Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Christmas in Florida

This year we spend Christmas in Florida with
B, Grandaddy, Karen, John, and Becca. After
a tasty Italian dinner on Christmas Eve, we came
home and the girls opened their Christmas
pajamas from B.

Becca was much more interested in
trying to put on her mommy's pajamas
than her own. And, Lindsey put hers
on but was not willing to participate in
any picture taking.

Christmas morning the girls surprisingly
agreed to go to Starbucks before seeing
what Santa brought for them. They
got their chocolate milk and all of the adults
were thankful for the Christmas morning
cup of coffee.

Molly was thrilled with what Santa brought
her - Lindsey thought it was pretty fun
as well. The Rising Star tent came with
a speaker and a microphone which was enjoyed
by all the girls and none of us grown-ups!

After Molly got her Rising Star tent,
she ran in for her first costume change.
Here, she is opening a Cinderella costume
from Grammy which was her second costume
change.
Lindsey was thrilled with her Cinderella
dress as well.


Lindsey asked for the Diamond Castle Princess Barbie and she was
so happy that Santa knew what to bring her. She sings a most annoying
song that you can't get out of your head once you hear it. All of us walked
around singing "Protected, connected...." Christmas morning.



The Sheridan's sent Molly and Lindsey a Karaoke
machine which has a video component as well so
they can see themselves when they are singing.
We need to get it set up so they can have the stage
as the background. The girls won't want to leave
the playroom once we get that set up.

Molly and Lindsey loved the piano from B and
Grandaddy. We were treated to all sorts of
concerts from all 3 girls.

Molly's third costume change was when
she opened her Alice in Wonderland dress.
This is her "chore" dress. It was nice
to have her come around asking for chores
to do!

We did stockings Christmas night
and Lindsey wanted to open hers in
B's closet. She was most excited about
getting gum and "hand-san-tire" which
is also known as hand sanitizer.

The Rising Star Talent Show tent
worked well as a place to watch a
movie and "take a sleep" as well. Molly
is deep in the tent but Lindsey thought
it was "too spooky" and opted for
hanging out on the side of the tent.

It was a great Christmas! The girls
enjoyed all of their loot and most of
all had fun spending time with the
family.

Molly turns 16!

Molly told us to pretend she was 16. O.K. - we can do that. We did want to know what it is that 16 year old girls do that she was so interested in. And this, is how she thinks a 16 year old might act.

A side note...she did not give herself whip lash or sustain any other injuries while preforming this dance?!?

Monday, December 29, 2008

The Switcheroo

When Molly turned 3 and had an Ariel party, her friend Walker gave her a Beta fish. Molly loved her fish and the rest of us were enjoying this new pet as well until Luke came to town. After soaping up his hands, he dunked them in the fish bowl and a few minutes later, "Fishy" was a goner. Lindsey now affectionately calls him, "Luke, theboywhokilledMawly'sfish."

Molly wanted another fish but we never could find the pink Beta she was in search of. A few weeks ago Lindsey and I were at Petsmart and walked over to the fish isle. She spotted a pink Beta and wanted to buy it for Molly. We surprised Molly with her new pink Beta fish that she named "Pinky." We're not super original around here when it comes to pet's names.

Pinky was swimming around just fine for the first few days. She lived in Molly's room on her table next to her bed. She had friends come over to meet Pinky one night. Molly came down telling her friends that Pinky just must be really sleepy. David and I looked at each other alarmed. Remember, Molly's dramatic and Lindsey's currently obsessed with death. He went upstairs, confirmed privately with me that Pinky was dead. David moved Pinky into the bathroom and told the girls she was asleep but needed her bowl cleaned and that we'd take care of that in the morning.

The next morning, while David had the girls in the bath, I went to Petsmart in hopes of finding another pink Beta. No luck. I bought a purple fish instead, got home while David still had them occupied in the bathroom, flushed Pinky, cleaned the bowl, and put the new "Pinky" back into Molly's room. Lindsey was the first to notice that "Pinky" was now purple. She screamed to Molly to come and see her fish. Molly couldn't believe Pinky was now purple and David couldn't believe his ears as he heard me tell our girls that "Pinky" must be the special type of rainbow Beta that changes colors. And so, we have a magical fish, that changes from pink to purple.

On the way home from Florida Molly and Lindsey were talking about what color "Pinky" now also known as "Rainbow" might be when they see her. I reminded them that she could have turned blue, red, or orange. And then quietly called our pet sitter to make sure she wasn't going to have to do another switcheroo before we made it back to Columbia.

Ahhh, no need to have her run out to Petsmart. "Rainbow" was still purple when we arrived home. We'll let you know when "Rainbow" turns another color...I just hope it's not for a very long time.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas Kiddo Chaos

Today was the kid Christmas party at
our house. It was controlled chaos and as
always we were all shocked that we can bring
together 40 some kids and once again
there were no fights, nothing got
broken, and I have no new stains on
any of the furniture. It's a great group
of kids and we feel blessed to have so
many fun friends big and small.

Here is the entire gang - babies and
all!


We even had live music this year. Caleb
played Ode to Joy. After he played he
stood up and bowed and all the kids
clapped. One of the cutest things I've
ever seen!


The audience


Haley - the double nose picker.

Lindsey taking a break from crafts
and running around with cousin
Hannah.



Bouncing Riley


Cowboy Jay


Jumping bean Copeland


Hannah


Craft craziness


Glitter, glitter, and more glitter...


Cute Connor


Swaddled up William - he wanted
to join in the garage crafts and didn't
have a coat.

Cousins


Cookie decorating in the garage.
And now, it's time to go pack for Florida. :)

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Cookie Swap

Molly and Lindsey were invited to Riley's Christmas
Cookie Swap and had a great time. They ate lunch,
played, and decorated gingerbread men and indulged
in lots and lots and lots of sugar!

Molly took the camera today and here are her
shots.

Ahhhh, the self portrait.



Sassy friend Riley.


Lindsey in the yard.


Riley's dog Coconut enjoying some time on
the swing.

Pictures by mom below...

Molly with hostess Riley.


Lindsey's gingerbread man that she
decorated. Imagine...she did this all
by herself! :)


The cookie decorating kids.


Molly's gingerbread girl.


Fun with icing!


They used the entire canister of sprinkles for
6 girls. Those girls were all sugared up by the
end of the party.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Picnic in December

Rather than getting bundled up in coats, scarves, and
mittens and running out to play in the snow, our girls
are having a picnic with their friends in the front yard.


A picnic of nachos, yogurt, and carrots. Lindsey
decided that a night gown was the best attire
for this picnic.


They decorated the area to make it festive
for Christmas.

Wells showing me his cards...they enjoyed
a game of Go Fish while eating.


Picnic must-haves...a stroller, tennis racket, pads
of paper and pens, and a bag full of random things
they collected from the playroom.

Not a typical December afternoon, but it sure was
fun. And, with the kids totally entertained, I got
most of my Christmas baking done while sweating
in my 76 degree house wearing shorts and a
t-shirt.

We'll see what the weather brings tomorrow!


Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Lindsey behind the Lens

We have an old digital camera that we don't use anymore and Lindsey has been dying to take pictures, so Saturday a.m. I loaded the camera up with batteries and Lindsey went to work. Below is just a sampling of the hundreds of pictures she took that morning while I worked away (well, played on Facebook) and David slept.

Captions by Lindsey....

I took the picture of me.


That is daddy sleeping.


I took the picture Emma's nose.


Me and Molly eated on the floor.


The carpet is yucky.


I tooked the picture of Molly.


I tooked the picture of the bacomputer screen.


I took the picture of the ornament.


I took the picture of daddy and mommy's wall.


I tooked the picture of baby Jesus.