Family

Family
You MUST Chase Your Dreams, For Your Dreams Will Not Chase You

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

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 :)



Thursday, December 22, 2011

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 :).

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

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 :)

Friday, December 16, 2011

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


Monday, December 12, 2011

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




Thursday, December 8, 2011

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





Wednesday, December 7, 2011

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









Tuesday, December 6, 2011

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


Monday, December 5, 2011

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












Wednesday, November 23, 2011

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

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

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!