Happy 3rd Birthday!

Letters from School

I love getting letters from Mercedes' school that read.....

Mercedes Purington tested in the top 5% of 4th/5th graders in the country in Math.

Congratulations Mercedes!

She will now be taking over the finances of this household.



*new post below*

Yes we are still here!

We have been so busy this month. I have lots and lots and lots of pictures to upload and lots of stories to record but that must wait until Nate gets a new hard drive memory thingie and I have time to blog... which very well be in 2011. But for now, we hope yall are enjoying this Christmas season as much as we are.

Oh and if you are waiting for a Christmas card from us....STOP looking in your mailbox because its not coming. Sorry. I know that yall are super bummed ;) Just know that we are thinking about all of our precious friends and family and wishing everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I promise to keep taking lots of pictures.

Oh I do have a sneak peak (from Nate's phone) from our weekend at Stone Mountain in Georgia. If you have never been you must get in your car and head there NOW. It is so much fun.

Welcome To Candy Land

Last Saturday we celebrated Sydney and Savannah's 3rd birthday (a couple of weeks early). The theme was Candy Land and the theme could not have been more perfect for our two sweet girls. I must admit though...the quanity of pictures are not up to my standards. For instance, we forgot to take a picture of my favorite decoration. Nate and Pops made a Candy Land walkway complete with huge candy canes all along the front walkway. They did a great job but no pics :( I think next time we need to hire a professional photographer ;) We were just too busy enjoying our wonderful guests to snap our usual 500 pics!

Thank you Uncle Micah for designing the awesome invititions. You can't tell in this picture but they were on lolilpop sticks! Too stinking cute.

Candy Buffet

Lolilpop Trees and Cupcakes

Treat boxes to fill with candy.

Homemade Banners

Mercedes had a face painting station.

The craft table became very popular when it started to rain outside.

Someone forgot to think about where everyone was going to eat! Thankfully the kids didn't mind eating on the floor. Sorry Moms!

Singing Happy Birthday. Sydney could have cared less but Savannah really enjoyed it.

Making wishes like Cinderella!

Sydney enjoying her cupcake.

Charlie liked his too.

I am pretty sure Wells liked his the best though!

No party is complete without a bounce house. The kids loved it despite the rain and cold weather.

Sydney and Savannah were spoiled beyond belief. Thank you, thank you!

We feel so incredibly blessed and thankful for all our friends and family. I truly believe that "it takes a village to raise a child" and I love the "village" that we are a part of. The girls feel so loved each and every day from all our friends but they felt so special at their party and we can not thank everyone enough for that. They are still talking about "all mine friends come to my party and bounce and eat cupcakes."

Thank you to Mimi and Grandpa, Mimi and Pops Alexander, Mercedes and my wonderful husband for helping pull off this amazing party. I could have not done it without yall.

BTW-Isn't the top picture amazing?? No, I didn't not paint it. Shocking, right? Mimi Alexander is an high school art teacher and her students painted it for a dance. Just perfect for the party. She also brought over two 5' tall gingerbread men that didn't make it in any pics :(

Visiting Santa

I took Sydney and Savannah to visit Santa and they actually didn't cry this year. They didn't smile nor did they sit on his lap but they didn't cry and I view that as a huge success.

They weren't really sure what to think. You can tell that they are really nervous because their hand are in their mouths.

Santa was so sweet and patience with them. Thank goodness their wasn't a line because we took forever.

Their picture came out so cute!

Savannah made sure to let him know that she would like some stickers. So easy (and cheap) to please!


*a couple new posts below...I'm still working on the party pics though!

ENT Resident Christmas Party

Sunday night we attended the ENT resident Christmas party. It was a lot of fun and I even scored myself a Starbucks gift card.

Us with our sweet friends the Kulbershs (probably scheming how to get all the good presents!!)
We are going to be so sad when they move to Chicago in June :(

Most of the residents (notice how excited Brian is about his gift!)

I just singing to Baby Jesus Momma. He like it.

Yesterday I decided to finish putting out our Christmas decorations which included our Nativity scene. At first I put it up high so the girls would not touch it but then I thought....Jesus is the reason for the season, so I moved it to their level. However, I stressed the point that they could only LOOK, absolutely no touching. They have done really well at not touching it but have not left it alone since yesterday. EVERY toy has been added to the scene at some point. This is the conversation that took place right before this photo...

ME- Girls I hope you are not touching Baby Jesus.
Savannah- No I not touching. Cinderella need to know Baby Jesus. She looking at him.
Sydney- I just singing to Baby Jesus Momma. He like it.

Today they made their own picture of the Nativity scene at school and have been carrying it around all day. They do love them some Baby Jesus.

Cruisin' in Style

Last Saturday we celebrated Sydney and Savannah's 3rd birthday (more pictures of that coming soon). They really don't turn 3 until the 18th but I really wanted their birthday and Christmas to feel like two totally separate events. Before their party started we gave them their big present......

We debated whether to buy one or two and am so glad that we only got one. They have not fought once over who is going to drive. Such sweet girls....most of the time ;)

Winter Wonderland

Last week we went to the McWane Science Center with some other residents wives and their children to see the new exhibit Winter Wonderland. The kids had a blast and it was great to catch up with the other moms.

o
**new post below**

The Great Sphinx

Yesterday Mercedes and the rest of the fourth grade students at Bluff Park Elementary hosted an event for their grandparents. Each student had to pick a tourist attraction somewhere in the world and make a 3D model of it. They also had to make brochure and act as a "tour guide" for their grandparents. The grandparents even got a passport and could get them stamped when they visited other countries. Mercedes' Grandpa and Janna were here visiting which worked out perfectly. Mercedes chose the Great Sphinx.

Ohhhh, and she also won another award at school!!! Yes, I am bragging!! She entered a poster contest for fire safety and won!! The chief of the fire department is going to the school to give her the award. I asked if I could be there when this happened and she said, "Would you bring your camera? If so, then no you can not come." WHAT??