Goofy Girls

It seems like the kids have done a series of silly things so I thought I'd share....

Popcorn is definitely the goofiest of the bunch. She's always doing something wacky or being silly. Whenever I take a picture of her she wants one with her being happy so she'll smile, then one sad and she'll frown and one where she makes her 'angry' face.

Here she is 'skating' around the house. Her 'skates' are actually Build-A-Bear skateboards for their dolls. She is conscious of her safety and decided to wear the Princess helmet. I think she found L's drink from Sonic and decided to sip on it as she made the loop. Good times.


Here is Sweetie and her blue lips from her ring pop. I don't know where she came across a ring pop but at any rate she decided to ham it up and posed for the pic while wearing L's gross old Mariner's hat.

Popcorn once again wearing the helmet while she's climbing our bed. Where she thought she was going I don't know.

Popcorn also ate salad for breakfast the other day. I think it's great (if not a little odd) for a kid to love salad but at 9am she decided she wanted a bowl. At least it's healthy.

She also fell asleep wearing her sun glasses (2 nights in a row). I went in there and she was snoring away wearing her Dora shades. It was funny.

Cutie Pie is too little to be goofy just yet but here she is with her big smile. I used to call it her 'gummy smile' because she showed her gums but now that her 2 bottom teeth are coming in maybe I'll have to call it something else. Anyway, I thought it was cute.

We hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Christmas Fun

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Here's a couple pictures of the kids....

The girls wearing their new Christmas pj's; oh so pretty in pink!


Cutie Pie helping wrap some presents:



I'll be updating the slide show in the next few days so be sure to check it out!

Wordless Wednesday

7 months

Cutie Pie is now 7 months old! She's on the verge of crawling, should be any day now. Lack of crawling doesn't mean she stays in one place though- she gets up on her hands and knees and flops forward then gets up again and flops. It's pretty entertaining.



Cutie Pie is also getting her bottom 2 teeth. Since the biter biscuits basically dissolve thus causing a sticky mess (and Popcorn devourers them) we've moved on to zwieback toast. This way she can teethe on it and stay entertained without constantly needing a bath, and no one else seems to find the toast very tasty!

Christmas parade

The girls got to ride in the Christmas parade in Robinson last night. They rode with Angela's Dance (where they take lessons). Below is a picture of Popcorn and Sweetie with their friend M. I got some candy and Santa hats at the dollar store and they had a great time. Sweetie listed all the friends she saw from school and told me how she said 'Merry Christmas' and threw candy. Luckily the weather was cold and clear, we didn't think they were going to get to ride after the wet weather on Wed. So much fun!


Here's Cutie Pie wearing a Santa hat when the girls were playing outside after school. She was quite interested in the puff ball on the end of the hat.

Christmas decorating (and eating things off the tree)

Here's a picture of our tree. I know it's blurry but with the flash it just doesn't look as pretty.

All this decorating brought back some fun memories...

Growing up we always decorated our tree with red bows and cookies. Every year we made different kinds and one year we even made little bears out of marshmallows dipped in brown sugar. We (I think my sister did this too) would eat the goodies off the tree and blame it on our little brother. What I find funny about this now is that at the time I really thought I was getting away with something. Like my mom didn't figure us out, I'm sure she was just laughing and laughing. I don't remember really getting in trouble over eating the decorations, I guess that was part of the fun.

The Christmas we spent in California Sweetie was 3 1/2. I was decorating with the usual bows, glass balls and candy canes. She liked to help me decorate by putting on the candy canes. I'm sure somewhere along the way I told her she could eat the broken ones because one by one the candy canes disappeared from the tree and I would find her eating them because they had mysteriously broken. That was the last year I put candy canes on the tree.

The Christmas we spent in Pennsylvania Popcorn was 18 months. I found her behind the tree chewing on something, red all around her mouth. Then I saw the broken glass ball on the ground next to her. She was eating it like an apple. As I was on the phone with poison control I felt like the most neglectful, awful mom. Who lets their kids eat glass ornaments? Apparently I'm not alone because the guy kind of laughed and said that they get a lot of calls about this and as long as it went down okay it would come out okay. That was the last year I used glass balls, I switched to the shatterproof plastic. They still look nice and so far no one has turned it into a snack.

I'm sure Cutie Pie will cause her own kind of trouble, I'm not sure what there is left to eat off the tree but maybe I'll start using cookies so they will have a little something to nibble on!

Feeling crafty

I finally finished my advent calendar. I re-did the title a couple times and it took me a long time to decide which paper to use for the pattern, but I think I finally like the end result. It's actually a magnetic board with little tins on it. In each tin there are things to do, like drive around and look at Christmas lights or make a card for someone, sing a Christmas song, etc. I think it will be fun.



I haven't done a craft project for a long time and I realized why...I make a BIG mess and it gets left out for several days because I never have a good chunk of time to complete it.

Dance class

I finally signed the girls up for dance classes and they are loving it. They get to do tap, ballet and gymnastics. I think Sweetie has inherited my lack of coordination for tumbling and all things gymnastic related. I practiced and practiced and could never really do a good cartwheel. I hope they will do better.

Here is Popcorn sporting a new hairstyle (and a bang trim- I couldn't see her eyes). She actually let me put her hair up and loved it when she saw herself in the mirror. Right after class she made me take it out but it was great while it lasted.

Here is Sweetie showing off what she did in class. Beautiful ballerina!

New Foods

Cutie Pie is now able to eat food, although up until yesterday she hasn't enjoyed it. We gave her cereal and she ate it once then spit it out. I got some biter biscuits and she sat in her high chair for about 40 minutes while I worked in the kitchen! For Cutie Pie that is a VERY long time to behave, especially in the high chair.

As much as Cutie Pie liked the biscuits, Popcorn likes them more. Kids are funny.

Random pictures

Cutie Pie went to the doctor today for her check-up. She's doing great, growing and strong. Unfortunately Popcorn is sick and let me just say that I had the most unpleasant experience while at the doctor's office that I've ever endured. I'll spare you the details (I told someone and they thought is was gross) but it wasn't pretty. Anyway, here are some random pictures in no particular order....


We put up our Christmas tree and Cutie Pie was fascinated with it. We put her in the Bumbo chair and she kept touching it and cooing. Here she is with Popcorn admiring the tree.


Sweetie had no school on Wed. but L had to work so we headed to the museum. They love the bubble room and here Sweetie is blowing a good one.



Popcorn likes to hold Cutie Pie and here I got a cute shot- they were both smiling!

The girls like to play together and here they are having a slumber party.

6 months old!

Cutie Pie turned 6 months old over the weekend! I can hardly believe it. I made a half cake to celebrate. While it was very delicious I don't make pretty cakes (plus Cutie Pie wasn't smiling in the picture) so you just get to see her. Love those dimples!


Cutie Pie gets up on her hands and knees but then goes back to her tummy. I'm not in a hurry to have her crawling, the older 2 leave tiny things all over the floor. If Cutie Pie doesn't choke on something it will be a miracle. How quickly I forget how much babies get into.

* Sweetie also lost a tooth on Sunday. It was on the bottom, I think this is the 6th tooth she's lost.

Ode to a Hot Glue Gun...

I saw this poem in my Family Fun magazine and I thought it was hysterical! I have created many crafts and fixed many things with my hot glue gun. It was one of the first craft items I bought for myself. Without further ado here's the poem:


Ode to a Hot Glue Gun

I wish that I could hold you tight
The way you hold my stuff
Your warm embrace feels oh so right
Securing all my fluff

And when you burn my fingertips
I'll bite my tongue and smile
Because the beauty we create
Will make it all worthwhile


What a clever Michael's ad!

Looking for nicknames...

I'm getting tired of referring to my kids by their initials so I'm asking for some help in thinking up nicknames for my 2 older girls- S and V. I like Cutie Pie's name but need something for the other kids. So if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them. The names don't have to start with their initials, it's just an added bonus. Please suggest away.....

7 interesting things....

I was tagged awhile ago by cousin K but didn't have time to complete it before vacation. I'm supposed to list 7 devastatingly interesting things about myself. Hmmmm, devastatingly interesting is a tall order but I've thought and thought and I've come up with a list.

1) I love to go bowling. In high school we went bowling after football games and whenever we wanted something fun to do. Someone got a bowling trophy at a garage sale and whoever won for the night got to keep the trophy until next time. I had a friend who had his own bowling ball. I wasn't half bad, one game I bowled a 180! I'm not kidding (although it's never happened since). Every frame was either a spare or a strike, I even bowled a turkey. (That's 3 strikes in a row for those not so fond of bowling). I think it would be fun to join a bowling league someday.

As an added bonus here's a picture of me in high school when I was 17:


2) Both my thumbs are double jointed. Sometimes it freaks people out if I bend my thumb and then wiggle it. If you're interested I can show you- haha.

3) In high school I participated in a program called 'running start' (or flying leap as one teacher liked to call it). I took classes at a community college and got both high school and college credit. I only did it part time; I took English, history and Sign Language. When I graduated HS I was a Sophomore in college so I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in 3 years.

4) I have a gold filling in my bottom molar. I was a patient in the University of Washington Board exam. The promise of free dental work is a tempting lure. It was a long and drawn out process- the student works slow to ensure excellent work and periodically I was checked by whoever was grading the exam. However, I have a beautiful gold filling to show for the ordeal. Every time I go to the dentist the hygienist comments on my filling. Apparently gold has the same heating/cooling coefficient as tooth enamel so it could last a lifetime (or so I've been told).

5) I've lived in each of the Time Zones in the United States- Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern. Someone asked me once if I had a favorite- I don't know. As L likes to say, it's hard to be a sports fan on the East coast unless you really like staying up late. I like the Mountain and Central time zones because TV shows come on an hour earlier than on the coasts. Also, each of my 3 girls were born in a different state. S in Washington, V in Arizona and Cutie Pie in Texas.

6) I've shot a revolver. When we were living in Arizona I went to a shooting range with a friend. There was a night once a month where women could come and shoot for free. It was very interesting and I had a lot of fun. I only got to try handguns. My friend went back and did skeet shooting but I didn't get to go because I was very pregnant with V and she didn't want me to go into labor.

7) I'm fascinated with astronomy. In college I took all the astronomy classes I could without actually being in the major. Unfortunately astronomy is all calculus and I had a hard time with calculus in high school. My favorite TV show over the summer was a series called The Universe on the History channel. I think they're still playing the episodes, I highly recommend it.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed some of this info about me. I'm supposed to tag 7 other people but most of my blogging friends have already done this. I will tag a few people:
1) Flying Princess
2) Kerri
3) Traci
4) Sandra

Coronation

This was a busy weekend for us! I had my scrapbook retreat and S had coronation. I went up to retreat on Sat. morning (it was an overnight extravaganza but I couldn't spend the night). I had fun and got some projects completed. However Cutie Pie did not eat! I fed her at 7am before I left and she finally decided to eat a couple ounces of formula at 4:30pm. My kids are really that stubborn, V was the same way. I decided to leave retreat early, partly because of Cutie Pie and partly so I could see S at her event.

Coronation has been tradition in our town for the last 50 years! It has turned into a big food drive with the high school class that collects the most food 'winning' (their reps are crowned king and queen). Each class sends representatives to coronation and then the high school classes send one set of reps per grade. S was voted by her classmates to represent their class, so it was an honor! She was excited and enjoyed herself. I got some cute shots (like the one below) of her and her escort, the handsome BV. So much fun!

Fun pictures

Here the girls are having a picnic. V is eating a waffle and Cutie Pie is eating a sausage patty. Cutie Pie loves it when everyone is home and she is included in the fun. It's great for me so I can have a free arm!


Cutie Pie loves to be on her tummy and lately she kicks her legs and waves her arms. It's pretty entertaining. She also can briefly hold herself up and she pushes herself backwards. I think crawling is in the near future, you can see how badly she wants to get into things.


Yesterday was picture day at pre-school and V wore this super cute outfit. We got lots of compliments on the tights. I even convinced her to let me put her hair in pigtails (she calls them piggies).

S likes to make her eyes go funny and I took this picture. She said she wanted to send it to the grandparents. Looking at this confirms what I have known for a long time now...braces are in her future.

Disney Dining

We bought the Disney dining plan for our trip that included one sit down meal and one fast food meal for each day we were there. It ended up being a really good deal (tip was included too) and we got to eat at some cool places we normally wouldn't have tried.

This is at the Sci-Fi Diner at MGM Studios. The place looks like a drive-in theater and we got to eat in a car. There was a big screen showing clips from old sci-fi movies. We had fun.



At Epcot there is a princess lunch and that was the first reservation we made. We got to meet Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Aurora, and Cinderella. They all come by your table so you get to talk to them and snap a picture. V asked to see Cinderella's glass slippers and she explained that she keeps them in a safe place in the castle because they kept falling off. Here she is showing V her shoes (they had straps to ensure they wouldn't fall off).

We got to eat at the Biergarten in Germany (also at Epcot). *A funny side note- V calls Epcot 'apricot' and continually calls it that no matter how many times we tell her the correct pronunciation. Several people got a good laugh when they overheard her.* Anyway, dinner was a buffet and a show. There was dancing and V was the first one up and on the dance floor. S eventually joined the dancing fun. One of the dessert choices were small cups of vanilla pudding. S ate 6 of these pudding cups! I'm not kidding- she kept going and getting more or eating the ones V didn't want. When she got to 6 she decided to stop because she's 6 years old. We were seated with another family (tradition) and they laughed and said you can eat whatever you want on vacation.

We also had a couple character breakfasts. One was with JoJo and the Little Einsteins in MGM and another was with Pooh and friends at Magic Kingdom. Here they are with Piglet. The breakfast buffet was delicious and the kids loved meeting the characters.

Rain (on vacation)

We got caught in a couple big rainstorms while on vacation. The first was when we were at MGM Studios having a snack. L took Cutie Pie with him while he went in searching for some ice for our water bottle. Even though it was cloudy and raining it was still 80 degrees. The girls and I were eating at an uncovered table (our first mistake).

The rain started slowly, a few drops here and there. Then it got a little heavier and while it was annoying it wasn't too bad. Soon S began to cry that she was getting cold (she gets cold faster than anyone I've met). I was sitting there wondering exactly how I would transport all our food, the stroller and our backpack full of supplies. L was no where in sight. Before I knew it we were in a downpour and just when I didn't know what I was going to do some nice people at a table with an umbrella told us to run under it with them.

S and V grabbed their pizza and ran, I got the stroller and backpack. We ran back to rescue the drinks (can't leave the chocolate milk). L and Cutie Pie returned in a momentary break in the rain (luckily they were inside). My salad was too waterlogged to be rescued but we had secured shelter and rode the storm out there. We soon dried out.

You may wonder what shoes have to do with rain...let me tell you. On Tuesday night we stayed at Magic Kingdom for the Halloween party (lots of fun!) and as we were leaving another massive downpour hit. People stopped and clogged all the exits and we were getting squished as everyone tried to squeeze under any covered area. We foolishly decided to make a run for it to get to the bus and got soaked in the process. Of course the bus to our hotel was the farthest away. S's shoes were soaked and didn't dry out overnight so she had no shoes to wear.

We had seen the Mickey crocs and thought they were cute but we decided they were too expensive. I don't even want to admit how much we spent on them and the little princesses to go in the shoes. But S needed shoes so she got a pair. Then of course V needed a pair as well so there you go. They are cute shoes and the girls have worn them constantly since getting back so at least we're getting our moneys worth!

Happy Halloween!

Here's some pictures of our Halloween fun...

L and the girls at Boo Bash at Mars. We need more candy like we need a hole in the head but the kids had fun. We gave away most of what they collected tonight to our trick-or-treaters. V refused to wear a costume and S chose to wear pj's. Cutie Pie was a Mariner's fan.


Decorating some Halloween cookies. S had a great time, she used lots of pink sugar.

V also had fun. This was taken before she used my entire bottle of green sugar.

Our costumes this year were taken from our collection of dress-up clothes. S was a 'fairy' wearing a leotard and puffy skirt.

V also insisted on wearing her leotard but we only have one skirt. The only thing I could convince her to wear was a cape so she was a superhero. They were happy and that's what mattered.

We hope y'all had a great Halloween as well!

Story of the Mickey ears

We wanted to get some Mickey ears for the girls...how can you go and not get the ears? I wanted to make sure that they really liked the ones they got so we looked around and thought about it and tried several on. S really liked the pink pirate pair (pictured below). She is saying 'arrrr' when I took the picture. I thought they were cute and I liked the earring.



I thought this pair fit her perfectly- princess with a tiara and pink netting down the back. S was a good sport and tried them on but she didn't like them as much as I did.



When L and V returned from their ride they all went to get their ears. When they came back I was surprised to see what S chose....yes, she got the baby pair that says 'my first ear hat'. She said she liked the baby princesses on it. Serves me right for not going with them!

Then the girls started to fight over the silly pair of baby ears and V threw such a fit that S decided to generously give her the ears. V was very happy to get her way.

They switched for awhile (this is the pair that V originally chose) and S wore these around the park. I thought these were cute, the jewels are fun.

Since S was so kind to give her sister the baby ears dad told her she could select another pair. This is the pair she chose, basic pink. Very nice. Who knew such a simple souvenir could turn into such a dramatic story!

Just me and my shadow...

I'm suffering from the side affects of our trip. Cutie Pie and I are attached at the hip. While we were on vacation Cutie Pie hardly ever hit the floor. She was carried by me pretty much the entire time. V rode in the stroller most of the time. We tried the Bjorn carrier but Cutie Pie didn't like it too much. I'm at the point now in motherhood where I'm tired of the fights. You don't want to wear a costume to the work Halloween party? Who cares if you stop crying. You want to eat an apple every meal of the day? Fine with me. You cry if I put you down? Then I'll hold you if you stop wailing. So I've been holding Cutie Pie most of her waking hours. I'm getting pretty good at doing things with one hand. At least she's a cute shadow!

One of her rare moments in the stroller- the older 2 girls were swimming with dad.

We're back!

We got home safe and sound last night from our vacation. We had a great time at Disneyworld, it was so much fun! The kids were crying that they didn't want to leave and S asked if we could live in Orlando so we could go all the time. I will post more later and will make Ofoto albums to share.