{hallie}lujah: February 2011

Friday, February 4, 2011

Snow Day...for REAL!

On Tuesday when I saw "Waco ISD closed" running along the bottom of the screen on the local news channel, I was a bit confused. Sure, it was 16 degrees with a wind chill of 7, but there was no precipitation the night before. The roads were FINE! It was just COLD! I didn't complain, though. But when I looked out our back window and saw it covered with a few inches of the white, fluffy stuff, I wasn't surprised at all to see we were closed today! I gladly turned the alarm clock off and snoozed an extra couple of hours! Once we were up, Hallie was ready to play! Charley always goes outside to do his business first thing. We open the garage and he takes off. This morning was a little different...notice the circle that was made with little doggy feet in the first picutre! He stepped out and immediately ran back into the garage to survey the situation. After he figured out that it wasn't going anywhere, he ventured out into the snow and ended up playing in it quite a bit!

Hallie and I bundled ourselves up and headed out into the snow...I'm talking LAYERS because it was still 20 degrees this morning! We played outside for probably an hour before deeming ourselves completely frozen. Then we headed inside and warmed ourselves up with some marshmallows covered with hot chocolate. :o)

It has finally made it above freezing for the first time in 3 days. It won't last long, though, b/c the temps are going to start dropping after the sunsets and then all that melted snow will refreeze. Hopefully I can manage to get some sweet tea before that happens! We'll see!

Charley rethinking his adventures before finally deciding to head out into the snow. If he'd wear doggy clothes, he'd be much warmer. He's much too cool for that.

Snowy house

Hallie stepped out of the garage and immediately threw herself onto the ground! Ha! She meant business...she was going to make some snow angels! And then she began eating snow (her favorite thing about snow)!

Daddy got to join in the fun before heading to work...we got a Rubbermaid container and pushed Hallie down the driveway. Great fun!

And then we built a snowgirl...er blob. :o)

Hallie cleaned off the bench for a photo op. lol

Hallie and Charley

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Happy Birthday, Grandmommy!

Sunday (Jan 30) was Jonathan's grandmother's birthday, so we had lunch at Gramps and RahRah's house to celebrate. Grandmommy turned 82! Happy Birthday, Grandmommy!

It was a little hard to get these two to look at the camera! :o)

Gramps and Grandmommy

Hallie helping Grandmommy open her present :o)

What a sweet picture! Hallie loves her RahRah!

Hallie, Grandmommy and Jonathan with the picture Hallie made for her--"Hallie and Grandmommy Holding Hands"

After we got home, Hallie began working on another masterpiece. :o) This has become her little art table where she does all her work. So cute!

Babycakes!

We finally broke out the Babycakes cupcake maker. I told Hallie we would, and even though it was really too late to be making cupcakes, we went ahead and made them! Really...I wish I had've had more time to read the instructions. You'll see why in one of the pictures...

The cute little pink cupcake maker!

Hallie ready to mix!

The cupcakes are in...

They are ready...now, the little booklet says they'll cook unevenly. Why?! I mean, don't you think someone could figure out a way for all the cupcake spots to heat evenly?

Ah...the reason I should have read the instructions more carefully. I wasn't sure whether or not I could put cupcake liners in this little cutie. I figured I could since they don't catch on fire in an extremely heated oven, but I thought "if I don't find where it says I can, then I might catch something on fire"! And since I wasn't going to be standing right there with the cupcakes as they cooked, I didn't want to take any chances. Wow--I wish I had've just gone ahead and taken a chance! Sigh.

Here's what happens when you don't use cupcake liners (which by the way, you can totally use). I'd be lying if I said I immediately cleaned this as soon as I was finished icing the cupcakes. I'd also be lying if I said the cupcake maker was all cleaned up and put away right now. ;o)

Our finished product!

The cutest taste-tester in the world!

The cupcakes were delicious, by the way! :o)

Sweet Girl

It was a beautiful day before church, so Hallie decided to play a little bit before heading out. She even let me snap a few pictures! I love this girl. She is such a sweetheart.

What is Hallie up to these days? Well...she is a very curious three year old. And I love it! Here are a few things she loves ALL the time:
*Charley (though he isn't quite as fond of her)
*Going to Mommy's school
*Coloring and drawing (and might I add, she is really good at both!)
*Playing with Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson (Daddy has two little president toy figurines)
*Macaroni and cheese
*School
*Jump-n-Place (so far we've been to three birthday parties there this year and Hallie wants hers there, too!)
*Cartoons and movies...but don't worry, she doesn't watch them ALL day long! :o)
*Going to Alabama (she's very excited to be seeing Nonna and Pop soon)
*Spending time with RahRah and Gramps
*Ballet and tap class
*Skirts and dresses
*Playing outside (though the weather hasn't really been prime for that)

I'm sure there are a million other things Hallie loves to do, but I just can't think of them right now.

I'll leave you with a Hallie saying and plenty of pictures...

*RahRah had jury duty a couple of weeks ago. She was telling us that one of the men on duty fell asleep and was snoring loudly. Hallie sweetly turned to me and said, "Mommy, why did the man fall asleep in the jewelry box?"

A Day with Family

A couple of weekends ago, we went to Jonathan's aunt's birthday celebration on the lake. Hallie got to several of her cousins that we only see once or so a year. It was a wonderful time with wonderful company! I am certain I have never laughed so hard in my life as I did that Saturday! Hallie had so much fun playing with her cousins, and they all got along so well.

Hallie climbing the ladder to the tree house. She was such a big girl! Daddy helped her one time and that was all she needed!

Hallie and C playing in the treehouse. Those two are fearless and make me just a little nervous!

Hallie LOVED the AirPogo! If we ever have a place for one, we'll have to get one of these!

Jonathan amidst the girls...Suzanne (black jacket) kept us in stitches!

These two were best buddies! So cute!

I don't think I've ever seen a group of cuter cousins!

Love my Hallie girl!

Hallie getting to feed the deer!

As we were leaving, a group of deer came up.

RahRah, Gramps, and Hallie

Hang on Tight! Christmas 2010 Recap!

Alright, y'all. Here we go with a recap of Christmas 2010! Hang on tight! :o)

Christmas 2010 with The Echols Fam...this was a very quick gathering before we left for Alabama. I wish I had more pictures!

Hallie opening an electronic US states puzzle puzzle from Aunt Charlene. She loved it!

RahRah and Gramps got Hallie a "dance with me" ballerina! A definite hit!

And with her ballerina, her very own ballet mat and barre! :o) She loves being a ballerina!

Christmas 2010 with the Morris Fam in Alabama...we drove in the middle of the night and it was the best thing we have ever done! Hallie fell asleep around 9:30 or so and didn't wake up until the sun began rising! Of course, when the sun came up, we still had about 3 hours before being at Nonna and Pop's house, so those three hours were packed with A LOT of "are we there yet"! :o)

Whitney made the trip to Alabama so she could catch her ride with Santa...and she and her elf cousin, Tatum, got into a lot of trouble one night! :o)

Christmas Eve...Jonathan read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to the girls

One last picture with their sweet elves!

Hattie Grace with Jenna

Abby with Tatum

Hallie with Whitney

Santa stopped by! :o)

Hallie must have been a little overwhelmed with everything...she just wanted to sit down and paint before looking at everything Santa brought! :o)

Ha! Hallie in the middle of it all!

A view of all the damage...

One last gift for Hallie...Daddy gave her her very own James Avery ring with a little heart on it. This was the only thing she asked for..."real jewelry like Mommy". :o) Love her!

And after we read the Christmas story, ate breakfast, and opened presents...it began to snow. There was a LOT of snow! We were surprised...and Hallie did her typical thing--began eating it! Ha!

After our family Christmas, we loaded up and headed to my Aunt Becky's house for the Morris Family Christmas. It was a wonderful time of visiting with family! Hallie got to see her sweet cousin, Nora. These two are SO silly together and just love being around each other--I love it!

This is my parents' house the day after Christmas!

Hallie had a blast playing in the snow!

Covered in snow! She was SO cold!

After eating a few hands-full of snow!

Nonna, Hallie, and Bitty Baby...notice Hallie's holding open Bitty Baby's eyes! LOL! She had lazy eyes, so we had to send her back to North Pole and do a quick exchange. :o)