From Our House to yours....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! An early Christmas present for you....here are the pictures from our Christmas photo shoot!! We got some pretty good photos this year....largely because we actually had Jonathan come over and take the pictures for us!! In the years past we have been known to use a ladder and timer and i get stuck running back and forth!! The girls cooperated (for a small price of course) and it was fun!! Enjoy Your Holiday Season....we know we will. We already have Grandpa here and we are waiting for Auntie Amber and her boyfriend to come Christmas day!! It will be great fun. The girls are singing in the Christmas choir at church tomorrow....i will take lots of pics!!

A GOOD family pic to start you out....this is the ONLY family shot i liked;)

Ok....So the girls are being cute in this pic....love the eyes!!

They had fun....but Maddie said it was tooooo cold to sit on the ground....her "boom boom" was getting cold;)

These poses crack me up....Taylor looks so natural....Jonathan was saying she looks like a GAP model....he wanted to claim his finder fee!!

The girls were about done and i think you can tell!!

Christmas Program....

Well, Maddie had her Christmas program on Friday and she was sooooo.... GOOD!!! :) you never know with her you know....Maddie can be as sweet as pie, cute as the sun, polite as anyone you know.....BUT she can also be all of the opposites;) so with her first program i went over it with her A LOT....SMILE, SING, OBEY....and she listened....whew....i avoided a public display of anything embarrassing....every mothers goal right!!!!

We were really so proud of her....she is growing up you know...its kind of sad!! she practiced her songs and motions and went up there and did her thing. She had quite the fan club in the audience...which she loved and waved at frequently....mommy, daddy, big sister, Grandma Bobbi, and her best friend Kaleigh and Miss Angela!!! she felt loved....maybe that is why she sang so good??!!!

Since this post is kind of all about Maddie i will share a quick story that happened today!! Maddie came out holding her shirt DOWN and told Don there was NOTHING under her shirt.....so that told us there WAS something under there....so a little tickling and squirming and we got the shirt up....she quickly said " its ok Daddy...its only stickers i found". Well, what is stickers to a 4 year old is STAMPS to a father....more tickling followed that!! Then a stern DON"T GO IN DADDY'S DESK THESE ARE NOT STICKERS lecture later!! just a day in the life people!!

here are some pics from Maddie's program....not great ones i know....i was trying to video tape, take pics and keep Taylor away from the camera all at the same time!!

We are back!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, to say that i decided to take an unannounced break from blogging would be an understatement huh!!!! i would give you a list of excuses but i know you really just want to see pics and hear what we have been up to....so here you go:
DON....It feels like he has been home more lately and not traveling as much which is nice i must say. he did get to go to Ohio a couple of weekends ago to speak at a winter camp with Pittsburg YFC and he had a great time. it is still true....he just loves hanging out with high school kids and loves to interact with them!! he had a great trip but came home a little tired. Don also celebrated a BIRTHDAY in November....he wouldn't want me to tell you how old he is....if you want to know....just ask the GIRLS!!! they will tell you;)
CRISSIE....I actually got a Mommy time out weekend in November....although that already feels like a LONG time ago....maybe time for another one!!! HA!! I got to go visit one of my best friends from college and had a long weekend with her....it was ummmmm WONDERFUL!!! i really needed to get away...this summer and early fall was a lot of traveling for don which means a lot of WORK for mommy so when i brought up the idea of leaving for a weekend....don said "go!!". between my mom and my hubby the girls were fed and happy when i got home:) My laptop also bit the dust so we went to the basement and dug out this one to see if we can get by with this one for awhile!!!
TAYLOR.... still loving school this kid!!! she loves to work, loves to talk, loves to be on her own!!! she is doing great. her most recent accomplishment...she learned her address and phone number. She also had a funny incident....this friday at school they are having a special Polar Express Pajama day...wear your pj's and we will have a whole day of fun before christmas break.....well, she brought home a permission slip in her folder....i had to sign it so she could watch the movie....well i was reading it...and when i got to the bottom of the page there was a line for the parent/guardian to sign their name....when i looked at i laughed out loud and Don was wondering what was going on....Taylor WROTE HER NAME IN THE LINE (she wanted to watch the movie!!)....don goes "nice, her first forgery!!" she will get the idea to write OUR name later i guess;0
MADDIE....doing good at school too!! the two teachers she got this year are just....ummmm soooo perfect for her. Maddie loves them and she is doing great. she is really excited for her Christmas program this year!!! and she is excited that she will have 4 people in the audience all there to see her;) She also knows her phone number...taylor taught her! She loves the snow!!
We got to go to Vegas the week before Thanksgiving to visit don's parents and had a good time there. we took advantage of the non holiday travel and good weather and headed out. the girls are such great travelers!! It was fun to get away and do something new. We were home for thanksgiving...kind of quiet...just us and my mom but it was also kind of relaxing too;) Christmas is going to be fun!!! Don's dad is coming out and his granddaughters are BEYOND excited to see him!! My sister and her boyfriend are coming out too which will be a lot of fun as well!! So, that is all i have.....now onto the pics....ENJOY!!!

These pics are from Don's birthday....we took him out for his favorite....sushi!!

VEGAS TRIP!!!

Chasing the Birds at the park!!

Swinging with Papa!!

MY THREE KIDS....STALLING BEFORE BEDTIME!!

The first snow fall of the season!!

Me and Ang....i miss this weekend already!!

Halloween Dress Rehersal....

Ok This is the first of FOUR posts.....go to the sidebar to make sure you see them all!!! We were very busy on Halloween so i decided to post in stages of our day!! There are FOUR posts....you may click on the titles on the right side bar to see them all.....enjoy

Preschool.....

On Halloween MORNING I went with Maddie to PRESCHOOL for the day to help with class and then her party!! She had a great day....they had pizza and cookies and made crafts!! She of course was VERY excited to be snow white.....and yes you MUST address her as snow white NOT Maddie!!! she was cute!! We had a lot of fun and i was worn out and then i remembered i had to go to kindergarten next!! :) by the time evening came.....oh man!!

Ye
YES....Maddie is LETTING DADDY do her makeup....this won't last forever;)

Kindergarten Sock hop girl

Well during the Afternoon of Halloween day I went with Taylor to school to help in her class and watch her sock hop dances she did with her school. They had an all school sock hop and have been learning dances all year!! Taylor has loved learning these dances and i was surprised to see her keeping up with the older kids during the dances!! i found this cute sock hop dress on eBay for $4!!! my mom had to fix a couple holes and iron it but it worked great!!

Practicing her "moves"!!

Halloween Night....trick or treating and church games..

When evening was FINALLY upon us we got dressed and headed out to go trick or treating (just a few houses.....neighbors we know) and then we head over to our church every year. They have carnival games and most importantly hand out LOTS of candy;) the girls were so funny this year because they remembered EVERYTHING from last year and they had to trick or treat in the same order and they knew what games they wanted to play first at church!! The major difference this year was the TEMPERATURE....i was HOT with a sweatshirt on!! It was great this year. At church there was more than one person with a tee shirt and shorts on!! leave it to the unpredictable Colorado weather!! we weren't complaining though!! The girls had a great time and enjoyed everything and said a lot of "thank yous". They both picked out their costumes this year and were excited to "wear make up"!! i realized when i got home i actually never got a pic of me and the girls.....you see i am the crazy lady running after them telling them to smile for a pic so i forgot to get one of me and them....oh well:) this is the close to my stages of pics from Halloween!!

Mr. Gary and Ms. Phyliss are great neighbors and look forward to seeing the girls......and we go there first every year!!!

.....no creative title coming to mind;)

Well, the talley household is doing well and excited for Halloween!!! the girls LOVE dressing up and we go to our church every year and they have little games and a play and both girls are looking forward to that!! Taylor's school is doing a school sock hop. I found a sock hop dress for $4 on ebay!! she has been practicing her sock hop moves that she has learned from gym class!! she came home one day and asked me if i knew the "chicken dance";) My mom came over yesterday and we made some Halloween cookies...both of the girls LOVE cooking and they did a great job this year!!!

Maddie is doing well....her arm is still giving her some pain mainly if she hits it somehow but doing well. This child continues to shake our heads every day!!!!!!!!! not something new.....but something that has become more and more noticeable....Maddie will ask you a question and then SHE will tell you how SHE wants YOU to answer...she thinks she is pretty funny with this routine;) daddy told her this morning he is not playing her little game....but i think he will give in before she does:) Don does have a trip to Florida for meetings middle of this week!! Enjoy the pics!! the first one is of maddie modeling her hat from school and the rest of the pics are from baking cookies yesterday!!! .....there are more pics of maddie during the cookie time....she needed to be entertained while being "patient" and waiting for her turn to come:)...oh the joys of four year olds!!