February Fun

It's been a busy month so far. We've had soccer on Saturdays, birthday parties, work commitments, and more. Scott managed to get me the perfect Valentine's gift this year. It was an Edible Arrangement. It was beautiful and delicious! Since I'm on Weight Watcher's again, it was very thoughtful.

The girls, however, are not dieting. They each had a goody bag from a birthday party on Saturday. Sunday morning, Ryann gave Avery a crash course in lollipop eating. It was quite humorous to watch. We had to follow it up with bath time. :0)

You'll notice that Avery has pretty short hair nowadays. I had to give her a buzz because she had pulled so much out. Since the trim, though, she hasn't touched it. I'll keep my fingers crossed that she's done with that bad habit.

Cheerleading

Since November I've been one of the coaches for our school's cheerleaders. We had 22 girls that really wanted to go to competition. The basketball season ended a couple of weeks ago but we kept practicing to get ready for competition. Unfortunately, we had 3 girls leave the team and pretty poor attendance from the rest in the last few weeks. That caused us to have to redo things several times. I was pretty frustrated and swore off coaching for many years. However, competition day arrived yesterday. It was stressful but exciting. Our team won 4th place out of 12 teams. It was the first middle school competition that I'd been to. Now that I know what it's like, I have the bug again! Who knows, maybe I'll try again next year. :0) Ryann loves it she always begs to go to practice with me. I think it would be awesome to coach her someday. I guess we'll see what the future holds.

Long Weekend

This picture is actually from a couple of weeks ago, but now I have time to post it. I find my girls' sense of style AWESOME! Yes, Avery is wearing a tutu body suit over footie jammies.

I have 3 days off this weekend due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It's amazing the difference a day can make. My brother was in town working the Supercross, although we didn't get to see him much. We just hung around Friday night after I got home from cheerleading practice. Saturday, I took Ryann to soccer. It was the first session of the season. I was very glad that her attention span has improved since last year. Her coach remembered her and even used her for one of the demonstrations. I was proud. :0) We went home and got Avery and walked to our neighborhood park. It was so nice out that we hit another park before walking home for nap time. I was actually the only one that wanted a nap. That evening, we went to church as usual, then had a relaxing night at home. (That means Scott watched TV and read as I worked on school stuff.) Today, Avery and I did the weekly grocery run. After that, the girls and I played outside for a while. Scott cooked us a delicious lunch while I got the girls bathed and in their rooms for naps. The only other excitement today is laundry. The best thing is that I haven't had to finish my school stuff because I still have a day left! I love days off from school.

Merry Christmas!

It's been a busy but joyful day so far. Scott and I were really excited for today. We both kept waking up, thinking it was time to get up. At 6:30, I finally went and woke up the girls.

We got all the Christmas lights on and started opening. Ryann was a champ at opening this year. She tore things open well. Avery preferred to enjoy things once they were opened for her. Both girls loved their gifts. Avery got some fun Elmo things. Ryann got lots of Princess stuff, including a castle for her dolls and a castle tent to play in. Avery's favorite things of the morning were a new baby doll and the constant flow of Skittles. She kept wanting"mo." Ryann was very busy protecting her princess stuff from the little sister. They got coloring books and crayons, so we did some coloring. The girls also got some Legos. They built some stuff with Daddy before brunch.

Around 11, we headed over to our friends' house for brunch. They put on a big spread. It was fun, but we were anxious to get home and lounge around. Avery had stinky pants and needed a nap so we were home by 1. Now, we're watching the new Tinkerbell movie and eating snacks. Ahhh....the perfect afternoon.

This has been a really exciting Christmas. I have always loved Christmas, but it takes on a whole new dimension seeing it through my girls' eyes. I had so much fun getting ready. We even left cookies for Santa last night. Ryann has never gone to sleep as fast as she did last night. We talked about Santa knowing if she was awake. I tucked her in, she closed her eyes, and she didn't even open them to give me my goodnight hugs and kisses. I didn't hear a peep after I left her room. Avery didn't really understand what was going on, but she was super wound up anyway. Today was very exciting for us all. It was so much fun seeing how happy the girls were. Each Christmas has been more and more fun since we became parents. They say that Christmas is for children, but it's pretty awesome for parents, too. :0)

Christmas Eve

We had a relaxed Christmas Eve. We got the girls dressed up and went to church. When we got home, we ate dinner and watched Christmas movies until bedtime. We were all very excited for Santa to come!

My Audience

Avery has found the perfect spot to keep track of me while I do my kitchen work. She opens the pantry, pulls out the stool, gets her snacks set up, and enjoys watching Mommy. She also likes to look beautiful with beads on.

Time to Breathe



Our happy girls

Here I am! I'm on Winter Break. I've been trying to catch up on all the things that I've neglected since the last break. I've been going to appointments, baking cookies, and doing housework. Finally, I have a few minutes to blog. I've been blogging mentally since Thanksgiving but haven't had time to sit at the computer and get it out there. I guess I'll

try to catch up on this too. :0) 

To begin our Christmas season, we went to the ballpark for the holiday event. The girls got to play in snow for the first time and met Santa! We had to wait in line for our turn in the snow. When we got in there, Ryann slipped, screamed, and cried about 4 times. Avery seemed to be trying to figure it out. By the end of our few minutes in the snow, they both seemed to enjoy it.

After that, we waited in line for about 45 minutes to meet the big guy. When we finally got there, Ryann went mute and wouldn't get near him. Avery sat on his lap, took one look, and started screaming. It was loads of fun.



One of our favorite things to do at each holiday is make cookies. Ryann and I bake them together. She loves to mix dough, roll it out, and cut cookie shapes. Her favorite part, though is tasting them. Avery likes to get into anything she can reach during these projects. We often end up with finger prints in the frosting. She also takes them and runs when she gets a chance. Baking is quite an adventure in our house. I've been making Christmas cookies "alone" the past few days for productivity and quality control. :0) By alone, I mean as I step over Ryann and her princess toys and drag Avery around attached to my leg. Ahhh...quality time with the kids.



Not the prettiest, but beautiful to us

Looks like trouble



Yum! Cookies!



Scott and I are super excited for Christmas this year. We think the girls will love it. It's so much fun to see their excitement. I hope to post a video after Christmas morning.