Baptism Anniversaries

Catherine Ellis and Caroline were both baptised at St. Mary's-on-the-Highlands annual Parish Retreat in January.  Catherine Ellis was 9 months old and baptised on January 10, 2010.  Caroline was 8 months old and baptised on January 8, 2012. 

 

Catherine Ellis - January 10, 2010

Caroline and Godmother Amanda - January 8, 2012

It is a tradition in the Episcopal church to light your baptism candle each year on the anniversary of your baptism to remember the light of Christ as well as symbolizing the lighting of the way for the baptised person. 

Our Christmas card had the verse:

I am the light of the world.  

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

John 8:12

We Cains really like the symbolism of light in our walk as Christians.  So, this year we lit the candles and sang This Little Light of Mine!  Catherine Ellis knows all of the words and Caroline loved hearing her sing it!  And not to worry there was plenty of adult supervision while the candles were burning:

Happy Baptism Anniversary sweet girls!  We are so proud of the light that shines in your hearts already and look forward to walking your journey with you as your light grows stronger and stronger.  Love, Mommy and Daddy

Laughter is the best medicine!

This was one night last week - a reminder that it's super good for the soul to laugh - enjoy!

Staycation fun!

If you read our previous post you know we were "Home for the Holidays" and had a wonderful time.  I want to capture all of the fun we had - it's not every day that we're all four home and have lots of free time on our hands.  I certainly cherish the time that the four of us have together that is unscheduled - wide open to spontaneity (a trait I'm not well-known for!). 

Our first bit of fun after Christmas Day was a visit from the Greats - Aunt B and Uncle C!  The were headed to the Gulf and stopped by to spoil the girls with some great holiday loot:

 

 

 

It was near nap time and honestly, I'm sure Aunt B and Uncle C were ready to hit the road after the tantrums the girls pitched - I think we can all agree the holidays don't bring out the best in everyone ALL the time.  Thank goodness that after naps my sweet girls were back to themselves and we were off for more fun!  Thank you Greats of all the fun toys!

That afternoon Uncle Joey and Aunt Lauren came to play!  The girls adore them and had a blast - more toys were in order and lots of teaching time with Lauren as Catherine Ellis is really into learning her letters these days and how to spell things (bittersweet I tell you!).  Thank you Uncle Joey and Aunt Lauren for such a fun visit!

 

Aunt Holly came the next afternoon and manicures were in order for all the wee girlies in the house - so much fun!  Catherine Ellis is quite spoiled by manis and pedis as Meme treats her to them most every time they see each other!  Holly also treated Catherine Ellis to some arts and crafts items - markers, coloring sets and a dry eraser tracing set to practice tracing her ABC's - thank you Aunt Holly!

 

 

Saturday we headed to the McWane Center for the Winter Wonderland and Clifford the Dog exhibit again - so much fun and this time Daddy was in tow so the trip was much less stressful!  We can't wait to go back for an IMAX movie and some popcorn (the real reason CE wants to see a movie!).

Sunday night we did one of our favorite Sunday Funday traditions - pizza at Davenports!  Yummy!  After getting our tummies full we headed to Zoolight Safari at the Birmingham Zoo.  This year Caroline could walk and really enjoy the lights - she had a blast!  It was very cold, but we enjoyed the lights, a train ride, merri-go round ride and snow!  Lots of fun!

 

 

New Year's Eve we had some of our most favorite people in the whole wide world over - the Carmichaels - and cooked out and played.  It was great fun - but no one stayed up till midnight (Daddy did, but all the rest of us were in bed long before!).  I hope this is a tradition we can continue for many years to come!

 

New Years Day we had lunch with the Pop, Gran and Carrigon and a very lazy afternoon - just what we needed as we prepared for Daddy to head back to work the next day.  The girls and I had one more day together to play and chill before reality came aknockin'.

I'm so very, very thankful for such a wonderful, relaxing, family and friend filled holiday.  It truly was one of the best Christmas' we've had!  I know they will keep getting better and better as the girls get older and understand more, but there is something about seeing Christmas through the awe and wonder-filled eyes of little ones.  May we never grow weary of the awe and wonder that Jesus offers us each day of our time here on earth.

 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
Deuteronomy 4:9 (NIV)

Home for Christmas

We were home for Christmas this year and it was
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  My family was willing to travel to us Christmas Day (in severe weather at that - thank y'all!) so we hosted Christmas lunch at our house and it was fabulous.  It certainly made me appreciate the other side of what goes into hosting - as I've never hosted a big holiday gathering before.  However, it was easy because everyone pitched in a brought a dish and it is was a yummy meal!

We started off Christmas Eve with our church play that is all about the birth of baby Jesus.  If you don't know - the Cain ladies love some baby Jesus.  This was Caroline's first time attending the play and Catherine Ellis was old enough to be in the play this year - she was a star (how appropriate!) and did beautifully.  In fact, she pitched quite the hissy when she realized the play was over and she had to leave the limelight (David, anyone?!?).  She recovered and we had a WILD Christmas Eve service alongside every other family in our church and over 100 children - it felt like we'd run a marathon when it was over, but it's always so worth it.

 Daddy and Caroline waiting on the Christmas play to start

 Our "Star" in the play - she did a great job!

 We came home to a yummy dinner and made cookies for Santa - a fun tradition that I started with CE when she was one - it's always a good time and who doesn't love sugar right before bedtime?!

Quality assurance testing :)

 Our pretty tree!

Christmas Eve was a big day for us apparently because Catherine Ellis slept until 8:00 a.m. (notice, no mention of C here because she was up at the crack.of.dawn), but once she got up the fun began and they ripped into Santa's loot that he'd left behind after reading their note from him:

Love their expressions at the note that Santa left ... so sweet!

Dollhouse from Santa

Belt - this child is long and lean and needs all the help 

she can get keeping her britches up!

Building blocks - of course they are pink!

Unwrapping fun 

So excited!

Dora the Explorer goodies!

Stocking stuffer fun

Christmas morning 

HA - Caroline is such a ham!

Next up the arrival of Meme, Uncle Drew and Aunt Kim for the day.  We were all very excited for them to come and spend the day with us - the girls showed off all their new toys and then dug into round three for them - goodies from Meme and Uncle Drew and Aunt Kim:

A toiletries bag from Meme - Mommy was super excited about this!

Matching headphones from Meme

SO excited about her Scooter from Meme!

Big and tall on the scooter

Sissy had to give it a try too (much to big sissy's dislike!)

Nalgene water bottles - Mommy was excited about this one too!  

Over sippy cups around here!

Meme getting her photo calendar - always a favorite!

Playing with their easel from Aunt Kim and Uncle Drew - a big hit!

A final shot of all the madness and fun - we had a blast!