Cousins

Ellie has three wonderful cousins that live in Maryland. We got to spend time with them up at Uncle Don's Christmas party. Ellie enjoyed playing hide and go seek with them. I think she actually just wanted them to chase her around the yard. She refers to her cousins, Brendan and Ryan as the "big boys". She talked about how much she loves her cousins all the way home. I love that the are so willing to help entertain a three year old.

Christmas Morning

There aren't enough words to describe how special this Christmas was with Ellie. Ellie loved every second of it and we loved watching her take it all in. Santa was very good to her and brought her lots of wonderful gifts. Santa got a crazy idea of bringing a trampoline to our house and Ellie jumped all day on it. She hasn't actually stopped jumping. The trampoline makes lots of noise and Mommy and Daddy will be trying to figure out how to get the batteries out of it very soon. She got a rocking horse that moves it's head and tail. She got a wonderful farm set to go along with the rocking horse. I am sure next year Ellie will want a real horse.

It was so nice to share Christmas with so many members of our families. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner and Ellie got to enjoy hanging out with Kimmy and Kenzie.

It Was The Night Before Christmas

Grandad Joe reads this story to Ellie every Christmas and every Christmas she sits in wonder. Ellie loves to be read to and this is one of her favorite stories. Uncle Mike liked the story so much that he slept through it. It might of been the festive drinks for the night that put him to bed so early.

I Love My New Camera!

The top picture was actually taken on Aunt Mimi's phone but was to cute to not post.

Sunday of Pictures

Chris and I used our cash back rewards to purchase a new camera. We needed the new camera since Ellie broke the zoom function on our current one. We love our new Sony A300 and it takes great pictures so far. It's a little fancier than our old camera and I am going to have to read up on all features it has.

Uncle John came out for the Annual Franzen Holiday party and stayed the night. Ellie had a camp over at Grandma and Papa's house. I tried to tell her it was a sleep over but she liked her phrase better. I am sure Uncle John enjoyed being bounced on by a three year old this morning.

Goodnight!

This is a perfect end to the perfect day. Ellie had a busy day of Aunt Mimi, holiday partying and Christmas light touring. Ellie invited Luke onto her bed and he wasn't no time making himself at home. Luke and Ellie are two peas in a pod.

Holiday Party

Ellie had her holiday party at school today. Ellie was able to share in the party with all her good friends and Aunt Mimi and Papa showed up as a special treat. The kids did a great job of singing and ringing their bells to jingle bells. You will notice in the pictures that Papa and Daddy did a good job with the bells too. I enjoyed making a Christmas tree with Ellie and have her tell me how to put the glue. It was wonderful meeting the other parents. Ellie love goings to school and it's such a nice surprise considering that she was a screaming lunatic for the first month. Ellie is growing up so quickly and I am amazed by the new things that she learns everyday.

Chris has started his Christmas vacation and I am sure that Ellie will keep him entertained. I will get to join in the fun starting next Tuesday and can't wait to have some quality family time.

Newest Member of The Mallonee Clan

This holiday season has allowed the Mallonee clan to gain a new member. We are thrilled to welcome Fran, Joe's girlfriend soon to be fiance to our family. Chris and I couldn't be happier to have her become a permanent member of the family. We want to thank her for all the fun, happiness and love that she has given Joe over the last year. It's a wonderful thing to see Joe so happy and no one deserves more than he does! We love the both of you and can't wait to share in your future memories.

Thanks John for having this photo on Facebook so I could steal it for my post.

Santa is Everywhere!

Santa was everywhere yesterday. Ellie and her best little pal Olivia enjoyed breakfast with him. Both girls jumped into his lap for some one on one time. Ellie told him that she has been good and wanted some coloring books and babies for Christmas.

Santa followed us all the way to Uncle John's place last night. Santa managed to have his reindeer land on the balcony of Uncle John's condo and deliver early Christmas presents to all the kids. The kids loved spending time with Santa and gave him lots of high fives and hugs on his way out the door. We watched his sleigh ride off into the night sky.

Santa did manage to give my husband some coal for Christmas but he only deserves the finest gold. He's a good guy all year long!

Christmas Tree Hunting

The Christmas tree purchase wasn't as easy as we thought it would be. We gathered ourselves up for some Christmas tree hunting yesterday and hunting we did. We are lucky to have a Christmas tree farm right across the street and went there with high hopes. We have a very large two story family room and wanted a grand tree to go in there. We started walking the tree farm with our wagon and saw in hand and realized that we might not find it here. Chris was nice enough to run ahead of us to see if he could find a tree that would work. In the meantime, Ellie informed me that she had to go potty. There were no bathrooms around and we were left with the great outdoors as our only option. Ellie wasn't shy about it and dropped her pants and got down to business. My husband was coming up the hill and couldn't believe his eyes when he caught a glimpse of Ellie's two little cheeks hanging out. Although, I am not sure why he was surprised since he has been known to do this same thing in public places. We hope we didn't ruin any one's Christmas tree experience. We headed out of there right afterwards and went to the Purcellville fire house and found the perfect tree for our family Christmas.

Gingerbread Creations

We had lots of family fun this weekend. I have lots of great things to share with everyone. We went over to Uncle John and Aunt Kirsten' s place for their first family Christmas party. We had a wonderful time and all the kids enjoyed making a gingerbread house. We didn't see the final outcome but we are sure that the house was assembled today. Ellie did a really great job on her wall and actually put her candy on the wall instead of her mouth.

The Story of Santa Mickey!

Chris is always telling me that I can't say "no" to Ellie and it appears from our 3 foot tall Santa Mickey that he can't say "no" either. Chris and Ellie went out to do some grocery shopping at the local Giant and Ellie found Santa Mickey in one of the aisles. The conversation between father and daughter went something like this-

Ellie- " Daddy, I want him"

Daddy- "No Ellie"

Ellie- " But I love him"

Daddy- "OK, since you love him"

We are the proud owners of a very large Santa Mickey that makes me laugh every time I look at him. I can't wait until Ellie has this same conversation with her dad about her first boyfriend.

Christmas Lights!

Chris and Ellie were in charge of decorating the outside of the house. They did a wonderful job and the pictures don't do it justice. I'm sure we will have some better pictures in a couple of days but I wanted to show off all their hard work. Ellie loves watching the reindeer move around. We are very excited to celebrate the holidays this year and can't wait to see how much fun Ellie has with it!

On a side note, we are still without our computer and that would explain why I'm so far behind on the blogging. Please bear with us a little bit longer!

Tribute to Papa!

This weekend was a special one for the compound. Papa celebrated his birthday with all his favorite girls. Ellie, Kimmy and Kenzie played special attention to Papa at his party on Saturday. The girls really enjoyed eating most of Papa's cake.

Ellie loves spending time with Papa and she knows just how to get her way with him. Papa is a huge softy when it comes to his girls. He will go to the ends of the earth for them. Ellie and her cousins are lucky to have him as a part of their everyday lives. Papa, thank you for being a great father and grandfather and we love you.

Our Art Show

Ellie has been bringing home all sorts of art projects from school. We finally put up a bulletin board to display all of her hard work. I am amazed by all the projects that they accomplish every week at school. The best part is that Ellie will come home and try and create what she learned at school that day. It's wonderful seeing her mind work.

We had our dentist appointment last week and Ellie was a trooper! She did loved the dentist and let them clean all of her teeth! Mommy and Daddy learned some helpful hints from the dentist as well. I recommend Little Pearls Dentistry in Lansdowne for all children. They have a great environment for children and make the appointment a fun experience for all of those involved.