New Year's Eve

It's 5:30 PM on New year's eve and I just received a text that our current house just went officially under contract!!! Yippee!!!! I think that explains why there have been no blog posts....between showing the house, Christmas, traveling after Christmas and meetings out of town for the new house, we've been burning the candle at both ends....and somewhere in the middle, too. I have terrible guilt that I have not blogged about Christmas before the new year has started. That will be my goal for tomorrow. I just wanted to make a quick post to say YAY and Happy New year!!!

The Christmas season....

Here's a quick summary with some photos of the Christmas season....cause a few photos are all I have time for!

We took Colby and Miller to the annual holiday concert at the local high school...


And they had a blast! There were tons of characters in the production: Bob the Builder, Elmo, Winnie the Pooh, Dora, and even Santa Claus. Last year when we went, Colby stood up front in front of everyone and literally tried to conduct the music the entire time. It was amazing. Naturally, as he has gotten older and more self-aware, he has become much more modest about his public displays of playing and conducting music, so this year he stayed in his isle.

But he was still VERY excited...


and Miller clapped and cheered after every single song.


Our elf "Kicks" has arrived at our house...


and every morning, he puts a treat in the advent calendar. Colby forces his eyes open at 7AM sharp each morning just to see what Kicks has delivered.


It has been FREEZING here, so I bought some mini trampolines for my little monkeys. They are loving them!


Each morning and each night, they spend some time jumping together.


Miller decided as of a few weeks ago that she would no longer be napping. She will scream at the top of her lungs if she is put in her crib for a nap, and she will do it for a very long time. (I have no idea how long because I caved after about 15 minutes) The only way we can get her into the crib in the afternoons is with toys and books, so I put her in there for an hour of "quiet time".

This is what happens when a stubborn little girl refuses to nap....but just can't fight it any longer.


And lastly, Colby and I built our very first gingerbread house together. I was actually quite impressed with myself for getting the house pieces together.....it was harder than I thought it would be! Colby loved it.


The sad part is that I'm the one who has slowly been eating the candy off....sometimes I feel like I'm not fit for motherhood.

A funny

Miller and I were sitting on the bed yesterday watching the Wiggles together. She took my hand and put my finger up to my nose. Then she put my finger up to my mouth. Then she stared at me and said with a very serious face, "Mamma, you like da boogie?"

Gross, but funny!

So sweet!

Santa Picture 2010

First, a review of previous years....

2007


2008


2009



**********************DRUMROLL********************

I guess the good news is that there's no where to go but up after this one.



(In Miller's defense, she was screaming and terrified, and I think the fingers in the nose were a defense mechanism.)

Thanksgiving

Whew! We just returned from a very fun (and slightly chaotic) visit to Tennessee for Thanksgiving with all of Lee's family: Uncle Ben and Aunt Jenny, Will, Sarah, Tommy, Nana and Granddaddy.

Colby and Miller handled the traveling very well; the highlight for Miller was definitely the "school bus" ride from the parking lot to the terminal.

Colby was still feeling good upon arrival...


While Miller caught a quick cat nap in the car.


For the few days we were there, we spent a lot of time talking and hanging out, while the kids enjoyed exploring new toys and making a mess of the playroom.

Jen and Ben totally outdid themselves on the Thanksgiving meal- there were 2 turkeys (one fried, one baked) and tons of great food.

The kids had their own table for Thanksgiving dinner...






And the adults enjoyed their own quiet table a little bit later.


Attempt at a self-timer photo


The following day, we took the kids to the Children's museum.

The hightlight for Colby was dressing up like a fireman.


Unlike her mother, Miller thoroughly enjoyed grocery shopping. There was a really cute old man working the register and checking her out.... just kidding! He wasn't that cute. Just kidding again! He wasn't really working there. Ok, I really am kidding- Granddaddy is looking as young as ever these days- totally fit and trim!


Silly girl really liked these sunglasses that she found in the car...must be Sarah's...


On the flight home, as we were landing, I told Miller to look out of the window. Everything was dark except for all of the lights, which looked orange. Miller exclaimed excitedly, "Oooohhhh! It's Halloween up in here!" Gotta love the perspective of a 2 year old.

THANK YOU Ben and Jen for your wonderful hospitality!
Nana and Granddaddy, we are looking forward to seeing you again soon!

School Pictures

Here they are....the much anticipated preschool portraits.

Miller had chapped lips and the beginning of a cold...her dad got her ready and "did" her hair because I was out of town...and she wasn't sure why she was sitting on that chair. All things considered, not too bad.


Colby's turned out great this year! My sweet and very big boy.

Halloween 2010

Colby and Miller had an absolute blast on Halloween this year. Colby knew the ropes from last year, and Miller caught on very quickly how to walk up to houses and get candy "by self".

Batman and the garden gnome ready to go...


along with a very large Buzz Lightyear.


See...I am following through on my promise to take more family pictures! (this was outside of our friend's house after a cookout)


Off they go!


This is the neighborhood gang....Colby is the only boy (other than Sean), but he makes the most of it. The girls all love him and he plays very well with all of them. From left to right, it's Sophie, Catie, Colby, Sean, Miller, Lori, and Megan. I should note that Miller is 2 years younger than all the bigger kids, and only 2 1/2 months older than Sean!!! That shows you just how big she is for her age.


After about an hour of trick-or-treating, we headed home to examine the loot.


Miller was totally thrilled with all the lollipops in her bag. (it's the only thing she recognized, so it was the only thing she wanted)


Colby enjoyed a little chocolate...


While Miller showed her skills at managing multiple lollipops.


After they each had several pieces of candy, we saved a few in a small plastic bag, and then we put the rest of the candy in large bags outside of their door for the Switch Witch. Don't you know about the Switch Witch?? She comes the night of Halloween and switches candy for toys. The more candy you leave, the bigger and better the toy. Colby wanted to leave ALL of his candy....he is a gambling man. Luckily, the Switch Witch did not disappoint.



Miller received a Mickey Mouse movie for her candy, but she really does not understand the whole concept at this point. Colby is already talking about what the Switch Witch might bring him next year. I guess the only downside of the Switch Witch is that I put all the candy in the garage and slowly ate it myself. Oops. Maybe the Switch Witch needs to come to mom's door, too!

Last minute photo op

While I was out of town picking out tile for our house, Lee took the kids to a fall festival. They had a blast!

There was a big jumpy thing (that I would have loved)


And a water pump that they had fun with








They rode in some cows...


and took a hayride.


They also saw animals, pig races, and many more things.

When I returned from out of town, I realized there was not much time to squeeze Miller into her Halloween attire. Between being out of town, Miller being sick, and Lee dressing them, her Halloween clothes have not been worn.

Before Lee took Miller to the playground, I insisted she wear this outfit, even if only for an hour.


My sweet little pumpkin girl


(by the way, that is the first pumpkin I have ever carved. I did not find out until after the fact that there are pumpkin carving kits; I did this with a butcher knife and was thrilled I did not cut off a finger. It's still pretty pathetic...but luckily, the neighbors will assume the kids did it)

Today, the morning of Halloween, I forced her into this little number, complete with a sparkly skirt and rhinestone pumpkin faced shirt.


She was not a fan.

Fall fun

So one of the (many) reasons I feel so guilty (see post below) is that I have not taken the kids to the huge Halloween Festival/carnival this year. (we've been all previous years) We learned the hard way to go on a weekday because weekends are too crowded, but we just haven't had the time to go. Colby is dying to go, so we're going to try to go after Halloween since they stay open for a while.

Meanwhile, we did hit up our local pumpkin farm.

The obligatory "stick your head in a cow" picture


The obligatory "stick your head in a pumpkin" picture


They had a blast playing on this pirate ship***


Miller took a break from the pirate ship to pick out her pumpkin. (Colby opted to play instead)



*** Normally, I would have dressed the kids in their cutest Halloween attire, but it was a weekend and daddy dressed them. Daddy is all about function over form....so that explains it.

I suck....and a little Buzz on ice

I feel like a horrible mother. I feel like an even worse wife. I feel guilty about not taking enough pictures and keeping up with the blog. I am so spread thin with all this house stuff that I'm really falling behind in every day life. I can't remember the last time I made a really good homemade dinner. In fact, Lee has done more cooking than I have lately, and that includes nights that he works. I have so much guilt. I am not doing anything well. I haven't worked out in weeks- this is the first time in my life I have not made time for working out. I will be the first to admit that I do not handle stress well, and I really don't like it when I don't have any down time in my day. I've even let Colby miss a few of his swim lessons because it takes all afternoon to get there and back- that is so unlike me. I feel especially guilty that Lee has been taking the kids on weekend mornings to do all kinds of fun stuff while I stay home and do house related things or get paperwork in order.

It didn't help that our house went on the market this week. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to make everything PERFECT. There was not one thing on a countertop anywhere....there were fresh flowers....mulling spices on the stove top... music playing through all the speakers. We have someone interested in our house, but if they don't buy it, I'm not going to those lengths anymore.

On top of everyday stresses, I made the VERY dumb decision to switch from a PC to a Mac this week....both computers at the same time. Wow, so don't do that.

Aside from all of that, I tried to forget about it all and we went to see Buzz Lightyear on Ice yesterday. The kids both loved it! Colby did not move a muscle except to buy a Buzz Lightyear laser at intermission. Miller sat very still for the first half, but was a bit fidgety through the second half. Here are a few picks of the highlights:

Off we go! Poor Miller has been battling an awful cold and was not feeling her best.


Colby loves all things military. He has been asking for a parachute for Christmas...I think he's really planning to jump off of something.




Colby's most favorite evil villain


The grand entrance






Colby sat just like this and did not say one word.


Miller sniffled her way through most of it, but had a great time despite the cold.


I am going to try to do better with my updates. Halloween is this weekend...hopefully lots a great pictures to come!