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.