The Things They Say...

Ok, this was just too funny not to share! On Thursday, I was getting Ella into the car for school and she said "where we going?" I told her we were going to school. Then I heard this little sassy/whine say "oh...I just can't believe it, I don't want to go to school." Seriously, to hear these words and her tone of voice, I had to remind myself she's only 3! I told her, of course you want to go, you like school, you have fun there. Then she said "I wish you could go with me." I told her that mommies don't to go to school. And I thought that would be the end of discussion...then she comes back and says "little girls don't go to school either." All that aside, she had a great day, and when I picked her up she told me she had fun at school. Of course she did, she had music with Ms. Jean! She really is doing great and having a lot of fun!

Carpooling & Hot Chocolate

Yes indeed my friends, it's cold! And feeling sorry for Miles and Kaeley having to stand out in the cold last week for Kindergarten pickup, I decided to treat them to hot chocolate at Starbucks. Believe it or not, it's about the cheapest treat I can buy them through a drive through... they have kid-size hot chocolate, and it's just barely warm so it doesn't burn them, and they think they're so big drinking out of the "coffee cups" with a lid on them. Oh, and did I mention, it's like a buck! So before I offer hot chocolate, Miles mentions to Kaeley that he has 2 chocolate chip cookies left over from lunch and offers to share one with her. We headed to Starbucks, where I ordered 3 kid-sized hot chocolates. Miles paused for a minute after I ordered and said, "why did you order 3?" I told him that one of them was for me. Then he said he only had 2 cookies! It just melted my heart that he was worried he didn't have one for me! So sweet!

Oh...and a side note...when I told Greg the story, he freaked out accusing me of spoiling our daughter on Starbucks. He's afraid she'll be on to coffee before she's 10! I personally don't like coffee, but Starbucks is the only place I order it. Add enough calories to anything and then it's good - eh?

Ella Beth's Love for Mickey

My sweet soul, Ella Beth keeps insisting we go (just again on our way home tonight) see if Mickey is up. Mickey is an inflatable Christmas decoration that was on the other side of our neighborhood that we used to go out of our way to see. There were many nights we'd just be at home and Ella would insist we hop in the car to go see Mickey - and we did! She used to want to go during the day, but he was never up, thus the reason she now asks to go see if he's up. We've been by numerous times and she's seen that he's not there. And just yesterday she was telling me that he was packed up, but some how she keeps forgetting!

There was another funny story about Christmas inflatables. Our next door neighbor had a penguin. Ella was very intrigued because she could see him from the play room window. She always got excited when he stood up at night. One day over Christmas break, she kept telling me and Greg about a scary monster that had the penguin. It was the wind blowing the penguin around on the ground. We tried explaining that, but she insisted it was a scary monster. Greg had to take her over in the neighbors yard and show her that there was no monster.

My sweet girl! And yes, we did ponder buying an inflatable something-something for our yard, but I was afraid she'd insist we keep it up all year! Now when we drive through the neighborhood, she names all the inflatables and says "Santa's gone", "Penguin's gone", "Snowman's gone"....

Happy New Year!

Ahhh..... Christmas decorations are all down. It's enough to get you into spring cleaning mode! Christmas 2008 was great! It was so much fun watching the girls this year. Christmas day, Ella woke up first and we had to keep her upstairs until Kaeley woke up because Kaeley would have been so mad that Ella got to see the presents before she did. It worked pretty well, but Kaeley went to bed late and thus she woke up grumpy anyway! Mimi and Papa were here...they came up Christmas Eve. My grandparents made the trip from NC to be here with us on Christmas morning. This is the first year, with the exception of the year we were all sick and Christmas was cancelled - that my Aunt Deb and Uncle Tim didn't get to make the trip too. My aunt broke her shoulder and is unable to travel. We missed them! All I know is that they missed out the best biscuits and gravy! That was my special treat from my Nan! After making the trip from NC, she treated us all to biscuits and gravy! They were wonderful! I always had her biscuits and gravy on Christmas morning when I was growing up. Yummy!!! Thanks Nan! Santa did deliver on the girls Christmas wishes. Ella Beth got her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Barbie Styling head, and Kaeley got Hannah Montana sheets and a DVD ...and everything else Hannah Montana! I mean everything! Christmas night, we spent with Mamaw and Papaw. The girls are so excited - Kaeley got a princess big wheel and so now they don't have to fight over Ella's. Isn't that great? Ella also got a Strawberry Shortcake tricycle that she thinks is pretty cool. Christmas is over, so they're both ready for warmer weather! Sunday we made the trip to middle TN, and the first stop was Grandma Gertie's. It was great seeing all of Greg's family from NC and Texas. Kaeley and Ella had a blast playing with cousin's. Next stop was Grandma Joan's. We stayed for a couple of days and the girls played and played! It was great catching up with Ginelle and Gil and they girls had so much fun with cousin Owen! Now we're getting back into the routine of things. I've really enjoyed the break and it's been nice not having to get up so early to get the girls to school. Next week will be tough!

Oh... and I wanted to wish my Mom a very Happy Birthday! Her birthday was on the 30th. We were still at Grandma Joan's. I told Kaeley it was her birthday and she said she was torn between being at Grandma's and going to Mimi's party! Greg told her you don't have parties once you hit 40. Mimi we love you! Hope you had a great birthday!

The Nutcracker

Not sure where the fascination with the Nutcracker has come from, I'm thinking the Barbie Nutcracker movie we rented a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, Kaeley is all about it! My mom was here last weekend and took Kaeley to Michael's. Well, first and foremost, she thought she had died and gone to heaven - Art Heaven that is! Rumor has it, she was trying to persuade Mimi to fight the traffic and head to the mall to the pottery place so she could do a little painting. She came across an unpainted Nutcracker at Michael's and told my mom this was her lucky day! That this was the best thing that could have happened. So my artsy/craftsy mom.... no, who am I kidding? This is not my mom at all, oh yeah - it's Mimi. Grandparents do things you never dreamed they would do! Ok, back to the story, Mimi bought the Nutcracker, along with paint and brushes ... now where was my camera for the art session that took place?!? Yes indeed, I was under the weather from having surgery, and it was much of a blur for me. I can still see Mimi with a paint brush in her hand thinking to myself - is that my mom? Anyway, Mimi was quite the trooper and Kaeley loved each and every second of painting! She didn't want to paint it the way it was on the tag, she wanted to do it like the Nutcracker from the movie, and so she did. She really did a great job! My little artist makes me proud! She had to take him for show and tell at school on Friday.

The Edible Gingerbread House

Perhaps I was deprived as a kid (yeah right!) but I have no recollection of ever making a gingerbread house. I've never attempted it as an adult...looked like a labor of love. This year I noticed these pre-baked, ready to assemble, Gingerbread House Kits in the stores made by Wilton. Well, that's a name I'm familiar with...all of my cake decorating stuff is Wilton. So I thought, how hard could it be? Well, a little harder than I thought. More time consuming than anything. Assembling 4 walls then letting them dry for an hour. Add the roof, a couple more hours - and then what the kids are waiting for - the candy! If they haven't eaten it all in the meantime. And the hardest part for me was resisting the urge to break out the cake decorating kit and tear into all my icing tips and really get creative! Remembering, this was a fun little project to entertain the girls, I took a chill pill and let them decorate! I assembled the house and put the icing on as per Kaeley's instructions on where to put the icing. The girls really had a blast decorating it! It was so hard for them to put the candy on the house and not in their mouths! It was almost dinner time and the no candy before dinner rule was in effect! Ella would not stop until all the candy was on the house. I kept telling her it was finished, and she said "no, not yet." Then out of the blue, she said "I'm almost finished with my Christmas shopping." That caught me off guard - I guess "finishing" the gingerbread house reminded her of "finishing" her Christmas shopping. I told her I didn't realize she had started her shopping! They were quite pleased with themselves and their house. Now I've heard from a couple of people that you can use hot glue to assemble the house - it goes a lot easier and faster. However, not edible. Kaeley, especially, wanted to be able to eat the house when it was finished. Seems like a lot of work to me to tear it apart... but there again... the temptation of something so yummy should be edible! So, my tip of the day, if you want an edible house - use icing - make it thick (as the box says toothpaste consistency) and use a lot. Ours "was" pretty sturdy. Notice the past tense... 3 little elves tore the roof off today while I was out shopping and started yumming it up!

Ella Beth's Christmas Program

We are SO PROUD of Ella Beth! Today was her Christmas Program at Preschool. Her teachers have been telling me that she really comes out of her shell when she's singing - she loves it! Even so, I figured come time to perform in front of all the mommies and daddies, that she would either cross her arms and refuse to participate or run down the aisle and out the door! I teased everyone before it started that I should stand at the door so I could catch her as she came running! Greg and I were both there and Papaw came too... we all had to see if she would really do it - and SHE DID! She was so happy! She did such a good job! Greg captured some clips on our camera and she has watched them over and over AND OVER this afternoon begging to go back to school! It's going to be a long break! After the program, Santa and Mrs. Claus stopped by for a visit. She climbed right up on his lap and told him she would see him soon! After Santa, they finished up with a little party in her class. She was thrilled to have me there! She got to decorate a star shaped cookie with icing and sprinkles, and called it lunch! What a treat!

Ella with Santa & Mrs. Claus

Ella with her friends

Ella having a great time decorating her cookie!

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