Don't Worry Santa the Cookies are Safe

So we made our annual cookies for Santa

Sugar cookies with frosting & lots of sprinkles

Each of the girls made a special one for Santa

Lilly's had a mountain of green sprinkles

Nolee's decorating went a lot like this...

Then when she was all done this happened...

I guess she had to taste test them for the big guy

Here are the finished products

Lilly's green monster

and Nolee's taste tested masterpiece :)



Nolee's hidden talent

So since birth Nolee has had this talent

I don't know if talent is the right word...

but I can't think of a better one

and I haven't had coffee yet this morning

so talent is what we are going with

She can hold her breath for an extremely long time

I know - every kid can do that right

well not like her

This usually happens when she is upset

and crying/screaming

and before that first big scream comes

she about turns blue in the face

At first we were freaked out

we would blow in her face, pat her on the back

or do anything to get her to breath

But we finally just realized

she will breath when she is ready

All of our immediate family knows this

and we don't freak out anymore

But when it happens in a public place

say JCPenny's while you are trying to

do some last minute Christmas shopping

you may get some weird looks from people

They look at me like they are freaked

and that I should be doing something

instead of just holding her calmly

and trying to shield my ears (cuz that first scream is LOUD)

I always feel like I need to reassure these people

that this is perfectly normal for our little Nolee

and that she is just practing up to be

the next Michael Phelps :).

The Not So Sneaky Thief

So Miss Nolee has quite the fascintion with chapstick

it's actually probably closer to an obsession

she will sit there and put it on for hours

and not just her lips...

she has put it on all over her face

all over her baby's body

oh and there was the time she dug it out with her finger

(pink mind you) and wiped it all over my carpet

Nolee also loves to hand feed Charlie (our dog)

She will grab handfulls of his dog food (dry)

and either feed him piece by piece

or just dump a handfull in random places

around the house...

apparently she thinks Charlie appreciates a change of

venue from time to time

So why am I telling you these two random things?

Because this is what I found in my bathroom drawer

the other morning...

Where my chapstick usually sits

were 3 random pieces of Charlie's dog food

I'm no Sherlock Holmes but

it was pretty easy to piece together the pieces of this puzzle :)

Chocolate Mustache

I had to take Nolee in for some tests this week

She has been complaining about her knee off and on

to the point that one day she wouldn't walk on it at all...

but she would crawl and kneel on it

so to be on the safe side I figured we better just get

it checked out.

The Dr ordered x-rays and blood work

LOTS of blood work

I asked if they could just to a finger poke

but no they had to draw from a vein in her arm

and I had to hold her down

while she SCREAMED the entire time

I totally hate doing that and feel like such a bully

while my kids look at me and cry

So after all that was out of the way

I decided to get her a cookie at the hospital bake sale

something to help in case she felt woozy

and just because I felt so horrible for her

She picked out chocolate covered oreos

and was very specific about the fact that she wanted

the brown chocoloate - not the white

I let her eat hers in the car

on the way home

and I couldn't help but crack up at her face

There was chocolate everywhere

and then she started to look funny and stopped eating

and I seriously thought I was going to have to clean

chocolate puke off of the back of my seat

Luckily though the poor little girl was just tuckered right out

so she fell asleep with half eaten cookie in hand

and the funniest chocolate mustache I have seen

The Visit with Santa

So we had our annual P family Christmas this weekend

Let me just say that I have such amazing memories from these Christmas parties

My dad is 1 of 10 kids and each of his brothers

and sisters have at least 2 kids and now us cousins have kids

It truly is amazing to sit there in a room FULL of our family

(there is somewhere around 90 of us now)

and think that all of this is because of my Grandparents

Just Amazing

There was an abundance of good food, good people

and good times

We laughed, we played, we visited and

some of us cried

One of the traditions we have is that Santa actually

brings the presents at this family Christmas

as in the big guy is there in the flesh

All of the kids get called up and get to sit on his lap

and then get a present

Last year both girls did great

they sat on his lap & said thank you

so I was quite surprised by the reaction of Nolee this year

The minute Santa walked into the door

my giddy, bubbly little girl turned into

a crying, screaming, clinging spider monkey

I felt so bad for her

but at the same time it was funny

no I'm not demented...as in it will be funny when we look back on this

Lilly on the other hand did very well

although she was on the shy side

When Santa went to leave and everyone was waving bye

this is what Nolee did...until he was gone

It didn't last long though

within minutes she was back to playing & giggling

and trying to keep up with the big kids

Mr. Fix It

FAIR WARNING:

Okay if your name is Scott

you probably shouldn't read this

So Lilly is now in preschool

and we are now enduring the same thing

parents all over the world go through...

the dreaded missing gloves

I've heard plenty from other parents about this

"How do they only lose one every time?"

"How can they lose one every day?"

Coworkers have told me they have a bin

full of gloves at the beginning of the season

and by the time spring rolls around

there is not ONE matching set in the bin

So I know we are not alone

Last week Scott informed me that Lilly

kept losing her gloves on the playground

and I asked him to fix it

as it just felt like I was going in a million directions

at that point in time

That was the last I heard of it until I saw these

sitting on my table last weekend

Yes that is a piece of yarn from my craft supply

tying them together 

And yes he did just cut a hole in the glove

and tie the yarn on

On the positive side she didn't lose her gloves at all this week

and there was no duct tape involved

AND he did attempt to fixt it

and I'm sure I will still chuckle about this years from now

While at Meijer the other day we picked up these...

We'll see how long these stay put

The Musical

Lilly had the great idea to put on a show last night

it included costumes, singing

& two stars (who had to take turns on the stool i.e. spotlight)

We sang Christmas songs

songs learned in school

and a few that Scott & I remembered

from when we were young

First we have the construction fairy

I imagine she grants wishes for newly constructed houses :)

Next we have the witch fairy

this seems to be kind of a contradiction to me

but we went with it

Okay so I just realized from this picture she is a

Fireman fairy...well there goes my new house ;) 

And then I don't know what this is...

I was told I had to dress up 

We had solos 

Complete with choreographed moves

Nolee's face totally cracks me up in this one



Sisters

So I know my kids aren't going to get along ALL the time

but lately it seems like we have more

screaming & bickering than hugs & sharing

I think it may have something to do with the weather
(cuz mommy hasn't been in the best mood either...)

It's dreary and wet

and we haven't been able to get outside in some time

So not only are we upping our positive reinforcements

for please, thank you's and sharing in general

we are taking advantage of our large basement

on a nightly basis.

We will be having wii contests, dance offs

and doing some stretches/exercises

So hopefully getting the wiggles out

will help get the crankiness out too ;)

So we can have less screaming matches

and more pictures like this

New PJs

Whew what a few weeks!

It feels like we have been super busy

but on a positive note

ALL our Christmas shopping is done!

While braving the black Friday craziness

(and we only ventured out after 8 am)

we picked up some new PJs for the girls

as they are both growing like weeds

So they got an early Christmas gift

and just had to model

their new favorite PJs

Pre-school Pictures

So we got Lilly's preschool pictures back

There was 2 different poses to pick from

One where she looked normal and had a pretty good smile

and one where she kind of resembles a pirate

and all I can think of is "Arggghh Mateys" when I see it

So if you know me at all

you know which one I ordered to go up on our wall...

Argghhhh I'll make ye walk the plank :)

it makes me smile & chuckle everytime I look at it

...she is so going to hate me later in life

The $25 Computer Amoire

So we finally decided to take the plunge

and purchase a new computer

This is our early Christmas gift to eachother

It's an all in one (no tower) wireless and touchscreen

there is only 1 cord, which is to plug it in

and I love that

The problem was that now that we were getting a computer

we needed someplace to put it

I wanted it as close to the kitchen as possible

and would have preferred it be in the kitchen

but the way our house is set up that just wasn't possible

We decided on the front room

(we really need to think of a different name for that room)

which was formally the dining room in it's previous life

Then the search began for the perfect desk/hutch/whatever would work

and of course I didn't want to spend a lot

which I know makes a ton of sense since we just spent

big bucks on the actual computer

I scoured craigslist and the thrift stores in town

when I happened to run into this new thrift store and ran across this

It's a computer armoire...which I totally had to explain to Scott

and it was priced at $32, but the nice lady offered to go down to $25

I love that it already has a cork board and white board built in

So of course I planned on painting it

and I may or may not have had some minor meltdowns during the process

Let's just say the holiday time is not the best time for me to

take on new projects...so I can gladly say this is my last

until after the first of the year

Anyway here it is all painted, distressed, glazed and pretty

sitting in our front room/office :).

I have seen the book page walls everywhere on pinterest and totally love them

so I incorporated the idea on the back, which made it easy to cut

through for the air holes as well.

Here's another idea that originated on pinterest (love that thing!)

I just added some scrap book paper to one of those ugly

steralite storage drawers and prettied it up

These cute little boxes I found at Meijer

and still need to grab one more

They are perfect for storing craft/office materials

Here's our little helper

she was so interested in what was going on :)

and no I just cannot bring myself to cut her bangs...

she is 2 years old and has never had a hair cut

but Lilly was 3 before she had one so I guess we are okay

I do do her hair in the mornings so it's out of her eyes...

I love that it has a double pull out

it will be the perfect place for Scott to put his books

while working on his classes

My favorite part is that we can close the doors on the mess whenever we want

and that this keeps the girls from using it unless we are watching...for now

It actually fits in the room pretty well

for a room that is longer than it is wide

and has some funky angles to work with :)

And then of course we all decided we should sit down

and watch a movie (Santa Claus 2 - one of the girls' favorites)

on our new computer...even though the TV is right in the other room

and of course is bigger

I love memories like that that involve the whole family :)

& I love that I have no other projects to do for over a month

I plan on spending lots & lots of time playing, reading, baking

Santa cookies, watching Christmas movies and just being!