Happy 6th Birthday Peyton!

Peyton celebrated her 6th birthday with tons of celebrations during the month of December.

Since her birthday is Dec. 29, we usually have her party early in the month so her friends can attend before they are busy with the holidays. We had her party at The Tree House Children's Museum and the kids were allowed to run around and play in all the different rooms. One of their favorites was the "medical office" where they took turns working on Shawn and Aunt Christy. Her Hello Kitty theme resulted in a lot of pink and purple and caused her cousin to say "this is the pinkest day of my life."

On her actual birthday, we took her, Emily and her good friend Emilee to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel." Everyone loved the movie and the girls loved The Chipettes, especially their songs and dance moves. Later that night, we had pizza and I made a cake for her. We had lots of friends and family come over and we ended having a bigger crowd than we first imagined, but it was a lot of fun.

Today, I took Peyton to get her very first pedicure (a good excuse for me to get one as well!). She absolutely loved it and quickly acclimated to the life of being spoiled and pampered. She got her pedicure and then had her fingernails painted. I think I've created a monster!

Merry Christmas!

Our family enjoyed a wonderful Christmas season, filled with visits with family and friends, food and lots of presents! We visited with Aunt Colleen earlier in the week and exchanged Christmas presents. The girls then spent several days in West Monroe with Shawn, playing with some of their new friends from church. Everyone came back home just so we could get ready to drive back to West Monroe together to attend two Christmas Eve services. We drove home that night to get ready for Santa. The girls were tired from the trip home but were excited to get back home into their PJs and leave cookies and milk for Santa.

The girls must have been really tired from the trip because they didn't wake up until 8:30 a.m. Christmas morning! Of course, neither Shawn nor I minded. Once they were up, they raced us to the living room to see what Santa had brought. The girls were excited to find all kinds of things under the tree including new PJs, a Barbie house, digital camera and Hannah Montana Movie for Peyton and a Winnie the Pooh laptop computer, baby doll stroller and other goodies for Emily.

We barely had time to open and play with everything before we headed to Franny's for Christmas breakfast with all the family. Peyton got a cool "Plasma car" and Emily got a fancy new Schwin tricycle that drives superfast! Our next Christmas stop was dinner at Grandma and PawPaw's with all our cousins - Jacob, Brandon, Allie & Zach. The kids had fun playing together and making a gingerbread house. The girls got glittery shoes and matching sleeping bags with a flashlight and water bottle. They are ready for Daddy, PawPaw or Uncle Patrick to pitch a tent in the back yard and go camping outside!!

We've spent the last couple of days throwing packages away, finding a place for all of these toys and clothes, visiting with other friends who have come into town and popping fireworks! We all need a holiday from the holiday - now, it's time to get ready for Peyton's 6th birthday this Tuesday.

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's a boy!

We just learned last week that we're having a boy! Shawn and I had a doctor's appointment and ultrasound last week. They don't let the dads in during the first part of the ultrasound, so when the technician left to get him, I couldn't help but sneak a peek at the screen to see what we were having. It didn't say on the screen, but I was pretty sure I knew that what I was looking at was a boy! She and Shawn came in and when we both looked at the full screen, it was pretty obvious.

We are both really excited about having a boy, especially my husband, who has always wanted a boy. Now, we're starting to think about getting ready for baby - it really won't be that long before we welcome Henry Cooper Hornsby.

Happy Halloween!

As usual, we ended up with way too much candy during our week-long Halloween festivities. Peyton started off the week by having tubes put in her ears during day surgery. We had to get up early and being put under is a little nerve-wracking but by the middle of the day, she was doing great.

Peyton enjoyed a Halloween party at her Kindergarten class and got plenty of goodies - we made Frankenstein brownies for her friends at school. On Friday, Emily took the day to spend with Daddy and went to see Playhouse Disney Live to see all of her favorites - Winnie the Pooh, Darby, Handy Manny and Mickey and Minnie. Peyton and I went to a church Halloween party where we ate dinner, participated in games and crafts and trick or treated. She got waayyy too much candy and even won a real goldfish to take home. Unfortunately, "Goldie" didn't make it through the night. Not sure what happened but we'll have to try again one day soon.

On Saturday, the girls went to a birthday party of their good friend, Emilee Hall and then we quickly changed into costumes to head up to Witch Way to Main Street in Natchitoches. The girls were princesses this year - Peyton was Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Emily was Snow White. Tons of people showed up at Witch Way to Main Street and the girls enjoyed seeing all the different costumes and getting more candy. We are done with trick-or-treating!! We have enough candy to get us through the rest of the year!!!

Fall fun with the Morgans

We enjoyed a great, cool weather weekend at the zoo with our dear friends the Morgan family. Ms. Nancy and her two boys - Alex and John met us at the zoo for a fun day. The Morgans are getting ready to move to Florida so we wanted to enjoy one last outing with them before they make the big move to the Sunshine State. Alex and Peyton grew up together - when they were babies, they shared a nanny and have been best friends ever since. Peyton and Emily followed John around the entire time, trying to pick him up, hold his hand and take care of him. Many of the animals were out that day, which was great for the kids to see. The zoo had all of their fall decorations on display, so we were able to get some great pictures. We then enjoyed a great lunch. It was a great day and a great way to spend one of our last play dates for a few months. We are making plans to get together in early 2010. Best wishes to the Morgans on their big move - we'll miss you!

Fall Field Trip

Peyton's Kindergarten Class had her first field trip this week. They went to the parish fair to look at the animals - she sat on top of several horses and donkeys and held different animals like a baby bunny and chick. We even ran into our cousin, Jacob! Her class then went to the park to play and enjoy an outdoor picnic. Their last stop on the field trip was a pumpkin patch where they played with the pumpkins, crawled through tunnels, heard a story, ate pumpkin seeds, ate cookies and "pumpkin juice" and did a craft. Our whole family went on the field trip and Emily just inserted herself into the mix the entire time. Anything the class did, she did also, like she was one of them. We all had a good time and enjoyed the nice sunny (and cooler weather), a much welcome change from the rain!!

It's pumpkin time!

The girls and I finally had the chance to get to West Monroe so we could visit dad's pumpkin patch at church. They had great fun searching through the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin for inside our house, outside our house and of course, to carve. Emily and Peyton fell in love with every other pumpkin they came across, so we have plenty of pumpkins for the fall season. They also had a great time crawling through a wooden maze surrounded by straw. They thought that was so much fun.

Later that day, we went to the Ouachita Parish Fair. This was Emily's first experience at a fair and riding real rides. She surprised all of us and was more brave than her sister at first. She rode a few things without her big sister sitting by her. Peyton finally warmed up to the idea and had tons of fun on the rides, especially the fun house of mirrors. Peyton, Emily and Shawn spent the last ride on a "crazy airplane" that went up and all around. All three of them complained of a stomach ache after the ride was over.