From our family to yours, wishing you a very Merry Christmas!! XXOOO

Poor Dane must have something tasty on his head. . . .our friends' dog is attacking his head!!
Notice Ellery's arm placement once again. . . .yes, you have seen this little group before.

Don't they look so sweet and innocent here. . . .looks are deceiving!

Ellery and her best friend, Tatum. Look how excited these two are about the carriage ride!

Can you tell Dane just woke-up???

The God's of Christmas spirit were looking out for us on Saturday. We ventured down to our local shopping forum in search of Santa, a carriage ride, and lunch. We walked up to Santa to find NO LINE, as well as no charge to bring your own camera and take a picture of your child with Santa--unbelievable! We also waited a brief 10-15 minutes to take a FREE carriage ride around the center. What great luck. . . .do you think all the "freebies" are a sign of the economy??

Elf Uda is BBAAACCKKK! . Here are Ellery and Dane cracking-up that the elf chose the refrigerator door handle as a place to watch their every move!

We have had a busy Thanksgiving holiday at the Libby house. We hosted a total of 20 family members for dinner and had an extra six guests stay the night. It was a great evening and special to have four generations of family members all at one table!

On Saturday, our sweet little girl turned 4! Ellery is such a sweet little person and we are so proud of what a great big sister she has become. She LOVES to dress-up and has quite an imagination. Most days we are pretending to be Ariel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Tinkerbell, or some other character from one of her books. Her party was naturally a princess theme, which included a surprise visit from "the real Ariel." Ellery has not stopped talking about this since Saturday, but already informed us that next year Ariel could bring her friend, Sleeping Beauty(what!!???, daddy is NOT going to go for that)!!!!

Look at this little angel face. . . it can be a bit deceptive as he will often go from this face to a COMPLETE MELTDOWN! I sware I don't even know what sets this child off(o.k, maybe it is caused by a certain little girl in our house). We are amazed at how incredibly different he is from Ellery. This boy needs ACTION and is in constant motion. . . .generally chasing Ellery and her friends around. He is changing daily and we are both delighted and saddened by the constant growth of our sweet little boy.

Trying to keep up with big sister.

Soccer has been drastically better since the first game. We discussed the dynamics at great length and Ellery finally gets that she has to run after the ball if she wants to kick it. This sounds like a simple task but imagine: Since birth we have been asking and encouraging her to share and take turns. She has finally learned to do these things and expects others to return the favor. Then suddenly we throw her into this sport where no one is sharing and everyone is out for themselves(remember this is pee-wee soccer). We underestimated the impact that this would have on our sweet little girl, but she is now holding her own and even scored two goals!

A new favorite!

Ellery and her 3 BFF's. Notice Ellery's arm around one boy in particular. . . .she LOVES her some Jackson!

Halloween brought a pre-party, trick-or-treating, and then a post party in our neighborhood. The children had a ball and were so sweet to watch. Dane caught onto the whole concept after a few houses, but insisted on holding a minimum of two pieces of candy the entire night. One house even made fresh cotton candy for the children--we are so blessed to live in such a great neighborhood!

Ellery with her good friend, Brady. Give him some space, girl!

On Sunday we hosted our 2nd annual Pumpkin Carving party. We had a great time with good friends and neighbors and actually managed to carve out a few interesting jack-o-lanterns. Darin took his creativity to a new level this year and used his drill to make holes all over one of the pumpkins.

Last weekend Ellery had her first soccer game. She loved the practice and was all smiles as she ran and performed her practice drills. Then the game started. The first five minutes she was happy--chasing the ball, running across the field and even managed to get in a kick or two. Then the tears started. . . .and continued throughout the remainder of the game. She did NOT understand why she wasn't getting the ball and why her teammates were not just giving it to her. Haven't we been talking about sharing everyday for the past 3 1/2 years of her life??? She has FINALLY begun to grasp this concept, only to have her parents and coach tell her to, "be aggressive and go get the ball on your own! No one is going to share with you, you must TAKE the ball"!!! AAYYYY--YYIIII-YIIIIII!!! Why did Darin and I not realize that this might be an issue? Welcome to the wonderful world of pee-wee sports!!

The children enjoying ice cream on the luggage cart before leaving.

The ice cream was brought to us by a staff member who thought the children might enjoy this upon departure. What great service!!

The only famliy picture we managed on our trip, taken by a friendly staffer.

While the Ritz Carlton is not our typical hotel brand, we took advantage of Darin's conference venue and stayed a few nights. I have to put in a plug for this hotel. Beyond the exquisite lobby, restaurants, and pools, this hotel is an exceptional place for children. They have a fantastic program called "Ritz kids" where they host childcare, arts and crafts, games, and cooking experiences for children aged 5-12. While our children did not meet this requirement, we appreciate the idea of having a separate place for the children to express themselves. The service here is difficult to beat and they try to accommodate all needs, including those of the children. Much appreciated by this household!!!

Pretending to be a spider across the webbed course.

Here are a few pictures from a visit to "The Mosi", which is a fantastic children's museum in Tampa. I LOVE the pictures of Darin and my sister having a tug-of-war. . . .my tiny sister actually beat my husband, but to his credit, the sides were not even. Double click the pictures to check out the great expressions on their faces(look at these competitors)! Ellery LOVED this museum and could have spent the better part of the day playing in the interactive kitchen display--a great outing for little ones, as well as big kids(i.e. Darin).