Emma
Our little cutie, cousin Deuce! Enjoying his oreo!
Beautiful cousin Chloe
This is not the pony that threw Emma, this is another little donkey that they rode.
Little cowboy!
Emma and Chloe teaming up to take on the donkey!
Mike got a Wii for Christmas this year! We both thought it would be a great gift for us all to enjoy together. So far, that has proven to be true! Emma loves it! She's really good at boxing, check out her skills in this video and ignore the obnoxious laughing from yours truly :)
Emma had one of her first pony rides on Saturday and it was a bumpy one! I got most of it on video, but at one point I forgot it was still recording, you'll see why :)
She did really well, after it was over she was a little scared but by the time we left her and the pony were pals again!
We hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas! We weren't able to get Christmas cards out this year but I really enjoyed recieving all of yours! So, you can consider this a digital Christmas card, I guess. I know it's not as good as getting one in the mail. Next year we will be better about that!
Emma took this for us! She wanted one of us kissing by the tree, hehe!
Emma and I reading our last story of the Advent book on Christmas Eve. What a special book that was! She really looked forward to each day's story!
You'd better not eat Santa's cookies!
Santa came to Grandma and Grandpa's on Christmas Day to visit the children and see if they liked all the presents he brought them!
Emma's still not too sure about Santa. But she did good - she let Mimi hold her while she talked with him!
Deuce, Dean, Chloe, Emma, Lili, and Maddie ~ the grandchildrenOne of my favorite things to do with Emma at Christmas is our Cookie Tree! This idea was handed down to me from my Aunt Sandra who did this with her kids. It's such a fun and creative way to spend time together and you come out with some awesome looking ornaments, I must say! The recipe is very simple: flour, salt, and water! I'm sure you probably have these on hand already!
It can get a little "dusty", so if you're a little anal about messes you'll have to grit your teeth on this one! Emma has fun with this b/c she likes playing in the flour. She mixes it really well :)
I think this pic is so funny b/c she has sat her little monkey beside her to watch! She did the same thing when she made her gingerbread house, except it was with two lambs from my nativity. Come to think of it, she does this alot!
Kneading the dough, Emma liked this b/c it was like she was hitting the dough in the tummy.....hmmm?
Painting the ornaments
She really took her time and chose some really cool color combinations. I think I have an abstract artist on my hands!
Her snowman! After we paint the ornaments, I spray them with glaze to help preserve them and finish them off.
Our tree, you can click on this picture to see it better.
This gingerbread man was one she painted last Christmas, when she was 3.I'm sure you've seen the trampolines set up at the mall , well yesterday Emma took a go at it! She had alot of fun! She even tried flipping backwards, but couldn't get the momentum to go over. 
Woo hoo!
It was hard to catch a picture of us girls this morning as we headed out for church, so our smiles are all a little crooked, but nonetheless a good picture I think! Thanks mom!This is our 2nd year to celebrate advent, it is a really special way to keep our focus on what this Christmas season is truly about. I've been doing this book with Emma each day. She really loves it. I've copied a summary of the book from Children's Lit.com
Advent Storybook: 24 Stories to Share Before ChristmasAntonie SchneiderIllustrated by Maja Dusikova As little Benjamin Bear opens each door of the advent calendar that marks off the days until Christmas, Mother Bear tells him a short story that goes with the little hidden picture. Each story connects to the next as a young bear follows the Star of Bethlehem, encountering a variety of people and creatures along the way. Mother Bear uses each story as the springboard for a short affirmation. When the bear meets Santa Claus she tells Benjamin "that sharing with others brings us closer to God." In the story about two angels (each with just one wing) that help each other to fly to Bethlehem, she says "...it's nice to know the God gives us friends and loved ones to help us on our journey." All along the way the questing bear learns about what it means to be a good person and to love God. 24 stories later all of the characters arrive at the stable and are rewarded with the joy of the infant Jesus' laughter. The lovely, color-washed illustrations are nostalgic and magical without over-powering the story line. This would make a lovely family gift to share year after year--helping the little people learn some powerful messages about the season and to count the days until Christmas.
This is also a great book! Emma recieved this as a gift last year and it has been a wonderful story to teach Emma all about the real meaning of Christmas. It does talk about Santa Claus but the main point of this book is to show little ones that God is everywhere all the time. That even though we can't see Him, He's everywhere. So, the mother and daughter polar bear go on a journey learning about God in His creation. If you have children into animals as much as Emma is, they are sure to love both of these.
Just thought I'd share these with you!
Two special friends of ours came over last night for a "girls night", Mallory and Cassie are so dear to us. The girls made gingerbread houses together (Emma's 2nd one this year!) and made handprint wreaths. It was such a sweet time together. This time of the year is such a reminder of all the wonderful gifts God has given to us. He has blessed us beyond measure!
One of our family traditions is to celebrate the Eve of St. Nicholas on the 5th (A german tradition that Mike's family has practiced). That night, St. Nick comes and leaves a treat in our girls' boots that they leave by the front door. He always leaves a little snow behind too!
He brought Emma a unicorn and Lili a book! (Although, Lili's couldn't fit in her boots)
This is last year's blog post about St. Nick Day!http://cranstonfam.blogspot.com/2007/12/guess-who-came-to-our-house.html Okay, so I just celebrated my 31st birthday and I did something that I've always wanted to do but just never had.........
What an awesome experience! And definitely one that I will not forget! Especially, the part when I opened my eyes and saw this needle sticking through my nose, YIKES!!!! But, it wasn't very painful, just one little tear.
Emma likes it, she told me I looked beautiful :) Hubby really likes it.....a neat little tidbit for you: A little while back, I asked Mike what he would think about me getting my nose pierced, he told me that he was just thinking a few days earlier that I would look good with it pierced! So, that was the fuel that got me seriously thinking about it. I wouldn't have done it if he wasn't for it.
So, I just thought I should blog about it! I blog about everything else, so why not this?
So, here it is!
Our friend Mike sent us a gingerbread house as an early Christmas gift! I was so excited because I have not done this with Emma before. We had alot of fun decorating it. Emma really got into it, she took her time and strategically placed each candy.
Ta Da!
She is completely into her BLING!!! And Chloe doesn't look too happy about that!
We had a great time with you, Chloe, at your 4th birthday party today!
Surprise!
Our dear friends and family that came!
A special friend of ours, Bruce made Michael's birthday cake....chocolate and peanut butter. It tasted just as great as it looks!
Barika made this awesome banner! She means so much to us, we've been so blessed by her friendship. She is in Mike's college class that he leads at church.
I had a "30 Years of Memories" table. I had alot of fun doing this part! I learned things about Mike that I didn't know before.....like he collected stamps! This pictures shows an old cross-stitched piece with Mike's birth date on it, his toy airplane, and his first bible.
His boy scout badges, an old baseball sticker book, and a cigar box filled with stamps!
Yearbook pictures, don't we all love looking at these?!
One of Mike's best friends, Mark Bell. His family has been such a blessing to us both. We treasure their friendship beyond what words can say!
Bruce, cutting the cake!
The Birthday Boy!
Nathan and Taylor (2 of Mike's college students), they are down at Auburn this year. We went to help them move in, it was so much fun! We got to relive our glory days!
All the kiddos enjoying their cake!
