Valentine Cookies

We (the girls,and myself) made Valentine's cookies Saturday morning. It was really cold outside that morning, and Jim was working from the house, so I thought that it was be a fun activity to do! We did have fun, but the mess afterwards was HUGE!! It was worth it, and we took some of the cookies to the nursery ladies at church!!

Flour Beard


Let get rolling


Licking the dough off..YUMMY



Being silly


Mary Varner's way of eating the leftover sprinkles


Janey's way of eating the sprinkles


Watching the cookies bake..and talking about how good they are going to be


Delicious!!

What happens when your a Daddy with two girls....

You get to play "Beauty Shop" of course!! He did say "no" when they started pulling out the bows to put in his hair! Janey did "help", but was not in the mood to have her picture taken that night! Kuddos to Daddy for being a good sport:))

How many barrettes can we get in Daddy's hair??


After Jim, it was Mary Varner's turn

Mr. AL (not Owl)

I went along with Mary Varner's preschool class to hear Mr. Al(not Owl as Jim picked on MV about all week) in concert! Mr. Al is a goofy, older, used to be a hippy looking man that sings fun, interactive, songs/dances for children. He is obviously a well known man, because I think that every child 4 and under in the city of Niceville were in attendance!! IT was PACKED!! Anyway, we had a FUN time, and Mary Varner danced and danced for about the first 30 minutes, and then she just chilled out in my lap...she was worn out!! Janey went over to play with her little friend while I went with Mary Varner. Mary Varner is having so much fun this year at school and ask me everyday if it is a school day. I wonder how many more years she will do that?


Happy is an understatement!!


Dance, Dance, Dance


Mary Varner with her wonderful teacher...Miss Brenda!!


Mama and her "Big" girl!!

Friends?!?!?

Janey has had this weird love/hate relationship with Oscar since she was born. She loves him through the window and from a distance, but she would go into a PANIC if he got remotely close to her. Well, the past month or so she has gotten a little less upset and clinched up when he would try to play with her. Last night, we brought Oscar in because of storms, and I stood down in the play room with the girls for awhile to play. Janey was calm, but still a little standoffish. After about 15 minutes, I had to go to the kitchen to check on supper. Janey stayed in the playroom with Oscar and Mary Varner. She even started petting his back with a little encouragement from her big sister. I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures!! She played around with him for about 10 minutes and then she was done. They are not best buds, but at least we are moving to the "not freaking out when he is around" stage now!!

A nervous giggle as Oscar "noses" her hand


Petting his head and ears


Oscar enjoying a brushing from Mary Varner (he is LOVING it)


Janey's turn to brush

Last Week

We had a busier than normal week this past week, mainly due to the fact that the Women of the Church committee (which I am on) sponsored a sit down dinner, and a Matthew Smith and Indelible Grace concert on Saturday! Nana volunteered to come help with the girls for the weekend while Jim and I were at the church all weekend (Thanks, Nana)! We had a great turnout and the concert was AMAZING!!

Janey had a big milestone this week in that she gave up the paci!! Yes, I was reading an article at some point a couple of weeks ago about how the best time to give up the paci is between 18-24 months...so with that I thought maybe we should try to get rid of it. She was only using it at nap and bedtime, but I was not looking forward to it because it was not fun with MV. I took Janey's pacis out of the bed when she was not looking Tuesday morning, and when nap time came around we just went in and got her blanket. She questioned, "paci?", and I just said, "Pacis are all gone". She went on to sleep after about 15 minutes of chatter, and NEVER cried about it!! WOW, that was much easier than with MV!! I still can not believe how fast her 2nd birthday is coming! March is only 2 months away!

Mary Varner had a fun week with her regular activities of AWana at church, and ballet. She was invited to a birthday party for a little friend that she has from church and preschool. They are big buddies and think that it is sooo neat that they have the same first name!! It was a skating birthday!! Mary Varner has not ever skated before, and it has been at least 15 years for me. She fell a few times, but soon got the hang of it. I did not skate because she really needed me to balance her and I knew that I could not do that very good on skates. We had a blast!!

Haircuts

Mary Varner had a hair appointment today to get her hair cut, and I thought that we could try to even Janey's out a little in the back (loose the mullet/tail)if she would sit in the chair! When we got there, MV went first and Janey was a little concerned about the lady cutting Sissy's hair. Janey kept saying "Sissy's hair" and pointing to the pile of hair on the floor that had just been cut. She actually told the lady to stop a few times! Once Mary Varner was all done, we asked Janey if she wanted to get in the chair to get her hair cut, and she surprised us by saying a very excited "yes". I really think she only wanted to sit in the chair and spin around because once Tanya started cutting Janey sat very still (which is VERY rare), and looked a little worried! All in all it went pretty smooth, and her mullet/tail is gone!!


Getting Ready!!


Bye Bye mullet


Mary Varner's new style

First Hunt

I am finally getting around(We have had the stomach flu) to posting the pictures of Mary Varner's first hunt! She has been talking about and planning her first hunt with Daddy for about 6 months now. Jim was very eager to take her as well, and they both had a GREAT time. They did see a young buck that some dogs chased out in front of the stand. This made the whole experience over the top!! SHe is already talking about the next hunting trip!

Playing on the 4 wheeler


Thumbs up this is FUN


Ready for the hunt

Christmas 2010

I have over 100 pictures from all of our Christmas celebrations. Do not worry, I am not going to post all of them. We had a great Christmas with all of our family in Mississippi. Christmas Eve morning we opened our presents to each other at home and then while the girls played we packed up the cars to head out after lunch. Santa found us in Mississippi at Grandaddy and Nana's house. Mary Varner was a little concerned that he might forget that we were there and not at home, but I reassured her that he would remember because we told him when we saw him at Bass Pro.

Playing with toys left by Santa!!






Nana with all 4 grandkids wearing the Christmas outfits she made them


Admiring their picture of the grandkids that all of us gave them


So much excitment while opening gifts with the whole Elder Family



Singing Happy Birthday to Jesus


Having fun at Papa Doc's house




More fun and gifts with B'B'








Lunch date with Papa Doc the day before we came home!!