Last Post of 2011

OK, let me back up... again.  About a month or so, and fill you in!  (One of my New Years Promises is to keep this blog up, even if it means no sleep for me!)

So our Frankenmuth trip was fun as always!  With two kids this year though, Mom and I both had a stroller...which was good for the kids - bad for us and the gazillions of people wandering around Bronner's!  The place was a Christmas ZOO!!!  Not to mention, my stroller maneuvering skills haven't gotten better with the second child. 

But fun was had by all, Christopher did what he does best....

God Bless him for that!!

Carly really got into it this year and she even made a new friend!

This photo was taken right before she nearly knocked Mr. Bear and the ten lighted Christmas trees behind him over.  And then we decided to break all of Bronner's rules and have her climb up with the Holy Family...

Pretty sure Bronner's frowns on hanging out IN the displays, but no one was telling my daughter she couldn't get her picture taken with Baby Jesus...

And God Bless her for that!!

*****

Carly has been asking, from the day I told her winter was coming, WHEN it was going to snow.  I have tried to explain to her that I do hair, I DON'T predict weather, but she doesn't seem to understand that.

So when she woke up at 7:30 the morning after our first winter snow fall, the first question was, "Can I go outside and play?"  Of course we had no snow boots or snow pants that fit, so after an emergency trip to Walmart, I bundled my girl up and out she went!

 
(I should clarify that I was not outside, I took these fabulous photos from the inside of my very warm house...don't judge, I never claimed to be an outside gal myself!)

*****

Next on the December agenda was Carly's very first Christmas concert at our church!  She practiced her songs for weeks!  And was so excited to sing, she did wonderful in rehearsal the day before my Mom said - getting into all the hand motions and everything!  Come the morning of...total and complete stage fright!  But in the end, she sucked it up and sang her little heart out (and played with her hair the whole time).

*****

In between all this, we have had a few leisure days, of hanging around the house....

My sweet boy was not completely awake in this picture.

And some days of having friends over....

Christopher and his girlfriend Ella!

How Carly and her friend Kaylie got in here together I am not completely sure, but they waddled their way into my kitchen like this!  Couple of goofs!

And then Christmas!!!

Oh yeah, Santa hit our house this year!!  x2!!!

My baby boy celebrated his first Christmas!  He liked the wrapping paper the most!  And this picture is my favorite of Carly...

Bed head and all - she is a happy girl!

Merry Christmas to all!  And a Happy New Year!  See u in 2012.....

New Stuff

Christopher had his first taste of  "sort-of-real" food!  First on the baby menu....PEAS! 

This is how it went...

That was our first and last successful taste of peas pretty much.  After that it involved gagging and refusing to open up period. 

We are moving on to the next menu item...

From one holiday to the next!

Halloween weekend was good!  Busy but good!  Mickey and Minnie went on several candied adventures with many costumed friends!

Starting with Vampire Kenzie & Kitty Ella!

Next was a party with Dragons and a Princess!

And finally trick or treating at Grandma's house!

Minnie had a blast...

And Mickey was a trooper for his first Halloween Adventure Weekend!

And in my true Holiday Freak Flag Fashion, after we had trick or treated our hearts out and accumulated more candy than any dieting Mama and 3 1/2 yr old would EVER need...November 6th, we moved right on to the next season....CHRISTMAS!!

And I learned something about myself this year...The whole spirit of giving hasn't extended to MY Christmas tree.  That's right...this holiday freak is NOT self-less enough to hand over all tree decorating to her daughter yet.  I still enjoy hanging ornaments way too much, and so our tree decorating this year consisted of Carly and I bickering over which ornaments we get to hang and silent races back and forth to the ornament box to claim as many tree baubles as we could.  And while some of you are probably thinking that I am pathetic (I won't disagree on some level) and that I sucked the fun out of it for my girl.  I ask you...does this look like she was having a bad time?

And when it was all done (and the squabbling ended), it was my girl who said, "MOM! Lets turn out all the lights and see the tree!"  And so with pride in my heart that she was capturing the magic of this tradition, I got this...

Count down: 35 days

Two Princesses, Minnie Mouse and a Witch!

So the party was a hit!  At least I thought it was....

There was late night set up (with help from the awesome Grandma Lowney, who stayed over-night to give me the two extra hands I needed!!)

Love this spider!! (It is the only spider in the WORLD I will admit to liking) My Mom has the cutest Halloween stuff!

Mummy Cupcakes!! Yum!!

Christopher made a brief cameo appearance in his costume before he promptly fell asleep for the entire party.

Side note: So I can throw a rock and hit a Minnie Costume.  But a Mickey Costume...
forget it, it's like finding GOLD!! So I had to get creative!

The guest list dwindled a little, but it was still so sweet to see four little girls dressed up in their costumes...

We have a Princess, a Witch, Minnie Mouse & a Princess

I













I love watching kids this age play.  They go from playing together, and then someone gets tired of the scene and just walks away to go onto their own thing.  And that's OK.  No one gets mad, no one criticizes their need to do their own thing. 

It's just accepted.  And when they want back into the game, they are welcomed.  It was beautiful to watch the innocence of these little girls.  And not even that, of them just not knowing any better.  When there is only acceptance, and judgement is not yet something that they are aware of.  I love that!

And even though our Halloween party was right in the middle of our Indian summer, it was still wonderful!  Perfect for a Halloween Scavenger Hunt in the yard.  The girls anxiously awaited for the "Candy Man" to get done hiding the candy. 

(The "Candy Man", for those of you not in the know, he hangs with the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus until he is needed around Halloween time.) 

This picture is too cute! Mother & Daughter in deep conversation - maybe debating on the amount of candy Chloe can have, I know that's what I was doing with Carly! (AND I love my girl Angie's shoes!) 

And what better way to work off that sugar high than a game of tag in the yard.

It was a good day!  And even though it was a day for my Love Bug and her friends, it full filled a part of me too!  There is nothing more wonderful than seeing your child happy! 

Total Sweetness

These are just some random photos that never seemed to make the cut...but are never the less sooo awesome!!!

 Potter Park Zoo...Daddy and Daughter enjoying some together time.  I was tearing up as I took this.

I know there are a million and one things wrong with how I have him sleeping and that I am breaking lots of rules (boppy pillow, big fluffy blanket, stuffed animals, etc.) but you know what....he is sleeping!!!!  Those with children will understand.

The kids and their GREAT GRANDPA!! Or Papa, as they call him.  I am so grateful that they have time with him!

Love this!

And this!

"The Girls" Cousin, Sisters, Friends!! (Morgan, Kasey, Carly, Samantha)

That's my Love Bug!!!

Small Joys & Sanity Juice

Christopher discovered water during his bath time this week.  It was somehow uplifting so see his eyes widened up as the faucet poured over his hands and he eagerly tried to grasp at the waterfall.

Somehow, that small moment alleviated the tension that has been surmounting lately in the house.  The past few weeks of "single-moming it" (my hubby is still out of town working) have kinda caught up with me and turned me into a modern-day version of Jekyll and Hyde these days.  One minute everything is great, the next I am ready to climb the walls.  More often than not, I put myself in "time-out" (aka shut myself in the bedroom for 3 mins.) just to regain some composure and pep-talk myself into getting through the last few hours of the day.  (And by pep-talk I mean under-the-breath curses, a few tears, and some serious count-to-ten-deep-breathing.)  And occasionally I have to pull out the big guns.....

Carly asked me the other day what I was drinking...I told her it was "Mommy's Sanity Juice".  (Can't wait til she shares that one with her pre-school class.)

And so I find myself trying to find the small joys in each day.  Like my son's discovery in the bath.  Or finally, finally getting the house decorated for Halloween!

I laughed at this picture...check out the background sign!  "Mommy's Sanity Juice!"

And I just couldn't resist changing it up a little....

I am not a scary, blood and gore kinda Halloween gal.  I like the cute little ghosts and pumpkins to decorate our house.  Carly is anxiously waiting for her Halloween party I promised her this year, and I am stocking up on the "sanity juice" for next week when 6 to 12 little goblins will be charging through my house on sugar highs....

Oh! and costumes this year...

M-I-N-N-I-E M-O-U-S-E!!  Christopher is Mickey...she is still trying to me to get dressed up like Daisy and her Dad Pluto - or as she calls it "the Dog".  Makes me smile every time... see it's the small joys!