Last week, Cory sent the clip of Ella singing Jingle Bells to Fox News Rising because they had been asking for holiday pictures to show on the air.  A few minutes later, he got an email back asking if they could use the clip on the air that morning on the 8am news.  We immediately started calling everyone to let them know that Ella was going to be on TV!  As soon as Ella saw herself, she said “that’s Ella on the BIG TV singing Jingle Bells!”   They said she might just be the next American Idol :)  Ella was so excited and insisted that we watch it over and over and over….  She told me that she was a “Super Star!”  I hope she isn’t expecting star treatment now…haha!!

Such a serious little rocker :)

We hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!!  We pray for God’s blessings upon each of you as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!  Merry Christmas and most importantly, Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

There’s only so many things you can come up with to keep a 2 year old occupied while being snowed in for a couple days.  I bought a gingerbread house a couple weeks ago with the intentions of decorating it last week.  We ended up taking a long nap that day instead so it was the perfect project for a cold, snowy day!  Ella is very determined these days to do EVERYTHING by “me self!”  So, she had to put the “ornaments” on the house all by herself too!  A few of the “ornaments” ended up in her mouth before they made it onto the gingerbread house roof…I think she was going for a “weathered-look!” 

On Sunday, Ella went to stay with Mimi & Paw-Paw for a couple hours while we finished wrapping presents.  When I went to pick her up, she was so excited about the gingerbread train they put together!  She said it was “Thomas!”  She’s asked me several times if we can decorate another “gingerbread.” 

By the way, they should put a disclosure on the box that says…unless you are a cake decorating professional, your house/train will NEVER look like the example on the box :) 

First and MOST exciting, Ella did #2 in the potty today!!!!  WooHoo!!  Potty training is something we’ve been attempting for several months now, but haven’t been very successful with.  It’s not Ella’s fault, but ours.  We will do really good about taking her to the potty for a while, then we get busy…blah…blah…blah…and lots of other excuses too :(   Ella was so proud of herself and told everybody that she made a “big turd”…sounds like something she’s heard her Daddy say!  She’s got a little sponge brain that soaks up everything she hears!  And you can be certain, that she’ll repeat it :)

Also, I finally posted pictures from my NYC trip so scroll down to read all about it!!  I have been so busy since we got back…not only did I just post pictures but I also just finished unpacking this weekend…sad I know!  I also posted about our SNOWY weekend!  I’m on a roll!!  This week will be a busy one, but hopefully I can find some time to update the blog!  We hope you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and enjoy this special time with your family!!

We finally got a “real” snow!!  10 inches of snow!!  The past couple snow storms we’ve had only left us with a couple inches of snow that quickly melted.   It’s been since 1993 that we’ve had this much snow!  It snowed all day Friday and then overnight we got a little sleet on top of all that snow.  Ella didn’t weigh enough to break through the top ice layer :)  Neither did her Mommy…hehe!!  When we got up Saturday morning, I don’t know who was more eager to get outside…Ella or Daddy (ummm…it was definitely Daddy!)  We spent the morning making snowballs, building our “Frosty”, and sledding while listening to Christmas music blaring from Daddy’s Tahoe.  This put me that much more in the Christmas spirit!!!  I had so much fun being “snowed in” with my favorite people in the whole wide world!!!! 

Aunt Ashley & Ella sledding…watch out down the hill!!!!

Mommy & Ella (she wasn’t too excited about getting her picture made…she wanted down to play!)

“Frosty” in the making… 

     The “Frosty” Crew (and supervisor Ella)

Ella helping put the final touches on “Frosty”

Mr. Frosty Taylor-Bolick

I turned around and next thing I know, Ella grabbed a chunk of “Frosty” and started eating him :)

The Taylor’s (along with Cocoa in the background!)

By the way, Ella wasn’t the only one that enjoyed playing in the snow…

My attempt at making a snow angel

Daddy wiped-out while sledding

This morning we woke up and it was starting to SNOW!!   Those small flakes quickly turned into huge flakes and it has been snowing ever since!!  As soon as there was enough snow to make a snowball, Ella and Cory headed out on the back deck and couldn’t wait to get their hands on it!!  These pictures were taken about 10:30am and since we’ve gotten about 4+  inches of snow!  Some forecasters have estimated total accumulations of up to 20 inches!!!!  Ella is SOOOO EXCITED and can’t wait to get out there and play!!  Thanks to Daddy planning ahead, we got a sled and snow boots (for Ella & Mommy) yesterday.  So, we are ready for some SNOW FUN!!!!  Let it snow…let it snow…let it snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A couple weekends ago, I went to New York City with my Grandma, Mom, and Aunt Candy.  Even though we’re “country folks,” we managed to live like “city folks” for a few days :)  Christmas in NYC is amazing!!  From the tree at Rockefeller Center to the store fronts of Macy’s, Christmas lights and decorations were EVERYWHERE!!  By far my favorite thing about our NYC trip was The Rockette’s “Christmas Spectacular” at Radio City!  It was unbelievable!!  Those girls are amazing!!  If you’ve never been to NYC during Christmas, you should put it on your list of things to do!!  We also got to see some snow while we were there…it definitely put me in the Christmas Spirit!!

The view of Manhattan’s skyline from the Staten Island Ferry

Maw-Maw, Aunt Candy, Mom & Me at Tavern on the Green

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree (it was HUGE!!)

The view from the Empire State Building

The Rockettes

I loved listening to these guys play Christmas music on the Big Piano…they were awesome!

Ground Zero from St. Paul’s Chapel.  This Chapel served as a site where recovery workers could come rest, recover, and receive counseling.  Amazingly, when the World Trade Centers collapsed, the church was not damaged at all.  Not even a single window was broken.  All the other buildings within blocks were damaged and the majority of windows were shattered.  The only damage was to a single tree in the grave yard.  While we were there, the author of the children’s book “The Little Chapel that Stood”  was there signing books.  I look forward to sharing this story with Ella and how this event changed our country forever!  The emotion in this Chapel was overwhelming, but you could definitely feel the presence of God there! 

I had so much fun in NYC and can’t wait to go back again soon!!!  But, there’s no place like home and I couldn’t wait to get back home to HER…

…and her Daddy too, of course!  :)

Okay, so this year after the compromise (no outside lights for Cory but all out inside for Mandy), I went Christmas Crazy!!  There are decorations on any and every empty space in my house!  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE decorating for Christmas and how I wish I could leave it up year round!  It makes the house feel so warm and happy!  And Ella LOVES the decorations as much as I do!!  It truly is the most WONDERFUL time of the year!!   I’ve seen where a lot of bloggers are doing a Holiday Tour of Homes and since some of our family doesn’t live in town, we wanted to share our Christmas decorations with you…

I actually made the wreath hanging on the mirror!  I was so proud of myself!  It has lots of sparkly glitter on it and made the biggest mess ever, but it’s so pretty!!!  Everything in my house is covered in glitter!  Including the dogs! 

And since my mantle was sparkly…I had to make the tree sparkly too!  So needless to say, I will probably NEVER get rid of all the glitter in my house!  Cory is being a pretty good sport about it all…thank goodness for the Rainbow vacuum!!  

These presents are one of my favorite Christmas decorations!  They almost didn’t make it this year (or maybe it was me that almost didn’t make it)…anyway, I was half way up the attic ladder when Cory dropped the biggest box and it came crashing down on my head and almost knocked me off the ladder!!  He better be glad that I couldn’t get to him because he started laughing. 

This is the tree we put up in the dining room.  Ella absolutely LOVES this tree because it’s covered in candy ornaments! 

I am in LOVE with Ella’s tree in her room!  It turned out so cute!  Ella has redecorated this tree so many times since we put it up!  She has a new favorite ornament everyday. 

I actually thought I was done decorating once I put up all 3 trees and all my other Christmas stuff out…but a little decorating elf from SC came up for Thanksgiving and talked me into decorating the columns in my foyer.  And once again, we made another HUGE glittery mess!!  But, I’m glad we did because I LOVE it!!! 

And here’s our elf that Ella calls “Elf”…so he officially doesn’t have a name yet.  But he’s been keeping tabs on Ella and reporting to Santa every night!!  

This Willow Tree Nativity is by far my FAVORITE Christmas decoration!  This is the reason we celebrate Christmas!  It’s fun putting up the Christmas trees and getting covered in glitter and waiting for Santa to arrive with lots of toys, but so often we forget to take the time to remember what CHRISTmas is all about!!  I pray that everyone takes time during this busy holiday season to remember the true meaning of Christmas and celebrate Jesus’ birthday!

Ella has a Little People Nativity set that she loves playing with and she also loves looking at Mommy’s “Baby Jesus” and even though she’s not supposed to touch it you can see that the black sheep on the left is turned around.  When I asked her who turned it, she said “Baby Jesus.” 

We’ll see what Santa thinks soon!!!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!  We hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!!!