Jingles the Elf

When I was a little girl, my mom and aunt Paula let us know that we had a special Elf that watched our families and that Elf's name was Jingles. We never saw Jingles, but every so often we would hear bells and know that Jingles was around. Jingles has also been around since Brooklyn was little. This year, we heard bells outside when the gals went to the door to try and catch Jingles, there was a present sitting outside the door. We brought  it in and opened it- inside was our very own Elf on the Shelf. The gals were thrilled!! You are to name the Elf right away- there wasn't a more appropriate name for our Elf than Jingles. We had so much fun with Jingles. The gals fell in love with her instantly. Every night she would go and report to Santa- when she came back she would end up in some of the craziest places. That gals had so much fun trying to find her every morning. At first, it was hard for them to not want to touch her- if they did she would lose her magic. We were so excited the morning we woke up to head to Boise to cheer on our Aggies and she was wearing her Aggie shirt. The gals were so excited when Jingles found us in Idaho. She brought Gracie balloons on her birthday and that was a big hit! The gals wrote a letter to Santa and asked if Jingles could stay on Christmas to watch them open their presents- that might have been as excited to see her on Christmas morning as they were to see their presents. The gals were sad when they had to say good-bye to Jingles, but we know she will watch us throughout the year and we will be excited to see her next December!

Thanksgiving

I am so far behind on this blog- I am trying to get caught up before the year is over. We had a great Thanksgiving. Sean's parents came in from South Carolina and stayed with us for the week. We got to spend fun times with them and cousins. It wore the gals right out! Since Joe and Gisele weren't going to be here for Christmas Gisele took all the kids shopping and let them pick out what they would get for Christmas and then we celebrated Thanksmas (Thanksgiving + Christmas) at Sean's grandparents house. It was fun for the gals to get to have grandma and grandpa stay with us for the week.

Ella- 18 Months

I can totally tell that Ella is my 3rd just by looking back at the lack of pictures I have of her. It makes me sad now. She hit the 18 month mark in November- I can't believe it! She started going to nursery and most of the time does well. Here are a few things about Ella at 18 months:

• She weighs 23 lbs. 30th percentile
• She is 32.25 inches 68th percentile
• She has 7 teeth (3 more are trying really hard to come in).
• For the most part (minus a night here and there) she is a really good sleeper.
• She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES babies. She is always hauling one around with her or pushing it in her stroller. She kisses the baby and will rock it back and forth. It is super sweet to watch.
• She LOVES her sisters and cousins and wants to be doing whatever they are doing.
• She know what she wants- she will grab our fingers and take us to what she wants.
• Along with knowing what she wants- if she doesn't get it, she lets us know it!
• She loves Curious George (on PBS) she has started getting the remote and bringing it to us and get ticked if we don't put Curious George on. She especially loves the Christmas one.
• So far, she is a good eater and will eat whatever I give her.
• She loves to go out with Sean at night and feed the dogs. He will ask her if she wants to go- she will throw whatever she is doing and run to get outside.
• She still likes her binki and her sippy cup.
• She is still a big sweetheart. She really does have the sweetest personality and wins people over easily.
• She is saying more and more almost daily. I love her sweet little voice.
• She loves to dance- anytime music comes on she starts dancing away.
• She loves to brush her teeth. She will go stand in the bathroom until she gets a toothbrush.  

We love Ella so much and feel so blessed to have her as a part of our family! I had some pictures taken of her in July and never posted any. She didn't get a nap in the day of the pictures and was super onery, although we got plenty of her crying, she also go some super cute ones!

HaLLoWeeN

 We had a very fun and successful Halloween this year! We started it off on the 27th- Nat was in charge of a Witches' Storytime at the Newton Library. I was on a much needed R&R weekend so the gals had stayed at Paula's. I don't know what we would have done without them because they got the gals all dolled up in their Halloween costumes and took them to the storytime. We had the big Anderson party that night also- since Kami and Kyle wouldn't be able to make it up on Wednesday. The party was awesome and Paula spoiled the kiddos! Ella put Ric's straw hat on from Mexico and wore it a good share of the night- she cracks me up!

Gracie had a Halloween party at her preschool. They sang a cute little song, played some games, and make some cute little crafts. We also attended our Ward Trunk-or-Treat/Halloween Carnival. Sean had to work so I bucked up and took the gals by myself- they had a blast so it was worth it. (Still trying to get used to the new ward- it is hard.)

On Halloween, we had a crazy, busy day. Gracie, Ella, and I met at the BK Lounge as we call it and had lunch. Nat then took the kids to a spook alley and the Mall. Brooklyn had a good day at school. As soon as she got home, we got everyone ready and headed out. We had told the gals that we would take them to Wellsville to Trick-or-Treat at some of their friends homes. It was so fun to see friends, as we were driving around I looked at Sean and said, "this is home." We miss Wellsville. After we were done in Wellsville, we headed to Newton for dinner and some more Trick-or-Treating. By the time we got home, we were all exhausted! We had a great day and the gals looked so cute in their costumes!

Pumpkin Carving

I love all things Fall- I can't get enough of it and darn it- it just doesn't last long enough. If I could think of 1 thing that I could do without in the Fall it would be pumpkin carving. I just don't love it! But we do it every year for the gals. Sean and I thought that painting them this year was an excellent idea. Gracie was game, but Brooklyn still wanted to carve. Sean being the good dad that he is helped her with the carving. It was a fun night and we got some cute pumpkins out of it!

 I just love those dimples (and the juice mustache)