Wordless Wednesday

Poor Frosty

Linking up with Angry Julie Monday.

Weekend recap (a little late)

This weekend was one of pure chaos, but so much fun! On Friday I took Kylie to a sleepover at a friends house. She hasn't been to a sleepover in quite a few months so she was kind of excited. However, I think Audrey was probably more excited because this meant (in her words of course) that she was now the big sister. 
On Saturday after I picked Kylie up we had to run some errands. Not fun this close to Christmas obviously, but unfortunately it was a necessary evil that had to be done.  After we finished I took the girls downtown to a Christmas parade. Once again my husband was working and had to miss out. Sometimes I really hate his job. After the parade I took the kids to my mom and dads house for a visit. 
On Sunday we had some family over to celebrate Sophie's birthday. Her birthday isn't until Thursday, but we wanted to have her celebration over the weekend and waiting until the weekend afterward would not work out for obvious reasons. For the second year in a row she had a Hello Kitty theme. The child is obsessed with Hello Kitty for some reason. 

 She had a fantastic time and of course received a ton of presents.

 

 After everyone left we loaded the kids up and took them to Bellingrath Gardens to see their Christmas in lights exhibit. This year we were smart and decided to take the wagon for the kids. I told them that next year I'm riding in the wagon. My feet still hurt just thinking about all the walking we did!

 The lights were gorgeous of course and everyone had a great time.

 Today the girls and I plan on staying home all day and being lazy slugs and enjoying the last few days before Christmas. Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Slightly freaking out........

Everywhere I look lately I see Christmas countdowns. I see them on pretty much all the websites I frequent, at the stores and in the newspaper. It is freaking me out! Not because of Christmas, I'm totally ready for that. It is freaking me out because my baby, my sweet, precious little baby will be having her birthday just two days before Christmas. Everytime I see one of those counters and mentally deduct two days I whimper a little. Yes, I always get kind of nutty around the girls birthdays, but this one is really hitting me hard this year. This year Sophie will be turning five and that means that come August she will be *sniff* starting school. And I won't have my little buddy to hang out with anymore. I know, I'm pathetic. She of course is stoked over turning five. She makes a point of telling everyone she sees that her birthday is coming up (along with telling them that anything Hello Kitty would be fine for a gift) and how old she'll be. So be prepared because I'm sure I'll be inundating you guys with plenty of pictures in JUST SIX DAYS.  

Wordless Wednesday

Holiday photo take 1

 

Linking up with Angry Julie Monday

 

Thank goodness for Granny's!

About two weeks ago Kylie brought home a note from school that struck fear into my heart. It was from her PACE teacher informing us that the class would be having a holiday party. No big deal right? Well...... for some no. You see one of the things the class is studying this year is ancient Greece and Rome. So naturally the teacher thought it would be neat if the kids had an ancient Greek/Rome themed party. See where I'm going here? I tend to go for easy when I bake. If it's not break and bake freezer cookies then it generally comes out of a box. Hence the fear. The note did say that we could just send chips or cupcakes if we wanted to, but of course that wouldn't do for Ms. Kylie. Yes, I even tried to bribe her. I know, I know tsk tsk and all that. So I did the only thing I knew to do. I called my mommy. She and my father are both retired now and tend to get a little bored so she was more than happy to help. Thank goodness.

Yes my mom is wearing a sweater vest. 

 They decided on Baklava and it took hours to make. I haven't tried any because it makes my teeth ache just looking at something that sweet, but I think it looks pretty good.

 

Christmas toys 2009 - hits and misses

Every year when I'm Christmas shopping for my children I try to keep a list on my computer of what I've bought for each of them. With three children I feel that I have to do this to keep from overbuying for some and slighting others. 
A few days ago I was looking in my recycling bin (that I really need to dump, but am kinda scared to) and ran across last years list. I had to laugh when I read over it. Why you may ask? Because probably more than half of what is on that list is no longer in this house anymore. Sad isn't it? So I thought I would share some of the hits and misses of last year with you. Keep in mind that this is all girly stuff so if you have boys you can just read along, laugh and be thankful.

• The doll bed. I bought this for Kylie because I'm too cheap to buy the real thing from American Girl I thought she would like it for her American girl doll. She liked it for about two seconds. I would say it's probably spent most of this past year gathering dust in her closet. It's okay, the canopy kind of droops which bugs me. I started to get rid of it, but then Kylie decided she would use it. For her webkinz. By the way I paid around $40 for this last year and now walmart.com has it for $19. Go figure.

•  THE Fancy Nancy phone. For months Audrey begged and begged for this thing. Got it for Christmas and never even looked at it. Sophie on the other hand enjoyed it a lot. It went to goodwill a few months back.

 

• Perfection game. I thought the girls would really enjoy this game. They do when we remember to get it out and play with it. Just to warn you, those 25 little oddly shaped pieces do not feel good when you walk on them.

• The doll stroller. This has actually been kind of a hit. The only downfall is that it's kind of bulky. I could collapse it and put it away and it probably wouldn't be so bad, but I'm lazy. Also, I kind of wish that I had bought the fancy shmancy double stroller from Pottery Barn since we have this whole army of doll thing going on around here. 

• The doctor kit. In pink naturally. This was Sophie's absolute must have for last year. From her point of view a definite hit, from moms point of view? There's only so many times a day I can handle getting a shot and having my temperature taken. 

• The Best Friends Inc. Doll. One of Kylie's must haves. She currently resides in the toy bin under the bed naked. I would have to say that's a miss. 

 

• The dollhouse. Hands down a hit. I was kind of worried the girls wouldn't care for it since the dolls are kind of funky looking, but they love it. I love it because it's not as big as a piece of living room furniture and doesn't take up a ton of space.

• And of course the webkinz. My kids are crazy about these things. I was worried that they just wanted them for the codes, but that hasn't been the case oddly enough. They sleep with them and take them everywhere. The only problem is so many family members gave them to the girls last year that some of the codes got lost in the chaos which kind of stunk.

 

The girls received a few other toys as well, but I don't want to bore you senseless with everything. I have to admit that I'm slightly freaked out by how small last years haul looks compared to the list that I have for this year. I have a feeling that in a few months I'll probably be making several goodwill trips for drop-off.

Remembering

Disclaimer- Eleven years ago my brother died. This anniversary is always really hard for me, this year being no exception. The following is a letter I've 'written' to him and I fully understand if you want to hit your browsers back button now.

Dear Eric,
Today marks eleven years since you have been gone. Everyone tells me that time is supposed to make this easier, but everyone is wrong. I still miss you so much. I still cry myself to sleep thinking about you and all that you have missed out on. My heart still breaks for our parents, Nikki, Jason, Wes and everyone that knew and loved you. I still catch myself wondering what you would think about different things such as the nieces you've never met and how you would handle being the father of a teenager now. Yes, a teenager! Can you believe it? 
I still have flashbacks to that night, hearing the news, seeing the ambulances everywhere (that could do no good). I still think about the next day when I went with our parents to tell your sweet little six year old that she would never see you again. Holding her, telling her everything would be okay knowing full well that things would never be okay again.
I still wonder what if I had called ten minutes earlier that night. Would you have answered the phone and laughed with me about my day? Would you have told me you needed to talk to me about something? Would we have made plans for Christmas, your upcoming birthday, the coming weekend? Would you still be here?
Most of all I just wish that you were here so I could hug you and tell you that I love. Tell you that you what a great brother, son and father you were. 
I think about all the good times too. Like the time you got a pony for Christmas and rode it into the house. I think about your first haircut. I was so upset that all your little red curls were gone that I cried because you then looked like a boy. The time you broke the coffee table with your head imitating something you saw on television (I always said you were hardheaded!). Your imaginary friend 'Little Eric', the way  you could never pronounce your th's and three always sounded like tree. I think about the last time I saw you, when I just got back from my honeymoon. I gave you a souvenir and  you were so touched that I thought about you while I was gone and couldn't believe I would bring you something back. You were always so giving and loving, never asked for anything or expected anything from anyone. 
I just love you and miss you so much Eric. 
Until we meet again,
Your big sis