Tuesday, November 30, 2010

No More Scissors

The picture was taken less then 24 hours ago. Look at their long beautiful hair with no bangs. Tonight...
I walk into their bedroom to help them clean before going out to eat. I see a little doll lying on the sink with a pair of scissors next to her and a clump of hair on the floor. I scream, "Bella! Victoria! Get in here and tell me what happened!" That's when Victoria shyly comes into the bathroom light. When I see Victoria's hair, I clasp my hand over my mouth. I'm shaking so hard from laughter and thinking- oh crap, Breakfast With Santa pictures are this weekend- what are we going to do? Then Bella comes and stands beside Victoria, I notice she too has cut her hair, however, not as noticeable. I send both girls to Time Out and think. Dare I try to cut it? I opt for a quick trip to Grandma Carol's house.
Victoria is very lucky that I did not try to cut her hair- I would have just cut the whole thing ultra short and evened it out.

Although you can't tell as much with Bella's hair, she cut herself some bangs and cut her one side to the length of her chin.

Carol trimmed up the bangs and swayed her hair down her back.


One happy customer.

Victoria's mug shot.

Carol carefully maneuvered and pulled more hair forward to cover up the bald spot.


Thank you Grandma! You saved my life!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Thanksgiving Break

What a wonderful Thanksgiving Break- so much to be thankful for! The weather was spectacular- highs in the 70s, so the girls played wonderfully outside while Mommy cleaned the house. Then on Thursday a cold front hit and it was so cold we used the fireplace and blankets. It was also the first year I had my parents and in laws over to my house for a turkey meal.

I got to do some decorating and artwork. I made this painting and the leaf napkin rings at my table setting.

Carol and Dick spent the night on Wednesday to help me with the turkey preparations.



Getting ready.

Grandpa Joe has a pillow fight with Victoria and Caleb, while we get the finishing touches on the table.

The grand meal included turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, olives, cranberry jello salad, sweat potato balls, green bean casserole, rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie, an apple caramel dessert, and, what am I forgetting? You get the picture- do you think they offer group rates at gyms- we might be needing to sign up :)
The kid table saying "Cheers" with their Sparkling Apple Cider.


Renae brought the kids some crafting projects- they made stained glass ornaments and sand bottles.

Guess how many kids can fit on Grandma's lap? We also watched the Cowboy game :( and tried to play some Trivia Pursuit (but the kids really wanted to play- so we made up questions for them- i.e- Who is the first president? and guess who won- I don't think the adults even had a chance :)

It was getting cold, so all the princess girls went under covers and stayed by the fireplace for some warmth.

Caleb, Chloe and Keira spent the night (while Renae and Josh went Black Friday shopping). The kids were so easy to put to bed this time, maybe because they'd been running around the house all night having so much fun. The next day we put up our Christmas decorations. On Saturday, we went to the movies with the cousins to see Tangled. It was amazing, a must see! And then on Sunday, we went to our dear friend Abby's birthday party over at the Frisco Science and Discovery Center- so much fun! Like I said earlier, many things to be thankful for!!!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Bragging About My Girls

Bella is really starting to come into her own. She likes to draw pictures (coloring in the lines amazingly for a 4 year old), sing songs (she knows all the words to The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow from Annie), pester her sister (she's very good at it!), and bake with Mommy. Yesterday she made muffins for Victoria as an after school treat. I enjoy spending one on one time with her the days when Victoria is in school- although I do still miss Victoria. I can't wait for Thanksgiving week- some good PJ/movie cuddling, lots of art projects, and fun time with both of them.

Victoria and Bella have been playing together nicely (except for the one week when they both had a cold and were grumpy.) They like to play dress up and pretend a lot, mainly princess and school teacher scenarios. Yesterday, they paraded around as Indians and showed us an Indian dance that they made up. They also like to dress up their dolls and stuffed animals with hair clips and outfits. Every weekend they ask me to wear a little makeup. I say yes, as long as it's the weekend and we can wipe it off if we go somewhere. It's a 3 baby wipe kind of moment when Victoria does your face :)

School and gymnastics have been really good for Victoria. She loves to go to school- loves to learn new things and hang with her friends. She has had two after school playdates with her best friend Bentley so far. Although, I wish she would like to do her homework a little more- it's like pulling teeth to get her to read, even though she's good at it- she has moved up two reading levels in the first 9 weeks. I think she just doesn't like taking the time to sound out words; she likes the easy reading books:) Yesterday, we went to a park and Victoria was able to do the monkey bars all by herself- she was beaming. I was so proud of her. She did it 20 times then tried to show Bella how to do it by playing gymnastic teacher. She also can now officially do a great "Bridge" (hands and feet on the ground with belly in the air) all by herself. Now she is learning on flipping over in the Bridge position. Victoria has also been really good at her artwork and drawing things realistically.

Yesterday Bella came up to me and said- I bet I can make you laugh! I said- okay. She runs into the other room, grabs a piece of Trident gum, breaks it in two and sticks it in her mouth to look like teeth. Yes, she made me laugh! Like I said, she is coming into her own. Gymnastics has also been good for Bella. I am very impressed with her arm strength. She has great ability in pulling herself up on a bar and doing a flip. Yesterday she did one all by herself (with the teacher standing/ guarding her JIC). Bella likes school okay. She use to like it more, until one of her best friends Sophie moved away. She always has had fun when I pick her up, but when I drop her off in the mornings, she says she doesn't want to go. I think she'd rather stay home with me. I remind her how much she likes her teacher Mrs. Shannon and her other friend Charlie and how Mommy is going to be doing boring things like going grocery shopping and doing chores. She happily jumps out of the car.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween

On Friday we were invited over to our old neighbor's Jay and Julie's house for a kid/adult Halloween party. Jer and I dressed as a Masquerade couple, Bella as a Tiger Ballerina, and Victoria as Tinkerbell.
The girls were so excited to see their old friends Braelyn, Kate, and Abby, and the gang.

On Halloween, I made Mummy Teeth out of apple slices for my kids. I saw something similar on a website, but didn't have sliced almonds for the teeth, so I used peanut butter butter and cereal (Reece's Pieces cereal) for our teeth. We had Mummy Hotdogs and for supper, with Witches Ghoul to drink in neat spider glasses (aka orange juice with cherry flavor added.)

Waiting to trick or treat.
Victoria meets her friends along the way- Brennan and Campbell.
The loot.
Victoria's favorite treat that she got were her vampire fangs. She asked to sleep in them, but I drew the line. This year Jer and I took turns handing out the candy and taking the girls out trick or treating. I also ate more than my fair share of candy- peanut M&Ms are awesome! We also watched a horror movie after we put the girls to bed, but they don't scare me the way they use to- a good thing :)

Build A Bear

Lake Ray Roberts

Memorial Weekend 2009

Brothers Visit

Christmas '08

PA Vacation Slideshow