Christmas 2008

We had a lovely Christmas with our family & friends, we celebrated Christmas Eve at my aunt's house with my family and then the Dorsey clan came over to our house for Christmas dinner. My favorite was Christmas morning, Anna climbed into bed with us like it was any other morning, but Amelia climbed in and softly whispered into my ear, "can we go open our presents"? She remembered what day it was... and so the fun began!

Brian had just as much fun as the girls setting up the new millennium falcon. And both girls were stunned to see the huge barbie castle Santa brought for them. I was very surprised by the new ipod touch Santa left for me, and I'm sure to be addicted to it very quickly!

Above is the Dorsey kids, all 10 of them, it was crazy fun chaos when they opened all their gifts.

Ready for Christmas

The big tree and kid's trees are decorated, the cards are all sent, the gifts are all wrapped, the lights outside are up, the turkey is thawing in the fridge, the house is clean (well mostly), so we are ready to celebrate Christmas with our friends and family. 

I am looking forward to Christmas morning with Brian & the girls, Santa is bring a great gift they will be so excited about, I can't wait to see their faces, they are so into it all, it really is fun!

Sugar Cookie Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

This is so adorable: Sugar Cookie Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

School Christmas Party

The girls both had their school holiday parties this week, it was fun to see them in action at school. But, for Anna's party Brian and I got there while the kids were still in the gym. When they all filed into the room she took one look at both of us and burst into tears. It was very odd and I'm not sure if we surprised her or what went through her mind, but she climbed into my lap and settled down. Then she got right into the groove of making ornaments, and frosting a ice cream cone tree covering it with M&M's. 

Amelia's party was today so Anna got to come along. They made a gingerbread house (as one mom commented: the room had a strong scent of sugar candy in the air), sang songs, painted and read stories. These are the sweet moments I am lucky to share with my girls.

Amelia's Art - Santa

More art by Amelia, this is titled: Santa & his Elf

I have been so busy making gifts for Christmas and I can't wait to show you what I made but it will have to wait until after the Holidays, I don't want to ruin the surprise for those receiving the gifts. 

Amelia's Art - snowman

Amelia's snowman... I love her drawings, they make me smile!

School photo - take 2

Much better photo than the first, retakes are great!

If you missed the first photo, click here.

Mrs. Allie update... Mrs. Allie and baby Dominick are both home and resting.

Craft time: Christmas tree hats

It's Friday and we were supposed to have Edna & Colin over for a play date, but with Anna getting sick yesterday we had to postpone. So what to do... craft time... I though we could make these cone tree table decorations, but the girls thought they looked like party hats. So after a few hole punches and string we now have christmas party hats to celebrate baby Jesus's birthday!

Sharing is good?

After lunch Amelia came into the kitchen, all proud, to tell me that her and Anna shared. I asked what they shared and she told me their suckers!  Ahhhhh, this is not good, especially when Anna threw up her breakfast earlier that morning. I sure won't be surprised when Amelia is sick next. 

Christmas 1977

Memories of Christmas past... for several years Mom made us matching dresses, that was the thing to do back in 1970's. I remember going to Grandma & Gramdpa Powers house for Christmas eve with all my aunts, uncles and cousins. After dinner all the kids would pile into our big yellow van with shag green carpet interior (no car seats or even seat belt laws back then) and drive around the neighborhood to look at the holiday lights. Once we got back Grandma would meet us at the door saying we just missed Santa, we would run down to the basement to find a huge pile of gifts towering around the tree and covering the floor, then Grandpa would pass out the gifts wearing his Santa hat.

Christmas day we headed to Grandpa & Grandma Olde's house for dinner, this was a bit more low key compared to the night before, but was always fun as we watched the tree rotate, fed the cocker spaniel treats, and had a traditional sit down Christmas dinner with the fancy china. The gift's from Grandpa Olde were always fun and noisy, much to my Mom's dismay.

I have been blessed to always have a nice Christmas with my family, food and presents under the tree. Hope you all enjoy this holiday season.

Everyman

And the winners are... click here

The past five years Brian and I have been judges for our friend's photo contest called the everyman. It is a neat contest for amateurs and we enjoy being apart of it all.

Think of Mrs. Allie

Mrs. Allie is Anna's preschool teacher and we have been waiting the arrival of her first baby. Today when I dropped off Amelia & Anna at school another teacher from Anna's room handed me a letter. I quickly looked at it and saw... Allie had a beautiful boy... and I said, "oh Mrs. Allie had her baby", the teacher quickly, in a flat tone said... "he's sick". My heart sank, once home I read the whole letter. Dominic was born with a heart defect and within his first day he stopped breathing and had surgery. 

This really shook me up, and once again I am reminded how blessed I am to have two healthy daughters. With Thanksgiving a few days away I have so much to be thankful for... A healthy family, friends by my side, a lovely home to live in, a job to work at, food and clothing, and so much more. I know someone is watching over us, and I thank them with all my heart!

If you pray, please say one for baby Dominic.

Raking the Leaves

This is the life...
Living in Webster Groves for Brian means raking leaves every weekend. Living in Webster Groves for Anna & Amelia means playing and jumping in large piles of leaves every weekend. Luckily Anna & Amelia are into helping with chores and they love to help rake the leaves, although sometime they make a bigger mess... they do have fun. And I guess we should get all the help we can now, because I know someday this will not be the same story!

Note: I did not pose Amelia for the top shot, just caught a good one.

New Family & Friends

I had to add one more photo from our trip to England, Helen's father sent it to me and I love it, it's almost perfect. Except Anna, not wanting her photo taken pulled her hat over her face. Anyway, the Bailey family were wonderful hosts to us while in England and I look forward to this new friendship of families.

click on photo to enlarge.

spiders, cement mixers and horses

Amelia is my sweetheart and has the artist bug inside her already. She loves to craft and color everyday. Yesterday we all made these turkeys for Thanksgiving. As soon as we were done she wanted another craft, ahhhh, it's hard to think of things to keep her busy. Notice that these turkeys have earrings, we wouldn't want a turkey without her accessories!

This morning as we left for school Amelia got all excited because the neighbor (who is adding on to their house) had a cement mixer in the driveway. Amelia told me three times... I LOVE cement mixers. Then she told me she loved spiders, cement mixers and horses. With a smile I told her that was an unusual mix. So I might have a future arachnologist, construction worker, equestrain or artist on my hands.

Dentist

I went to the dentist this morning to have a cavity redone, it was old. I hate going to the dentist, I get very tense and jumpy.

When I was in first grade we started going to a new dentist, he was known as the awesome dentist for kids, there were photos of him dresses up like superman and batman in the waiting room. My first visit he pulled two baby teeth, I was crying because it really hurt. He told me if I did not shut up I would never see my parents again... gulp, I got quiet quick. I told my Mom what he said, but I guess she did not believe me. 

Second visit (my Mom had to almost drag me into the office) he pulled another tooth, more crying from me and another threat. Then he told me I have one month to get the other teeth out. He told my Mom pulling all these baby teeth would let my permanent teeth come in straight so I would not need braces (which I did end up getting).

I think my Mom finally believed me, this guy was crazy, she refused to take me to the next visit. Dad would have to take me since it was his contact that recommend this guy. 

I wiggled those teeth all I could, but no luck... Third visit (again my Dad has to drag me in, I was crying before we even entered the office) he pulled three teeth and as I sat there crying he told me that if I did not stop he would pull more of my teeth. As we left the office, he told my Dad that all my baby teeth were pulled and I carried them home in a little white box for the tooth fairy. 

That was the last time we went went to the crazy dentist, I we found a new dentist and I have gone to him since the second grade, he just retired and I just started with this new dentist, he seems to be good... so far!

Anna's 3 year photos

So, these are much better photos, we took Anna in for her 3 years photos and also got a few with Amelia since they both had these darling dresses from Brent's wedding.

School photo or mugshot?

We got the school photos back yesterday and Anna's photo looks more like a mugshot than a school photo. Her teachers warned me that she would not smile that day. I'm glad I only bought the smallest photo package at $10.00. Unfortunately, this will also be on the class photo sheet.... ughhhhh, they usually do retakes, I hope we haven't missed them!

Paci Fairy

So the paci came to our house Friday night, we had been telling Anna that when she turned three the paci fairy would come and take her pacifiers (which she uses only for bed time) and leave her some money. So she came and left Anna $5.00 and a trail of confetti that lead to the window. Anna woke up early Saturday morning and could not find her paci and was very upset when Brian explained that they were gone. As I heard her crying to Brian for the paci I got a sick feeling in my gut that I had done this all wrong! Maybe we should not have taken them away but had her get rid of them on her own will. Brian and I quickly talked and decide to give her one back, but told her she had to throw that one away in the trash if she wanted to go by a new toy with her $5.00. Well, she promptly told us that she would just buy a new paci!

O.K. this kid is too smart... we told her no to buying a new paci. Later that night, after dinner I told her we could go to Target to pick out a new toy, but that she need to throw away the paci first. She said no but then did go up stairs and brought down her paci, she went to the trashcan looked at it and walked away. Amelia was cheering her on... you can do it Anna, she would say. I told Anna the deal again and again she went to the trashcan, she opened the lid, looked deep down in, shut the lid and walked away. She looked so sad, Brian and I were almost in tears from her struggle. A few minutes later she went back in, lifted the trash lid and gently set her paci inside and closed the lid. WOW, I can't believe she did it!!!

We quickly left the house for target, I did not want to give her time to rethink her decision. She picked out the Polly Pocket Sparklin' Pets Pawsh limo and paid the checker herself with her paci money.

That night at bedtime, she did cry a bit for the paci but Brian kept her company for awhile and the next night was even better. Naps are taking a little longer for her to fall asleep, but I understand, she has to relearn how to fall asleep without her paci. 

Sweet Dreams my little Anna!

44th President

I am very excited with the election of our 44th president Barack Obama, and I say to him good luck and God speed in getting our country back on the right path to keeping us safe, healthy and growing strong!

Poole, England... Part 2

The big day... this is why we flew to England, to join in the celebration of my brother Brent & Helen's wedding. It was a chilly, rainy day, but it did not damper Brent and Helen, you could see the love beaming from their souls, they were so happy. 

My girls did great that day, Amelia walked down the aisle with Sophie (Helen's sister) and Anna an I walked together holding hands. They were wonderful, smiling for the photos and being the cute bridesmaids there were supposed to be. Thank goodness... I wasn't sure how they would do that day.

The wedding was an all day event. Wedding at 12:00, photos and then to the reception for appetizers about 3:00. A 4 course dinner from 4:30 to 6:30 with several toast. Tea and coffee break then Scottish dancing (like square dancing) all night. Then more appetizers and cake at 10:00. Wedding ends at 11:30. 

Sometime I will have to write about all the differences the wedding and reception had compared an American wedding. It was a wonderful day (I loved the dancing) and we were all glad to make the trip... one we will remember always.

Congratulations to Brent & Helen!

Poole, England... Part 1

So we made it to sunny England, well it was only sunny this one day (otherwise it was about 45 and rainy) and since the house we rented was right on the beach front the girls spent some fun time playing in the sand. Poole is a beautiful beach area and I only wish we could have come in the summer to enjoy the large beaches and sail boats... maybe next time.

We did see Corfe castle, which was set in a rolling green hillside high above the most charming village, all the tiny houses were stone, some with thatch roofs, shops, tea houses, a tiny square in the middle. I loved it and wanted to live there, it was right out of a story book or an old romantic movie.

I didn't realize HOW much tea is a way of life in England, everyday, everywhere you went we were offered tea. I am not a tea or coffee drinker and I did give it another try, but... nope still don't like it. So it was hot chocolate for me and my gang. After viewing the castle we were all so cold we stopped at a tea house, it was full and so we had to sit outside, but luckily they had heat lamps and with our hot coco topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, marshmallows and a sprinkle of coco powder we were all happily munching on our jelly smeared scones. It was so charming and fun.

The girls were invited to a halloween party given by two of the other children in Brent's wedding. Halloween is a bit different over there. First they don't really trick-or-treat to houses unless they know you are coming, at the party we went visted two neighbor houses that knew we were all going to stop by for candy. Secondly, the girls are all witches. Amelia borrowed a princess dress to wear and one of the girls at the party told her that she can't be a princess for halloween. Brian overhearing this told the girl that where we come from you can be anything you want. The party was very sweet with fun games,  food, and treats to take home. It was so nice of them to include us.

My hubby is...

My hubby is a wonderful man and I am so grateful to have him in my life. I know I am not always the easiest person to live with, but somehow he puts up with me. I love him for thousands of reasons... for always doing the dishes every night, for always putting a glass of water on my night stand, for always giving me a kiss goodbye, for always giving me back rubs, for always giving the girls their baths, for always giving me time to be crafty, for always driving us anywhere, for always letting Bud out in the middle of the night. This list could go on forever but I love him mostly for always being my best friend.

Halloween 1976

Halloween was always a fun holiday at my house when I was little. I think because me Dad loved to scare all the neighborhood kids and he also loved finding the biggest pumpkin in the patch to carve. I found this cute photo of my mom (don't you love her super pointy hat, it almost looks like a traffic cone painted black), my brother Brent as a bunny and me a princess.

Remember those plastic face masks we all wore, now most kids costumes don't come with any mask that might cover their faces. I remember one year my dad had one of those plastic masks that was a skeleton face, the string broke so he took some nude panty hose and stretched it over his head and the mask. Well, this made the simple kids mask look quite creepy. He wrapped a white sheet around him and sat on the front porch very, very still and when the kids got just close enough he would jump up and scare them silly! Several kids went running away crying... oh the good old days of Halloween!

My Sweet Little Ducky

My sweet little ducky will be 3 in about a week and a half. We had her birthday parties this weekend. We had a friend party in the morning and a family party in the afternoon. We hosted two parties because our house would be packed in if we tired to hold 20 kids and their parents all at one time. It worked out nicely, Anna got a nice nap between parties, but I was worn out and in bed by 9:30!


All the kids looked so cute in their costumes, we made Halloween necklaces, colored, trick-or-treated in the backyard, and had cake. We lucked out with a nice fall day and spend most of the time in the backyard on the playground.

I can't believe my baby is almost 3 years old, where does the time go? Some days I just want to freeze time. What a lucky duck of a mom I am to have such a sweetheart in my life!

All Aboard!!!

Sunday we took a ride on the Wabash & Pacific Railroad. It is a charming, miniature, real steam engine train ride that goes through the woods and along the Meramec river. The ride is about 30 minutes and just lovely. We went with our good friends the Dames family. After the train ride we all had a lovely picnic lunch (except for one pesky bee), it was a beautiful day!