We Made It

I have been dying to get the kids out to see the lights downtown.  We took the trax downtown, had dinner at The Dodo and rode the trax back.  It was perfect.

Christmas Favorites

Christmas Eve - Eve

My mom wanted to throw a Christmas Party for my girls. We decorate cookies every year with our good friends, the Bithells, on Christmas Eve so my mom had the party on Tuesday night. So cute. The girls were in heaven. We had dinner, dessert, and about 40 games of Santa Bingo.

Really? Really??

Can this honestly be happening?  Can my "baby" really be getting too big for Santa's lap.  I don't like that.

                                                                Téa, age 3

                                                      Téa, age 16.  I mean, 7.

Change of Plans. Good.

The other day Ben and I had a babysitter lined up so we could wrap up our Christmas loose ends.  The weather had other plans. That night was the most fun the girls and I have had in a long time.  Here's to being snowed in.  

Me, Téa and Popeye.  We started painting ornaments and ended up painting every paper plate in the house.
Edie came down after her nap for a "paintbrush snack." Delicious.

We finally got our tree (and it finally snowed).

The Stages of Grieving

In college I took a class where we studied The 5 Stages of Grief.  That knowledge has come in handy when introducing vegetables to my children. Eden started the process and successfully followed through all of the necessary steps to be at peace with her new diet. 

The vegetable in question was green beans.  She, of course, started her "session" in (1) DENIAL. Even though her rice cereal was suddenly green, she decided to believe it was still the same old rice cereal; oh but no.  The following 15 minutes ran its course as expected.  

(2) ANGER

(3) BARGAINING

(4) DEPRESSION

(5) ACCEPTANCE

We will follow the same plan next week when we move on to peas.  But I expect her to move through the process much quicker next time.  I am so proud.

So, I guess it's Game On.

Here's the deal.  We had a "Dance-Off" over Thanksgiving at my sister's house.  All of the couples had to do a dance routine (please note: none of us dance -well, Amy can kick, but that is where it ends with us) So, we all had to do routines and no one knew anything until they came out for their song.  We called this a "safe-zone" where no video was taken and promises that no blogging would occur with these photos.  Well, since Josie posted her photos on her blog, I consider them fair game.  So, here they are. . . along with some other Thanksgiving pictures.

Josie and Justin danced to Mowtownphilly by Boys II Men.  I'm pretty sure I cried through the entire thing.  You have never seen anything funnier in your life.  It went on for like 5 minutes! And Justin never broke.  Not once.  I will be driving and just start laughing thinking of them doing this routine.

Ben and I wowed the audience with the finale scene of High School Musical 3.  I still laugh at the memory of us standing in the kitchen a few Sundays ago practicing "We're All in this Together" while our girls were sleeping.   

Soak it in people.  Soak. It. In.  Because this is the one and only time you will ever see Ben with a popped collar and a cocked hat. Yes, he put this on, and yes, he really must love me and my family.  Enjoy.

Here is evidence of Amy's kicking. Impressive, I know.  And yes, this was during a kick competition.  

Eden's New Time-Out Spot

Thanksgiving

I really have a lot to be thankful for.  First and foremost, my family.  That was made so clear this past weekend when all 5 of us siblings stayed together, with our families, at Megan's house for the holiday.  We love each other, our kids love each other and I am honestly blessed.  

Literally hundreds of pictures were taken in a matter of days.  About 4 of them were taken by me.  All of the rest were taken by Amy and Jake.  Amy posted some of her and Jake's photos on her blog.  So let's be honest and just have you link over to her site.  It's all laid out for you there.  So, off you go.

It's Starting. . .again.

My hair has all but stopped falling out, Eden can roll around and get to the toy she wants, lunch is getting made and dinner is a definite possibility.  Eden is super happy and only gets up once a night. . . (this is where you hear the record player come to a screeching halt). . .oh wait, she is suddenly back to getting up 4 times a night and only sleeping about 30 minutes a day. I have never (ever) met a more social baby in my life.

My lack of sleep has allowed my cognitive thinking to escape me yet again.  I am back to letting Avery have tuna for breakfast and Téa is loving her Nilla Wafers with milk in the morning.

Holy Cow.  Kids are resilient, right?  Right? Just say yes.  

I always tell people, "you have to pay for cuteness" . . .  and well, Eden is extremely cute.

Potato Harvest

A few weeks ago we went up to Ben's parent's farm in Idaho.  Ben has been wanting to work Harvest with his dad for years and finally got the time to do it. It doesn't matter how many times I've been there, it is always mind-blowing to see that many potatoes. And to think they have more than one cellar. . .and to think other farms have just as many cellars with just as many potatoes.  I can't wrap my head around it. We took the girls down the air shaft and up the stairs to the top of the pile.  It actually scared them for a minute, but they were fine and back to their old antics in no time.  

Serioiusly, A Drag.

Walking the aisles of Costco.  
I knew I had a lot in the cart, but I didn't think I had that much.  I pushed the cart almost a full aisle before I saw the real reason the cart was so heavy. Avery was standing (dragging) right next to me and I didn't even notice. I laughed so hard that I made her continue to hang there until I got her picture.  

Halloween 2008

Only a few small showers, no snow.  It was great.

Téa was a Red "Debil."  And being a Red Devil- like so many costumes were for me - is just an excuse to wear makeup. A lot of makeup.


Avery "The Black Bride/Cheerleader."  I get the Dumb Mom Award for taking my 5-year-old -who already had a costume - into Target 3 days before Halloween and walking by the costume section.  She saw the cheerleader costume.  She begged. I declined.  She cried.  We compromised. The bride has cheerleader pigtails and no veil. 

And quite reasonably, the fiercest lion you have ever seen.

Halloween Prep

We made our annual stop at Gardner Village to check-out the witches.

Went to the local pumpkin patch with Grammie.

Did the "trial run" at the Trunk or Treat with Amy's girls followed by some movie time. 

And we got our pumpkins carved last night. . .just in time. Eden was the judge.