Looking at her presents on Christmas morning.

Lena seems to really like her Alphabet Board.

"Hermie Christmas! Yeah, you really did it!"

This is what Christmas looks like on my side of the family. And this isn't the whole family!

A week before Christmas, Lena got her first shiner at preschool.

The Song That Never Ends

Okay, I'm sure you all have heard of "The song that never ends". And we all know how annoying that song is because it never stops. Well, at our house, Lena likes to sing "The neverending ABC's". She'll sing the alphabet song, and when she gets to the end she sings,

"Now I know my ABCDEFG....." and proceeds to sing the alphabet all over again.

This is the alphabet that never ends. It's not annoying at all. It's rather cute. She'll only go through it twice.

We also have the star that never stops twinkling. And if Lena could have it her way, the wheels on the bus would just keep rolling all day long. I'm sure that bus driver is quite underpaid.

Anyways, we are having fun with our super cute, smart, sweet 2 year old.

A First

James took Lena to the doctor this morning, only to find out that she has a double ear infection. This is the first time for her to have an ear infection, and she gets it in both ears. Our day started out at 6:00 am with Lena waking up crying. I held her for a bit. When she decided at 6:03 to put herself back to bed, I wondered if something was wrong, gave her some tylenol (she complained of pain yesterday), and let her climb back in her bed, and then I went back to bed. At 7:30 am, she woke up crying again, and just wanted to be held. For the next 30 min., she went in and out of crying and holding her ears. She finally poked at her ear and said, "Owie" and cried. Then I knew it had to be an ear infection--I had no idea it was going to be both ears. I HAD to be at work today--it was the first day back to school, and I had a new student starting today. So, James took her to the doctor, got her antibiotic, and took care of her till I got home, and then he went into work. I have such a wonderful husband who is also a wonderful Daddy. He also went to the store for me on the way home from work. He sure is one in a million. He's so good to Lena and I!

Posting

Ok, I do have a lot of pictures to post, and I will post them soon. Things have been really busy. We were gone for the last couple of weeks during Christmas and New Years, and just got home nearly a week ago. School is starting back tomorrow, and I don't even have my lessons planned for this week! My camera battery died last week, and I just haven't had the time to charge the battery so that I can download pictures to post. I'll get to it soon, maybe this weekend. I just wanted it known that we are still here, just a little busy.

Ketchup

According to Lena, ketchup is great as face paint and for styling your hair. She calls it "chechup."

Contests!

Check out the contests that are going on at 5 Minutes for Mom. Lots of neat prizes. Just click on the button on the right (on my blog) that says Christmas Giveaway, that is red and white with a package on it. It will link you to 5 Minutes for Mom. My favorite is the Born Free bottles that they are giving away. Have fun looking!

Friends

This is Lena and her friend, Jenna (dressed as a bee), at our church Fall Festival sunday afternoon. Look at the height difference. Jenna is two weeks younger than Lena.

First-time "Treater"

This is the first time for Lena to do Trick-or-Treating. She of course looke adorable in her crayon costume. We only went to two houses, which were 2 couples from church we are friends with that live within a mile from us. When they opened the door, Lena would only say "Treat!" It was quite cute. Sam and Sarah loaded Lena up with tons of candy. And while we were at Joe and Kim's, Lena played with their cat, Lucy, and fed her a treat. Lena seemed to enjoy the evening, but was ready for bed when we got home.

Preschool Costume Fun

Yesterday was the costume parade/trick-or-treating and carnival at preschool. Of course being a teacher, I had to dress up, so....I dressed up as my favorite children's character, Cat in the Hat. Also, it was the only costume I had on hand (leftover from Sing Song). Lena's costume was a pink crayon, and she got lots of oohs and ahhs, and "O how cute!" The next question was of course, "Did you make her costume?" I was very proud to say that I did make her costume. I really enjoyed making her unique costume.

The Pumpkin Patch

I took Lena to the Pumpkin Patch last friday, and she had a lot of fun running around and playing with the pumpkins. She was so distracted with seeing everything, that it was hard to get good pictures, but I got a few. We didn't take one home, but Lena gave the ladies in charge hugs for letting her play.

Another Contest!

Okay ladies, it's another contest! It's pink, and you all know that pink is my favorite color, so of course I had to share the news of the contest. Also, this one helps support something that hits many woman, breast cancer. October is breast cancer awareness month, so 5 Minutes for Mom
is giving away one Casio Pink EX-Z75 digital camera to one lucky winner.

Come on! It pink, and it's for a good cause!

GREAT CONTEST!!!!!!

Hey everyone! Go on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and check out their latest giveaway. It is awesome! They are giving away Western Digital Passport External Hard Drive ---3 of them!
This is a really cool external hard drive that lets you back up all your pictures, some documents, music, video, etc. It holds a lot. Plus, it comes in cute colors! This allows you to take with you all your important things that you don't want to lose. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would just cry if my computer shut down and I couldn't get to all my pictures. GO NOW to 5 Minutes for Mom and sign up to win your very own Passport.

Who does she look like?

Win a Dyson Pink All Floors Vacuum!

Hey girls! 5 Minutes For Mom is GIVING AWAY one Dyson Pink All Floors vacuum! This is part of Dyson's goal for helping to find a cure for breast cancer. The vacuum is only found at Target, and they are selling fast! SO.......if pink is your favorite color (It's mine!), then head on over to 5 Minutes For Mom and register to win a pink vacuum. And even if pink is not your favorite color, head on over there anyways. A free vacuum is still nice!

Be careful what you say.....

So....James and I have noticed now that we have to be careful about what we say, and the tone we use when we say things. Now that Lena is nearly 21 months (on Sept. 8th) she is paying more attention to what is being said. James and I are always saying to each other, "Honey, honey", and the other one answers "What!?". Well, the other day we were driving in the car, and from the backseat we heard Lena say, "Honey, honey. What!?". She says it all the time now. It really makes you stop and think about what you say when your toddler comes back and repeats you. It just makes me glad that we are not people who say ugly things. Thank you God for giving us toddlers to keep us in check.

She sings

Today was the day that I went up to the preschool to get my room ready for school to start next week. I had some paper stars on the table. Lena picked one up, said "Star". She looked at it and then sang, "Twinkle twinkle little stars", with the correct tune. I guess that would be her first 4 word sentence and also the first song to sing that could be recognizable. It was sooooooooo cute!