A New Smile

I picked up Victoria from school on Tuesday and was greeted by a different face. Her tooth had been wiggling for a couple of days. She told me she was getting irritated with eating that way and had had enough, so she decided to pull it herself. She said there was some blood, but it didn't hurt and the nurse gave her a neat tooth necklace to keep her treasure safe. The next morning the Tooth Fairy left her a teeny tiny note in an envelope, a dollar bill, and Fancy Nancy doll (since it was her first tooth- as per the note the Tooth Fairy left.)

Thanksgiving Break

Although we only had 9 days off (as Victoria kept reminding me) we packed them full with holiday fun. The first Sunday we went to the musical Pinkalicious with our good friends Braelyn and Julie. The girls loved it and enjoyed dressing up in pink and going out for ice cream afterwards.

Josh, Renae, Caleb, Chloe, and Keira came down from Colorado for Thanksgiving. We spent a lot of time up at Carol and Dick's house playing with cousins and hanging out. Renae brought the girls' Razors (sort of like scooters but faster) and they took turns going up and down the street.

Thanksgiving photos:

Jer showed the kids how to clean and stuff a turkey.

Grandma Carol and Grandpa Dick gave the girls an early Christmas present. It was well loved.

The Thanksgiving toast!

The girls took turns singing tunes while dressing up and putting on make up.

Our Lunn family picture.

The cousins (minus Caleb, who unfortunately was feeling a little sick, but is now fine) spent the night on Thanksgiving. They didn't get to bed until after 10:30 and woke up around 7- there was a couple of break downs the next day, but it was all good:) The next morning I asked the girls who wanted waffles?

On Saturday we went to the Allen Outlet mall to get our pictures taken with Santa. It was a good year for the picture. Victoria told Santa that she wanted a doll sized horse and Bella told Santa she wanted a Baby Bella Doll and a wheelchair for her to sit in.

We ate lunch at Freebirds and took a couple of pictures.

On Sunday I took the girls to Tea with the Nutcracker Ballet. It was a fabulous tea party with lots of sweats to eat. The cast members come around and talk to the children as they eat.

We also went with our friends Kate, Sarah, and Janie. The girls enjoyed their hot chocolate.

After the characters chat with the kids. The story of the Nutcracker was read and then they put on about 6 or 7 dances from the Nutcracker Ballet. Victoria was mesmerized by the dancers. She asked if she could take ballet. Afterwards the girls were encouraged to go up on stage and actually dance with the performers. It was so much fun!

Butterflies

For Bella's birthday this year, Nico and Marlee gave her a butterfly kit. I mailed away for the butterflies and when they got to our house I thought- Oh no, they died in the transportation. They were tiny ant sized black things that didn't appear to be moving. I put them on a window seal, and in a few days we were pleasantly surprised to see them eating these orange pellets at the bottom of the container. In a few days they were amazingly one inch long and getting some serious weight on them. After a couple of days, they had spun themselves into 6 chrysalis. In a week butterflies emerged. It was truly awesome to watch! We released the butterflies in a park with our friends. You can see that in the beginning Bella wanted them to swarm her, but then timidly gets a little fearful of them.

Bella took off running.

She finally was okay if someone else held one and she tries to feed the butterfly popcorn.

Victoria was a little apprehensive too, but was glad she held one.

Bella's getting braver.

Beautiful!

Victoria's School and Bella's Last Soccer Game

Victoria participated in a Boosterthon to raise money for her school. This year it rained and they had the kids run their laps in the cafeteria. She ran the exact same amount of laps as last year- 29 out of 36. I took some pictures of her posing with her teacher Mrs. Jamar and her classmates.

I also was happy to go on a field trip with Victoria to Frisco's Safety Town. It's a building right beside the fire station that allows students to learn safety rules. They even get to drive little cars around and practice following rules.

In the begining Victoria was very frustrated with her vehicle. It wasn't doing what she wanted and she caused a small traffic jam.

But when she got the hang of it...

I feel the need for speed.

I'm a little scared as to what kind of driver Victoria will be later in life.

Victoria's class picture

We also had Bella's last soccer game this month. She has really enjoyed soccer and wants to play it again in the Spring.

While Bella played soccer Victoria rolled in the grass.

Bella was thrilled to get her first real trophy.

Paul and Lauren Visit

Paul and Lauren came to visit Texas this weekend. They stayed with us Friday night. We were able to do some catching up. Paul taught me a couple of new things about using my camera- how to take pictures through the screen (getting up close), how to use the longer lens for portraits, and how to use a flash like playing pool (it's all about the angels)- thank you Paul!

Saturday morning was also a bunch of new things for Lauren. We taught her and our kids how to play Black Jack- aka "21". Victoria and Bella are very good adders and won a couple of hands. But Jer, "the House" ended up taking it all in the end, when on the last round Victoria decided to bet it all. Later, we went to the San Salvadorean restaurant Gloria's so that Lauren could try black beans again. I think she liked them. We had a great time with them and hope they come back soon.