Brrrrthday!

Just after Christmas we took the girls to Sea World to see their Christmas stuff.  They got to visit Santa -- we told him he was taking his vacation in Orlando.  ;-)  They told him what their favorite gifts were, and we had a great, albeit COLD, time!  We were definitely bundled up as we watched their ice show!

Chris was busy over his "vacation" -- his biggest task was painting the girls' bedroom.  We had picked a pink that I thought would look less Pepto Bismol and more dusty rose.  I was out while Chris painted, and he called to let me know that he thought it might be a little darker than I expected.  I told him to go ahead, there wasn't much we could do about it now!  I came home and was greeted by the pinkest pink I'd ever seen!  We also put up the toddler bed for Rachael.  The girls were SO excited about their room!  Here are a couple of pictures of them as they first came in, and you can catch a glimpse of the pink:

Gracie pretends to sleep for her photo op...

Rachael pretends to stretch and yawn...

January came and brought along MUCH colder weather, so we learned a lot about hats, scarves and gloves!  These were taken when the girls were helping their daddy with some work on the back porch early one evening!  This was before they had their scarves, which I may have run out to get that very night.  I had no idea how much a scarf could help in the cool weather -- but why would I, being a native Floridian??  I was very thankful we were able to get all wrapped up every morning for school!  So were the girls!  (If you notice in the picture with Rachael, Chris is wearing shorts!!  Even on the coldest day we had, he went outside and ran errands in shorts, it's like he never gets cold!!

January also brought Miss Rachael's 3rd birthday!  We celebrated with family, and she picked the main dish -- pizza!  When asked what kind of cake, without hesitation she replied, "Strawberry!"  So strawberry she got!  Rachael had a big week -- even though she started off under the weather, she managed to fit in a haircut, a little lunch after moms' group with her friends, her birthday party, bringing cake to school the following day, and then after we picked Gracie up from school on Friday, we headed over to the zoo.  WHEW!  We did manage to wear the girls out enough that Rachael told us she was ready to go to bed!

Gracie brought home her second report card -- that's still a little wild!  She's doing great in school, and she's really impressing us with how well she's reading!  There is no point in spelling out words in front of her anymore, she'll figure it out!  Chris and I are going to have to figure out a new kind of code!  Grace loves coming home and telling us what she's learned, and I LOVE that!

Rachael is also still a huge fan of school!  For a little while there, she was acting like she was going to bolt after me when I dropped her off, but all it took was her sweet teacher offering to let her paint, and usually she'd be fine!  :-)  After the break, she was back to walking herself in and barely sparing me a wave!  She is definitely talking clear enough for strangers to understand, and the funniest thing is when she gets her hands going!  We are still working on the potty training thing -- and I do mean WE, it definitely takes parental involvement!  She knows what to do, I think it's just going to take me being willing to give up the diapers and Pull-Ups during the day altogether, and I'm not there yet!  Soon, though!

The girls are so much fun, especially when they play together, which they do fairly well!  Lately Rachael has become a little bit more affectionate with Grace, coming over and sitting in her lap or randomly giving her hugs.  Gracie will usually holler out, "Mama!  Look!" so I don't miss it.  Love them!

Things are warming up here, hope that you and your family are staying warm as well!

An Adorable Christmas

After the decorating was done, we started the rest of our Christmas festivities with Rachael's preschool Christmas concert.  As you can see, she got a little case of stage fright!  She was quickly rescued by her teacher and thankfully her tears dried up!  She stayed in her teacher's lap for the rest of the concert, and afterwards was just fine and dandy! 

The very next day, the kindergarten classes at Gracie's school had their Christmas concert, and each class had their own song to sing.  Gracie's group sang "Santa Bingo" -- that's Gracie proudly holding up the second 'A'.  If you aren't familiar with this tune, think B-I-N-G-O, only with S-A-N-T-A.  There was a man with a long white beard, and Santa was his name-o!  All of the music was very cute!

Daddy got to come home early on Christmas Eve, and not long after he got in we had a visit from Papa.  Later, after the church services were over, we spent the rest of Christmas Eve with Chris' parents, and Christmas morning we got to experience the joy of the girls waking up and making their run to the tree to see what Santa brought!  (My favorite part was after all the gifts had been opened, Rachael pulled out a tub of blocks that they've had forever and started playing with them!)  After that, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a delicious Christmas dinner, made it home for naptime, and then had a visit from Nana and Grandpa Ken!

This was the first year we actually really did Santa with the girls (even Grace), so we're still learning!  Santa forgot batteries for the little Dirt Devil that Rachael got, and Grace is wondering how I'm going to be able to go to Target and exchange the princess tent that Santa brought them... What can I say?  I'm a novice!

We have been blessed every year as a family, but this year did feel a little extra special as we celebrated in our home! 

We hope you enjoyed your Christmas, especially those of you who were able to have a white one!! 

Home for the Holidays

See that? It's our first Christmas tree in our new home! The day after he got back from his latest trip to Texas, Chris put it up with Rachael while I was at a doctor's appointment! Before we picked up Gracie at school, we took a trip with Rachael to get some decorations, then after getting Grace, we had the girls pick out which star we would put on top. (They picked the same one!) Then while Rachael was napping, Chris and Grace did some decorating!

Today, after the rain finally stopped, Chris was busy outside. Not mowing this time, though! We have deer courtesy of his parents, and Gracie and her friend, Noah, named them all...

Meet Princess, Austin, Rudolph and Kiki!

The girls are big fans of their Frosty, greeting folks as they come to our door!

Earlier this week, the girls cooperated just long enough for one of our friends to take some amazing pictures of them! He did an excellent job with them, and I can't wait to put these up, give them to Chris to put up at work, use them for gifts, etc., etc.!

Hope your holidays are starting out happy!

Turkey Time 2009

Thanksgiving is no longer something we celebrate for just one day, it's an EVENT! With Katrina and her family spending the entire week with us, it is filled with family -- and we love every minute of it! This year we had a very special treat in going to Disney World on the first day of the week -- it was Mommy, Gracie, Rachael, Aunt Kiki, Uncle Jerry, Blake, Savannah, Veronica, Nana and Papa! The little ones had a wonderful time, meeting fairies, riding rides, and being pushed or carried all the livelong day!

It was so good to spend that much time with everyone, and we definitely have to get those girls together more!

Here are some pictures of our time together...

Savannah & Gracie ready for their Disney Day!

Aunt Neener & Veronica in line to meet the fairies!

All the girls together, getting ready to watch a movie!

Rachael with her cousin, Blake at Nana's house.

Rachael, Gracie & Savannah, playing while Veronica was sleeping on Uncle Chris, then Nana.

One of my absolute favorite pictures ever!

Incognito

Halloween isn't a huge deal to us, but this year Chris and I got into it a little more than usual thanks to a costume night that our friends had on the 30th! If you ever watch NCIS, you might recognize...

Abby & McGee!

We braved the heat for a really fun fall festival today. Gracie was originally supposed to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but she said the dress was just "too itchy." (That's Mommy's fault for not trying it on earlier -- it was a dress-up outfit that she's worn several times at a friend's house, but she always has her regular clothes on underneath!) She was bothered enough by it that she was willing to not dress up at all, but thankfully we had a quick fix, so she was...

Country Girl!

Rachael was the prettiest little pirate! She wasn't as cooperative in front of the camera, but she held still long enough for this one after getting her face painted!

Earlier this week, Gracie made a little card for Rachael, and she told me it was for Rachael's birthday in January -- but she wanted to give it to her right then! Of course they have their times when they fuss and fight with each other, but I cherish moments like these!!