Tis the Season

Yay! The holiday season is officially here. After a hard day of organizing and decorating, we are finally done. Had a small problem with our pre-lit tree not lighting, but otherwise things went pretty smoothly!

Here's our tree!

Here are the girls decorating their tree in the loft

Here's our fireplace that has been in hiding the last two years!

and now we have the GRAND FINALE...our blow up yard decoration

I admit that the blow up snowmen are frightening and that I did not choose them or support their inclusion in our holiday decor, however ,the girls have never smiled BIGGER or laughed more excitedly then when their daddy took them out to show them their surprise. He truly is a kid at heart and he LOVES to make his little girls happy. They've been staring at the snowmen out the window ALL night, so I'd say he has definitely succeeded!!!

I apologized to our new neighbors and blamed the kids;-)

Turkey Day Celebrations

We had a great day of celebrating with family. Holidays are stressful, to say the least, but when it's all said and done I'm ALWAYS glad that we fit it all in! It's just far too hard to say 'no' when we're actually lucky enough to have so much of our family nearby. Unfortunately, MawMaw and PawPaw abandoned us again this year, but with any luck this will yield us a yummy guilt induced homecooked meal one weekend soon and with any luck we can drop off some leftovers and MawMaw will whip us up some delicious turkey pot pies with them later this weekend (hint, hint)!


The preparations actually started on Thanksgiving Eve, with the girls getting in on the action and helping me with the baking.

Licking the Batter Bowl from our Jello Poke Cupcakes

Crunching up the Brown Sugar Pebbles in our Pumpkin Cookie Batter

(They loved that packed brown sugar looked like we were making sand castles)

Thanksgiving Day started out at Uncle Reggy and Aunt Robin's, where they outdid themselves and cooked up a real feast. Our sister-in-law, Vicki, is a real whiz in the kitchen too and made a huge assortment of sweets and treats for dessert!

The best part is capturing cute pics of the kids hanging out together

(Chel's boyfriend's lil' girl, Tiara, is 4th from the left-our nephews Austen & Aaron are in a video game phase and were off in gameland most of the day--I know those days are coming!)

After chowing down at house #1 at 3pm, we headed back to our house for our second meal at 6pm with my parents and brother and a second gathering with Rob's sis, her boyfriend and their kids (this family doesn't mess around, we chow down on the BIG days!).

After picking up our pre-made turkey Thanksgiving morning, Rob and I worried that we didn't have enough. Subsequently, we decided to buy a second turkey and make it in the crockpot. Rob led this effort and as you can see he was thrilled with the outcome (he's gonna kill me for this!). Actually, I'm thrilled to report that crockpot turkey is delish!

Lastly, a self-taken portrait of the dinner hosts happy after a long day of feasting and fun.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Tackling the 'Honey Do' List

Out with the OLD

In with the NEW

Good job, Robbie. Keep up the good work!

I'm Thankful

As I spent all night in the kitchen baking for tomorrow's day of feasting, I had time to think of all the reason's I should be thankful. Here's my short list:

• My precious family (A hubby that I love dearly that is a true provider and real go-getter PLUS loves all his girls more than anything and our two precious girls that have made our world complete with the love and laughter they bring to our lives)
• My parents and brother (These are the people that would do anything for me, Rob or our kids and unconditional love like that is priceless)
• In-laws that I love (this DEFINITELY is a blessing, and such a problem for so many)
• Grandparents (We've had to say goodbye to our grandfathers, but are blessed that all of our grandmothers are still with us. Our kids have two great sets of people that love them as much as we do and live to spoil them rotten)
• Chel and her adorable children (I didn't have cousins growing up and am so glad to see my girls getting to have those relationships)
• Our friends (these are my go-to people--they aren't tied to me by blood, but I dare them to try and get away!!!)
• My health (It was a scary year and I'm thrilled to be where I am right now)
• Our home and the comfort and security it provides
• Good jobs (especially my ability to work part-time)
• Food on the table and in the fridge and pantry

There are a million and one little things that I'm not writing b/c I don't want to be too hokey, but I really think I've gone through all of them in my mind tonight and to say I feel fortunate and thankful for the life I have is an understatement of huge proportions.

Happy Thanksgiving. Don't assume that the ones you love know, TELL them!!!

Let's Go to the Movies...

Today was supposed to be a daddy/daughter movie date for Rob and Kendyl, but after watching movie trailers with daddy all morning Ms. Lauryl wanted in on the action. We decided to go to Max & Erma's for lunch and see how Lauryl did since we were going to be trying to do all of this during what should've been her naptime--the girl is determined, she did great!

We then headed over to the ticket window where we bought tickets to see Bolt. Rob and I drove separately so that I could leave if it was a disaster. It was the complete opposite of a disaster. Lauryl really enjoyed herself and was honestly paying attention to the movie. She actually even yelled out to the movie at one point when something BIG was happening. But seriously, she sat in my lap the whole time and ate her licorice and fruit snacks and the hull-free popcorn mommy smuggled in for her.

Kendyl also really enjoyed the movie. She had been excited going into it b/c she knew Hannah Montanna was in it. In all honesty, I don't think she grasped at all that Miley Cyrus was the voice of one of the characters. That didn't seem to bother her though and the three main characters were really funny and kept her attention. Ater the final credits started rolling, Rob told her to get up and get her coat on. Kendyl proceeded to start crying. When I asked her what was wrong her response was "that movie was TOO good, I loved it." Rob and I, being the responsible parents we are, made sure not to let her see that we were laughing hysterically at this priceless and completely unexpected emotional response.

She truly and completely is my daughter--the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! We'll obviously have to add this to our collection when it comes out on DVD and in a few more years I'm gonna have a built in companion to watch sappy movies with that make me cry! Yay!

Where to start...

It's been a busy week with little time to spare. My apologies to the three loyal readers I think I might have;-)

So, I think I left off with my b-day post. Trying to think what has happened between then and now. Hmmm, there's a reason why I try to stay on top of this--I have no memory!

Thursday night Mindi cooked a birthday dinner for me and Stacey joined us. The chicken n' noodles with mashed potatoes were great and the companionship was even better. Getting a home cooked meal prepared for me is pretty much heaven and was a fantastic way to extend my birthday celebration.

Friday night our niece, Jordyn, spent the night. The girls love her and were thrilled to have her back with us. After all the time we spent with her here helping out this summer we really miss her regular presence in our house. Kendyl was excited to go to Blockbuster and choose a movie to watch with her cousin. I can't say that Jordyn was thrilled with the selection of Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, but she was a good sport like always!

Saturday Jordyn attended a Babysitter Basics class at St. Ann's hospital. She has demonstrated to us that she is great with the girls and this was the next step that I had to take so that I would feel comfortable letting her stay with the girls on her own. I'm glad to know she has spent a day learning about choking, first aid, when to call mom and dad, etc. The first time we leave her alone with the kids will be a short night, but she's in 7th grade and totally trustworthy and I'm thrilled at the possibility of having a great sitter the girls so obviously love.

Sunday we got sad news: our nanny has decided that her flight attendant schedule and my schedule are getting too hard to balance. She's been with us over a year and the girls truly love her. She's going to give me ample time to find someone new and I thankfully already have a few promising leads. Hopefully one of them will work out and the girls will like my next selection as much as this one. We will miss Karen terribly, but she has offered to help in a pinch and wants to stay in the girls lives. I know she is crazy about them, so I'm sure we haven't seen the last of her.

Monday night Kendyl started a swim class at the rec center. We got a great surprise and realized a little boy from our playgroup is in her class! It's so much more fun to at least know one person. The class went well and I was incredibly proud of her. As a former swim instructor I feel like she is lagging behind where she should be in the water and hope that a few sessions of classes will give her the confidence she needs to get over her dislike of having her face wet.

Wednesday was Rob's last day at DSW. He has decided to take a risk and work on building his own IT Security practice within the confines of a company called Oxford Consulting. He's excited about the future and optimistic that he will be able to build a successful and thriving practice. His first official day is next Monday, but he has hit the ground running and is participating in meetings today and met with some people yesterday too. I'm hopeful that this switch will mean the girls and I will get to see him a little more. I dream of family dinners and evenings hanging out together. I'm excited to FINALLY move our family to his insurance policy instead of paying double to use mine even though I'm part-time. Lastly, the new job gives us Westerville residence status and means we can finally take full advantage of the awesome programs at the Westerville rec since we now qualify for resident registration!

Wednesday night Kendyl had swim again. Sadly, it did not go well. She had a meltdown and absolutely did not want to participate. It was a tough moment for me as a mommy. I try soooo hard to do everything I can to give her confidence and make her comfortable in new situations. We spent the summer at the pool and I didn't push her. I let her play and do what she was comfortable doing. I was ready to join her with the tears by the time everything was over. I know I'm a good mom, but if at that very moment someone would have asked me, I would have said I was a failure and that I'm obviously not doing something right. It was nice to have a friend there (Tressi) to offer support and to get some more from Caroline when I expressed my despair to her. Rob could tell I had had it too and let me head to bed early and get some much needed restorative rest.

That brings us to Thursday. Is anyone actually still reading at this point?? Last night I went out with my BFF and some of her great friends. We headed to BJs for some grub and then went to mingle with the teenagers for the eagerly anticipated premiere of the movie Twilight. We had some trampy, obnoxious high school girls behind us that were vulgar and rude. I pray that I'm not raising my girls to act like that. I know I never acted the way they were and it is not selective memory. The movie was good, not great. I was happy that the storylines they chose played out on screen much like they had in my mind when I read the book. The chemistry between the two main charaters was fantastic and I got to enjoy a love story. I felt like I was watching a Lifetime movie on the big screen, but for me that's a pretty great thing. I need to mention that I didn't get home from my midnight movie until 2:45!!!! Can you guess how tired I am right now???

There now, I think you are all caught up. Sorry for the massively long blog. Happy Friday!

It's MY birthday!

Once a year, there comes a joyous day, where we celebrate ME! This year has been my favorite birthday to date b/c Kendyl finally gets it! The little sweetheart planned mommy a party, complete with presents, decorations, and cookie cake. She was excited to wake up and wish me happy birthday and according to the nanny she partied hard ALL day in my honor!

I actually started the celebration a tad bit early with a yummy dinner at Sakura followed by martinis at Martini Park! It was great to hang out with the girls and let loose for an evening, even if it did make waking up at 4:30am this morning a tad bit painful! I came home from my night out to find that the girls and Rob had decorated for me.

Today when I arrived home, Kendyl and Lauryl were so very excited to see me and wanted me to open their gift.

I was happy to discover that they bought me a new coffee maker! I'm becoming a coffee feign and the one we have was a gift from our wedding 8 years ago! Rob also got me a GC to Penzones and I'm soooo looking forward to getting a facial. Then we had cookie cake after the girls sang me a beautiful rendition of happy birthday, mommy.

I can't say I'm thrilled to be getting closer to my mid-thirties, but I had a good day and I'm lucky to have family and friends that love me and celebrated my special day with me. I'll end with a picture of Rob and I that was taken by my burgeoning photographer daughter, KB.

Happy 33rd B-day, to me!

Bad parents

Tonight we went to my parent's house for dinner to celebrate my impending birthday. We took only a couple diapers and wipes for Lauryl as we've done for months. We NEVER take spare clothes for her and that has never been a problem. Tonight the child had an unspeakable diaper which was completey unexpected since she goes exactly once per day and that already happened today. It escaped the diaper and got on her shirt AND pants. So, in 40 degree weather our poor daughter had to ride home in a diaper, a jacket, and a beach towel...priceless.

Our idea of 'box'ing

You want me to do what?


I'm stronger than you give me credit for...take that!!!


A house filled with toys and they spent an eternity decorating and then playing tip over sissy in an empty box. I think I may need to rethink my shopping strategy for this Christmas.

How soon is too soon...

to encourage proper cell phone etiquette?

Lil Sickie

Poor Ms. Lauryl seems to have acquired a nasty stomach bug:-(

I worked today instead of yesterday and when I got home the girls begged to go to the gym. Both were in great moods and I can hardly turn down the offer to go workout when they are giving me the perfect, guilt-free opportunity. I had been planning to come home and put on jammies and be in for the night, so I should be thanking them for motivating me!

The girls love the gym childcare and Lauryl has never needed her binky. When I picked her up tonight, the girl who was working said Lauryl had melted down 5 minutes earlier and had been begging for her binky and said that she was sorry but she gave in b/c it was easy and they were busier than usual tonight (last Friday my girls were the only two there!). The girls split a mini fruit rollup on the way home and then when we arrived we started to discuss dinner.

Kendyl was ravenous and impatiently started making her own sandwich while Lauryl said no to everything I offered. She finally perked up when I suggested soup, so I proceeded to heat up some Dora Chicken n' Noodles. I sat her at the table to eat and she said her belly hurt and started to whine. I scooped her up and we went to cuddle on the couch. After laying on me a good 15-20 minutes she suddenly jumped up and went to the opposite end of the couch. I stood up to go get her her special pillow and blanky and at that exact minute the poor thing tossed her cookies all over herself and the couch.

I took her upstairs and bathed her and put on jammies and then set her up on a makeshift floor bed in front of the tv. She watched Caillou for a good 20 minutes and then out of the blue got sick again. So, off we went for bath number two and more jammies. That must've gotten it all out of her system b/c she then asked for and devoured a banana and two pieces of toast. Hopefully I won't be seeing that again later. Poor thing, hopefully she'll wake feeling well tomorrow and hopefully none of us are next in line!

Perfect

Some days go bad from the minute you wake up, others start bad and end good. There's no telling how a day will end based on how it starts, that is a lesson my girls have taught me. Today we had a fantastic day. We spent what might be the last nice day of the year at the zoo enjoying each other and having fun. The girls were sweet to each other and sweet to me. They were smiley and giggly and just an overall joy.

Hand in hand

Horsing around

Photo op

It's days like this that make the trials and challenges of motherhood all worthwhile. There's nothing I wouldn't do for these sweethearts!

Beautiful Day

Today was an amazingly beautiful day. Lauryl and I did the standard Monday morning grocery trip and cleaning up around the house. After getting Kendyl from school we went to a park to meet our playgroup friends for a picnic and some playing.

Two issues at the park to report:

First, why is it that all of the parks close their bathrooms as soon as school starts? Kendyl, of course, HAD to pee and that meant a trip to the woods. Luckily, I'm a very prepared mommy and keep a roll of toilet paper in my car for just these types of emergencies (you other mommies out there might want to take a quick break and run a roll out to your cars too). Regardless, helping a 4 year old squat and pee and wipe without getting it on her is no minor feat, especially not when you've had back surgery not too long ago.

Second, I thought ahead and grabbed our outdated bread and promised the girls we would walk to the pond at the park and feed the ducks. We must have passed two hundred ducks on the way to the park, but the pond at the park was completely barren...not a single freaking duck! This just meant that we had to go to another park after leaving the first one b/c there was no way they were going to let me get away with them not feeding ducks.

Feeding the ducks was fun. While I always say 'feed the ducks' it is predominantly, if not completely, geese that we usually feed. Today we had a plethora of animals to enjoy; ducks, geese, and sea gulls. The girls did amazingly well despite being completely surrounded on all sides by hungry hissing, quacking, flapping beasts. I'm sure we look silly standing on top of a picnic table, but the hissing geese scare the crap out of me too and no point risking a bite!

I was glad we made the extra stop since it was a good excuse to enjoy some more of the perfect weather and spend some more quality time with my two monkeys.

The time change

Have I mentioned I despise it??? The girls and I had a great schedule going. I got up at 7 and got ready and they were usually stirring by 7:30. It was perfect. Nothing worse then trying to get ready with two rugrats following your every move, right?

Well, today Ms. Kendyl was up and at 'em at 6:00 and Ms. Lauryl was ready to be removed from her bed by 6:30. Hopefully it won't take too long to get them back on track...tired, grumpy mommys aren't very fun.

I NEED coffee!

Laurylisms

Lauryl is an absolute riot. In an effort to make sure I always remember this age and her absolute cuteness I thought I'd capture a few signature moments here.

Two weeks ago Lauryl had to get shots. The first 'shot' was flumist and she did great. The second was to go in her leg. She was enraptured in a kitty cat book and just minding her own business when the nurse decided to use the element of surprise and just jab her without warning. Lauryl looked up and in her meanest voice said "YOU HURT MY LEG" and then started screaming hysterically. She recovered quickly after a lollipop, but for the remainder of the day she would occassionally, out of nowhere, say "that lady hurt my leg'.

Despite the fact that Lauryl is now over two and sleeps in the room closest to us, we still use a monitor. Lauryl is a smart cookie and knows that if she speaks we come running. I don't think that she gets that there is a monitor in there so much as that she just knows we always answer her cries. The other night we forgot to turn the moitor on after putting her to bed and I took my shower and got myself ready to turn in. We realized the monitor was off and turned it on to hear Lauryl saying "mommy, where are you?" over and over again in disbelief. Poor thing, so confused that I didn't come running like always.

Tonight Rob had broccoli cheddar soup from Panera. Lauryl had dinner earlier, but she always wants in on a second meal when we eat and loves to sit with Rob and share his food. Tonight she took a bite of his soup and then, out of the blue, pumped her fist and said "Good!". She proceeded to do this after every bite until they finished off the whole bowl. It was priceless.

When Lauryl gets tired or feels like there's too much conversation going on around her that doesn't involve her, she will insist loudly that we "stop talking!" She is very emphatic about it and gets really mad if we ignore her pleas.

I know there are more, but these are all I can think of right now.

Recreation Outlet

With the tea party less than 3 hours behind us, we were off to b-day party number two! This party was at yet another prime party spot in Powell, Recreation Outlet. We've been here before and I have to say that the floor sets on display right now are the best they have ever been. There was quite a selection of huge wooden playsets. The tire swing is always a big hit with the kiddos. Watching it spin makes me want to get sick, but I guess preschoolers have stomachs of steel!
The kids also really seemed to enjoy the airplane teeter toter. That thing was barely unoccupied the whole time we were at the party!

Another crowd pleaser was the roller coaster. Kendyl thought it was funny to ride with her hands in the air like a true roller coaster enthusiast!
Kendyl and Olivia got a kick out of peering at me from under the edge of one of the tunnels. When it comes to b-day parties, I'm like the paparazzi except the kids actually enjoy being followed around and are happy to strike a pose for me.
While Kendyl felt a little out of her element b/c she didn't really know anyone but the b-day girl, she was super excited to see her buddies Olivia, Emma, and Baby Addy (not pictured). The Hannah Montanna guitar b-day cake was a big hit with the preschool set!
Happy 5th Birthday, Olivia! It was fun celebrating with you!

The Glass Slipper Tea Party

We jumped back on the b-day party train today! Our first stop was a tea party for Kendyl's friend Maura at The Glass Slipper in Powell.

The party started out with the girls choosing party dresses, jewelry, and hats/crowns in a special princess themed dressing room. They all really enjoyed putting on the party dresses and getting to choose all the accessories.



Next they listened to the reading of a fairy tale and played a game before heading downstairs for the actual tea party portion of the day. It was so cute to see them all using the pretty china and playing the role of little tea driking socialites:-)


Then the girls sang Happy Birthday and had cake before moving to the sitting room to watch Maura open her b-day presents. Each girl got to sit beside the birthday princess while she opened her gift and then had a quick photo op.

The party ended with the girls getting out of their dresses and playing limbo. Their twist on the game was comical as they all crawled under the limbo stick while gigling hysterically. We ended the day with a group shot of the girls who were all smiles!

What a fun way to celebrate a 5th birthday! Happy Birthday, Maura!