gifts.

the first post of the year and i don't have any

photos of the kids on it.

or any faces, for that matter.

instead, i have a photo of my new bag.

is that bad?

[he needs some new first class patches bad]

when the boy came home from his level 2 school

last week, he brought back the bag for me.

i don't usually get presents when he's gone.

i typically just tell him to pick up something for

the kids and we leave it at that.

so when he handed this to me,

i was indeed thrilled.

i've wanted to have one made through militaryhandbags.com

with his uniform,

but he hasn't had any that he's been able to get

rid of yet and i don't want a bag made

out of a uniform that he didn't wear.

so, that brings us back to my excitement.

with the bag came a pin.

his crossed anchors pin.

boatswains mate pin.

he mentioned on the phone how he'd

picked one up for his friend that just switched

his rate to boatswain mate and i was

quick to express that i wanted a pin, too.

oh, and a 'navy wife' decal for my truck.

[got one of those, too. :)]

there are so many times i have to be hush-hush

about navy related stuff,

when all i want to do is yell out how proud

i am to be a navy wife.

well, now i get to carry it around with me.

it's not loud, but it'll do.

new year.

2012 is almost here!

the beginning of a new year means school is almost

back in session!

woohoo!

so thankful for my sister for letting me use her minivan this week while the truck is on "holiday break" AND for having a family pass to Exploration Place.  my kids LOVED it.


we got the boy back late last night and have him just long enough to celebrate the new year before he heads to his level 2 school.  and he's spending today fixing our truck with one of his navy buddies. :) 

happy new year!

'mini whyte house'

here's 'the mini whyte house'...

before and after.

aiden's star wars guys come over for visits, from time to time, too.  i can't wait to get started on his house!

we just found the pink & yellow living room furniture on clearance at target today.  i'd had my eye on it for a long time!  i even made pillows for it a couple of weeks ago. :)

a 'whyte christmas'

pre-christmas fun at pre-k.

[program & party]

the nativity that my mom painted for my sister's front lawn.

christmas lunch at justin's grandma's apartment.

we had our 'whyte christmas' yesterday with

justin's parents.

the kids each got

1. something to wear:

aiden- star wars underwear & pjs; emily- a robe & socks

 2. something to read:

aiden- chris van dusen's 'learning to ski with mr. magee; emily- olivia claus by ian falconer

3. something to play with:

aiden- star wars ship

emily- dollhouse w sleeping beauty doll

(aiden got her a tiana doll, too).

justin even had the kids pick out some earrings for me,

since i only have one pair after getting them pierced this fall.

and aiden picked out a watch for me...black with pink

"diamonds" around the watch face.

i look so girly now.

haha.

justin got a black backpack that he was wanting

for his mil travels.

i had been begging for some new measuring cups and new pj pants.  the numbers on my current measuring cups have worn off and i have to guess at the size when i use them. haha.  my pants i've had since i had emily.  thankfully, jus found new cups and pants for me.  actually, he got me a 3-piece set of super cute pj's, only they didn't fit...

and of course they didn't have any left when i went to the store to exchange them.

story of my life.

****

[so instead of finding new ones, i took him(and the kids) to dinner last night at on the border for his 'last supper' before his trip.  :) ]

****

after working on this dollhouse since august,

that face makes it all worth it.

justin's parents found emily a table and chairs to go in her house.  she was so excited to set it all up.

if you missed it, the house tour was posted here.  the floors weren't painted or papered at the time, though.

papa and granny got aiden a lightsaber and the buzz goggles.  he loves them.

enjoy the last week before christmas, everyone!

birthday girl: year 6

we have a 6 year old in the house now.

i keep telling her she's only 5,

but she insists she's 6 today.

i told her 'happy birthday' first thing this morning

and she did her best scarlett o'hara

impersonation(minus the drawl) exclaiming,

"THANK YOU for saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, MOM!!"

we also received a surprise in the mail.

japan sent their christmas present to them.

she's always early.

i'm always late...though at least this year

i have it purchased and ready to send!

they opened the box to find their very own

'elf on the shelf'.

boy were they thrilled!

they made sure i read it right that second!

we still haven't decided on a name.

it goes from 'smarty', to 'japan', to 'rudolph', to 'chimney',

to 'googly eyes'...

we'll figure out his name.

meanwhile, i'm plotting what to have him do. 

i've found a ton of ideas on pinterest. 

can't wait. 

this afternoon, 

emily had her 6 yr photo shoot. 

the high was below freezing today, 

so we opted to take photos at the old shoe shop. 

it's in the middle of being remodeled.

here's an example of what we worked around... 

the walls use to be exposed and i was so thrilled to shoot in there.

then my mom ruined them and put new walls over them.

blech.

thanks a lot, mom. :)

thank goodness for a 50mm.

it worked around the 2x4's and saw dust by her.

after a phone-filled afternoon of birthday calls from

aunts, cousins, grandparents & even daddy,

i made her a special birthday dinner:

pumpkin pancakes.

we are doing cupcakes for her class this week,

so i didn't want to make more today.

i just stuck her candles in the pancakes.

aiden helped me sing 'happy birthday' to her(i got another dramatic "THANK YOU" after that, too).

i swear i didn't give all 8 pancakes to her! :)

happy birthday, 'mimi'!

official.

well, it's official.

he's now a petty officer 1st class.

my niece famie was nice enough to come and photograph his frocking ceremony this weekend.  so glad to have a photo of this moment, with my face in it, as well. :)

thanks, famie!!

two holes.

justin's brother & family are in for the holiday week.

my sister-in-law wanted to get em's ears pierced for her

when we were in missouri,

but em was too preoccupied w her cousin chloe

to want to leave the house that day. :)

so we all(my SIL, niece, nephew, em & my MIL)

went to the mall over the weekend

and she got her ears pierced.

she decided so quickly to get her ears pierced, i didn't even get to call her dad while he was out of town and tell him she was doing it!  he found out via facebook photos. lol.

to my surprise, my nephew video'd it all with his ipod touch. i thought he was just taking photos!  when we made it back to my in-laws house, k-man was playing the video for his dad and my father-in-law.  so glad he taped it.  justin was able to watch it when he made it back home yesterday.  made me feel better about not calling him first!

i think it's safe to say that it was the most painful gift she's ever received. :)
(thanks to my SIL for manning my camera so i could hold my kid still!)

now we have more stocking options! :)
she's still pretty dramatic about the earrings, especially when i have to clean her ears, but she does love them.
i'm pretty sure she showed everyone at school on monday.
we ran into an old pre-k parent of mine at the store and she whispered, "mom, tell him i got my ears pierced!" haha.

not too much longer and she'll be an official 6 year old.