meet my new friend

teresa...

we are so going to go shopping together :) thanks mom!

we had a great christmas. we went to the christmas eve service and, during the children's sermon, the minister was talking about how jesus knows what it feels like to be a baby and to be young or old. and then a kid added "or to be dead". oh man. on christmas morning, the girls slept in and we didn't start opening presents until 9-ish. and then we played and laughed all day. i am so blessed! and i totally can't wait until my girls get home!

yay christmas!

right, so, as you can tell...our tree is up and pretty! :)
here is a sneak peek at the christmas card picture :)
i've been dreading this time of year, but i have been floored by the outpouring of love and support i have received from the people around me (*tear). to quote a goofy newsguy "when it gets really heavy, it weighs a lot" (i think it's pretty obvious why this guy decided to pursue a media career). of course, he was talking about snow, but i think it applies to stress, as well, and my load has been greatly reduced. so, thanks and i am really looking forward to paying back all of these kindnesses, but, in the meantime, the girls and i are going to have a wonderful christmas together :)

woohoo!

and i memorized the whole thing!

i was up in the balcony and i apologize for the wobbliness of the zoom.

lillian fell asleep watching veggietales this evening. i've been puttering about so i left her on the brown chair. a while ago i walked into the living room with the intention of picking her up and carrying her to bed, but i just stood there, staring at her...watching her sleep. there are about a million other things that i should be doing, but i was transfixed. the laundry and dishes and and never ending toy picking up...it can all wait. i need to savor this moment...tomorrow will be here soon enough.

the girls have been asking for some time now to have a fire in the fireplace. and then, they add, it's nice to have hot chocolate with marshmallows, too. (hint, hint). i do enjoy my fireplace.

lilli is such a shy child...

today, for some reason that i have completely forgotten, i used the phrase "easy peasy lemon squeezy" while talking to kaely. she paused for just a second and then said "mom that was cheesy". thank you kaely.

look mommy!

lillian and i had to run a few errands in between her school and the elementary school. while i was putting the cat food in the van, lillian hollers "look mommy! when i do this, i can see my nose!"

also...today the girls were discussing their bff's. elise said that she didn't have one. kaely said that alina was her bff but romana was her bf. and then she said and alexis is my f. that is some serious short-hand.

tomorrow is an awards ceremony at the elementary school...a/b honor roll and perfect attendance. yeah, i'll be there.

i've also decided that i will not ever ever ever go to the bank at night...

yikes! i asked the teller about it and she kinda shrugged and said she didn't know, but would the girls like a lollipop? i didn't realize that matthews was such a dangerous place!

103.6

should always be a radio station and should never be your daughter's temperature.

i was told that this is an octopus, but it looks like it would fit better in the jellyfish family. either way, i love the face!

b.a.b.w.

lillian was invited to a birthday party...a build a bear workshop party. awesome!! we've hosted parties here before (third birthday tradition), but have never been on the receiving end. it was quite nice :)

lillian was so very excited to be there! the children got to choose their bear and then the party leader lined them up to tell them the rules (and i have forgotten them, which is rather sad as there were only three).

ok wait, i remember the last one: use your outside voice. whaaaaat? you just told lillian to use her outside voice?

then he had the children choose how they were going to travel to the back of the store (skipping, walking, hopping) and then what they were going to shout (shout) on the way. i'm glad lillian follows directions!

so then it was time to stuff (inflate?) the bear...you know the drill.

everyone had a great time and our gift was a hit...woot! i even made the party leader blush when i told him that he did a great job ;)

some pampering

i needed a trim and, as the girls were with me, they "needed" one, too. of course, they get the full package...wash, cut, and blow dry. it's totally worth it, though. elise's stylist was asking lillian about her "blame my sister" shirt...she said "but which one do you blame?" and lillian looked at her with her sweet little face and smiled and said "i blame both of them!"

crop walk

so kaely and i did the crop walk yesterday.

6 km (or, as kaely called it kilomometers) through a charlotte neighborhood.

i'm pleased to say that i earned over $100 in sponsors (so i got to wear a snazzy blue button while i walked!).

there were a lot of people wearing blue buttons!

i am so very proud of kaely for walking and finishing!

alright you guys...they are no longer called "portables", they are now known as "learning cottages". pass it on...

my boss has told me many times how those "bad kids" will rearrange our sign. i've been patiently waiting and was starting to doubt, but patience always wins. it warmed the cockles of my heart this morning to pull into the preschool parking lot and see the "improved" sign. i think i will put up "hugs! not drugs!" for a day or two...but then again, that would be just too easy for them to rearrange.

i see this tree every time i take the deposit to the bank. the first time i saw it, i was on quite a caffiene high and gave myself the giggles. i've since cut back on my caffiene intake. but i still think this tree is rather cool with it's "eyes".

morrow mountain state park

the girls and i went to another park on saturday. what fun! the weather was beautiful. we planned our route according to proximity to a bathroom...we are such "outdoorsy" people. they are getting rather good at watching for the blazes to make sure that we are on the right path. it was announced every. single. time. we passed one. "orange triangle!" and how many times do i tell them to watch where they are going? dunno, but i should take my own advice, as i walked into a tree branch. i was more focused on my destination than my path and that silly branch poked me hard in the shoulder...like hard enough that i couldn't raise my arm. of all the times that you want to cuss, and i couldn't!
too many pictures, so i made an album.

the other day, while driving along 51 and totally minding my own business (hmmm...and also chatting with jen on the phone), i heard a buzzing noise behind my head. i turned around and saw a big, nasty, wasp. "OMG! there's a wasp in the van!" jen hollers, "pull over and get out!" thankfully, there was a gas station close by and i zipped in, stopping in front of a pump. i had put my window down (why, i don't know...but it seemed like the thing to do) and i jumped out and flung the slidey door open. by now, jen and i are giggling...a lot. nothing happened. i looked around... and watched the wasp. he was kinda climbing about and washing and wiggling. i'm standing next to the window, reporting his actions to jen, talking with my free hand, and giggling. no wonder the truck that passed by honked. jen said, "you must look good today!" yes, well, if you are going to make a fool out of yourself at a gas station in mint hill, you better look good...heh. anyway, i look around again and a guy had just walked out of the store. while i was asking him if he could help me, he was asking me if there was something wrong with my van. i told him there was a wasp in the van and he wouldn't fly out. jen said, "tell him you are deathly allergic so he doesn't think you are a weirdo!" more giggling... the poor guy was trying to shoo the wasp out and finally got him to fly in between the slidey door and the outside of the van so i hollered "quick! shut the door!" whew! saved...my new hero! so in between the giggles i'm thanking him and he's saying no problem and then a car full of other guys pulls up, obviously looking for him...so embarrassed! they are grinning at him talking to me and he starts to walk over and as he gets into the car, they all start laughing. oy vey! so anyway...to the random stranger, thank you and i hope you guys had a good laugh :)

tonight was curriculum night at the elementary school.

according to miss lilli, we have a many-van (try to hear her saying it with her little voice and slight southern accent)...because it is a van with many seats (and then she'll count the seats). she further explained that a big truck with "a lot a lot" of seats is a many-truck. same goes for cars.

i'm looking forward to sharing this story with her friends and dates.

just outside the pre-k door

is this lovely spider. i looked her up...she's not "charlotte" (she was a barn spider), but they are like cousins or something. she's a writing spider . i hope she stays...

heeeeeeee!

i hope anne sees this...

mommy! can i get my face painted?!

kaely opted for an attractive mermaid arm job.

after some "discussion" with lilli, elise chose a peacock. excellent choice, my little drama queen...

lilli went with a butterfly...with glitter, of course.

so this whole "working" thing is kinda stressing me out. couple that with mandatory mediation this week and i found myself feeling rather frustrated. i needed some zen time. the girls and i headed to the hills to find some peace and quiet. i had originally wanted to go back to the nantahala river, but the thought of a 3 hour car ride with 3 children sounded less than zen like. we tried out crowders mountain state park instead and found it to be quite nice. mark this weekend out for next year though, as this weekend was the third annual meeting of basset hound lovers. it was a bit noisy but the girls wanted to pick a picnic table that was close to the action. woooo! after we ate, we went for a walk around the lake (man-made, i think, and a bit low).

it was warm, but there was lots of shade and a wonderful breeze to keep us cool. so we followed the trail and saw lots of neato naturey things...like a mountain and "wildlife" and tracks.

after that, the girls were ready to go. next time, they want to hike to the summit. i think i will do it once without them to make sure it's something they can do. i'd hate to have to roll them down to get home...