Gingerbread Decorating

Fa La La La La La La La Laaaaa!

Keeping with the holiday tradition of decorating gingerbread houses- this morning we got all sugared up and built a gingerbread house that should be featured on Extreme Home Makeover (as the one they bulldoze and then replace with the good looking one!)

Listening to Christmas music and sort of making up their own lyrics, the girls waited in anticipation as the icing set up to cement the walls together.  This was a loooong 20 minutes.  Annabelle  and Lu discovered how much fun a box can be!  Especially when you put your head in it:)!  

Sam chowed down on a few crackers.  His pjs went from dry to completely soaked in drool in no time at all!  So with his cracker nibbling, drooling and gingerbread spectating....Sam did his part!

In the meantime, Annabelle changed into princess attire and the icing set up so the time had come to let the mess making begin!

Any gingerbread family would be proud to yell "MOVE THAT BUS" and have this home revealed!!!

Does anyone really eat these things?  The box said for the freshest results eat within two weeks.  Two weeks? Seriously?  Nothing like stale cookies, glued together with hard icing, covered with half eaten candy, handled with fingers that have been sneaking the sweet treats- YUMMM!

christmas card FLOP

Before ever having children I knew I was going to be a mom that sends out a photo Christmas card.  Besides what's more adorable then a picture of my children among the stacks and stacks of holiday cards?!  And in most cases that card is your present- I remembered you, I talk to you often enough to have your current address and I thought you would enjoy seeing those precious Haines children for a week or two before tossing it into the recycling!

We went to the park last weekend in hopes of capturing a decent shot for this year's Christmas card and well see for yourself........

ya, it looks like she needs a potty break

Annabelle hates the camera

Annabelle's fake smile and happy Linley AFTER I bribed them with candy

ridiculous- I know

horrible background

this one sums it all up!

Well that's it - a FLOPPPPP!!!!!!!   Hope you got a chuckle!  I did:)

~Preschool Fall Festivities~

What a fun filled day!  

A concert for the parents and Fall parties!

Mermaid Annabelle & Ms Kristen

Annabelle's class preparing to sing-so sweet!

Man, check out those costumes!

Linley and Ms Jessica

The 2 yr olds walking to the concert

Linley the singing octopus!

There wasn't much singing coming from this group but they look really cute!

P-A-R-T-Y

Annabelle plays pumpkin ring toss

Sam hanging with the big kids

A pizza party in Lu's class

Alisha, Lu and Belle at the preK party

The "Pink Friends" do Halloween!

Ladybug Baby Shower

My good friends the Casper's are expecting a baby girl in December.  Baby Cassidy has been blessed with two very loving and adoring parents, as well as, an awesome big brother Sebastian!  

Today we celebrated this family and baby!

Who doesn't love ladybugs?  Thanks to pinterest for the creative inspiration!  A few ladybug decorations, some food, sweets and friends and the party was all set.  Here's a look......

Our menu

buffalo chicken dip

 Angela's wonderful guacamole 

chips and salsa

 roll ups 

chocolate covered ladybug pretzels 

fruit kabobs

 nutella sandwiches for the kiddos

licorice just for fun

Dessert comes later:)

After social hour we played the ever so famous baby shower games.

childhood facts of mom and dad- you have to guess who and peek under the wings for the answer

"tray game" 10 items on the tray-5 seconds to look-cover them back up and list them
the men cheated- they took a picture with their cell phones- lol but they still didn't get all 10!

This next game was my FAVORITE part of the entire shower!  Yes, I planned a RELAY!  I know what you're thinking a relay?  But seriously this was fun!  I knew it would be a long shot but I thought a little friendly competition would get the men pumped and involved in this whole shower experience.....

mom and dad dashing with babies in hand-look at them go!

1: diaper and swaddle baby

2: dress baby in pjs and socks

run! run! run! Jonathan!

3: buckle baby in the carseat

4: out of carseat and into stroller

Winners-Team MOM

Team DAD

So we rocked the relay!!!  Of course Team MOM won- we have more practice at these things, but Team DAD was not far behind- they made good time and had great handoffs LOL!

Dessert followed

Ice cream bar with plenty of yummy toppings and ladybug cake/cupcakes

And the best part of any shower- opening the gifts

complete with "cute", "awe", "precious"

say CHEESE

Daddy Ron's speech made us all tear up-don't worry they were smiling again in 3 seconds:)

Me ~ Momma Angela ~ Tammi

THE END for now...... Due 12/12/11

Army Brat

Annabelle loves the Army because she admires her daddy!  Jonathan works long hours and many weekends too so one on one time is precious (take it when you can get it).  She absolutely cherishes the days she can go in to work with him (take it where you can get it).  A few weekends ago the two of them spent the morning with the Delta Dragons at the AMEDD museum.  

Complete with pint size PTs and yes, matching bow!    

Look at that face- Time alone with daddy and doing soldier things- oh so exciting!

Nothing Beats

A Day With Daddy!

The term Army Brat is an honer~ and I''m proud to be raising 3!

A Day At The ZOO!

The Man Cub

The kids are at the perfect ages to really enjoy the zoo.  We decided it would be worth it to get a season pass and we were right!  The girls have had hours of animal exploration, observation, and just plain fun!  Today is Columbus Day (for some very odd reason the Army considers this a soldier holiday) therefore there was no work and no school.  It never takes us long to plan something fun on days like this~ the weather has finally cooled down and we had Daddy along with us so off we headed for some zoo fun.  This is today's adventure...

Baby Elephant and Baby Lu

 Thanks to Diego (cousin of the ever so famous Dora) both Linley and Annabelle are familiar with many of the not so popular zoo animals...the condor...the okapi.....you know the ones I'm talking about.....the ones that never have a huge crowd....no kids lined up in front of their enclosures striking a pose for that crazy paparazzi momma....

So in "animal rescuer" mode we toured the zoo! 

Spectacle Bear (this is a Diego animal FYI)

 This is by far one of the coolest displays in the entire zoo.  The two hippos are always right up close in the water and the are HUGE!!!!  No crowds was a great advantage today-we got observe these beasts up close and personal for a few minutes before a paparazzi momma came along lol.  

We love the hippos!

The "crocOOOdile" and Lu

Freckles the Goat

The petting zoo is only goats- but they don't mind.  Brushing goats is always a hit:)  Today we got to brush Freckles and Bailey!!!

Sam goes WILD

Annabelle crosses the stream frogy style! 

We finished up our wild adventure with a ride around the park aboard the zoo train.  It was the perfect way to end our Columbus holiday.  Christopher you did not "discover" America but you did open America's door to the world.  It was a great day exploring animals from all over God's creation!