Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope you all find you pot of gold today. We have our leprechaun traps set here. Now, we are just waiting to see what transpires. Have a great day!

Santa through the years

Ava with Santa in 2004

Madison and Ava with Santa in 2005

Madison, Ava, and Leila with Santa in 2006

Ava and Leila with Santa in 2007

Believe it or not, I am going to be sad once all the kids are over being scared of Santa. These pictures just make me laugh so hard everytime I see them. It just isn't a Santa picture without at least one screaming kid.

Santa's Monster Truck?

So, I was up late chatting with some friends online and then got sucked into watching Sid and Nancy on IFC until close to 1:30am. Daniel still was not home, so I just decided to hit the sack alone.

I was asleep all of 10mins when my cell started ringing. It was Daniel asking if I was still up. I groaned that I was just falling asleep. He tells me he is on his way home, and I would want to be up to see him pull in. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I know he is serious when he says things like this. He tells me he will be home in 15mins, so to get up and be outside by then.

So, I drag my butt out of bed, get dressed, and went to wait at the door. I was waiting and waiting with all kinds of thoughts running through my head as to what this could possibly be. I was hoping he was surprising me with a new car, but I knew that would be impossible. One can only hope, right?

Anyway, so a few minutes go by and I hear MONSTER truck sounds coming from the main neighborhood street right behind ours. I was thinking WTH is someone doing driving like that at nearly 2am in a residential area. All of a sudden, Daniel comes whipping around the bend on our street with this monster truck following close behind. All I can think is WTH has he been up to, and who the hell are these people following him.

Daniel pulls into the driveway, and the truck backs in behind him. These strange guys jump out and open the truck bed and start pulling out this giant box. I have NO IDEA what is in the box until they sit it upright. It was Ava's Barbie Jammin' Jeep!

Apparently, Daniel had a phenomenal night at work and decided to pick up the car from Walmart on his way home. He bought it and took it out to the car only to discover there was no possible way to get it in the back of our Mazda3. He sees this giant truck parked near him and starts asking around for who it belongs to. He finds these young guys and offers to pay them $25 to bring it home for him. They agreed--obviously!

Now, we have this giant box on our garage floor with the paint drop cloth barely covering it. Of course, Ava immediately noticed it this morning and asked what that was. I told her it is a moving box that we covered up because we are painting the garage soon. Please pray she doesn't try to uncover it within the next week.

Dear Santa...

We have been a little slow on mailing off the girls' Christmas lists this year. We finally made them out last night to mail off this morning. They were in an unsealed envelope on the kitchen counter waiting to go out.

Well, I woke up a little early this morning (before Ava could come wake me up). I got dressed and left my bedroom only to run right into Ava Grace. I quickly realized why she had not gotten me up yet. Apparently, her project was causing her a bit of trouble.

She had stuffed every small stuffed animal she owns into her clothes. As she was waddling down the stairs, they were falling out from the bottom of her shorts left and right. This was causing a fair amount of frustration on her end while I was trying to contain my overwhelming need to burst into laughter.

She looks up at me all desperate and says, "Mommy, did you mail my Santa letter?" I told her that I was going to put it in the mail today. She then smiles and says, "Can we add a sling to it before?".

Of course, I immediately went and added it to her list. I also placed an order for a matching child sized Hotsling like I have.

Now, I know how he gets all the toys!

This is the conversation that I just had with Ava.

Ava: Mommy, I have seen the Polar Express. It wasn't scary.

Me: No, not at all. It is a nice movie.

Ava: Yeah! They just go up and down and up and down on the hills.

Me: And where does the train stop?

Ava: I don't know. At the town?

Me: Hmmm....yes, but which town.

Ava: I don't know...

Me: Ho-Ho-Ho!

Ava: Santa!!!!

Me: Yep, but where does Santa live?

Ava: At the mall!

Hmmm...I guess that's what you get when you take a kid past Santa's workshop in the mall earlier that day.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We put up our new tree on Thanksgiving. I was too excited to wait this year. We hit the after Christmas sale last year and really made out like bandits. We bought the bronze/gold tree trim kit and tree from Target. I must say that I am very pleased with both of them. The kit includes everything you need to trim a gorgeous tree. The ornaments are hand painted and stunning. The tree alone is more attractive than we had anticipated with just seeing it on the box. Daniel hit Events in the River Oaks shopping center and scored our elegant tree skirt. The embroidered overlay and crystal bead fringe is so stunning in person. It is more beautiful than my wedding dress. We are hoping this becomes something the girls fight over after we are gone.

Here are some pics of the tree. I hope you enjoy it as much as we are.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Turkey Day. I just wanted to take the time to jot down a few of the things I am thankful for this year.

-I am thankful for a wonderful year with Daniel. I think we have really hit a great patch in our marriage. We are on the the same page and getting along fantastically more than ever. I could not have a better partner in life.

-I am thankful for my wonderful girls. They teach me more about life and who I am everyday. I can't imagine my life without them.

-I am thankful for their health, especially after the loss of precious Gabby in October. I think of her on days when the girls are working my last nerve. They are here to drive me crazy, and I am so thankful for that.

-I am thankful for my wonderful real-life friends. They are such a support for me everyday. They really help to keep my sanity.

-I am thankful for my wonderful, wonderful friends at Momswisdom. I could never have imagined forging such a bond with a group of woman. Most of whom, I have never met in real life. These ladies are my lifeline most days.

-I am thankful that my parents are in good health, especially with all of my dad's health issues that have come up this year. They are always there when we need them, and I could not be more appreciative.

-I am thankful that I have finished the first part of my degree, and that I have finally decided on a career path. That has been a long time coming, and I find it a huge relief to know what I want.

-I am thankful for our new home. I finally feel grounded with our family. I love that we are starting some wonderful traditions here. We put up our beautiful new tree today. As I stared at it, all I could think of was how fortunate we are to have all that we have.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween night trick-or-treating with the girls. Ava was so excited all day to go out. Leila had no idea what was going on for the first few houses. She would tentatively allow us to take her up to doors where people proceeded to give her odd things in her pumpkin. She quickly got into the whole "game" of TOTing, though. She would hold Ava's hand, and Ava would lovingly guide her up to the door so they both could knock. She would just hold up her basket and laugh once they dropped the goodies in. She even said thank you to every person. She was so sweet. Ava was pretty happy that she was teaching Leila how to do all of this.

They came home with so much candy. Leila isn't even allowed the stuff, yet. Luckily, I let Ava watch the Charlie Brown special on Tuesday night. She was blown away by the concept of The Great Pumpkin that brings toys. I took advantage of this by telling her if she gives up her left-over candy from Halloween night to The Great Pumpkin, then she would get a toy in return. She jumped at this notion. So, I went out yesterday afternoon to purchase a couple toys. Ava was so excited to wake up this morning and discover toys in her basket in place of candy. She received Moon Sand, and Leila received a little baby doll. They have been happily playing all morning. It was a great Halloween!