Very Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays everyone! Lots of fun things have happened since my last post and, of course, there are plenty of pictures waiting to be shared. In November, we had a "super great" trip (as Claire would say) to Winter Park for Thanksgiving! The girls enjoyed the snow... although Claire much preferred tubing and snowmobiling to the hard work involved with skiing! So far this month, we've celebrated Christmas with Grandma Mimi, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Bryan, Claire took a ride on the Polar Express with Granna and Grandad, and we went to a party last weekend where Santa made a special appearance! This week, the girls and I have taken it easy around the house, catching up on the little things that never seem to make it to the top of the priority list (e.g. cleaning out closets, organizing pictures, etc). I really look forward to these two weeks of vacation at the holidays to sleep late (7 a.m. is late at our house), hang out with the family, and get ready for Christmas!

Wishing everyone the joy and peace that this blessed season brings!

Grandad and the snow bunny

Claire & Aunt Lin ready to hit the slopes!

Emily & Claire at their school Christmas party

Playing the new Leapfrog Explorer that Grandma Mimi gave her

Claire & Aunt Sarah

Headed to the Polar Express

Claire's Christmas Dance

A serious conversation with Santa

Just us girls!

Kate and her new friend Carson playing "Ring Around the Rosie"

Buenos Noches from Argentina!

It may take going all the way to Argentina to get the "me" time necessary to update my blog... but nonetheless, I'm finally able to share a few pictures of the fun we've been having this month! I'm in Buenos Aires this week on a business trip. Have to admit that I'm enjoying the few moments of quiet (which are rare in my world) and the nice long nap that I had this afternoon, but thankful for iChat which allows me to blow kisses to my girls and tell them goodnight from afar! I'm proud (although a bit embarrassed) to say that I finally finished the book that I started on my last business trip back in April and am already 77 pages into a new book ("Eat, Pray, Love"... a good one so far). Not sure that I'm ready for the neighborhood book club yet, but it's definitely progress!

October has been a busy and fun month at our house! Claire went to her first real concert to see Carrie Underwood (a b-day gift from Aunt Lindsey). She had such a great time and is still constantly talking about it and singing Carrie songs! We managed to make an annual stop by the local pumpkin patch and Claire has a costume party and other Halloween festivities lined up for the next couple of weekends. She found the "perfect" costume this year... she is going to be a bride! It's no surprise that she's had weddings on the brain this year, so when she saw the wedding dress costume... she was in love! It's got a hoop in the bottom to make it stand out, long veil and all. And sweet Kate is going to be a butterfly! It may look familiar since it happens to be the same costume that Claire wore when she was that age, but it's so cute and comfy that I just had to use it again. Plus, I enjoy having pictures of them wearing the same things at the same age. It's fun to see how much they do or don't look alike (and then generally DO)!

Ready to see Carrie!

What happened to my little baby girl?

Loved the binoculars

Pumpkin patch!

Little pumpkin's growing up too

And this one thinks she's ready for the runway!

Claire's Fairy Party

It's been a "magical" birthday weekend filled with all the things that every four year old fairy needs! We had eight little girls dressed in fairy wings and tutus and we made butterflies, beaded bracelets, and magic fairy wands! The girls had butterfly cupcakes and Claire had lots of fairy gifts to open (who knew there was so much fairy stuff out there)! Claire even insisted that we put on one of her new Barbie movies after we finished with cake and presents. It was ultra girlie and super fun! Can't wait to start planning the next one!

Ready for the party!

The Birthday Fairy

Rear view!

Checking out her fancy cake

Pin the Wings on the Fairy

The birthday girl making her bracelet

Happy Birthday!

Make a wish...

Barbie movie (the quietest those girls were all day!)

Her new Barbie Escalade from Granna & Grandad

Even Kate got to ride!

Happy 4th Birthday Claire!

Happy Birthday Claire! My baby is officially 4 today... although she's been telling everyone that she's "almost 4" for a while now when people ask how old she is. The first thing that she said this morning when her eyes popped open was "am I four now?" She had a great day at school today, a quick trip to the dentist, and then a birthday dinner at Rudy's BBQ (one of her faves). When Grandad got there tonight she asked "where is the birthday cake?" When he responded with "what cake?", she said "Grandad, I had a birthday cake at my dinner at Rudy's when I turned 3... remember?" That child doesn't forget a thing! And today was only the beginning of her birthday celebration. Tomorrow we're having cookies to celebrate with her friends at school (since she had a dentist appointment during snack time today) and then Saturday is the big fairy party! More to come...

Party Prep!

We're in the final countdown to Claire's 4th birthday and her fairy party! I don't know who's more excited about it all this year... I'm loving the theme and we've both really gotten into it. All this party planning has given me and Claire a lot of "projects" to do together. Makes for great girl-time and I wouldn't trade those moments for the world! Tonight we made meringue cookies. They're the "forgotten" kind (leave them in the oven all night), so I'm not sure how they taste but they sure look cute. And if Claire licking the bowl clean is any indication, then they ought to be great!

Sneak peek!

The girls' craft bags are ready to go!


And no post is complete with a pic of the girls. Here's one I snapped of my dancing queens!

Claire's First Day of Pre-K

Today was Claire's first day of Pre-K. Although she only moved down the hall, it was a huge step in her little world and she was SO excited. She is now in PPK (as she calls it) or Private Pre-Kindergarten. She has to wear uniforms to school which makes it extra special. She is officially a big girl and I couldn't be a more proud mom! I know she's going to have a super year!












First day of dance this year... and now she gets to take TAP! She's so excited!

End of Summer Fun

Just a quick post to share a few pics from our trip to the Hyatt Lost Pines resort. It was the perfect place for our family "mini-vacation" and there was plenty to keep the girls busy... riding the waterslide and floating the lazy river, face painting, making s'mores, late night movies on the lawn. And all of us big kids had a pretty great time too! Will definitely be going back!

The Scillians at Lost Pines

On the porch with Granna & Grandad

They even had a chocolate fountain at dinner!




And back at home... caught one of the sweetest moments ever! I love this picture!

Where Has The Summer Gone?

I'm a confident woman... I can be honest with myself. I am the world's WORST blogger! In this age of social media, I enjoy having the ability to keep up with friends and family (and maybe even a few complete strangers, I admit) just by logging on to my computer. The problem is that I can't keep up! I can't keep up with reading all that interests me and I sure can't keep up with posting about my own life. My intentions are good, but once I get behind it's tough to catch up. So here I go again!

We're already heading into the last week of July and it seems like we were just getting ready to celebrate Kate's first birthday and kicking off the summer. We've definitely managed to stay busy and the girls have had a great time this summer. After the birthday party and Claire's first dance recital, we started right into swim lessons and gymnastics, vacation bible school, plenty of parties on the weekends, and trying to get as much pool time as possible. And there's plenty more planned for the remainder of the summer... weekend mini-vacation to Lost Pines, girls' weekend in Vegas (just for me!), and Claire's birthday will be here before we know it!

I'd sure hate to over-promise and under-deliver, but my "mid year" resolution is to do a MUCH better job at keeping up my end of the deal in the on-line world. Wish me luck! In the meantime, here are a few pics of the girls from this summer...

The Birthday Girl

Little doll!

Every girls needs at least one costume change on her birthday!

Claire's first dance recital

Easter Parade (her dance)

Kate on her actual birthday

All about the bikini!

Ready for the pool on the 4th!