Just like her brother

Remember this?

About a month ago, she started it too.  Every day she will bring things out of her room and line them up in the hallway or our bedroom or the living room.  She usually brings her dollhouse furniture or play food or baby accessories, but this day, she mainly chose crayons...

And a random measuring cup.

I so love watching them learn and grow. 

Houston, we have a problem.

Not really.  I just really wanted to use that title. 

The girls (aka - mom, kate, me, Char, and Vanesa) plus Hunter and Zack traveled down to Houston this weekend to visit Aunt Courtney.  In one car, y'all.  Yes, we did.  Seven of us humans drove all the way to Houston in one car.  Luckily I rode in the front seat the majority of the time and didn't have to sit in the middle of all that yelling talking.

Courtney and Nathan took us to several yummy restaurants, that of course I don't remember the name of, but I do have some pictures.  The first one had such a cool atmosphere...the walls didn't all connect so it was like you were outside.  Probably because, you really were outside...

After church on Sunday we went to have barbecue...

It was no bakers, but the mac and cheese was good.

After naps that day, we went to see Aunt Courtney's school.  The kids were so excited that we were there all alone...

Hanging out in her classroom...

I guess math isn't Hunter's subject.  He seems a little bored...

After setting off the school alarm - a very exciting experience for the kids! - we went to Cici's and then back to the hotel to rest for the night.

We had a fun little road trip, but were excited to come home to see James.  He was at work when we got here, but I walked in to a clean house and found this in the kitchen...

The kids were thrilled to see the brownies, and I felt so thankful to have such a romantic husband...yes a clean house is definitely a romantic gesture in my book!  One of the best, actually!  I love that he still reminds me why I'm so blessed to have him:)

Can't wait for our next trip to DISNEY WORLD!!! 25 days!

Best of 2011

Some of my favorites...

JANUARY:
It snowed, and the kids had so much fun making a snowman and throwing snow balls at each other...

FEBRUARY:

We had a family Valentine party where we made Valentine cards for friends and made Valentine cookies for us:)...

MARCH:

Hunter turned FOUR!! We had an awesome Dr Seuss party to celebrate...

(Please excuse my TERRIBLE hair...it was such a rat's nest!)

APRIL:

James and I ran our first (and hopefully not last!) half marathon, and Hunter came to cheer us on at the finish line...

MAY:

We had a small Wilkinson family reunion in Oklahoma...

JUNE:

Charlotte got her first hair cut...

And Hunter went to his first Rangers game...

JULY:

Charlotte turned TWO!!  She had a Wizard of Oz party with snow cones and a horse of a different color!

AUGUST:

The kids got to see the beach for the very first time...

SEPTEMBER:
Apparently September was our most boring month, because I only have these 2 pictures from the entire month.  A random day at Chuck E Cheese...

And I have such a terrible memory, there's no way I'm going to be able to isolate a memory from that month...probably because it really was kind of boring:)

OCTOBER:

We definitely made up for it in Ocotober, because this month was FULL of family fun!  It was hard to pick just one thing, but I think the fair was everyone's favorite activity...

NOVEMBER:

In November we went to the Dallas Zoo where Hunter gave my favorite quote of his from the entire year when he said, "What's that smell?  It smells like stinky animals." as soon as we got out of the car...

I'm totally still laughing.

DECEMBER:

December was filled with daily activities as we celebrated the advent season, preparing for the birth of Jesus...

This morning during the sermon, our guest speaker quoted Jeremiah 33:3 (one of my favorite verses), which states, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

I remember in college, one of my dear friends and I would fret over the circumstances of our love lives...either with loser boyfriends or completely boyfriend-less.  I remember we'd often say, I wish we could just fast forward our lives to take a peek into the future, just to know everything would turn out okay.  That was before I had really met the Risen Lord.  We have both since found Him, and now I can clearly see that the attitude I had was from a complete lack of faith in God.  I love Jeremiah 33:3 because it reminds me that God has a plan for me, and He will reveal it to me when I pray intently to Him.  This morning as I listened to the sermon, I was so excited to think that God has great things planned for my family and I in 2012, and He already knows what they are.  I can't wait for all of us to find out, too...in His perfect timing.

Happy New Year, friends!