The Pink Pig

We finally went to Macy's last weekend to ride the famous Pink Pig. The girls loved it, but Wade and I had such a hard time fitting into the cars that we might not make this a "holiday tradition".

Breakfast With Santa

This morning, Santa Claus came to visit Emma's preschool and have breakfast with the kids. Emma told me on the way to school that she was only going to ask for a drum set today when she got to sit on Santa's lap, since she'd already given him a rather lengthy list last weekend when we visited him at the mall.

Our Star Student

At the end of every month, Emma's preschool teacher sends home a checklist of skills to keep us posted on her progress. She has gotten absolutely wonderful reports each month, and we wanted to show them off!
(These scans are small, but if you click on each report a larger version will open.)

Emma's Christmas List

Emma wrote out her Christmas list for Santa last weekend and I wanted to share it. And just in case the scan is too small, the outside reads:
Santa Claus
I love you

and the inside reads:
Hannah (Anything Hannah Montana - she is HUGE in our house these days.)
Drum (This is the third Christmas that Emma has asked for a drum set. She also reminded us on her third and fourth birthday that Santa did not bring her a drum set the previous Christmases so she needs one for her birthday. It's a pretty safe bet she'll be asking for a drum set for her fifth birthday.)
Doll (Emma wants a Baby Alive doll. Apparently she does not remember that Santa brought her a Baby Alive doll last Christmas. She fed it green stuff, it pooped the green stuff, and she was absolutely horrified. This year, we hope Santa brings her a doll WITHOUT bowels.)
Puppy (Not another real one, thank goodness, but a stuffed one.)
Cradle (Because she sat in the one she has now and broke it.)
Eating table (I don't know what is wrong with our kitchen table other than it is not directly in front of the television.)

So Sweet

Ho Ho Ho! NO! NO! NO!

Today we took the girls to see Santa Claus. Mary is fascinated with Santa figurines and pictures, but when we ask her if she wants to go see him, she has a complete melt-down. We knew what was going to happen when the time came to sit on his lap, so we told Emma to just smile for the camera and to IGNORE MARY, whatever she did.
So, at least we knew the picture was going to turn out exactly like this...

Emma's Fall Picture

Below is Emma's fall school picture. I love how serious she looks!

No-Piece Nuggets

Tonight while running errands, we stopped at Wendy's for chicken nuggets. We pulled out of the drive-thru and I handed each of the girls a FULL box of nuggets. Mary immediately began devouring hers, but Emma exclaimed "Oh no! I got the Zero Piece Nuggets!"

Chattanooga

We went to Chattanooga this past weekend and had such a great time! Here are a few pictures from our visit to the Chattanooga Aquarium.

















...the girls at the touch pool.
















...Emma made a beautiful new friend in the butterfly habitat.

















...a few more amazing butterflies.















...this diver actually swam over to the window and motioned for me to take a picture of him with the girls. He waited while we got them situated and even smiled for the camera.















...the girls didn't like that idea nearly as much as I did.














...Mary was exhausted and starving from all of the excitement, so she made herself comfortable and had a little picnic.

















...who knew fish liked Hershey bars?














...we
saw
lots
of
penguins...





































...and seahorses...




































...and enjoyed the beautiful view of the river.

Mary's Protests

The Encarta World English Dictionary defines the word "protest" this way:

1. an expression or display of strong disapproval of or disagreement with something, or a refusal to obey or accept something, often in the form of a public statement
2. an expression of strong opposition of or disapproval of something in the form of a public demonstration or other action

Just wanted to share a few recent pictures of Mary protesting...

















...Civil War cannons.


















...penguin statues.


















...hayrides.
















...beautiful scenery (with Emma fully supporting the cause).

Random Things You May Not Know...

And Never Asked Because You Don't Want To

~ Mary calls George "Gore". And rather loudly.

~ Emma believes that you should put your hand over your heart when "Sweet Home Alabama" plays. That may be because when she asked me if this was what you are supposed to do, I answered "Absolutely". Was that wrong?

~ If given the option, my girls would eat frozen waffles for breakfast every morning. Frozen - not toasted.

~ Neither of my girls will TOUCH a real, true, confectioners-sugar-coated beignet from Cafe Du Monde. I am firmly convinced that, however unlikely it may seem, they were both switched with my real children at birth.

~ Wade is deathly afraid of snakes and ghosts. The only difference is that he will watch television shows about snakes all the live-long day, but will not watch a show about ghosts.

~ Mary's favorite song is "The Cha-Cha Slide". She requests it EVERY TIME we get in the car.

~ Emma's favorite songs are "Beer in Mexico" (What? That's not appropriate for a four-year-old?), "Last Dollar (Fly Away)", "Down In Mississippi (And Up To No Good") (again, so VERY inappropriate), "Jamie's Cryin'" (I'm sensing a horrific pattern here), and "Ring of Fire". I could not make this up.

~ I will not watch ANY movie (animated or not) where the main character is an animal. No Disney movies, no Animal Planet specials, period.

~ Wade's favorite song right now is "In Da Club" by 50 Cent. (Again, I could not make this up.) His very favorite part is the "Go Shorty, it's your birthday" part. While Wade was singing (maybe "performing" is a better word) this song for us in the car the other night, Emma stopped him to ask "Daddy, how old is Shorty going to be on his birthday?"

~ Mary loves to carry a purse and wear sunglasses.

~ Emma recently overheard me telling someone that she was 4 1/2. She immediately and vehemently denied this fact because no one had given her any presents. We baked her a cake, bought her a tube of Colgate Princess toothpaste and an Ariel Electric toothbrush. She is now 4 1/2.

~ Mary will eat ANYTHING. Including Eukanuba Small Breed and Pedigree Healthy Maturity. She also prefers her sippy cup be placed on a coaster.

~ Samson only barks in his sleep.

~ I find doing laundry very therapeutic. It's the folding it and putting it away that I loathe.

~ Emma has an on again/off again fear of elevators.

~ Mary LIVES for elevators.

~ Emma enjoys going to school so much that, if she misbehaves, we can threaten to keep her home from school and she will straighten up immediately.

~ Mary smiled at her Mother's Morning Out teacher for the first time last Wednesday. She's been in the program since late August.

~ Wade can answer ANY Trivial Pursuit question, usually within about 3 seconds.

~ Emma believes the correct name for a Frisbee is a "roast beef". We have no idea why this is. We should correct her, but we're too amused by it to tell her any different. So we continue to ask her if she wants to go the park and throw the roast beef, and she continues to get the frisbee.

~ We are done having children. Really. Yes, I'm sure.

~ Samson still hates George.

Trick or Treat!

We had the best time trick-or-treating with the girls for Halloween! Emma dressed up as Ariel and Mary wore an octopus costume, so we decided she should be Ursula the Sea Witch. We trick-or-treated with our neighbors and very dear friends Dylan, Sofie, and Pilar Homiak. Dylan, Sofie, and Emma are as thick as thieves, and they were SO excited about trick-or-treating together. Mary wasn't sure about things at first, but after a couple of houses she had it all figured out. The only problem was that she wasn't satisfied with one or two pieces of candy. When our neighbors would put a little candy in her bag, she didn't say "thank you" and leave; she stayed on the porch, waving and smiling (and looking positively adorable) until they handed over more treats. Resistance is futile when she turns on the charm, and she came home with about twice as much candy as Emma! Here are some pictures from our wonderful Halloween night...

...all dolled up and ready to roll!

...Ariel, Ursula, the Green Power Ranger, and Tinkerbell.

...Ready, Set, Trick-or-Treat!

...I love this picture - they are the cutest kids in the neighborhood!

..."But I only got 8 pieces."

...We weren't even halfway around the block before Mary was sampling her goodies.

...Time to call it a night.

...It didn't take Emma long to lose the wig and fancy shoes and dig into her candy bag!

Brotherly Love

Can't you just FEEL Samson's happiness in this picture?

Little George

On September 24, we adopted a 3 month old long-haired dachshund that we named George. He is the sweetest and cutest little man, and he has fit right in with our family. The girls love him to death and he is so good with them. He follows them everywhere and just lives for their attention! Of course, Samson despises him but we expected that. Here are a few pictures of the newest Latham!

Fall Pictures of the Girls

I recently took some fall pictures of the girls and I LOVE how they turned out! Here are a few of my favorites...