Christmas 2010

 We had a great Christmas.  We spent Christmas Eve with Lisa and her family.  Lisa put on an incredible feast.  My parents joined us for dinner and the traditional bingo night.  Kendall even joined in the fun this year and won a couple of boxes of Mac-n-cheese.  She could not have been happier.

Kami had found this little pet monkey and saved it for the girls.  They named the monkey "Boo-Boo".  I think I have my mom to thank for that name:)

Uncle Chip focusing intensely on opening his gift...

 My sister let me do the honors of picking out my parents gift this year.  It was a lot of fun.  However, my sister found this great pad of paper that said "Lab Notes" in honor of Rylee.  Sadly, I think we have been replaced by a black lab.  My mom refers to Rylee as "our sister".  UGH!!!

Here are the girls rockin' their froggy jammies.  These were one of Sid's favorites.  The minute she opened them, she stripped all of her clothes off and wanted the jammies on.  Smart Girl!

Handsome men!  Dylan played Santa this year and passed out all of the presents. 

Sid showing her look of the day.  The girls were so much fun this year.  They had such a great time opening up their gifts.  When we got home and unpacked it was like Christmas all over again!

Hallie, snuggling up to her new jammies.  It seemed that we all got a pair this year.  Again, good thinking:)

Aunt Stephie finally got some snuggle time with Sid!

It was a great Christmas.  Good food, good roads, time with family and lots of incredible gifts.  We could not ask for more!!!

The odd one out.

Last night, I was the odd one out in my house.  This never felt so good.  Kevin, Kendall and Sidney were all very sick last night.  Kendall had it the worst.  She got sick nearly every half hour from 5pm last night until 5am this morning.  Poor girl!  It hurt my heart to watch all of them.  Needless to say, I did not get a wink of sleep.  I informed Sidney this morning that I have not been this sleep deprived since she was born.  It is amazing what adrenaline will do!

The really sad part is that I had planned to take Kendall to see the Nutcracker Ballet today.  The neighbor girls were going with us.  In my delusional state, I still thought this was possible until my good friend Kristin brought me back to reality.  In the best interest of all, the Nutcracker would have to be postponed. 

Now all I had to do was deliver the bad news.  First, I called my neighbor.  She was very understanding.  She also shared that her daughters first year in preschool was a sickness nightmare.  My twisted mind found this somewhat reassuring as we have been plagued by illness the last couple of months.  Next, I had to tell Kendall.  She had just mustered enough energy to get "all dressed up".  Then I had to go tell her that we would not be able to go.  The bright side is that we have a plan to go with the neighbor girls to see a movie during the holiday.  I also told her that we could try to go next year.  Ridiculous as it may seem, I seriously felt near tears telling her (maybe it was the sleep deprivation?).  She just put her little arms around my neck and said, "It's okay mommy.  We can go when I start feeling better."  Wasn't I supposed to be consoling her?

So for now, I remain healthy.  However considering the proximity to all three sick people, it is very likely that I will end up with the flu.  My pessimistic side says,  "It is not a matter of IF as much as a matter of WHEN."  My optimistic side says, "I really hope that I can escape this one."  I make a terrible sick person!

Cookie Monsters

The girls had a sleepover last weekend.  They had such a good time, the next night both girls were happily in bed, asleep, by 6pm.  One of the highlights of the evening was cookie decorating.  Here is Kendall hard at work...She got a lot of practice and was more than ready to help me decorate our sugar cookies.

Sid showing off her cookies and her classic "Say Cheese" face.

Asher hamming it up for the camera.  Look at those gorgeous cookies, such precision! 

Then, the very best part...Enjoying the fruits of their labor!

The next morning, the boys were in a recital.  So all of the kids got dressed up and went to watch.  The girls all looked so adorable!  They are the sweetest things ever! 

Thank you so much to David and Rebecca for giving us a much needed night away and for showing the girls such a good time!

Making the most of "our" date.

I use the word "our" date very loosely here, as it ended up being a date with the girls as well.  Last night, Kevin and I had the luxury of enjoying an overnight date.  We reserved a room in downtown Boise and the whole bit.  I had heard from my friend Desiree that the hotel had an amazing pool outfitted to make any kid happy.  The girls were not due at the Nelson's until 5ish, so I called the hotel to see if we could check in early.  Sure enough they said, "Come on down.  Your room is ready."  Here are the girls checking out the view of downtown.  What good, upstanding parent wouldn't let their child stand in the window of the 9th floor?  At least I did not dangle them from the balcony (whoever gets that is truly revealing their interest for celebrity gossip).

Sidey was like a fish in the water.  She relaxed, squealed and genuinely enjoyed every minute of it. 

 Kendall told everyone that she "swam from one side of the pool to the other".  What she failed to mention was that she had THREE water noodles underneath her.  ONE noodle was simply not enough.  We definitely need to get this girl into swimming lessons!

After a few hours of playing in the pool, in the hot tub and gorging on peanut butter crackers, we dropped the girls off for their evening of fun with the Nelson kids.  As for the rest of "our" evening...it is not to be told here:)

Been out partying...

Party on Friday Night:

We had my work party on Friday night.  It was a good time.  Good food, dancing, drinks and a visit from Santa.  Sidney, who did not mind Santa last year, wanted nothing to do with the jolly old man this year.  Here is her reaction.  Note how hard she is clinging to me.

Even when Santa tried to hand her a present she would not have it.

However, when it came time to open the package, she was all over it!

Kendall on the other hand, who wanted NOTHING to do with Santa last year, thought he was pretty cool this year!

After Santa left the pary.  The kids did some dancing (sorry, no pics).  Sidney is going to be our break dancer.  She saw some of the boys spinning on their heads and proceeded to do the same.  It was pretty funny.

Party on Saturday night:

Last Saturday was Kevin's birthday.  We had the Nelson kids over and celebrated with cake and gifts.  This weekend, Kevin and I will go out and celebrate it again:)  Why not?!?! 

Kevin cranked up the WII while everyone was here.  All of the kids had a few turns skiing and hula hooping!

Party on Monday night:

The girls had a party at their school Monday night.  We had chili and cornbread.  There was a recital from some of the older kids.  Then Santa came!  It was pretty awesome, because the teachers had games and crafts set up in all of the rooms so we had stuff to do while waiting to talk to Santa.  Here is Sidney exploring in the pine cone bins.  Again, she was not real fond of Santa.  She did however want a candy cane.  I told her if she wanted one she would have to go and get it from him.  She walked up and took the candy cane from his hand (without making eye contact, of course).  Then she said, quickly and also without looking, "Thank you".  It sounded much like the growl that she used on Halloween to scare away the other kids.

Here is Miss Kendall sitting on Santa's lap.  She told him that she wanted a fishing pole for Christmas.  He told her that she needed to be very good and go to bed early on Christmas Eve.  On the way home she informed me that Santa parks on the roof and that because we do not have a chimney, he would have to make one to get into our house.  Interesting.  As soon as we got home that night, she ran to bed.  I thought it was a bit strange.  The next morning she asked Kevin "Did he bring it?"  Kevin said, "Did WHO bring WHAT?"  Kendall said "Santa told me that if I went to bed early he would bring me a fishing pole". 

Now the dilemma that all parents must face. What WILL Santa bring? Poor Santa hadn't heard a thing about a fishing pole until just a couple of nights ago....

P.S.  As I was reading this blog to the girls, Kendall reminded me of Audrey's Birthday Party last Saturday.  Another party we attended.  Becky has posted some really cute pictures from the party!
http://audreybug.blogspot.com/2010/12/birthday-extravaganzawith-cherry-on-top.html

Reindeer Games.

We had a fun-filled Thanksgiving weekend.  I think we were all so grateful to be feeling well that we tried to make the most of every minute.  Kevin took us by the cemetery, of all places, to check out the reindeer.  Pretty hysterical hearing him try to explain why "rudolph" did not have a red-nose.

In keeping with our tradition, we did manage to get our Christmas decorations up the day after Thanksgiving.  Mind you this was AFTER taking Kendall on her first Black Friday shopping experience.  Last year was the first year I experienced Black Friday, and I had a great time.  There was not one thing that I needed to buy this year, but Kendall had a few things she wanted to buy, so I promised her some good deals.  I was up at 3:30.  No Kendall.  I went to Walmart and came home.  Still no Kendall.  The girl who has been waking at 5am decided to sleep in until 7am.  WHAT?!!?  Mommy was getting anxious.  Once sleeping beauty awoke, we were off.  First stop...Starbucks!  Coffee for me and a donut for Kendall.  Then we headed to Kohls and Kendall went shopping crazy.  She had brought her own money to spend.  It was so cute to watch her shop and talk to anyone and everyone who would listen.

On Saturday, we decided to check out the Festival of Trees for the first time.  Kevin and I always talk about going, but this time we actually did it.  I only snapped one picture as we were all so overwhelmed with all of the sights and sounds.  There were hundreds (not sure if I am exaggerating) of trees to look at.  My personal favorites were the M&M tree and the Bodybuilding.com tree.  The girls favorite part was listening (and dancing) to the singers.

Say Cheese! 

Sidney spent most of the weekend lining up her dolls and animals and taking their picture.  She would go from room to room rearranging and snapping.  I kept wondering why she was not actually looking through the view finder.  Then I realized, "who does that nowadays?"

For those who did not read my post back in August, I took the girls to Planet Kid at the Wing's Center for the second time.  We went on Friday night during all of the "exciting" football games.  There was literally us and three other little kids for the entire evening.  The girls went nuts.  They spent 2 hours climbing, sliding, jumping, swinging and rolling.  By the time I brought them home, they were READY for bed.  Did I mention that they slept in the next morning?  SWEET!

Let the Holidays Begin!

Last Friday the holiday season officially began in our household.  It started with a Thanksgiving feast at the girls' school.  It was absolutely yummy.  The teachers all brought in food and invited the parents to join everyone for lunch.  It was a great time.  Kevin and I were totally impressed at how smooth (and calm) things went with that many little kids.  Kendall was so happy to show off all of her friends and  teachers. 

Sidney was loving every minute of it.  I was a little bit concerned that she was going to freak out when Kevin and I had to leave after lunch and return to work.  Miss Carrie was all prepared for such an event and helped make the transition go well.

Sister love.  It was neat to see them in their school enviroment.  They seemed so comfortable.  Their classrooms have an adjoining door and they often go back and forth to visit each other.

I bought the girls their holiday dresses this week.  Last night I took them out to show the girls and to try them on.  Of course, they insisted on wearing them and "dancing".  Kevin blasted the holiday music while the girls twirled and trotted.

We had our first glimpse of snow Saturday morning.  Kendall said she cannot wait to throw a snowball at us.  Where does she learn such things?  The answer would be revealed as we were walking through the Kohls parking lot.  Kevin found a car with a snow pile on it and proceeded to make snow balls and throw them at us. 

Sidney was not so sure about the snow.  We'll see how she does as more of the white stuff falls.  Will she be a cold "wimp" like momma or a snow "lover" like daddy?

I just could not resist a picture of Kendall's new favorite outfit.  She definitely has her own sense of style and takes such great care in choosing her outfits.  Someday she will look back on these pictures and wonder how I could let her leave the house like that.  Sometimes I wonder the same thing myself.

Last but not least, Sidney finally has enough hair to do something with!  WooHoo.  Where does she get all of those curls?

The Return of the Puffy Pants.

Sidney has started to show an interest in potty training.  Can you hear me smiling?  So this morning we broke out the puffy pants.  These are thick cotton "diapers" with a plastic shell.  Kendall wore them for about a day.  Really they were quite ineffective for her.  I think they will be equally as ineffective for Sidney, but fun nonetheless.  She spent about 15 minutes dancing around in them thinking she was hot stuff.  Then she proceeded to pee.  Oh well!  At least the signs of interest are starting to show.

I have been jumping for joy this weekend.  The family is ALMOST well again.  The girls seem back to theirselves.  I feel human again.  Now we just need Kevin to be on the mend, and we will gear ourselves up for the next round.  One thing about daycare is they sure have been sick a lot.  I was spoiled by their health and quite unprepared for the onslaught of illness. 

Kevin and I went on a date last night.  We went for coffee and to a movie.  It was the first time in a long time that I felt truly relaxed.  It was bliss.  The girls had a reunion with the Nelson kids.  It was great to see Sidney run and jump into David's arms.  It was so good to see everyone.  They are almost settled in to their new house.  Apparently the time with the Nelson's last night was not long enough, because Rebecca said Hannah and Kendall were already planning their next sleepover.

Kendall was quite the helper today.  Sunday's we try to get the house in some semblence of order.  The girls usually follow me around with their pretend vacuums (music makers) and beg to mop when I am done.  Today I let Kendall run the vacuum.  She was ecstatic.  I was impressed.  I did not even have the internal battle of "Do I go over it after she is done, or just call it good?".  She did a great job!  Wonder how long the thrill of vacuuming will last? 

Remember what it was like to have bones of rubber?  Yeah, I don't remember it either.  Though my trigger finger was not fast enough, Kendall actually had her feet touching the back of her head.  In all honesty, I could do that until just a couple of months ago (sure!).

Late Night Exercises and Other Domestic Updates.

Last night the girls were showing us all of their dance moves and stretches before bed.  Sidney's class does stretches every day.  Here she is midway through the side stretch.  I cannot explain the sunglasses.  She insisted that she needed to wear them indoors, at night.

Kendall was running through the dance positions last night.  She even had a fifth position, which looked nothing like the real thing.  From what I have read, fifth position is best reserved for when they get a bit older.  Here she is showing off first position.

My sister-in-law Sherry had seen my blog on scone making and sent me a delicious recipe to try.  Below are white chocolate and cranberry scones.  Yummy!  Thanks for sharing!

I thought I would post a few pictures of our bathroom with the new colors and trim.  These are for you mom!

As I am blogging, the girls are "sleeping" in the new fort that they built underneath the coffee table.  Oh to be young again!  You would never know that these two lively girls had a touch of the stomach flu just a few hours earlier.  How quickly they bounce back!

Congratulations to Hallie for passing her swim test this weekend!  We may have a little Dara Torres among us.

Can you hear the lion?

This was the first year that we took the girls trick-or-treating.  It was a blast.  The festivites started Friday when the girls went trick-or-treating at the office.  They quickly learned how exciting and easy it was to get candy:)  The highlight was at the end when Kendall told my co-worker "My mommy is so smart.  She knows everyone's name here."  Hmm...how many more years will that last?  Next thing, she will be rolling her eyes every time I embarrass her.

Sunday night, just before we headed out to knock on a few doors, we got some pictures of the gorgeous rainbow.  It was a full rainbow, and the colors were amazing.

We talked the girls into one cheesy pose.  At this point, Giraffe was definitely tired of the pictures and ready to get on with the fun.  Since when do Giraffe's wear ruby red slippers anyways?

Kendall made friends as usual.  She had no fear and made sure to ask every dog owner "Can I pet your dog?"  Since Halloween was on a Sunday night, I did not expect to see a lot of people out.  However, our neighborhood was full of little kids.  It was a lot of fun.  Everyone seemed to come out at once, and for about an hour the streets were full.

Sid was not quite sure about Halloween.  She loved the candy.  She was totally freaked out by other kids in costume.  I think my co-worker, Wilson, scarred her for life.  At the work party on Friday, he dressed as the black night from Monty Python (bloody arm stump and all).  The costume was terrific, but Sidney let out a huge scream and proceeded to try and climb up me.  After that she did not like anyone in costume, not even the cute little princesses.  Halloween night she was the same way.  After several incidences of her trying to climb up me every time we saw little kids, we stopped and had a little talk.

Me:  Sid what do lions say?
Sid:  ROAR!
Me:  What are you dressed up as?
Sid:  A lion.
Me:  Well if you don't like other peoples costumes, just ROAR at them.

The next time we saw a costumed creature, I could feel her moving closer to me.  Then I could hear this tiny little "ROAR"...and so the evening went, my little lion roaring every time we saw another person.