and Uncle Patrick came over to open gifts. Caden loved his new remote control truck and Frog game. Caroline loved all of the "babies". We had such a great night!!!

Christmas Crafts

Before Christmas Molly and her two boys came over and we made several reindeer crafts and snacks. Caden and Jackson enjoyed learning reindeer facts and the crafts but I think Caroline and Drew enjoyed painting the most (When Caroline wasn't eating it). They had a lot of fun and made very cute ornaments to hang on the tree. Thanks Molly!

Daddy's Birthday!

The kids and I woke up early on Daddy's birthday to bring him breakfast in bed. We made him pancakes and brought him his paper. The kids were so excited to give him his gifts also.
Later that week we went to Chili's and celebrated with the Barbours. After dinner we were able to take a sleigh ride around Brier Creek. The horse's name was Charlie.
On Sunday we had family over to celebrate also. Wow, Daddy had a lot of celebrating that week. I guess "33" is a big deal!!!! We love you Daddy!!!

Decorating the tree

It is a family tradition to put up our tree the weekend of Thanksgiving. This year Caden was able to help a lot. He really enjoyed putting the ornaments on and learning about the meaning of each one.
Caroline was so excited when she woke up from her nap and saw this wonderful "thing" with lights and so many pretty things to touch. At first she wanted to touch every ornament and then after several strong "no's" she eventually gave up.
The kids love the tree and all of the wonderful lights outside that daddy worked so hard on. Christmas is great but having the kids makes it absolutely wonderful!!

PJ Party at Grandma's

We were going to Grandma's for dinner. Caden thought it would be fun to make it a pj party too. So we called Grandma and Grandpa and asked them to on their pjs too. We went over ate dinner, danced and played with toys. Grandpa won for the best pjs.

Maw Maw. E's house

Turkey Day

We had a great Thanksgiving Day! First we went to Uncle Norman's house. Caden had a great time jumping on the trampoline with his cousins and daddy. Caden and Tyler enjoyed playing with the light bright in the pantry (while also eating snacks). We had a great meal and had fun.
After lunch we went to Maw Maw Scruggs' house. We were able to eat another huge dinner full of turkey and lots of other yummy foods. We love Maw Maw's green beans, mash potatoes and especially the chocolate pies. Caden and Caroline were able to help their cousins decorate Maw Maw's tree. That was a lot of fun too. The high light of Caden's night was the fact that he was able to have a sleep over with his cousin Sarah. They slept in the same bed and talked until 11:00. He was tired the next day!
The next day we went over to Maw Maw .E's house. Caden met his 2nd cousin Dylan and they had a lot of fun together. Maw Maw had Caden's favorite ham and banana pudding which everyone loved.
God has just blessed us so much with so many family members to spend Thanksgiving with. We are truly thankful!!!

We love Marbles!!!

We love to go to the children's museum Marbles. We recently went with our friends The Barbours. Cailey, Braden, Kinsey, Caden and Caroline had so much fun exploring the museum. Caroline loved taking care of the babies and putting them in and out of the ambulance. Caden spent a lot of time putting packages on the mail truck. I pretended to be the customer and he took care of my packages. We also liked doing puzzles, cooking, dressing up for a show and going upstairs to see the weather exhibit. Oh, we met our friends Jack and Sam up there. We were happy to play with them also. We can't wait to go back to Marbles again!!!!

Voting

We all went to vote on election day. I took a picture of Brandon and Caden voting because we also have one of them voting in 2004 right after Caden was born. The lady was mad at me this time for taking the picture so luckily I did get one good picture before having to put the camera away.
We explained to Caden why we were voting for McCain. He was very interested in why people were voting for him instead of Obama. I tried to explain it the best I could in 4 year old language. A few days later my dad came over to eat dinner. Caden asked him if he voted for Barack Obama. Paw Paw said, "what if I did". I was nervous to hear what Caden would say next. He said, "that would be very bad Paw Paw." We all laughed for a long time.

Fun with Play dough!

The kids love playing with play dough. Caroline loves trying to eat it! Actually she did a lot better this time. She really did try to make things with the dough. Caden could play with it for hours. He loves to create the "hair" and then give it a cut (all over the floor).

#1 Swimmer

Caden took swimming lessons from Ms. Laura for two months. He learned how to swim by himself. He can almost swim the length of the pool. They were working on side breathing and the back float. It is amazing to see what a great swimmer he became in just two months. We are taking a couple of months off and then start up again in January.

Halloween

Halloween lasted a few days in our house. Caden and Caroline enjoyed being able to wear their costumes several times. Caden was a frog (he loves frogs and the color green). Caroline was the adorable Nemo. She didn't even mind having the fish head on which I really thought she'd pull off in seconds.
We started the weekend by going to a pool party in our neighborhood that didn't turn out to be too great. There were about 10 kids. Our kids enjoyed getting candy and playing on the playground.
The next day we went to our friend Brooke's house. All of our friends were there dressed up. Caden especially enjoyed playing with his "girlfriend" Sydney/Goldie Locks.
Halloween night we started out eating pizza with MawMaw and PawPaw and Grandma and Grandpa. Then we all went Trick-or-Treating. Wow! Caden loved it. He was running from house to house trying to get as much candy as possible. We usually go to church also, but this night Caden said that he just wanted to get more candy. Caroline, MawMaw, PawPaw and Mommy all went home early. Everyone else stayed out late getting candy. Caden was so proud of his huge bowl.