Can't you just feel the excitement??
Friday, December 31, 2010
Goodbye 2010!!
We celebrated at home tonight! I use the past tense because we will never make it to midnight! I am currently watching Rick Springfield singing on television, and that is about all the excitement I can handle. :-) SF and I went out shopping this afternoon for a little while. I needed to get out of the house. We had a stomach bug/fever virus (or something) move slowly through our house starting last Monday. In the end, I ended up with cabin fever, and I needed to get out! We enjoyed a stroll through the mall and stopped at Gigi's Cupcakes on the way home for some New Year's Eve treats. Rush and SF were allowed to have about 1/32 of a cupcake after they faked their way through a grilled cheese and french fries. They were barely able to cope with the fact that there was a cupcake in their near future. So, basically, they had some icing for dinner.
Can't you just feel the excitement??
Can't you just feel the excitement??
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
No clue??
I wish that I could say I have decided to become a minimalist in the new year, but alas, that is not the case. I tried to play around with the blogger templates today to update the look of the blog, and I have really messed things up. I have had to revert to this basic white background so that I can even get the blog to come up on my computer. If I try to put in any HTML code to put in a background or even use one from Blogger Templates, I get an error message. Until I can get it figured out, please just enjoy the whiteness. If you use Blogger and have ideas for how it can be fixed, I'm all ears. :-)
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas!
We had a visit from Santa last night! Watch for more Christmas posts as we get ready to enjoy time with our family!
Friday, December 24, 2010
The Night Before Christmas
First things first... I took SF to have her stitches removed. It was horrible again, but it was also over much more quickly, so we survived. Dr. Fuller said it looks good and he doesn't think it will leave much of a scar.
We had a fun day today. Phil didn't have to work, so we enjoyed just hanging around as a family. Both of the kids said they would be willing to sit in Santa's lap, so we decided we would head to our local mall to give it a try. We anticipated horrible lines and crowds, but it wasn't bad at all. We waited behind one family and then were all set. Unfortunately, Frantastic decided upon inspection that Santa's lap would not be a place that she would be sitting any time soon. She was clinging to Phil for dear life. Rush, on the other hand, was very willing to participate!! He hopped right into Santa's lap and snuggled into his beard, giving him the sweetest hug. My throat got a little tight. It was so cute. Rush told him he wanted a black car. He gave him a candy cane and one for SF who was staring from Daddy's shoulder off to the side. (She was more than willing to accept candy from the strange man in the red suit.)While I was at the cash register being swindled out of $20.00 (the cheapest "package"), Rush was standing holding Phil's hand. Phil told him to "come with me" because he seemed to want to stand near Santa. Rush's lip began to tremble and his eyes filled up with tears. When Phil asked him what was wrong, he said, "I need my bwack car." Apparently, Rush felt that he was going to leave the mall with his gift from Santa. All he wanted was a black car, after all. It took a few minutes to explain one more time how the whole "Santa" thing was going to work. He was satifisfied. We took our slightly blurry picture and left. SF says,"Maybe next year, y'all."
*This is my illegal digital camera photo.. not the one for which we paid twenty dollars. It wasn't this clear.*
We went by to visit with my Granddaddy after that. The kids enjoyed playing over there and Rush had another first. He drank a cup of water from a regular cup (not a sippy). He watched his older cousin, Trey, do it. Then, he took the cup from Aunt Julia and proceeded to drink away. No help, no instruction... just turned it up.
The kids also enjoyed listening to their cousin Jillian reading them a book. She is in first grade and is a phenomenal little reader. I was impressed!
We came home to have homemade pizza, and then we baked sugar cookies for Santa. I think I need a new recipe for those. I used one I found online, and they were not fabulous. It has been a while since I have taken a bite of something that had no flavor, but that was the experience with these cookies. I don't think Santa really cares, though. He is so tired from his long trip that pretty much any old cookie will do. {Good thing...}The kids liked the dough, though. That's all that really matters, right?
Then, we opened our last day on the Advent Calendar. They have LOVED these!
They left some cookies and milk out for Santa...
Finally, they waved goodbye to Duncan the Elf. That silly elf was way on top of the Christmas tree. He returns to the North Pole every Christmas Eve and won't be back until next year.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
We had a fun day today. Phil didn't have to work, so we enjoyed just hanging around as a family. Both of the kids said they would be willing to sit in Santa's lap, so we decided we would head to our local mall to give it a try. We anticipated horrible lines and crowds, but it wasn't bad at all. We waited behind one family and then were all set. Unfortunately, Frantastic decided upon inspection that Santa's lap would not be a place that she would be sitting any time soon. She was clinging to Phil for dear life. Rush, on the other hand, was very willing to participate!! He hopped right into Santa's lap and snuggled into his beard, giving him the sweetest hug. My throat got a little tight. It was so cute. Rush told him he wanted a black car. He gave him a candy cane and one for SF who was staring from Daddy's shoulder off to the side. (She was more than willing to accept candy from the strange man in the red suit.)While I was at the cash register being swindled out of $20.00 (the cheapest "package"), Rush was standing holding Phil's hand. Phil told him to "come with me" because he seemed to want to stand near Santa. Rush's lip began to tremble and his eyes filled up with tears. When Phil asked him what was wrong, he said, "I need my bwack car." Apparently, Rush felt that he was going to leave the mall with his gift from Santa. All he wanted was a black car, after all. It took a few minutes to explain one more time how the whole "Santa" thing was going to work. He was satifisfied. We took our slightly blurry picture and left. SF says,"Maybe next year, y'all."
*This is my illegal digital camera photo.. not the one for which we paid twenty dollars. It wasn't this clear.*
We went by to visit with my Granddaddy after that. The kids enjoyed playing over there and Rush had another first. He drank a cup of water from a regular cup (not a sippy). He watched his older cousin, Trey, do it. Then, he took the cup from Aunt Julia and proceeded to drink away. No help, no instruction... just turned it up.
The kids also enjoyed listening to their cousin Jillian reading them a book. She is in first grade and is a phenomenal little reader. I was impressed!
We came home to have homemade pizza, and then we baked sugar cookies for Santa. I think I need a new recipe for those. I used one I found online, and they were not fabulous. It has been a while since I have taken a bite of something that had no flavor, but that was the experience with these cookies. I don't think Santa really cares, though. He is so tired from his long trip that pretty much any old cookie will do. {Good thing...}The kids liked the dough, though. That's all that really matters, right?
Then, we opened our last day on the Advent Calendar. They have LOVED these!
They left some cookies and milk out for Santa...
Finally, they waved goodbye to Duncan the Elf. That silly elf was way on top of the Christmas tree. He returns to the North Pole every Christmas Eve and won't be back until next year.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Growing Pains
We went ahead and got our first emergency/accident taken care of this past weekend. I am told parenthood is filled with these kinds of incidents. I am not sure my heart can take many more of them. I am already sort of a frantic, busy, stressy kind of person anyway, so having a child have to have stitches in her head only accentuates those already less than favorable personality traits for me.
Frannie was doing some living room dancing/twirling and got a little too dizzy. We heard a head bump and then a cry. I must be honest. This is a daily occurence around here. Someone is always falling, tripping, slipping, etc. Toddlers are, by nature, clumsy. Usually these bumps and bruises can be solved by some kisses and a little extra TLC/lap time. This time was different. Veeerrry different...After SF lost her balance and hit her head, Phil ran from the kitchen counter to where SF was standing, he immediately called out to me that she was bleeding. It was A LOT of blood. And I mean A LOT! The cut on her head was actually small compared to the amount of blood that was coming from it. We got it to stop pretty easily, and then Frannie was perfectly fine. We put a small bandaid on it to keep it closed together. Phil and I could both tell immediately that it needed stitches. She was proud of her band-aid. She kept saying, "I got band-aid. Wush not got band-aid." Not because she wanted Rush to have one, mind you... she was just happy to have something he didn't have. Even in an emergency situation, you still have to be sure your brother doesn't have more than you, right? I called the Pediatric Clinic to see if they could see her rather than having to go the ER route. They do urgent care for kids there on the weekends. Thankfully, Mama and Daddy were able to meet us in the parking lot of the clinic to take Rush back to their house to play and watch Toy Story. I am not sure he would have been able to cope with the long wait... especially since I refuse to let them touch anything at the doctor's office.. including the floor. It would have been a long, boring wait for the little man. They took her, but we had to wait a while. I think it was still better than the ER waiting room, though. The doctor immediately said that Dermabond would not be an option because of the position of the gash, so stitches would be necessary. I was really hoping for the Dermabond solution, but the doctor had a good reason for not using it. Getting stitches just made it seem a little worse to me. I will not relive the actual "stitching" part of the story because it was completely devastating for all of us. It was very difficult to watch, and she was very much flipping out. (I kinda don't blame her, though... it was pretty intense. There were needles, shots, and something that looked like a small fish hook.) After all was said and done, she ended up needing three small stitches, but that was three too many for this Mama. The doctor said it will leave a scar, but we will do all we can to minimize that. The real challenge has been keeping this little live wire still so that we don't have to relive it. Phil warned her that if she hit her head again, she would have to go back to the doctor again. She said, "Uh, uh, I NOT go back to dotter 'gin." I think that sums up the feelings of the entire household. Of course, Dr. Fuller will have the pleasure of removing the stitches Friday. Merry Christmas, Dr. Fuller!!
Here she is:
P.S. Hydrogen peroxide will remove blood on contact from clothing and carpet... just in case you ever need to know that. Thanks for the tip, Mama!
Frannie was doing some living room dancing/twirling and got a little too dizzy. We heard a head bump and then a cry. I must be honest. This is a daily occurence around here. Someone is always falling, tripping, slipping, etc. Toddlers are, by nature, clumsy. Usually these bumps and bruises can be solved by some kisses and a little extra TLC/lap time. This time was different. Veeerrry different...After SF lost her balance and hit her head, Phil ran from the kitchen counter to where SF was standing, he immediately called out to me that she was bleeding. It was A LOT of blood. And I mean A LOT! The cut on her head was actually small compared to the amount of blood that was coming from it. We got it to stop pretty easily, and then Frannie was perfectly fine. We put a small bandaid on it to keep it closed together. Phil and I could both tell immediately that it needed stitches. She was proud of her band-aid. She kept saying, "I got band-aid. Wush not got band-aid." Not because she wanted Rush to have one, mind you... she was just happy to have something he didn't have. Even in an emergency situation, you still have to be sure your brother doesn't have more than you, right? I called the Pediatric Clinic to see if they could see her rather than having to go the ER route. They do urgent care for kids there on the weekends. Thankfully, Mama and Daddy were able to meet us in the parking lot of the clinic to take Rush back to their house to play and watch Toy Story. I am not sure he would have been able to cope with the long wait... especially since I refuse to let them touch anything at the doctor's office.. including the floor. It would have been a long, boring wait for the little man. They took her, but we had to wait a while. I think it was still better than the ER waiting room, though. The doctor immediately said that Dermabond would not be an option because of the position of the gash, so stitches would be necessary. I was really hoping for the Dermabond solution, but the doctor had a good reason for not using it. Getting stitches just made it seem a little worse to me. I will not relive the actual "stitching" part of the story because it was completely devastating for all of us. It was very difficult to watch, and she was very much flipping out. (I kinda don't blame her, though... it was pretty intense. There were needles, shots, and something that looked like a small fish hook.) After all was said and done, she ended up needing three small stitches, but that was three too many for this Mama. The doctor said it will leave a scar, but we will do all we can to minimize that. The real challenge has been keeping this little live wire still so that we don't have to relive it. Phil warned her that if she hit her head again, she would have to go back to the doctor again. She said, "Uh, uh, I NOT go back to dotter 'gin." I think that sums up the feelings of the entire household. Of course, Dr. Fuller will have the pleasure of removing the stitches Friday. Merry Christmas, Dr. Fuller!!
Here she is:
P.S. Hydrogen peroxide will remove blood on contact from clothing and carpet... just in case you ever need to know that. Thanks for the tip, Mama!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Just a bunch of pictures
I have really been off track with blogging lately, so I am going to do a hodge podge of pictures that should have been posted in separate posts but were not. Then, I am going to consider myself caught up and move on from my blogging slump. :-)
Discussing Duncan the Elf after he arrived under the tree
Just love her in purple
All dressed up for Sue Sue's Christmas Party
Super cool inheritance from their cousins, Jillian and Trey
(P.S. It has a real radio in it. Guess what one of Rush's favorite things to do would be? No. Guess.)
Rush said, "I am so over this pork roast and sweet potatoes. Gimme a woll, pwease."
The kids are SO excited about Christmas this year! We read Christmas books at night, talk about the decorations we see in stores and all around our neighborhood, and fight over who will get to press the button to turn on our Christmas lights. Duncan the Elf has been lots of fun to find every morning. He isn't like some elves... he never makes messes. I think Duncan knows me well. He knew when he came to our house that we did not need any more messes to be made, and he also knew that messes make me sad/mad. He simply returns each morning in a fun, new hiding place. The perfect elf for our curious two year olds. I almost have all of my Christmas shopping done. I am REALLY looking forward to having the next two weeks off from work. We will have some fun and will also be venturing into learning to use the potty. I don't know much posting we will do about that topic. Who knows, though? Maybe I will be able to find the humor in potty training twins!
Discussing Duncan the Elf after he arrived under the tree
Just love her in purple
All dressed up for Sue Sue's Christmas Party
Super cool inheritance from their cousins, Jillian and Trey
(P.S. It has a real radio in it. Guess what one of Rush's favorite things to do would be? No. Guess.)
Rush said, "I am so over this pork roast and sweet potatoes. Gimme a woll, pwease."
The kids are SO excited about Christmas this year! We read Christmas books at night, talk about the decorations we see in stores and all around our neighborhood, and fight over who will get to press the button to turn on our Christmas lights. Duncan the Elf has been lots of fun to find every morning. He isn't like some elves... he never makes messes. I think Duncan knows me well. He knew when he came to our house that we did not need any more messes to be made, and he also knew that messes make me sad/mad. He simply returns each morning in a fun, new hiding place. The perfect elf for our curious two year olds. I almost have all of my Christmas shopping done. I am REALLY looking forward to having the next two weeks off from work. We will have some fun and will also be venturing into learning to use the potty. I don't know much posting we will do about that topic. Who knows, though? Maybe I will be able to find the humor in potty training twins!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...
We decided to decorate our tree today. I so love our tree. Rush and Frannie had the best time decorating. I put away my anxious, inner control-freak and let them pull out ornaments, look at them, and tell us where to put them. They had a little trouble getting the ornaments to stay on the tree, so we put most of them on according to where they pointed. It is so much fun to see Christmas through their eyes. Little Fran picked up an ornament and said, "Oh Mama,dis boo-ee-ful." We also had snowman cookies that Sydney picked out at the grocery store on Saturday.
Waiting for the cookies to bake... longest 8 minutes ever.. :-)
Decorating the tree
There will also be a special visitor here tomorrow morning. Tonight, we read a book about a special elf that is a helper of Santa's. He is coming to our house to stay until Christmas Eve. One of the things you have to do when an elf comes to your house is name him. He was nearly named Pink (Syd's idea), but he was saved from that fate when Phil suggested Duncan. Both of the kids really liked that name. He is just an assistant of Santa's and reports to him each night on where Rush and Syd stand on the naughty vs. nice spectrum each day. He's a handy little elf. Just the mention of his name and that he couldn't come in the morning unless they went night night sent them both scurrying to bed. Sweet!
By the way, Rush and Sydney Frances told me what to tell Santa they wanted this year. I don't think there will be a seating with Santa this year because they have both emphatically stated that this would not be happening. I will be happy to report to Santa, though. Rush wants a bwack {black} car and Sydney Frances has asked for a pone-tail {a ponytail}. I will be interested to see what Santa comes up with for that request.
Waiting for the cookies to bake... longest 8 minutes ever.. :-)
Decorating the tree
There will also be a special visitor here tomorrow morning. Tonight, we read a book about a special elf that is a helper of Santa's. He is coming to our house to stay until Christmas Eve. One of the things you have to do when an elf comes to your house is name him. He was nearly named Pink (Syd's idea), but he was saved from that fate when Phil suggested Duncan. Both of the kids really liked that name. He is just an assistant of Santa's and reports to him each night on where Rush and Syd stand on the naughty vs. nice spectrum each day. He's a handy little elf. Just the mention of his name and that he couldn't come in the morning unless they went night night sent them both scurrying to bed. Sweet!
By the way, Rush and Sydney Frances told me what to tell Santa they wanted this year. I don't think there will be a seating with Santa this year because they have both emphatically stated that this would not be happening. I will be happy to report to Santa, though. Rush wants a bwack {black} car and Sydney Frances has asked for a pone-tail {a ponytail}. I will be interested to see what Santa comes up with for that request.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thanksgiving 2010
This Thanksgiving was filled with a few of my favorite things... family, friends, food, and football*.
On Wednesday, we had lunch at our house with my best buddies... Jeni and Leslie. Leslie and I were roommates in college, and all of us have been friends since high school. Rush and Sydney Frances had so much fun playing with Jeni and Jonthan's daughter, Olivia. SF and Olivia had on matching patterns from Kelly's Kids. I guess great minds think alike. ;-)
On Thursday, we went to my parents' house to have a HUGE Thanksgiving meal. I must say that this feast was delicious. Wanna hear the menu? Smoked turkey, ham, chicken, dressing, cranberry sauce, homemade macaroni and cheese, squash casserole, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole (with the crunchy topping), peas, strawberry salad, rolls, chocolate cake, bread pudding, pumpkin cake, sweet potato pie, and pound cake. I just gained another pound by listing it all again, and I probably left something off the list. It was all delicious. I ate TWO plates FULL. I was literally in pain. That's what you are supposed to do on this holiday, right?The kiddos had their Thanksgiving lunch at a very special table this year. It was the kids' table, but not just any kids' table. This table belonged to Gigi (my Mama) when she was a little girl. Then, Ivy and I also played with it when we were little girls. Rush and Fran loved having their lunch at the little table. I like thinking about everyone from our family sitting in those little chairs through the years. I'm a cheeseball like that, though.
One of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving weekend was getting to hang out with this little cutie pie. My sweet niece, Kate, kept everyone on their toes because this cutie patootie is crawling and pulling up on everything. She is so cute and sweet. I love being Kate's aunt!! P.S. Her AU onesie has been bringing us luck each weekend, and it worked like a charm this week, too.
*{Disclaimer: OK. Truthfully, football isn't one of my favorite things. Mainly, I just like to go the games to see the band and watch all the pregame/halftime stuff, but when my alma mater has a perfect season, beats UA, will play in the SEC Championship game next weekend, and has a shot to be National Champions, football becomes one of my favorite things.WAR EAGLE!!}
On Wednesday, we had lunch at our house with my best buddies... Jeni and Leslie. Leslie and I were roommates in college, and all of us have been friends since high school. Rush and Sydney Frances had so much fun playing with Jeni and Jonthan's daughter, Olivia. SF and Olivia had on matching patterns from Kelly's Kids. I guess great minds think alike. ;-)
On Thursday, we went to my parents' house to have a HUGE Thanksgiving meal. I must say that this feast was delicious. Wanna hear the menu? Smoked turkey, ham, chicken, dressing, cranberry sauce, homemade macaroni and cheese, squash casserole, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole (with the crunchy topping), peas, strawberry salad, rolls, chocolate cake, bread pudding, pumpkin cake, sweet potato pie, and pound cake. I just gained another pound by listing it all again, and I probably left something off the list. It was all delicious. I ate TWO plates FULL. I was literally in pain. That's what you are supposed to do on this holiday, right?The kiddos had their Thanksgiving lunch at a very special table this year. It was the kids' table, but not just any kids' table. This table belonged to Gigi (my Mama) when she was a little girl. Then, Ivy and I also played with it when we were little girls. Rush and Fran loved having their lunch at the little table. I like thinking about everyone from our family sitting in those little chairs through the years. I'm a cheeseball like that, though.
One of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving weekend was getting to hang out with this little cutie pie. My sweet niece, Kate, kept everyone on their toes because this cutie patootie is crawling and pulling up on everything. She is so cute and sweet. I love being Kate's aunt!! P.S. Her AU onesie has been bringing us luck each weekend, and it worked like a charm this week, too.
*{Disclaimer: OK. Truthfully, football isn't one of my favorite things. Mainly, I just like to go the games to see the band and watch all the pregame/halftime stuff, but when my alma mater has a perfect season, beats UA, will play in the SEC Championship game next weekend, and has a shot to be National Champions, football becomes one of my favorite things.WAR EAGLE!!}
Monday, November 22, 2010
Swing and Swide
Rush and Fran had a great time this weekend playing on their new(ly put together) swing set! They actually got the swing set from Gigi and Papa for their birthday, and we just got it together. I know... just in time for cold weather. Oh well! We are still enjoying it, and it also isn't cold. The weather is in the 70s. We are going to have to wear short sleeves on Thanksgiving!
Every afternoon, they ask, "We go swing and swide?" Rush's favorite part is the see-saw, and Sydney Frances seems to like the swings and slide equally.
Rush was in a grumpy mood this past Sunday when we were playing, but I managed to get a few smiles out of him. He is a little thrill seeker and loves to be pushed high or to have you surprise him with a sudden push. He will laugh and laugh!
Frannie was in a particularly sunny mood. Maybe she was inspired by her rainbow motif sweatshirt. :-) I got some good smiles from her!
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