the christmas park - land of lights



sardines

when we went to nonie's this past weekend she had a very special surprise planned for us. she took us to the christmas park - land of lights in athens ... it was the coolest thing i have EVER seen. we all had so much fun piling in the car, we were packed like a can of sardines (well that's what mommy said anyway)we even got mee-maw (my great grandma) & her doggy holly to come to. "the park is more than 1 mile long and has over 3 million lights, including more than 50 different musical scenes and 50 motion controlled lighted scenes in addition to 7 tunnels and 10 arches, each a different color." if you are ever in athens, texas or in that area between november 10th - january 2nd, you have to go!!! my favorite was all the bridges & the santa made out of lights. if you want to find out more about the land of lights here you go... http://www.christmasparkathens.com/index.aspx

hi santa

all american

best of texas- yellow roses, horse drawn carriage, oil rig, cactus, tornado & all

look the eiffel tower

my favorite bridge

nonie time

we spent the past weekend at nonie's house having a blast, the best part was livi & i had some serious nonie time just to ourselves. we had dress-up time, goofy time, cooking time, snuggle time, story time... we just had the best time with our nonie.

 

livi in the leaves

 "wook at me, wook at wivi in the weaves", that's all livi said said for about an hour as she had the time of her life running, jumping & playing in the leaves. isn't she cute, she had us laughing by all the squealing she was doing & how much fun she was having.

mimi... a special message just for you

happy birthday to you cha cha cha, happy birthday to you cha cha cha, happy birthday dear mimi, happy birthday to you cha cha cha. have grrrreat day!!! we miss & love you so, so, so much.

lil laundry helpers

i think this year mommy is really really thankful for her amazing lil laundry helpers. not only are we super helpful but we're always good for a giggle.

smencils

have you ever heard of a smencil... don't worry i hadn't either until a few days ago. smencils are the world's only gourmet scented pencils & they are made from 100% recycled newspaper... they are so awesome!!! you should check out their website to find out all about them https://www.smencils.com/world.html, it's amazing how they make the pencils & smencils have the best logo " saving trees... one pencil at a time".  we are selling them at my school for 2 days only so of course i had to buy 3 of them, i bought black cherry, bubble gum & grape... wow they smell delish! anything that's good for the planet is good for me & they're so super cool.

i'm thankful for

since thanksgiving is just a few days away i decided to share with you all the things i am thankful for (in no particular order, just the way they came out) & i would love for you to share also. i hope everyone has a happy gobble gobble day & you're stuffed by the end of it!

i'm thankful for...

-having God with me wherever i go.

-having the best teacher in the world.
-having a sister, because she's the silliest sister i know & we always have a grrrreat time together.

-having an amazing family.

-my church.
-having a house to live in.
-raising money for all the different causes that are important to me.
-having a mommy & daddy to help me with homework, laundry & stuff.

-having a birthday because every year you're supposed to have one.

-having light so we can see better.

-having books to read.

-having clothes to wear.

-having clean water.

-having good friends.

-having food to eat.

-having stuffed animals to sleep with.
-and this big awesome planet we live on!

love is a verb

remember last week i told you that at church right now, we're talking about how love is a verb. did you know there tons & tons of ways to show people how you love them?! as our church says... "love is defined in many ways- an emotion, a sentiment, a sensation or a great four letter word- as varied as the descriptions are, there is one truth that defines the heart of pure love. love is a verb! love at it's very core must have movement." this week our assignment was to bring toys for all the boys & girls at second mile mission center ( http://www.secondmile.org/ ).  second mile mission was founded in 1990 by a group of local men and women who were concerned with the need of those less fortunate in our community. second mile is now a community hub supported by many local churches, organizations, business and individuals. look at all the toys the church collected for the children, we filled the back of the big pick up again... whoo hoo!!! this is the season for giving & there are so many people less fortunate than us, so if you can please take the time to reach out in your community. no matter how big or small you give IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

turkey trot

 today was my school's annual turkey trot which is also know as the american diabetes association school walk, we raised over $5000.00 dollars this year...whoo hoo!!! we were divided into our school grades then we walked around & around & around my school. after walking we all went to the cafeteria where we had an awesome dj who played the best songs ever while we hula hooped, jumped rope & danced. my favorite part was doing the chicken dance & dancing to the "grease" soundtrack with my mommy, we were sooooo goofy & having a blast! who knew turkeys were so fun?!

decadent delights 2011

my school's cookie dough & snack fundraiser has begun. the funds raised are going towards purchasing equipment for the school & playground. if anybody is interested to ordering, delivery is in time for the christmas holidays!!! let my mommy know by tuesday november 30th if you would like to place an order for some delicious (i mean DELICIOUS) treats, they'll be ready for pick up on wednesday december 15th. you can see the order form at the following link below...

http://www.fullservicefundraising.com/br-dec-delight11.htm

pose off

just because mommy thinks we're totally goofy when we try to look uber cool, she says we look like fruit loops...ha ha ha.

love is a verb

at church right now, we're talking about how love is a verb. did you know there tons & tons of ways to show people how you love them?! as our church says... "love is defined in many ways- an emotion, a sentiment, a sensation or a great four letter word- as varied as the descriptions are, there is one truth that defines the heart of pure love. love is a verb! love at it's very core must have movement."  one small way we've done it at church is- the bridge family bought a bus for a lady who takes care of modern-day orphans. she is truly inspiring & you can learn about more about her here... http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bridge-fellowship/id80587683

 yesterday our assignment for the day was to bring non-perishable food items with us to donate to second mile mission center ( http://www.secondmile.org/ ). second mile mission was founded in 1990 by a group of local men and women who were concerned with the need of those less fortunate in our community. second mile is now a community hub supported by many local churches, organizations, business and individuals. they are in desperate need for food this holiday season because they haven't had as many donations this year as they usually do. just in the first service alone yesterday we filled the whole back of a really big pick-up truck...whoo hoo.  next week our assignment is to bring toys for all the children at second mile mission center for the holidays, i can't wait to go & pick something out! this is the season for giving & there are so many people less fortunate than us, so if you can please take the time to reach out in your community. no matter how big or small you give  IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

butterfly garden



look a caterpillar

 

look at natalia dig

 in livi's classroom at little wonders they have been learning all about butterflies, they have been reading and drawing them for months. they have learned so much, they know that butterflies looooove flowers , what type of foods they eat, all the different colors they are & they even grew caterpillars into butterflies. with all of this going on ms.maryam thought this would be the perfect time to build their own butterfly garden for them so they could keep learning.  so ms.maryam called mommy & they discussed who would be the best person for such an important job, the person they came up with...daddy. so daddy had a few meetings about size & placement, a couple (a lot) trips to home depot & then it was time to start construction. the garden came out awesome & today is the day all livi & her friends get to plant all their flowers so the butterflies will come visit...they are soooooo excited!!! after preparing all morning, this afternoon they got to start planting & they were so funny, dirt was flying everywhere! they had a blast digging, carrying plants, dropping plants into the holes they had dug, helping with the BIG shovel (livi's bff natalia was all about that) & getting really really dirty. oh yeah, guess what... one of the plants we planted already had a caterpillar on it eating, everyone was super happy about that. now livi & her friends will have tons butterflies to play with soon.



everyone hard at work



silly boys

livi working on the rosemary




noah is so focused

  


 livi had a grrreat time

 

a beautiful fall day

 today was another beautiful fall day for us so of course it was off to our favorite place... the park!!!
 

 

spicy cinnamon pumpkin muffins with a twist



posing in our aprons

 this afternoon mommy, livi & i decided we wanted to try out a new recipe we've (mommy) been drooling over. so we put our aprons on & found our standing stools so we can reach the counter & got busy! words do not describe how yummy yum our muffins turned out, so we want to share the recipe with everyone because you don't want to miss out on these, that's for sure. so below is the recipe, have fun & enjoy... p.s. the recipe calls for mini muffin pans, but we did mini & regular size muffin pans for the same baking time. the regular sized ones are a lil more cakey...so good!



adding the twist

spicy cinnamon pumpkin muffins with a twist:

mini muffin pans

1 can solid pumpkin

1 box white cake mix 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (optional)
3/4 bag of chocolate chips (they're the twist)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. heat oven to 350, spray muffin pans with no-stick cooking spray.
2. combine pumpkin, cake mix, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger,cayenne pepper & chocolate chips in mixer bowl. beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 mins.

talk about amazing teamwork

3. spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons of muffin batter into each cup. bake muffins on center rack for 15 mins. dust with powered sugar if desired...enjoy, they are delish!!!

mmm mmm good

fall is here

yay, it finally feels like fall is here & it's only the beginning of november... the weather is nice & chilly!!! i love fall- it brings hot chocolate, homemade chicken-n-dumplings, jackets, pumpkin recipes that never end, fires in the fireplace...all my favorite things.

fort bend lifestyles & homes

in the november issue of fort bend lifestyles & homes (fort bend is the county we live in), there is a itty bitty article about my amazing old school little wonders learning center. mommy wrote them (mommy wants everyone to know how inspiring the children at little wonders are) a few months ago & sent some pictures along with her email & guess what...we're in it. we are so surprised we had no idea we were going to be in it, someone happened to see our article & passed it along...pretty cool huh?! here's the link if you want to read all about fort bend & sugar land schools, sports, and students : november 2010... http://fortbendlifestylesandhomes.com/?p=7221
here's the article about us down below & the picture they used (it's ms. maryam, zoe & me planting trees)...

Children from Little Wonders Learning Center plant trees.

LITTLE WONDERS SHARES THE MESSAGE TO GO GREEN – Children from Little Wonders Learning Center are going green in a big way by planting trees for “Trees Across Sugar Land,” making compost piles, picking up trash for”Texas trash off” and visiting the recycling center to drop off collected items. These inspiring 3- to 5-year-olds have even won art contests using recyclable materials and trash. After taking a class field trip to see the movie Earth, the children were so inspired they raised enough money to adopt a polar bear family. Their latest project involves helping with the water crisis. They have raised enough money to send one of their own parents to Guatemala to build a well with Living Water International.