Our Camera is Back!!!

Hip hip hooray for David fixing the camera! Actually, it was the charger for the camera, but either way...now I can post the pictures that go with previously posted events--and more! Warning--this post is all pictures, and a lot of them!
Olivia by the Christmas tree

Aubrey with her antennae that Daddy put in her hair :)

Christmas Eve jammies!

Posing in front of Grandma and Grandpa Harmon's fireplace.

Christmas morning! Aubrey loved Miranda's Santa hat.

Olivia begged for Santa to bring her two princess Barbies because her Jasmine Barbie was lonely, and she couldn't be a real friend to her because she is a human and Jasmine is a doll--the logic of a 3-year-old!

Aubrey was so excited about this doll--she looooooves dolls in general and constantly kisses them--it is so cute to watch her "mother" any doll she can find.

Classic Olivia--ole!

Tucker makes for a great Christmas present--it really was a present for us to have so many loved ones over at our house for Christmas morning/afternoon. We missed Josh and Helen, though!

Dear Grandpa

Three lovely ladies that I love

Tyson's cute family--his wife, KaDee, and their little boy, Tucker--what a doll, huh?!

Mr. Wonderful making breakfast--wearing the apron Grandma gave me for Christmas :) P.SS. If the French toast looks a little green, it is on purpose ;)

Pretty yummy Christmas trees!

The three cousins

Our little Christmas sweethearts

Daddy and the girls getting ready to go sledding.

My friend Sesha's birthday cake which we made with her kids while she and her hubby went out--I'm sure she's glad I'm broadcasting her age! (Hee-hee, actually, I'm sure she won't care)

McKinley and Rachel licking the frosting...

Kolter--one of Olivia's best friends--we love this little stud!

I am four years old!

Here is the "before" shot of Olivia's birthday cake.

Here is the shot after David's sister Sara got a hold of it--thank goodness for artistic people--I knew it needed something else, but I couldn't figure out what to put where!
WOWsers! I'd better keep up next time so I don't have to post a million pictures all at once!

On a side note, I just had to share--today, as I was struggling to get Olivia bathed and ready to go to preschool, she was giving me a bunch of trouble. I kept telling her she needed to cooperate and let me shampoo her hair, to which she finally replied, "Mom--I will do it when I decide--I have my own life!" This scares me just a little--she is barely four years old, and I wasn't expecting to hear that kind of complaint for at least another few years! Knowing Olivia, I shouldn't be too surprised, but sheesh! Can you imagine this girl as a teenager?! FYI, I quickly conceded that yes, she does have her own life and yes, she can make her own decisions, but then she has to live with the CONSEQUENCES! She laughed and began getting her hair wet. Silly girl. ;)

Highlights

No, I have not changed my hair--I'm too chicken.
I do, however, have some good news and some bad news.
The bad news is that our camera is broken. :(
The good news is that I have determined to not wait until it is fixed/replaced to update our blog, mainly because this is the only "journaling" type activity I have done in a long time, so I had better catch up a bit!
Here are a few highlights from the past couple of months in no particular order of time or importance:
1. Christmas--it was fun! Grandma Lori and Aunt Miranda came out and stayed with us on Christmas Eve, and then in the morning Grandma and Grandpa Harmon and Uncle Tyson and Aunt KaDee and Tucker came out for presents and breakfast. For breakfast we stole an idea from Andrew and Brenda and made Christmas tree French toast. It was both cute and yummy! I did have pictures, but they are trapped on the broken camera for the time being.
Later that evening we went to Grandma Lori's house for dinner and games. It was a nice day overall!
2. Olivia's birthday--she is officially 4 years old! She requested a pink pony cake, which I also have pictures of...anyway, we had a nice celebration with both families--thanks for coming out, everyone--and Olivia is still working on hand-made thank you notes for both Christmas and birthday presents--she looooooves doing crafts from her new craft box (birthday present from Aunt Sara). She literally asks every day to get it out and do a craft, which is great for me--it keeps her occupied in a creative way.
3. Baby Lincoln--We have had our new nephew/cousin at our house three days a week since December. He is a sweet little boy, and the girls adore him. Aubrey is always trying to give him kisses, and Olivia says he is her brother--when corrected, she will only concede to the term "brother-cousin"--no less.
4. Biggest Loser--David and I joined a weight loss challenge in Shelley for six weeks. It ended last week, and David won!!! He lost 29.6 lbs. and 25-ish inches. I didn't win, but I have lost about 17 lbs. We are excited to be feeling healthier and more fit.
5. Preschool--our favorite activity of late was the rainbow cupcakes from the Family Fun magazine--a little time-consuming, but lots of fun! I wish I had pictures of those--oh well.
6. David painted the kitchen cabinet doors and hung them and then we worked together to put the glaze on them for the "distressed" look. It is strange to have to open a cabinet door to get to things again! But we love it anyways.
7. Couponing--I am one of those crazy ladies who is somewhat obsessed with the coupon scene. For me it is time-consuming sometimes, but I really do enjoy it most of the time. Besides, when you can get Dawn dish detergent, 2 pkgs. of Chinet paper plates, 2 boxes of hot chocolate, 1 pack of gum, 4 cartons of cottage cheese, 1 bag of Sun Chips, 8 cartons of Dreyer's ice cream, 2 boxes of Bagel Bites, 8 frozen juices, 2 bags of frozen mashed potatoes, 2 cookie mixes, 2 frostings, 2 Premium brownie mixes, 2 warm delights snacks, 2 potato side pouches, 2 bags of granola nut clusters, and 12 tuna pouches for 10.83--it is worth it! Of course that isn't all we eat--we're on a diet for goodness sakes--but it is fun to have things on hand when you do want to indulge, or a birthday comes along, or you want to make a treat for visiting teaching, etc.
Does this sound like a Christmas letter to anyone else? It probably makes for boring reading for other people, but it is a good update for us to remember what we were doing for the first part of 2010!