NO TRIP - insert tears

I am so beyond sad to say that our flight was canceled and our trip is off. Right now I'm headed back downstairs to sit, snowed in, with my bummed husband, my mother and my mother-in-law. Sounds like a great night, huh? Thankfully, more than thankfully really, we were able to get almost all of our money back. So, if you're bored tomorrow call me. I'll be the girl unpacking her suitcase...and watching Matney when she sees her snowman (snowgirl actually. She has a big bow) on the deck. We got at least 4" here and built her after M went to bed. The smile on my big girl's face tomorrow morning when she looks outside and sees her may be all worth staying home!

What is she doing?!?!?

I couldn't figure out what in the world Halle Kate was up to the other day. She was folded in half going crazy with her pants leg. I'll let you see the pics before you know what it was. She is a determined little girl!











All that for a button. And yes, I checked and made sure it was on really tight and she couldn't chew it off.

I will try to get more pics on the blog before we leave town Saturday. Just to give you an idea of what's been going on for the past week I'll run through the last day. Yesterday - Get up at 5am with Jared and finish getting everything ready for the girls to have pictures made yesterday (Tuesday). Get tutus and bows completed, gather all sorts of headbands, flower clips, dresses, tights, shoes, snacks and toys for bribes in a bag so that we can be on time for our appt. Take a shower and get dressed before the girls. Get girls up, fed, dressed and listen to Matney scream, "NO BEAUTIFUL DRESS" over and over as she tries to rip her dress off because she wants to stay in her jammies. Get HK down for an early nap so that she'll be nice for pictures. Finish getting M ready, run and grab HK from her bed, come back downstairs to see that M has dumped out the perfectly packed bag mentioned above. Stuff everything back in bag and run out the door with HK still in jammies.

Get to photo appt, change HK's NASTY diaper that she made in the car, get her bloomers on, reach in the bag for her dress and NO DRESS. Yep, bow, bloomers, tights but no dress. Try not cry because I've hunted matching dresses for a month for these pictures. Take pictures with M in her dress and HK in her bloomers. sigh. Get lots of cute pics of HK, get few pics of M. She was horrible and didn't want Halle to be near her at all...which makes getting a picture of them together really tough. Eventually give up and go home. Find Halle Kate's dress in Matney's toy box. Try to remind myself that I'll laugh about this one day. Try to relax after a crazy morning and eat way too much cookie dough from the fridge and feel sick. Girls nap (sort of. Matney seems to think naps are optional these days which has me a little concerned!), have a kick butt workout date with Jillian because of above mentioned cookie dough incident, girls wake up, snack time, clean up time, dinner time, thank the Lord Daddy is home time, HK crawls to Matney's play barn and gets her head stuck, bed time for HK, I run to the mall at 8pm to return a few shirts (did I mention I need clothes for Vegas and have 2 pairs of jeans that fit and that is about it. Someone please tell me where to find black pants that aren't $100 and don't need to be hemmed). Come home, crash in bed.

Up before 6am to be dressed before the girls. Wake HK up early, get M up, breakfast, have Daddy call Matney and tell her to get dressed because she was throwing herself at the front door screaming when I tried to take her jammies off, pack bags, pack the car, put girls in the car at HK's nap time to drive to Jared's office, go back inside 4 times to get "baby puppy, pink puppy, elmo" that Matney was crying for and a paci I forgot. Plan backfires and HK doesn't nap, just screams almost the entire hour to downtown. Show off the girls, sign our wills and POA papers (it is oh so much fun to be an adult), rush back to the car because HK is now 2+ hours past nap time and needs some sleep. Try to start car, it doesn't work. Yell at Jared to come back, sit in 30 degree parking garage while J moves the carseats to his car and jumps my car off after pushing it out of the parking space. Drive back from J's office with 2 screaming girls until HK FINALLY crashes and falls asleep halfway home. Get home, change clothes, diapers, fix lunches, wash bottles, eat, play, take a screaming M to bed, play with HK and take her back to bed...about 15 minutes ago. SHEW! I am worn TOTALLY OUT! And if you saw this house and my list of things to do before we leave you'd know there is no sleep in the near future. So, I'm off to fold the 100+ socks in a pile from all the recently washed laundry. And get Matney out of her bed, I suppose, because she's awake and crying, "mommy, mommy". Don't you wish you were here?!?!?! AGH!!!! And, even in the craziness, I wouldn't change a thing....except a car battery that wasn't dying so that Jared wouldn't have to go get one tonight! And maybe a personal chef, you know, while I'm sitting blogging and day dreaming instead of folding socks!

Just had to share

I don't have a picture to go with this yet but I just have to share. Jared suprised us tonight and came home early. We all went shopping and then to Chick Fil A. On the way home Halle Kate was crying...which means that Jared and I trade off singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" (it gets really old really quickly but it always calms her down). Anyway, I got "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star..." out and got distracted by something. The next sound I heard was Matney in the back seat and she sang EVERY SINGLE WORD to the remainder of the song all by herself. Jared and I were speechless (and teary-eyed) in the front seat. She didn't mess up even one time. Oh, how I wish I'd captured it on film. Maybe she'll do it for the camera tomorrow. I knew she knew most of the words but had no idea she could totally sing it by herself. It was the sweetest, sweetest sound.

Then, we got home a little after 7pm and put the girls down to play for a bit before bed. The next thing we see is Halle Kate CRAWLING after a ball headed across the floor. Oh my goodness! I'd been so concerned I'd be out of town when she started crawling because we could tell she was getting close and now I know I won't miss it! Thank goodness.

Now, I need to go right to bed. I am positive that two mobile children are going to WEAR ME OUT! I may have to call off my early morning dates with Jillian and get some extra rest!

Wheeee!!!

Now that Halle Kate knows how to clap Matney and I decided to teach her "whee!", which to Matney means throwing your hands above your head and screaming. Fun stuff, huh? I took pictures along the way. Cute, crazy girls!








TA-DA!!!

In Lieu of a Nap

Matney played in her bed for more than an hour without napping the other day. She seemed happy just talking so I left her. When I went to get her this is what I found. All of those critters had been in her bed when I put her down. No wonder she didn't nap! I bet it took a while to get those organized on top of her bed in the dark! What a silly girl.

If you've lost your crayons....

What do you do if you've lost your crayons???

Find a Hershey's Kiss, unwrap it and color away. Duh!

I am impressed to say that Matney came up with this one all by herself. We just happened to catch her in the act. Quick thinking and such a girl! Chocolate fixes everything!

Lights, camera, SNAP

You are all my witnesses! In 2011 when Jared is working on the Christmas/end of the year budget the money for new Christmas tree lights comes out of HIS pocket! I confess that when Christmas is getting close I am already getting antsy and ready for the decorations to be put away. I know that once Christmas morning arrives I'll have a ton of new things to find homes for and I can't stand the mess! So, I try to start cleaning up the non-essential decorations just before Christmas Eve so that the tree and mantle are all that are left Christmas morning. Seriously, I know that sounds bad but no one is paying any attention to dish towels or candles, etc when there's a room full of new gifts. Last year the tree came down Christmas day. This year I managed to make it until the 26th. Aren't you proud?

Since the girls were sick I was constantly on the couch holding someone and Jared ended up in charge of taking off the lights. Let me tell you that I put them on the tree every year and I like a lot (a whole lot) of lights. It makes it look pretty. Jared apparently didn't care for the way I put them on (I wind up the tree on the inside first and then back down putting more lights near the outer branches). First we heard him complaining, then the door to the garage opening, and then SNAP, and tug. Yep, he went and got pliers and cut my lights into small pieces that he could easily remove from the tree. And I think he rather enjoyed doing it. Sigh. Anyone want to donate to the "2011 Tree Light Fund"? Pretty sure Jared is going to tell me that our next tree doesn't get lights!

link to playgroup

I have some cute new posts coming but am trying to get so much done (ie, cooking, cleaning, playing dollhouse, changing diapers, everything for Matney's 2nd birthday party, etc) before we leave for Vegas that it may be the weekend before they make it up. So, I thought I'd send you over to another playgroup kiddo's website for pictures his Mommy did of all our cuties. And before you even see the picture of Matney let me just tell you that I don't know why she was wearing two bows except that she is turning into more of a girly girl each day. If she sees a bow she has to have it in her hair...which is nothing compared to our trip through the shoe section of Target yesterday where she wanted to try every shoe on. And I mean every shoe. And then screamed "more shoes" all the way to the checkout. Lovely, Matney. Just lovely!
Check out these cute kids...and lifesaver Moms. I don't know what I would do without playgroup!

PINEAPPLE

I was eating pineapple the other night holding Halle Kate and she totally dive bombed my hand to get to it! I am pretty sure that she liked it...notice the drool and juice dripping from her chin. Ha!

At a loss for a title

I am at a total loss for a cute title on this. Matney's favorite person? Matney loves to wear a hat? OH MY GOODNESS, LOOK AT THAT BELLY!?!?! All of those would be appropriate titles so you just pick what you like best.
Rose and Abby were over to hang out while Jared was out of town last week. Matney decided she wanted to be "neckie" (sounds like I spelled it and means naked!). We made her happy by taking off her shirt and adding a hat. She is a MESS. She and Abby curled up and read books for a long time. Matney loves Abby. Abby and Rose are even going to come hang out with the girls when Jared and I are in Vegas. I am positive it will be totally alright with Miss M that we're gone as long as Abby is here to play. We have such wonderful friends!