Putting The Trees Up

The day after Thanksgiving we decided to put our trees up.

Here comes the fun part- decorating the tree w/ the ornaments:

She really enjoyed helping us decorate the tree. We also put a little tree in MJ's playroom. She enjoys having one in there. We go in there & every now & then we find that she put something new on her tree (ex: Ben's work hat, feather boas, ect).

Taking Orders

While we were down stairs working on the turkey MJ found Ben's old helmet & water pack. She took a liking to it. She like to wear it & offer us "drinks" from it.

How cute does she looking in Ben's uniform:

Frying Our 1st Bird

We wanted to fry a turkey this year! I missed my dad's fried turkey so much. They had the deep fryer on sale at the PowerZone here so got one. After calling my poor dad at 5:00 Arkansas time to get so last minute tips we put the fryer together.

Ben & MJ putting the fryer together:

Come on dad let's put the turkey in: Ben put water in it 1st too see out much oil we would need: Let's put the lid on it: The turkey turned out great! Ben did a excellent job! His bass player came over & had dinner w/ us. Everything tasted so good & we eat way too much! We decided on frying a turkey for Christmas also instead of doing a ham.

A Classic Revisited

We took MJ to WIC today. She was such good girl! I was SO proud of her. She let them take her measurements w/o no problems. She's weighing in at 38 lbs. & 41 inches tall! They said she right where she needs to be in growth! She's been a HUGE fan of the Chipmunk's Christmas song lately. She loves to shout "ALVIN". I taped her. Enjoy the clip! You can hear her say Alvin, toothbrush, & some other things. She also laughing & dancing along w/ it.

Ready for Hollywood

My friend Jessica's son, Charlie, had his birthday party yesterday. In the goodies bags were these cute sun glasses. MJ took a liking to them instantly.

Ready for Hollywood:

Something For Everyone

Ben decided that "we" needed a Wii. He went one afternoon & got one. He brought everything in a box that he had in the truck. We figured the Wii was for "us" & the box & bubble wrap was for MJ. I guess it was a win-win situation for everyone.

It always amaze me what she can play w/: She pretended that the box was a plane, a boat, & a car. She decided that the bubble wrap should be a cape: Of course who doesn't love to pop bubble wrap? We've enjoyed playing the Wii. MJ loves to watch & root for us. It's cute to hear her. We can't wait till she wants to play.

KES Fall Fest

We found out MJ's school was having their Fall Fest last night. We thought it would be a fun family outing. Despite the light snow we were getting we adventure out. It was P-A-C-K-E-D! We made our way through the crowds & brought some tickets. We ran into a mom from MJ's class & she told us which games would be best for kids her age.

The first game of the night was the duck game: She headed to "Go Fish" & she LOVED it:

We moved onto the ring toss & the balloon stomp:

We then went to wait in line to get balloons. MJ wanted a sword & a flower. We decided we had enough of the crowds & headed towards the Broyles.

As we were leaving it began to snow outside again: I called Sonica top let her know we were on the way. We always enjoy going over to the Broyles' house. Ben really wanted to try out RockBand 2.

Chewy wearing MJ glow necklace: We all had a great time! MJ did not want to leave to go home.

Feel The Burn

A while ago Ben got some work out equipment. MJ enjoy playing on it! Let's get physical: Feel the burn: At least someone is using it- LOL!

Our Little Monster Update & More

Well, I figured I would take a few moments to give y'all an update on our "little monster". First, I'm in a much better place then I was last year! MJ has came a long way since last year. A HUGE thank you to everyone who were there for us during this whole time. You know who y'all are! Me & Ben went to her teacher/parents conference last Thursday. Thanks to Jess for watching MJ while we went. The conference went really good! Me & Ben were please on how well things are going at home & at school. We all (including Ms. Colette) are VERY VERY please on the progress she has made in school year so far. She thinks she'll be able to start kindergarten on time once we get back to the states. Yes, we're all SO ready to come back to the states! We still got till summer 2010 till we go back! We're hoping to stay in the southern area to be close to friends & family. MJ is still getting one-on-one speech w/ Mrs. Julie & OT w/ Ms. Tina once a week. She also gets speech, OT, & PT at school . We're all getting ready for the holidays & MJ's birthday. We're hoping Ben can get his foot worked on before the New Year. My best friend, Allie, will be coming for a week visit in April! We're also planning on taking MJ to Euro Disney sometime this spring.

Here's our little monster: She found Ben's mask & one of his gloves.

Silly Faces

For MJ birthday last year her friend Emma (Sydney's daughter) gave her a Mr. Potato Head play set. She loves playing w/ it. If you know my kid you know how silly she can be. One night she came in wearing one of the pieces:

Smile:
Do you like my hat: I love the look on her face here... so serious: I decided to join in the fun:

A Blast From The Past

When MJ was born Ben's SIL (aka: Ahbe) got us this exersaucer. It was the best thing ever! A while ago my friend Jen B. wanted to borrow it for her son, Luke. She brought it back to me the other day since Luke is now too tall for it.

Here's May of 2005 (not much of a math major she was about 4 months old here)

Here's now:

We have been waiting to put it back up in the attic. Good times never change- LOL!

Yabadoo Fun

Today Ben was off of work & MJ was out of school so we decided to load up & go to Yabadoo. Here in Germany it's old & rainy a lot so German have a lot of indoor pools & play area. This place is great! It's the same place Ben took MJ while we were in London. Tuesday was also moms get in free day so it made it even better for us. As soon we go there MJ was off.

Here's some shots of the place:

They got these slide that you take a rug up to the to top & slide down. It goes super fast & a lot of fun. She did all by herself:

They have this super cute dragon slide there. You climb up in the mouth & after a while it closes & reopen. There's also a slide in the back.

Ben & MJ decided to go play on the "blob":

They have this swing there that is a blast:We soon made our way to the toddler area where they had ball pits & some other fun things:

She loved climbing on this thing that they had but she needed help down once she get to the top:

They have toys car all over the place: We had to get some ice cream before we left of course! Playing hard makes you hungry: Like any good time there's usually a nap afterwards: We all had a great time there! We're thinking about having MJ's 4th birthday party there. Here are some video of us there:

Me & MJ on the swing:

The dragon slide:

MJ & Ben going down the slide: