Gingerbread House

We made a gingerbread house for the first time this year. I think we all had fun decorating it!
I did the icing, Daddy added the candy, and Braden ate the candy. We were a good team!

Merry Christmas!

And a Happy New Year!!!

Another ad for the Red Studio......

Here is a picture of our most recent picture from the Red Studio! They turned out great!
(My picture of the picture could have been a little better though : ))

Little Rock Start

Daddy gave Braden some Guitar Hero lessons today and he loved it! Halfway through Braden announced "I'm a Rock Start"! It was adorable! Then he asked for his microphone and sang along. Too cute if I do say so myself!

Santa

Braden LOVES Santa so we couldn't resist getting some cheesy pictures at the mall! He was thrilled to see him and told him that he wants a Mr. Potato Head (obviously he's been watching too much Toy Story).

Light Up Spring Mill

Our friends Natalie and Barrett celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season every year by decorating their street and seeing Santa (Barrett is Santa). Santa made a dramatic entrance on a fire truck and then all the kids sat on his lap. Braden and Jacob loved it! Graham, Barrett and Natalie's little boy wasn't so sure. Thanks for having us! We had a blast.

Sadly, we don't have any Thanksgiving pics because we forgot our camera that day! : (

Braden The Builder

Rebel For a Cause Giveaway

A blog that I have been following for awhile is doing an awesome giveaway that I wanted to share with everyone. Mycharmingkids.net is collecting money for raffle tickets. Each ticket is $10 and you can buy as many as you want to enter yourself in the drawing. All of the proceeds will benefit three different charities (see below). It is a worthy cause and a great prize if you win! You can donate on the blog, just click on the Rebel For a Cause button the left. Check it out and see all the cool things you can win.....

All proceeds of this Raffle-Way will be donated. Proceeds will go to String of Pearls, a beautiful ministry that offers a nurturing and safe place for families as they navigate the path following a fatal prenatal diagnosis that will result in the death of their baby prior to, or shortly after birth. String of Pearls provides guidance, compassion and practical suggestions as plans to honor the life of pre-born babies are crafted.Proceeds will also go to benefit No Hands But Ours. No Hands But Ours is a China adoption resource site, specific to special needs adoption. It was created to provide information, encouragement and support for families of the children who wait and for those who wait no more. It is their hope that God would use this organization to encourage and equip ordinary people to do an extraordinary thing in the life of a special needs orphan, to give the gift every child needs and deserves...a family.The Elison Project helps to provide grants to families adopting special needs children from China, and collaborates with No Hands But Ours. Proceeds of this Raffle-Way will allow families to make an incredible difference in the life of a child. Your donation will help to bring His children home.If you'd like to be a part of our Rebel Without For A Cause Raffle-Way, jump on in. The winners will randomly drawn (Wait for it...we're even thinking of videotaping the process to prove it was fair and random.) and will be announced within a day or two after the Raffle-Way ends on December 14, 2008. Go win yourself a Rebel! And a whole heckofalotta other goodies! For a cause!

Girls Dinner at the Tompkins

Almost all the kiddos! Braden, Sofia, Avery, Sydney, Grace, and Jacob

Graham decided that he didn't want to be in the picture and leapt off the couch. Poor thing!

I think the boys were trying to corrupt sweet Sydney away from all the adults but I caught them!

Dr. Williams and his nurse, Sydney examining out Braden

Thanks for having us all over Sara and Andrew! We had a great time and dinner was yummy!

Halloween '08

We had a great time trick or treating on Halloween with Daddy, Aunt Julie, Ian, and Bailey. Braden loved going from house to house but wanted to ring everone's doorbells and go inside their houses. He didn't quite understand that we had to move on to the next house. He had fun admiring everyone's pumpkins and costumes too.

We got to go trick or treating a second time with Aunt Tracy and Devin at their house. Thanks to hand-me-downs from Ian and Devin, Braden was able to be a lion AND a cow this year! He loved both costumes and played the part well, roaring one night and moo-ing the next.

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Halloween Cookies

Braden and I made Halloween cookies together this year. He ate sprinkles while I did everything else! We had a great time together! Braden was very proud of the cookies he "made".

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Windmill Farm '08

We had our annual outing to the pumpkin patch at Windmill, our favorite pumpkin patch. They have the best hayride. Braden loved the bumpy hayride and playing on all the trucks and tractors! He found the perfect Braden sized pumpkin in the pumpkin patch too.

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Ian's 8th Birthday

We had so much fun at Ian's Halloween birthday party. All of Ian's friends had a blast with the silly string war, limbo, and bobbing for apples. Braden did his best to keep up with the big boys, showing me what's in store in the next few years. Thanks for the goodie bag too- Braden is covered in tattoos again!

Playdate with Cora and Lily

We had a great playdate with Cora and Lily. Braden and Cora had a great time playing together and Lily had fun watching!

We Miss You Daddy!

Daddy will be out of town all week. We really miss him and we're counting the days until he is home! Here are some pictures for you Daddy!

Check out my new shoes Daddy! I'm having fun with my new truck. Thank you!

Braden's new favorite thing is watching movies, he loves Toy Story. Of course, now we are all learning that you can't watch movies every hour that you are awake even if you want to. It's a bummer. Mommy must admit that it does make getting dinner ready a little easier though!

Birthdays

We celebrated Devin, Drexell, and Kenneth's birthdays at my mom and Gene's house. I can't believe the twins are going to be 19 and Devin is 8, they are all getting so old!

Thanks for dinner Mom and Gene! We had a great time but Braden is still coming down from all the blue icing he ate!

JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes

This year was Dan's 5th year as the walk chair for the JDRF walk in Dayton. They had a great turn out and made $30,000 more than they did last year! It's great to see how much of a difference all the walkers are able to make each year. Battelle's Batalion, Dan's employer's walk team, did a great job raising money as well.

My mom, sister Jeri, and niece Megan were also able to come walk with us. Braden and Megan loved the Wegerzen gardens halfway through the walk. They loved it so much I think we ended up with last place!! We had a great time!

Thank you to everyone who walked and helped us raise money!

Emma's 2nd Birthday Party

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Emma had an awesome Dora the Explorer birthday party! The kids all got Dora backpacks with maps to find their party favors after Swiper hid them. They had to find their way through the chocolate tree grove, wind-y forest, and crocodile lake to get to their party favors in Boots's house. The Shaws have inspired us for Braden's next party, they definitely have great imaginations! Thanks for such a good time and yummy lunch!

Braden Style

Do you like his outfit? All the important items are there, diaper, zoo ride anklet, Thomas tattoo, and some cool shoes! Unfortunately, his mean parents thought this wasn't quite enough for Emma's birthday party so he soon had to change.

Day Out with Thomas

We spent Sunday morning visiting Thomas in Lebanon. Braden was a little shocked to see such a humongous Thomas. Once the shock wore off, of course the first thing out of his mouth was "Wanna ride Thomas?". To think his silly parents thought he wouldn't realize that you could actually ride Thomas. Sadly though he'll have to wait until next year. The train tent and bouncy house took his mind off the train ride.

Removing Braden from the bouncy house instigated a series of two year old tantrums that lasted into the evening. I think this passionate display of emotions just means that he had a great time and didn't want it to end!

The nice lady at BK gave him this crown which stopped his tantrum for about 30 seconds. Unfortunately, it continued on when we got home! Poor guy, it is rough being 2! After a good nap he felt all better. He'll fondly remember this fun morning every time he looks at his new Thomas tattoo (for at least a couple weeks anyway)!