The Third Time (was not) a Charm...

Ella, who is 4 1/2, had three chances to visit with Santa this year.

The first one came at preschool..

That is Grandpa sitting with Santa...

The next one came at church...

That is Madison with her friends...

The last chance came yesterday at Bass Pro. That's right, Springfield folks, we drove 40 miles to Bass Pro. I got to eat at Steak 'N Shake so it was well worth the drive! :)

That is Madison by herself. Ella would not even stand in line with us.

Even Steve and I got in on the fun. (Yes, I know my make-up is outrageous. It's stage make-up.)

I give up. Maybe when she's 12...

I Got Him!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, my much older husband turned 40. We surprised him with a party Saturday night, and he had absolutely NO idea this was coming! Madison even kept the secret from him! Dave and Pat got to be here for his birthday too, which was appropriate because, as they said, they were there 40 years ago! Here are some pictures from the evening.

We really did surprise him!

The cake that turned everyone's teeth black!

Carmak/Mowgli even sang for Steve!

The sign says it all. Happy Birthday!

Old Man and the Fire

My much older husband turned 40 this Saturday. We made him a special breakfast and sent him off for a well-deserved massage.

Ironically, the portable in which his classroom was located burned down the same day. It's like he got his birthday wish! :)

New glasses (and a photo shoot)

As I mentioned before, Madison got new glasses over the Thanksgiving vacation. They are sooo cute and she looks great in them. However, they are very in style for 2008/2009. I also had glasses that were very in stylish... in 1984. Now I look back at those huge frames with the curved temples (side parts- I googled it:) and think, "Mom, why did you let me get those!" I am too vain to post a picture of me in those glasses here, but trust me, it was not a pretty picture! Anyway, I think there is a possibility that Madison may look back in 2033 and think, "Mom, what were you thinking?" Anyway, I think she looks adorable.After she came home with her glasses I asked to take a picture of her.

This is what I got...

I don't know where she gets it... :)

Thanksgiving in 60 seconds

Here we go...

My family came to visit. Aunt Tamra set the table.

Call me Martha... actually I am a Rachel Ray fan, but dinner was not ready in 30 minutes!

Dinner was wonderful. Even added two new recipes this year!

Tried to take our family photo outside, but it was too windy.

Decorated for Christmas. (Yes, Ella is in her Tinkerbell costume. That's not odd is it?)

Danced with a star (Grandpa...)

And each other.

Shopped for Christmas dresses.

Got new glasses. (More on that in another post.)

Hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours!

I'm Thankful For...

I'm thankful for this...



and this...



This...


and this!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fever Free... for now

My whole household has been fever free for 22 hours as of 7:00. I haven't been able to say that since Friday, November 7. Isn't that sad???

I'll leave you with two of my favorite fall pictures of Ella. Happy (fever free) fall!


My parents have a picture of me doing exactly the same thing when I was little!

What a Difference a Week Makes

**This was a post I wrote yesterday. I was just waiting to get my pictures organized, so I didn't post it. I spoke too soon....

After 6 days of running a fever, Ella is back to normal. See below...

The one good thing about this illness is that she has learned to use a thermometer. It took four and a half years, but she no longer screams when I take it out of the drawer!



On a side note, Steve has the flu, but is doing amazingly well. He even took Madison to a party today! Go figure!

** So that's what I wrote yesterday. I wasn't singing this morning, so Steve went on to church while the girls and I slept in. I got up and was starting to get ready when Madison came down and said that she didn't feel well. That's right- you guessed it-, she's running a fever! She's actually doing ok this afternoon, but around here, you never know!

On the plus side, I have a new appetizer for Thanksgiving from the Barefoot Contessa. I also have a ton of Thanksgiving leftover ideas from the Food Network!

Santa- We're Working on it...

When Ella first met Santa, she loved him...

It was downhill from there. (I love Santa's face in this picture!)

Here is last year's picture. Who's missing?

So we're working on it. It's a good thing that Ella has such a wonderful (and bossy) big sister to help her with her fear!

So, being the bossy- I mean wonderful- mother I am, I made Ella take an oath promising to sit with Santa. Come on- I want a good picture! :)

Down For the Count

We're not quite knocked out, but we definitely are down! About 30 minutes after e-mailing a friend that no one else was showing symptoms of strep throat, Ella started projectile vomiting... all over our bedroom and bathroom. On the plus side, Steve and I now have clean sheets, a freshly washed comforter, blankets, towels, a spotless bathroom and freshly steam cleaned carpets. On the down side, we did most of this from 9:30-2:00 in the morning. It was a lovely night! So we've taken two different kids to two doctors visits in two days and they have two different viruses. Parenting can be sooo fun!

This is how we looked for most of the day. Fortunately, there were new iCarly episodes and a brand-new iCarly movie on tonight!

We're saving for medical school!

Madison went to the doctor today, and when he asked what was going on with her she said, "I have strep throat. My three friends that I play with have had strep throat, and I have it too." I then tried to explain that she complained last night that her throat hurt, she started running a fever yesterday, etc. Twenty minutes later, the doctor came in and said, "She has strep throat."


She's just happy that she's free to eat all the ice cream she wants for a couple of days!

Happy Election Day!

As Promised...

See.. I told you I'd be back!

The girls had a really good Halloween. It was a year in the making (literally.) Last year, Madison was Sharpay from High School Musical. She and her friends planned to be all of the characters from the movie and they planned to go to our Creekside fall festival together. This year, since Halloween was on a Friday night, our church decided not to compete with football, and not have the festival. The kids were so upset because they had worked on this plan for a year! So, we decided to invite everyone over to our house to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. It was so much fun and the kids had a great time. I love Halloween because it's the one night out of the year where your entire neighborhood gets out! As it turns out, I was actually glad our festival was cancelled, because the evening turned out to be so much fun!

OK- here we go. WARNING! Lot's of pictures below. Grandparents will want to keep reading, but I'm not sure anyone else will!

This was our group. Notice the two themes!

The Peter Pan themed group. Yep, he's in tights! :)

The High School Musical group.

Ryan and Sharpay

Gabriella and Sharpay

The blondes!

Even Allie got in on the fun. (She pooped on someone's sidewalk, so Steve had to leave the festivities to clean it up!)

Our kids don't do things in the traditional way. Instead of walking up to the door and saying "Trick-or-treat," our kids walked to the door and sang "We're All in this Together." A few people knew what that song was, but most didn't! It was really funny!

This was towards the end, so they were petering out a little!

Peter Pan was a gentleman!

Ella spent most of the night in this position. The rest of the kids would run to the door, turn and start yelling, "Come on Ella, Hurry up, Let's go Ella," etc. If you know Ella, that method does not work with her. That only made her go slower. It was funny!


This was about an hour into trick-or-treating. Notice the wings, headband and jack-o-lantern are gone!

Finally, the loot. This was a small portion of what the kids got. It will disappear, and it won't all be eaten (if you know what I mean!)

I'm going to try to do a better job of posting, so come back soon!