It's a Win!

It was an awesome game, though a little too close for comfort in the second half, if you ask me!  We had 2 families from church over to our house for the game and had a great time hanging out with them.

The girls were SO excited for the Super Bowl.  Are they interested in football?  Not even a little bit.  They were excited for food, friends, decorations and cute clothes.  : )

On Saturday, Aaron and the girls made a super sized snowman.  (Her name is Snowbell!?)  Warmer temps caused Snowbell to shed a few pounds.  She won't last for long, so we decided to have some Super Bowl fun with her!

The balloons were the favorite decoration of the night.  I love this pic!

All in all, it was a great night!!

New Glasses

Patton kid #2 needs glasses . . . no shocker there! 

We noticed the problem when she was leaning forward to read her piano music.  Thankfully, here eyes really aren't bad.  These are just reading glasses (or "piano glasses" as the case may be.)  She is very excited to have them (Though that will certainly wear off shortly.)  You can't tell from this picture, but they are brown in the front and teal blue on the inside . . . so they match her bedroom and she thinks that is pretty awesome!

Go Pack!

Admittedly, I watch very little football.  I really do enjoy watching it, but if there isn't a team playing that I care about, I'd rather be doing other things.  I'll root for the Rams if they're playing . . . they're Aaron's favorite team and our home team.  But let's face it, I'm from Wisconsin.  If the Packers are playing, I want them to win!

We went to my parents' house to watch the NFC Championship Game.  I have a Packers shirt, but none of my girls have anything.  Julie wore a green sweatsuit with a yellow t-shirt over it.  Meg wore black pants with a yellow sweatshirt and a green t-shirt over it.  Ali wore a green long-sleeved t-shirt of mine (a tad bit big.)  Emma was unwilling to participate.  Aaron tried to convince her to wear navy and orange.  I suppose I should be glad that she didn't do that.

I decided that all of my Packers fan family has let us down and failed to provide my children with appropriate paraphernalia.  How dare they!?  : )  I had to take matters into my own hands for the Super Bowl.

Aren't they cute??  Home made by mom using freezer paper and shirt paint.

Julie looks a little drugged here : )

This is what I got when I asked for a "football pose."  Actually, that's not entirely true.  The first thing I got was four girls looking at me with faces that were cleary saying, "You're kidding, right?"  Once they realized that I wasn't kidding, this is what I got. 

This is what I got with a little coaxing from Dad.  I love this picture!  Julie looks like she's going to kill someone!  Meg embraced it as well.  Ali isn't so sure about this.  Emma is reluctantly obeying her Dad. : )

Hoping for a win tomorrow!!

Losing the Hardware

Brace face.  Fence face.  Metal mouth.  Tin teeth.  No more!

My big girl is now flashing a bright new smile! (and a new haircut that she is super excited about!)

Before:

After:

Needless to say, she is beside herself with excitement!  We celebrated tonight with a fun dinner:

popcorn

corn on the cob

almonds

cheetos

doritos

celery

carrots

milk duds

sticky candy

GUM!

Not so healthy, but fun!

Emma even made us place cards

Fun times!

Ali & Emma's New "Tween" Room

Like it or not, my girls are growing up.  We decided to redecorate Ali & Emma's room for them as part of their Christmas present this year.  We agreed to go with a light blue and brown theme.  Still trendy and girlie, but not pink.  (Emma is not a pink kind of girl and has had a pink room for 4 years now.)  They picked out the bedding.  They got to help paint the walls blue (I hope they enjoyed that because it will be YEARS before they touch a paint roller again!  I'm STILL finding blue paint on my floor.)  After the blue was done, the doors were closed and the rest was a surprise. 

Here are the before pics:

And the after . . .

They love it!  (And so do I!)

What I've been doing with my free time . . .

Yes, I could be uploading Christmas or New Year's pictures . . .   But no . . . we've been on break and I've been having fun with my knitting needles.  This week I made 2 hats (one to go with each coat) and I'm very excited about them.

Basketweave Hat
(to be worn with my black coat - matching scarf is in progress)

Okay . . . the pictures are definitely not fabulous.  The yarn looks like it's a burnt orange in this pictures, but it's actually a deep red.

Iain's Bubble Hat

To be worn with my pink and brown coat. 

I'm sure that I'll eventually get around to a matching scarf.

Now that I've wrapped these up, it's time to get to some school planning!  Only a week until we're back to real life! : )

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Pattons! Another year has passed, and once again, I’m wondering where it went! We have stayed very busy, but also been very blessed. God has taken good care of us and grown us in big ways!

Julie is now 4 ½. Yikes . . . how is it possible that my baby is so old?? Her big accomplishment this year was learning to read . . . though we aren’t exactly sure how she learned that. Yes, we discovered that she had pretty much taught herself how to read, so we decided that we should probably start working through formal reading lessons with her. She went through her entire reading lesson book – all 100 lessons – in 5 weeks. (In fact, she’s reading this over my shoulder as I type! “Mom, I’m not old!”) What can I say . . . she is smart and

spunky and hilarious. She is often spouting what we like to call “Julie-isms” She has really come up with some deusies. One of my favorites this year was shared by her VBS teacher when she asked the class, “What is sin?” Julie answered without missing a beat, “Sin is when you drink the mouthwash when your mom tells you not to.”  Oh, Julie . . .

. . . . .

 

Meg is now 6. She is growing by leaps and bounds in height . . . the weight part is another story!  She’s still our Skinny Minnie but it’s amazing how much food that child can put away. I’m pretty sure that Meg is one of the happiest kids alive. She’s always smiling and giggling and is quick to brighten my day. She is in the first grade this year and is doing an awesome job. She has really enjoyed moving into chapter books this year. Meg spends most of her free time coloring and drawing (along with Julie). Meg and Julie are pretty much attached at the hip.  They love to dress as “twins” and Meg loves to have Julie sit on her lap when they watch movies.  It’s quite amusing as Julie only weighs one pound less than Meg! 

. . . . .

Emma is 9 and continues to be the athlete of the family. She played her second season of soccer this year and really loved it. They even won 3 games (which is 3 more than they won last year – they never even scored a goal last year!) Soccer is over now and she misses it, but she can frequently be found in the back yard or in the basement kicking her ball around. Emma is in the 3rd grade now and is a very bright little thing. She easily keeps up with Ali in Science and History.  Math isn’t such a favorite of hers anymore since long division came along. Also writing isthe bane of her existence. Unfortunately, Mom requires a lot of that! : ) 

. . . . .

Ali is 10 now . . . yes we entered the double digits this year! She was on the same soccer team as Emma this fall and improved quite a bit. She enjoys the time with her friends more than the actual soccer part of it, but that’s okay. Ali got braces in January and is eager to get them off (It won’t be long now! They come off on Jan 19.) She is now in her 3rd year of piano lessons with Grandma Patton. She is currently working on “The Entertainer” and “Malagueña” – it’s really fun to watch her progress! She is still quite a bookworm and very happily curls up with a good book during her free time. Ali is in the 5th grade this year . . . last year of Elementary School!  That means that next year she leaves the Children’s Ministry at church and steps into Student Ministries. She is definitely looking forward to that!

. . . . . 

Aaron and I celebrated 11 years of marriage in May! We are loving life and (as previously mentioned) staying busy. This year was a year of being thankful for good health insurance! : ) Aaron had knee surgery in April and developed a staph infection (resulting in another surgery!) I won’t get into all of our medical hassles . . . let’s just say that we are thankful for our healthy family! This spring and summer were spent putting in a hand-me-down pool and deck. (Whew! Glad that’s over, but we sure are glad to have it!) I am determined that we will have NO household projects next summer!

Aaron has now been working for Boeing for 7 years and is still enjoying it. He moved into a new position this year and has a full work load right now. I am still busy homeschooling my girlies and loving that (most days! : ) ) I have my family blog that I (try to) keep up with. (http://www.ourlittlewomen.blogspot.com/) I have also been involved in our Friday morning ladies Bible study, which definitely helps to maintain my sanity!

Overall it has been a very eventful year! We are thankful to have passed another year serving our faithful God. It’s by His grace that we can truly celebrate this season. May your Christmas be filled with the worship of our Savior who was born in a stable for the sole purpose of sacrificing himself on the cross, taking the penalty for our sins. The good news doesn’t end there!  He rose from the grave, conquering over sin and death. That is truly something to celebrate!

Because He lives,

Aaron, Andrea, Alison, Emma, Megan and Julie Patton

Halloween: Part 2

Another Halloween has come and gone!  It was great fun and I'm already hearing "Next year I'm gonna be . . . "  Yikes!

This year we trick-or-treated in the Alligoods neighborhood.  We've been doing Halloween together for 8 years now.  It's so fun to look back at old pictures!  So . . . here are the shots for this year!

My 4 girlies.

L-R:  Julie as a Bride, Meg as a Ladybug, Ali as Hermione Granger, Emma as a Mad Scientist, Karis as a Renaissance Princess, Aubrey as an Indian Princess, Jonah as Harry Potter and Daniel as a Storm Trooper.

What??  Harry & Hermione aren't supposed to duel against each other!

That's better!

Some day Ali won't tower over Jonah, but for now, Ali has to squat and Jonah has to stand on his tip-toes. : )

What a pair!

Karis is ALL about the silly pictures!

The 3 Musketeers

Awww . . . aren't they sweet!?

Trick or treat!

Here were the general comments that the kids heard regarding their costumes:

To Julie:  "Aren't you a little young to be getting married?"

also

"Who are you marrying?"  to which she responded "Aaron"

To Jonah:  "Oh, you're Harry Potter!"

usually immediately followed by:

To Ali:  "Who are you?"

Poor Ali.  Hermione just doesn't get the credit she deserves!  : )

It was a great Halloween!  We're thankful for great weather and great friends!