Glamour Girls

Kendyl had a fabulous time at her BFF's 5th b-day party this morning at Club Libby Lu. It was the perfect day. The store was basically deserted and the girls were all so adorable. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed getting their hair and nails done and dressing up. They were definitely in their element as the browsed all the items in the store and attempted to get their parents to give into their every desire!

Here they are waiting for the fun to start
Makeover in Progress
All dolled up and loving it
Strike a pose

It was definitely a day fit for a princess--thanks to Madison for inviting us to join in the FUN!

Happy 5th Birthday, Madison!

We wanted to take a minute to wish Kendyl's best friend, Madison a fantastic 5th Birthday! It's been an amazing ride and we're so glad to have been a part of it. Here's a quick photo recap of the progress the girls have made since meeting at 6 and 8 weeks old!

The beginning:

Just one short year later:
And another year...

Just when you think they can't get any cuter:

Five years later and they are still best buddies!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MADISON GRACE MOORE!
HERE's HOPING YOUR FIFTH YEAR IS YOUR BEST YET!!!

Christmas Festivities

We started the celebrating with the Moore clan and a morning of playing, christmas crafts, lunch, and holiday treats. Much fun was had by all!

Next, we moved onto Christmas Eve festivities at Grandma Donna's. The girls were excited to get dressed up and go see Uncle Joe and Grandma and Grandpa Irvin.


The girls were definitely excited that Santa was getting ready to come and high on too much sugar. Hopefully Donna will still want us back next year. One exciting thing was that Lauryl was fascinated with her potty and actually asked to go and went potty TWICE while we were there:-)

After reading the Night Before Christmas and the Curious George Christmas book, the girls went to bed and santas elves set up the loot and devoured the cookies that had been left behind for the jolly man himself. Here's the BEFORE pic:

The girls enjoyed opening their gifts. Smart mommy and daddy slipped in some Christmas propaganda regarding saying goodbye to binkies.

We also got Kendyl her own 'real' hot chocolate mugs, which were a huge hit!

The favorite mommy and daddy present of the morning though was a sled...too bad the snow we ordered didn't make it. The girls got snow boots too, so we're ready when the white stuff finally decides to visit again.

Then we were off to Rob's parents. The girls were excited for more great presents and I was glad to capture a shot of the five kiddos and our only family shot of the day.

Lastly, we went to my parents where the girls had another major score and a great time playing with everyone. Lauryl especially loved the scooter!
We loaded the car and headed home after a long day of family and friends. Lauryl passed out on the way home, but Kendyl stayed awake and helped us unload everything. It was a fun day. We hid the mess in the front room and are relaxing in the family room. We decided to pretend that there's not a big mess waing to be sorted...at least for tonight. Merry Christma to all, and to all a good night!!!!

Burns Country Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanks to Mindi for putting forth the effort to pull this together. I love the expressions on the girl's faces in the pictures she chose. We HEART Mindi:-)

Preschool Christmas Program

Friday was the BIG day for Kendyl and her class. They put on the annual Christmas program/party that the parents/grandparents can attend. It's a chance to let the kids show off and to celebrate the halfway point of the school year and share some holiday cheer.

The day started in the classroom with the kids creating Gingerbread families. Soooo cute. Notice that Kendyl wanted she and Lauryl to be holding hands in the picture;-)


The teachers were so impressed with this group that they decided to give them speaking parts in the program. They all did really well and I was very proud of Kendyl who really spoke clearly and nailed her line:

"Begins the story of a baby that most of you should know"


Here's a picture when they first walked into the chapel. Please note that Kendyl is to the right of Mitchell, who is the target of both her and her good buddy Maura's affection. Not sure what it is about him, but he's got a way with the preschool set--they all LOVE him!



I can't remember what song this is during, but all the kids loved the motions to it!

After the program, we all went back and enjoyed refreshments/snacks. Lauryl absolutely loves going to her 'sissy's' classroom and Kendyl is so sweet to her whenever we visit. She made sure she had everything she needed and even asked me to let her have a drink in a big girl cup like the other kids.
I'll end with a shot of Kendyl and Maura. It was a big day for Maura at school and on the homefront...while at the program her mommy and daddy were heading to the hospital to welcome baby # 3 into the world. Maura was so funny and insisted on adding a baby gingerbread person to her gingerbread family pic right as everyone was getting ready to leave. Congrats to Steve, Steph, Maura, and Ross on the addition of a Baby BOY (Owen) to their family!!!

Ho Ho Uh-oh

Karen was up to her usual fun self and started a fun 3D santa cake craft with Kendyl while I was at work. Kendyl was tuckered out and actually fell asleep during rest time which left the rest of the decorating to us after Karen left. Please keep in mind that I'm not crafty and I'm definitely not crafty in the kitchen of all places!

Here's what the finished product was supposed to look like

Here's what we ended up with

Please note that Karen had already done all of the red and white, all I added was the green. In the short time that I attempted to decorate it, the right arm fell off, the santa hat fell off and santa faceplanted on the counter.

We decided we liked santa best like this

He may not have been pretty but he sure was YUMMY!

Storytime Day at School

Kendyl's preschool class held their own read-in this week. The teachers had everyone bring a pillow, blanket, and favorite Christmas story and they spent a good portion of the day reading. The kids were excited to be all cozied up and hearing all the Christmas tales.

Lauryl enjoyed purusing the holiday book selections

Then the kids lined up with their drums to practice for their X-mas program

Kendyl enjyed showing Lauryl the ropes in the gym, as did quite a few of her friends;-)

Overall, a very fun day. Perfect for the last week before the holiday break.

Picture Tag

The object of the picture tag is to:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder

3) Explain the picture

4) Tag 4 people to do the same

NO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)

Here is mine!

This photo is one of a series I took to make a gift for Rob for Father's Day in 2006. I absolutely love her buddha belly and can vividly remember how much fun she had participating in the photo session. I tag anyone that reads and will join in the fun. Post your blog address in my comments if you are willing to play...I look forward to seeing your pics and hearing the stories behind them!

ABCs

Lauryl is incredibly camera shy and refuses to sing on command. She's been singing her ABCs for while now, but this is the first time I've been able to capture it. She always loses focus at Q, R but with a quick prompt gets back on track:

Holiday Fun

Karen (our nanny) planned a fun activity for the girls earlier this week-baking cookies! She got pre-rolled dough and an assortment of cookie cutters and Kendyl and our neighbor ( Nick) went to town. Nap-time/rest-time rolled around before the kids had a chance to ice and decorate, so I got to get in on the action when I got home.

They ate as much icing as they applied to the cookies

My kitchen was covered in sprinkles by the time they were done, but they definitely had fun!

Sweet Sisters

Seeing as some days it seems like all I do is break up fights, I really appreciate a sweet moment like this:

Jumpin Jellybeans

This year, like last year, I wanted to try and do some of the fun things with Lauryl that Kendyl got to enjoy when she was an only child;-) I try to take full advantage of the time when Kendyl is in school so that Lauryl and I can enjoy the same quality one-on-one time. Fortunately for us, our good friends Caroline and Nathan had the same idea and we were able to sign up for a class together. The truly funny thing is that Caroline and I took this same class together with Madison and Kendyl when they were this age and even had the same teacher.

The class is super beginner gymnastics. We start with some circle time and songs ( Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, The Noble Duke of York, Row Your Boat, and major crowd pleaser: This is How the Lady Rides) and then practice 2 or 3 skills each week (front roll, trampoline, jumping off spring board, hanging on bar and skinning the cat, and balance beam) and end with parachute time. Lauryl gets so excited when I tell her in the morning that it is HER class day. She immeditely beams from ear to ear and says "I see Caroline and Nathan??"

A two-year old's interpretation of an arabesque

Hanging on the bar (it was hard to try and capture a shot of this w/o endangering my subject!)

Trampoline time with Nathan

Parachute Time

Lauryl loved this class so much that we are officially signed up for the next session. Obviously going to the rec center and playing with friends is way more fun than running 2.5 hours worth of errands with mommy!

Roller Skating Party

We were lucky enough to be invited to a roller skating party to celebrate our friend Kylie's 3rd birthday this weekend. There was a feeling of deja vu b/c only a few years ago we were there celebrating birthdays for Asa and Maddy...I remember this mainly b/c I recall pushing Kendyl around the rink in her stroller like Rob was pushing Lauryl this time.

This time Kendyl was actually able to get in on the action despite a rocky start with some tears of frustration

Kendyl, Rob, and Lauryl

Lisa, Kylie and Lauryl

Kacie, Kylie, and Kendyl

Kendyl mastering her technique

I wish I had more pictures to share, but my battery died:-( I also wish I had been able to get in on the action, but realize it's best not to take unneccesary risks! Regardless, it was a fun afternoon...we love hanging out with our friends and their families.

First Holiday Party of the Year

So, Rob started a new job a little over a week ago and my first chance to meet his new coworkers happened to be the yearly holiday party. The festivities were planned to have a Mexican flair and the setting was a little restaurant in Powell called Maca. My favorite part of the night was having a reason to get out of my jeans and into something a little dressy for the first time since wedding season this summer!

Here are Rob and I with Ms. I NEVER miss a photo op :-)

The girls were as excited for the evening as we were b/c Mindi was the one lined up to do the babysitting for the night. Little did she or we know what the night ahead held..

Rob and I had a nice time at the party. The tapas were a little outside of my comfort zone, but the wine was tasty and who needs food to dilute the effects anyways;-) His coworkers were allvery nice and we had a nice evening up until about 8:00 when we got 'The Call'. Poor Mindi had tried my cell twice, but I conveniently left it in the car. She then tried Rob's cell, but we had failed to give her his new number since switching jobs. Lucky for us she's a resourceful one and went through the caller ID looking for the most frequent cell number:-) I liked her rationale: either she'd get Rob or she'd reach Caroline and she'd know how to find us!

Turns out Lauryl went down easy as usual only to call out for mommy 10 minutes or so after hitting the sheets. Min knows I don't go running the first time she yells, but by the third time she could tell something was up. She indicates that in the glow of the night light Lauryl's bed looked like it had speckles on it. She turned the light on to find Lauryl had tossed her cookies on her pillow, sheets, and jammies. She got her changed and back down only to repeat the process again 10 minutes later. She only called us b/c she needed a hint on where to find a third set of sheets!

Rob and I rushed home and no sooner than we walked in, Lauryl called for me. I went to her and scooped her up only to have her puke everywhere! I was in my dress and tried to divert the flow and made a direct hit on Mindi's leg and feet (ewwww). I ran to change and almost as soon as I got downstairs and picked her up, she did it AGAIN. This time I sucked it up and took one for the team since Rob and Mindi had already cleaned the carpet once. Mindi and I learned the signs and I became more proficient at containing the mess in a towel or waste basket.

My night that started off with such anticipation, led to a sleepless night with a sick, sick baby. Min captured this sweet shot of mommy fresh from a shower to rinse off from one of the episodes, but undeterred from cuddling her little puker.

Poor Lauryl had a rough night, but stopped the vomitting after 3am. Unfortunately we then entered phase 2 which led to a nasty diaper rash. Almost 5 days later and we're still battling this bug, but it's slowly letting up and she seems mostly better. Thanks to Mindi for taking it all in stride. Let's hope our party this weekend goes better, but at least Mindi doesn't have to be on duty this time in case it doesn't!

Professional Picture Overload

I received my Smiles by Wires email today and wanted to share some of the best shots, ok the majority of the shots...I only bought a few poses and I hate to not share all the great photos we captured. Those darn Oct/Jan birthdays really make holiday photo purchases hard to justify. Anyways, back to the point, after a night of puking and a day of diarrhea, these were a happy discovery in my inbox to say the least:-)

Lauryl w/ present

Kendyl w present
Kendyl & Lauryl w/ present

Loving on each other

Lauryl by herself

My cutie pies

...and my favorite that didn't make the Christmas card ( I haven't shared those shots so you can be excited when you receive them!!)

Hope your holiday season is off to a great start, I know I'm really enjoying watching the girls take it all in this year!