It's the most wonderful time of the year!

For those of you just joining our blog, please keep in mind that type in black is the voice of Mom &/or Dad, pink is Caroline and blue is James. We try to post about once a month so this post is particularly long with all the fun we had in December.

Classic Christmas photos with Santa... poor Caroline remains true to her original Santa greeting- the blank stare.
2008 2009

Well, many of you know that I've had more bad hair days than good ones. Mom was getting pretty tired of brushing out my softball-shaped, tangled mass of hair twice a day. So we decided it was time to have my first hair cut. Not every kid makes it to two and half without passing this milestone, so I consider myself very lucky.

I was so embarrassed of my tangles, I decided to go to the salon incognito.

This guy was so much help. I hugged him over and over... he didn't mind my untamed coif.

Miss Mallory was up to the challenge of taming the beast that is my mane.

Of course I kept my patented mortified expression the entire time.

Here it is... my new do! Sadly, the haircut did nothing for the giant mass of hair that appears after each nap and every morning. We're now trying several natural detanglers, if they don't work we're on to plan C... WD-40.

We went to Durham for Thanksgiving... Aunt Jenny was happy to give Laurel and me a ride on her scooter.

I was a big help decorating the tree. The tree had over 2,500 lights and took mom several hours just to get those in place. This year we decided to forgo ornaments since the lights looked so pretty on their own and because James is pretty interested in eating round, shiny and breakable things.

Christmas Card Photo Outtakes
It wouldn't be a December blog post without our annual Christmas card photo outtakes. This year mom and dad found it even more challenging because they had the task of making sure we both looked adorable at exactly the same time. I know what you're thinking... how could it be that those two children look anything but adorable? Read further if that question crossed your mind.

So... one of us would smile and the other would frown. Or eat the props.

One of us would cough.

... or sneeze.

James continued to eat the props.

At least he looked adorable doing it.

We did pause for a hug.

A very aggressive hug.

The Caroline scowl in full force.

Hey, this isn't so bad...

Gimme that!

Right now!

I mean it!

This is when mom decided that it might be better to go for individual shots.

Afterward Dad let us take a little ride... it was great!

This picture reminded me of one from my past.

Getting a little silly.
Not really sure what happened here...

We went to go see those dancing and singing bears again. Remember them from last year?

Do you see what I go through trying to take these pictures? Seriously!

I decided that the indoor pictures may not be "card material" so I tried to do some outdoor shots. What you didn't know is that I drove around the neighborhood looking for a home that had adorable decorations so I could stick the kids in front of them to get a picture. This was my only choice given that our decorations were still sitting in 10 gallon plastic boxes in our garage in the middle of December.

I had to include this one to prove that Caroline does smile for pictures (just not at the same time as her brother).

After finishing our Christmas photo shoot, we decided to get casual.
Look who else is Darling in Denim.

We also attended our friend Elena's second birthday. This is where I learned that I'm almost strong enough to pick up James. I'll be practicing until I get it right.

Why is it that every little girl makes this exact facial expression when she's trying to pick someone off the ground, particularly one she isn't supposed to be lifting?

One of the seven dresses Nama sent me for Christmas.

Christmas Day

All those presents and the favorite "toy" was a wrapping paper roll someone accidentally left by the tree. Sheesh!

At least someone understands the true meaning of Christmas!

For the first time since 1947 our town had a White Christmas! Look closely and you'll see two beautiful cardinals in the tree.

Poor Caroline was wearing classic "Leggat snow gear": undershirt, shirt, sweatshirt, coat, three pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, sandwich baggies, the final pair of socks over the pants, and regular ol' shoes... no snowbibs or boots for this girl.

After playing in the snow, we came in for a nice cup of cocoa.

Look mom, I can dress myself... I'm ready to play outside!

Poor Caroline and James have been sick for the last two weeks. The first week they had colds and the second week they had the flu bug. The picture above was taken near the end of our two-week quarantine. Caroline was so tired of staying indoors, she put on her coat, hat and slippers (all over her pajamas) and was ready to go. I caught her hanging on the door handle saying, "Please Mama, I need it!"



Lastly, here are some videos we've taken in the past month. Some of them are a little long, but the endings are usually worth your time. Sit back and enjoy!

October and November

Okay.... I know it's been a while. I'd like to say we'll get better about posting, but we can't make any promises. So let's see, what's happened since we last communicated?

We celebrated Dad's 30th birthday at our favorite Mexican restaurant. We were both pretty rambunctious and mom and dad have decided never to go out to eat again... without grandparents- that is.

We went to Great Wolf Lodge with our Durham cousins. We had a great time and hope to go back soon.

Granna, Grandad, and Cam came to visit and we went to the pumpkin patch. Granna followed my every whim and did whatever I wanted. We climbed the ladder and went down the big slide at least a couple dozen times.

Here we are looking at pumpkins that we're not going to buy. Sorry, but Wal-Mart is really the place to get the best pumpkins.

What a big guy!

We also celebrated Jamie's 1/2 birthday with this clever little number. Grandad and Granna really are creative aren't they? I mean, we got to eat half a cake before we even started the party!

James started eating solid foods and hasn't stopped since. Meals are pretty much his favorite part of the day.

We visited Grammy and Grandad's house to attend the blessing of two new cousins, Iain and Scott. Grammy took me for a walk in the woods.

I collected all the best acorns.

We also got to see our other new cousin, Lachlan.
Three generations of darn handsome men!

At first mom thought it would be impossible to get a good picture of the two of us together. One of us would smile and the other would look away.

Or one of us would try to escape.

But then this happened!
(This picture makes me feel like the most blessed woman in the world).

Attention Ralph: We've got your next cover boy!

Halloween at the Johnson's

Okay, this is so sweet... Caroline was under the impression that she needed to hold her arms out all night in order to be a bat. You can't really tell in the pictures, but the bat cape ties to her arms and she's right, it does look best with arms out!

James was a little fly caught in a web. Mommy was the web.

Daddy was a vampire. (Anyone who used to teach school with Mommy might recognize that cape as Little Red Riding Hood's hood, but tonight we had to be resourceful. (This is when a car full of costumes really comes in handy).

Caroline was told to make a scary bat face.

Frightening!

(Arms still out)

Post Halloween fun

To the bat cave!

Caroline's favorite Halloween moment

Okay, just one piece of candy before bed.

This lollipop took approximately 1 hour to finish. She savored every bite. Dad tried to to speed up the process by biting half the lollipop off, and he still hasn't been forgiven.
I made the mistake of "sharing" my lollipop with my dad. I try to be nice, and he bites off half of my hard earned treat (and they kept the rest of my candy). I still bring up this story to my grandmas and anyone else that will take pity on my plight.

Don't all bats wear tutus?

Daddy Daughter Date at Chick-Fil-A
The local Chick-Fil-A restaurants had a special Daddy Daughter night. It was very fancy. You had to make a reservation and you were served table-side. There was a piano player, a giant cow, and everyone got a beautiful flower to take home. Caroline's favorite part was the milkshake, but the piano player was a close second.

I asked Caroline to pick out a special fancy outfit to wear for Daddy. She picked out this "pretty pretty dress" and insisted on the hat. I wanted to go in and take pictures but I decided it wouldn't be a special date if I went too.

Alright, enough with the pictures.

Look who's finally enjoying himself... must have been a post-milkshake picture.

Outer Banks Marathon, Half Marathon, 8K and 5K

We went to the Outer Banks so we could all participate in one of the races. We stayed in The Big Kahuna because so many of our relatives came to run or cheer. Grammy, Grandad and Beth came on Friday. Cousin Ceilidh, Tom and their baby Lachlan came later that night. We were so excited to see Uncle Ian (1/2 marathon) and Aunt Emma (5K) too. Aunt Leesee totally "Ianed" us (surprised us) and showed up on Friday. She ran the last several miles of the half marathon with mom. Grandad, Graham, Susi and Muihrienne were there to cheer us on and take pictures. Cam got his PR in the 5K when he ran it with Aunt Leesee. Aunt Beth rocked the 5K with Emma and Granna took charge of the jogging stroller division in the 5K.


Uncle Graham was happy to entertain me.

Finally, someone younger than me to pick on!

Gotta love a good hat.

The best toy in the world... Grandad's clics.

Off to the races...

Granna and Aunt Beth are tag-teaming the stroller.

Alise is the total race-pacer. Running with Cam, she helped him take several minutes off of his 5K time.

The wind blowing through her hair... Emma sprints into the finish.

Oh, it was nothing...

Granna pushing through to the end.

A strong finish for Aunt Beth

To the victor go the spoils.

If it weren't for Aunt Leesee Mom would have had a really hard time. This picture was taken after mile 10 as they're running down the steepest "hill" (actually a bridge) on any race course mom had ever done.
Mom and Dad at the finish of the 1/2- both PR'd! Mom had been trying to beat her 13.1 time that she set eight years ago, when she was a mere 22 years old... she killed it by four minutes! Dad easily beat his time from 2003!
Uncle Ian did great... and he even mustered up the energy to race with Mom at the end of her race.
Aunt Leesee looking amazing after running the last several miles of Mom's race. Thanks Aunt Beth for all the cheering and support!
Monkey Cam and Aunt Leesee were so happy to see us.

The whole fam-damily.

Post-Race Ice Cream Making

Granna and I made some ice cream the night after the race. She let me eat chocolate chips by the handful.
This is my chef's uniform. We're not too worried about our sanitation grade.

Enjoying the fruits of our labor.