So this is what the boys do...

when the girls are out of the house...

ICE skating

we finally found Miss M some ice skates so she and Daddy could go and enjoy the HUGE ice rink
that is across the street from our house. Miss M did a pretty good job among all of the hockey players. (I guess the teenagers like to use it too). Miss A tried it out and thought it was pretty fun to slide, fall all over the ice. I however did not care for trying to collect her from the ice. So since she was all bundled up we headed to the play ground. She had a great time especially sliding down the slide into a big pile of snow.

oh the anticipation

one evening in December, the girls were taking a bath while Jesica and I were busy (um ok so just Jesica) wrapping gifts. After I got the girls ready for bed they came out and saw the tree and some presents. OH SO SO EXCITING!!! Yes, Miss A discovered a stuffed animal from her great-granny. and these were actual expressions caught on camera, not posed...ok well except for the top one of Miss M - she is my cover girl...

Miss A's camera skills

Miss A has really started to enjoy taking pictures, guess that's why Santa gave her a camera for Christmas. These however were taken on my camera. I will down load hers soon to see more of her camera skills...

Lunch with an Author

Today when I dropped Miss M off at school her teacher came out to let me know that Miss M had been chosen (one of the very few) to have lunch with a visiting author.
I AM SO EXCITED for her!
Carolin Crimi is one of my favorite authors. She wrote "Don't Need Friends" Miss M also gets some autographed books. I hope Keenan can sneak over there to get some pictures!

go HERE to learn more about the author.

Christmas Morning

just some of the excitement caught on camera.

Santa put all of Miss M's presents in a pink bin. She was a little sad when she thought that Santa had not brought her anything, that she had been on the naughty list. Then I showed her what was inside the pink bin she got pretty excited! "Oh I KNEW Santa wouldn't forget me!"

This gift was from Miss M. She picked it out for Miss A - AND wrapped it all by herself. It was so cute to see Miss M give gifts to everyone that she had picked out (and some she had paid for too). She was really comprehending that there is more than just getting.

Sweet Sisters!

Girls in Red Dresses...

with matching fur collars.
And then of course we had to get a matching one for Cousin Ella too.

I LOVE Christmas dresses!

Bunk Beds

Because Jesica my sister and her little son live with us AND he was quickly growing out of his bassinet, we needed to make more room in the girls bedroom for a crib. SO the girls got bunk beds. We shopped around and finally found some perfect ones to fit in their room, now if we could just get them to sleep in them it would be oh so wonderful!

Ginger Bread House

This year we did not get to go make ginger bread houses with my sister Lyn and her family. Well not all of us. Miss M was still able to go and make a fun weekend of it, but the rest of us stayed home. (this was the weekend that Jesica was in the hospital with kidney stones). I think Miss M did a FABULOUS job on her house! Thanks Lyn and Jeff for making it a fun weekend for her!

Paging Keenan to the ER

I Love hospital shows. I remember watching them when I was little with my mom even.
NOW, I get to hear about exciting real life ER stories (names have been changed or not even given to protect privacy). Keenan has enjoyed working in the ER. Its pretty similar to the airlines so far. Sometimes he even catches himself calling the patients passengers. Or when asked where he eats his lunch its in the crew lounge instead of the employee lounge. He has not had a trauma as of yet.
Or, he gets called in to work. Now instead of going in for stand by and flying to Germany, Paris, Japan or Iowa. He walks a block to the ER.

We were also able to attend the Holiday Party. It was pretty fun. Keenan and I have never been to an employee party. Guess our jobs just didn't have them.
He danced A LOT with the ladies. I was happy to sit and watch. Also I think we were the only ones NOT drinking that night.

Unfortunately I did get to see some of these fun people in action the next day, I say unfortunately because I had to take my sister Jesica to the ER. She had kidney stones. It was pretty entertaining to hear about the party the next day especially because I knew what they were talking about.

Funny Faces and Dress up

That's what little girls LOVE to do. Couple times a week I babysit this C U T E little girl. Miss E.
The first couple of time Miss A and Miss E were not sure what to do with each other, but here we are months later and they have SO much fun playing. Miss E is very cuddly and enjoys playing with my long hair, which I L O V E! She's much more gentle at brushing my hair than Miss A. You can't really tell that Miss E is wearing a Sleeping Beauty dress, but her faces were pretty cute. Miss A is wearing Khania's dress that she wore when she was a little girl. I loved that she wanted to wear it and that I could get some fun pictures of her in it.

too much on my plate

I just have to much on my plate(s)... I usually get things done. Maybe, I should have made a check list for the month of December because lots of things did not get done, including sending our Christmas card. There were many reasons, 1. when I picked them up from Sam's club I was only given 20 envelopes. 2. I never got stamps. SO, here is what you should have gotten from us for Christmas...know we LOVE You and wish you a HAPPY New Year!

and the sad thing, I have ALWAYS wanted to do a cute beach card (from our beach to yours) FINALLY did it, and well, there they sit on my table...

Yes, there is a Santa

My heart is full.

My friend just came to our door with a box full of goodies for our family.
(from friends at church - because they love us)



THANK YOU!!
I just can't say it enough!

What Shall We Give?

I Love these short video's my church puts out.

JOY

liked this dance

Santa Claus

WE Love to go see this Santa! I think he is the best! When he saw Miss M this year and she ran up to him to give him a hug he wished her a Mele Kalikimaka! (He is the real one!)


Miss M also sang Mele Kalikimaka to him this year. Each year she sings him a new Christmas song.
He was so cute with Mr. G. He pretended to nap while we tried to capture cute pictures of G.

The girls wished for via Miss M

• A salon so we can do each others hair (not going to happen, I already talked with Santa about this)

• Barbies

• Barbie house (the big one with the elevator - also not going to happen, well the big one anyway, maybe a small one?)
  

• Dora - ANYTHING (that's all Miss A kept saying Dora Dora Dora)
  

• Easy Bake Oven

• I told Miss M to tell Santa that I would like a Self Reliance shelf for my pantry, a new computer and a Wii. I wouldn't mind a Cannon or Nikon ... just throwing those ideas out there. ; )

• And Miss M said Gavyn needs diapers and maybe some wipes. He like pacifiers too.
  

The Spirit Of Christmas

K -I- S- S- I- N- G

(image found here)

Seen at the playground

My DAUGHTER KISSING A BOY!!!!!!! yup, that's right a KISS on the CHEEK.
I stood there open mouthed, in shock.
Me - "Did you just kiss that boy?!?"
Miss M - "Well Ya" (as if to say DUH Mom!)
Me - "WHY?!"
Miss M -"Because he told me to kiss him goodbye when Mr. New wasn't looking."

and I just didn't have anything to say after that...

Miss M-ism

(sorry if you already read this on Keenan's face book, but I wanted to make sure I blogged it down too)

*Miss Bella, is Miss M's friend from school
Over heard, while they were doing their homework

Miss Bella "I wish I could read."
Miss M " I wish I could drive!"

and that is SO a Miss M thing to say! She really is growing up WAY to fast!

I am Thankful...

Dora Dora Dora and BOOTS

For Miss A's 2nd birthday I decided to look for a Dora house. They are VERY expensive so thought if I couldn't find one on e-bay or craigs list, we wouldn't be getting one. We did find one on e-bay the seller gave us a great deal, sent the package fed ex so it would be here for her birthday and even threw in a few extra's! TOTALLY AWESOME and a HUGE HIT!!! She still loves to play with it.

Happy Birthday Miss A - you are wonderful and completely fill up our hearts with your sweetness!

A little of this A little of that

Just some of the crafty things I have been up to lately. The cards were for K's Japanese class. The hair bows were for a birthday gift and just for fun.

Preschool and a Birthday party

Along with babysitting, I have also started working as a preschool teachers assistant.
Lucky me, Miss A gets to come with me, and I get to be with these totally awesome kids twice a week. I love working with them and with Ms. Nancy.
On this day, we also celebrated Miss A's birthday. Our big 2 year old!!

Because I was feeling so frazzled this week, I asked Miss E's mom if she wouldn't mind making cupcakes for the class. She did! I have such amazing friends. : ) The little mini cupcakes were
a hit. And the kids enjoyed adding their own sprinkles.

Hanging with Miss M

Miss M has made some cute friends in kindergarten. This was their first sleep over. And they had lots of fun (especially because it was a school night sleep over). K made a yummy breakfast for us all. And Miss A was happy that the girls included her in their sleep over.

SPIRIT week at school!!! The first day of spirit week was SPORTS day, dress in your favorite sports team gear. WELL, Miss M LOVES sports and all sorts of teams. So she had to show some support for them all. (well almost all, she loves the Dolphins, but we couldn't find a jersey in time.) So, she has on a cubs t-shirt, a packers sweatshirt and a Bears hat. GO TEAM!

A little Mommy and Miss M time. We planted tulips for the spring. I am not sure how well they will do since those dirty little squirrels kept digging them up. My sister pointed out that they probably didn't eat them, just replanted them, so I may have some tulips show up in the middle of my lawn. Oh well...