Wordless Wednesday

back: Seth, Lyla, Ashley, Kendall (holding Zoe), Alison Joy, Jesse, Jessica, Justin, Jared, Alison, Andrea, Ken
front: Dad & Mom

more Christmas pictures to come...

Wordless Wednesday

Santa @ the Library & Christmas Cookies

Santa was at the library last Wednesday. Lyla kept a good, safe distance of about 10 feet between herself and good ol' St. Nick. (Thanks for snapping this pic (and several others), Michelle.) I did carry Lyla to Santa so she could get her candy cane and goody bag. Santa sure does know how to make a little girl happy--not one, but TWO dolls plus TWO books, several small toys and of course, a few suckers. Lyla was thrilled with her bag from Santa. She calls him her best friend again...he's the kind of best friend that you don't get too close to, though, apparently.

After our "visit" with Santa, Lyla and her friends cut out and decorated Christmas cookies. We had a lot of fun and the tasting was nice, too. In fact, we all had cookies and skittles for lunch...yeah, we're mothers of the year...all four of us!

I kept trying to take pictures of her holding the cookie sheet but it's stone and she got tired of holding it...gotta' love the "I am not smiling OR holding this stone anymore, Mom" look.

That's my girl--she likes her icing!

After everyone left, I made cookies with the remaining dough. Here's what we gave to the neighbors this year!

Another Storytime Perk

Once again, I have to say how much I love storytime at the library! Lyla and I have made such good friends through this FREE community activity. We went to the park all summer and have had a handful of playdates at houses. And we've recently made lunch at a local pizza place part of our Wednesday schedule...thanks to the fact that it's Ladies' Day and the buffet costs us next to nothing. Now, yet another perk has emerged from this group. I was able to leave for Lyla with Julie & Keegan a couple of weeks ago so I could get my hair cut then the following week Keegan came to our house so Julie could go to an appointment. It's great! Keegan and Lyla play very well together and are pretty easy to handle.

Pictures Julie took at her house:

Pictures I took at my house:

They raced in circles like this forever...just giggling and falling down. It was so fun to watch!

Reunion Christmas Party

Saturday afternoon was the Martin Family Christmas with all of Seth's aunts, uncles and cousins. We weren't able to go last year because Lyla was sick so it had been two years since we had seen many of them.

Jamie & Lyla

Lyla was enamored with this angel whose wings actually flapped and changed color.

She told Aunt Patty about all of the animals she saw in the manger scene.

Little Evie is the youngest member of the family.

Uncle Anthony, Daddy, Lyla & Uncle Dwight

Lyla helped Aunt Patty play BINGO. They had a lot of fun together.

Jamie and Granny made a nice BINGO team.

Three generations: Dana, Andrea & Evie