Santa..... I KNOW him

 We have a family tradition where we take photos with Santa every year and display them on the stairs. If you live at home, you're GOING to be in the picture.  This year we went out with my sister and her two kids (they are 18 years apart..... yes, really).

Let's just say when Santa saw the tribe coming he didn't look too pleased. Thankfully he loosened up when my nephew Super S didn't cry at all.

 

However, SOMEONE who is old enough to be in college in Scotland, can't take a picture without photobombing it..... every time.

 

This is really the best that Cate could manage.

 

 

Super S and Santa.

We ended with my kids getting their yearly picture, and I'm fairly sure Santa was glad to see us walk out the door.

Charlotte with Friends

Big Al turned 16 this year. She didn't want to do the normal "party" type thing. She brought a couple friends along for a trip to Charlotte for shopping and dinner.

 

Big Al and "M" tried on clothes all over the mall. Then we had to go back to certain stores and make our purchases. We were totally pooped by the time we headed for the car. Poor "C" (a guy) followed them all over the mall, never complaining....... except at the very end when I was grumpy too. 

 

Then we went to Cheesecake Factory (I'm in so much trouble when one opens up in our local mall). We chatted,

 

and laughed,

 

and got coke on our face from....

 

flicking straws and making them pop.

 

FINALLY, they brought out the cheesecake. We had a selection to share at our table (although 2 had to be Snickers, because I was NOT willing to share mine).

They brought out Big Al's cake and sang to her.

"M" trying her first cheesecake. She decided to stick with the strawberry shortcake she ordered.

 

We cleaned up, and headed home with a lot of take home boxes.  A fun day with super friends.

Craziest Day Ever

It is very rare, even with four kids. That I feel overscheduled. I'm a "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" kind of person, and tend to just focus on the moment I'm in, not the moments that are coming up.

Saturday, December 8th I can honestly say..... I don't know how I did it.

Let me start by explaining that usually Brian is fully involved with the dropping off and picking up of the girls, but his work is getting really busy, and he had to work that Saturday. Yay..........

T-Rex had spent the night at a friend's house and needed to be picked up and dropped off at a fencing tournament she wanted to participate in around 9.  This was a little tight though because Big Al had to take her driver's test at 9:45 and wanted to switch cars with her Dad in case she had to take it in our car and not the driver's ed car.  So we picked up T-Rex, ran her up to the tournament and she realized she needed her socks. Of course she did. So we ran to a soccer store nearby and grabbed a pair that could pass and drove back to drop them off.  BUT..... I walked into the tournament and realized T-Rex was in over her head. It was an open tournament for ages 13 and older. I expected a lot of teens from all different ages, but what I saw was adults. A LOT OF ADULTS gearing up. I found T-Rex getting her equipment checked and the fear on her face was evident. I .could. do. nothing. for. her.  except maybe smile and tell her to enjoy herself. I left her standing there to meet my next obligation (felt like a parental failure).

Drove to Brian's work, switched cars, took Big Al to get her license, and waited. Found out that I was paying the driver's ed place to give her the test, which could have been done much cheaper at the DMV, AND found out that it was possible for her to go to the DMV to get the actual license and be pulled to retake the test. So I waited, and then made a BIG mistake. I was bored inside, so I went to sit in the car and wait. RIGHT NEXT TO WHERE THEY PARALLEL PARK.  A lot of pressure was on Big Al with me sitting there, but she thankfully passed. 

We drove back to the tournment in time to watch T-Rex in a couple of her matches. When she had a minute she mentioned that in her grouping she was competing against two coaches (see the picture above). Oops.  She managed a few points off of one lady, but pretty much lost magnificently.  The coaches did come over and tell me that they were proud of her for not giving up, or...... crying.

 

We did finally meet a friend of my sister's who also fences. She offered to hang out with T-Rex and give her some pointers. So I ran T-Rex home, fed her, and took her back to the tournament. Then I headed to go get Blondie and Cheesie from a girl scout sleepover. They had a blast, but both had to be in different places at 3:00. Thankfully Brian was finally home around 1 and we could divide and conquer.

 

 

Blondie had to go with me to a local pool and practice with her snorkel and fins for our fifth grade Mantee trip coming up in January. Mr. Cary (above) goes with us every year, and I adore him. He has a great banter with the students (even though he teaches them that pelicans are pole birds because they sit on poles on the dock). I'm not too worried about Blondie doing this trip because she can swim, and the wetsuits will keep us floating without much effort. I needed her to try the fins to see how it would work with her left side. Everything was fine.

 

 While I was with Blondie, Brian took Cheesie to her concert at the local outdoor mall.  I had attended her concert the previous Thursday (Brian took T-Rex to her violin concert) so I didn't feel too bad about missing this event. Our music teacher puts on a very enjoyable show, and this was Cheesie's first time really performing. She was so excited.

 

 

 

By the end of the day, I was one tired puppy. The tough thing though, was that I knew the next day was going to be just as busy......

Sixteen

Happy Birthday to my oldest daughter. Today she turns 16.

The THOUGHT was to blow up all of these balloons (thank you Brian because I actually hate balloons) and then have her open her bedroom door in the morning and fall all over her.  BUT if you do this, you shouldn't use crummy scotch tape. I was worried about peeling paint off the walls (which is crazy because I'm about to repaint them anyway).  What she actually woke up to was a lot of balloons lying on the floor outside her door instead.  

Her friend took her to breakfast before school, and then as a family we got together tonight. She opened presents,  and cards.....

and then we had a non-traditional pizza dinner. Since it was her birthday, Big Al chose to eat sushi.  

We topped it off with cheesecake factory cheesecake (thank you Sam's Club for having some version of it).

 And then finished off the family evening by Skyping with my niece Cate in Edinburgh, Scotland. We can't wait to see her in December with one semester of college behind her.
Big Al then headed out to youth group where one of her friends made her a cake, and she hung out for awhile.  This weekend she goes on a retreat with them, so she had to go get the info.....

I'm very proud of the person she is becoming.

Easing into the holidays

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the bookend holidays for my favorite time of year.  I love the focusing in on family, and traditions - even more so than the rest of the year.

Of course Thanksgiving is all about our family getting together, but the rest of the weekend is spent pulling out the boxes, and beginning to think about how we can spend the time together. 

Black Friday is not a crazed experience for me generally. The younger 2 girls and I spent the evening getting ready to see our little cousin (4 years old) CJ, perform in her first Nutcracker with the local ballet.  Last year she sat through it with us, but this year she was a cherubim.
 
She is the second to last one in the video.  She came out in line from the back curtain, looped around and exited through the front curtain..... twice.  She was PUMPED! Cheesie and Blondie were very excited for her.

 

Thankfully Aunt Amy remembered the flowers, and let my girls give them to CJ. Afterwards we all went out to IHOP.

 

Saturday, T-rex and I got the America tree up in the dining room.  This is our 2nd tree in the house on which we hang our onaments from historical places, or patriotic themes.  We may actually have to find a bigger tree soon because this one is filling up. Our big tree still needs ornaments, but has the lights (thank you Brian).

 

 

Cheesie has apparently always wanted to make a gingerbread house..... which is not my kind of "thing."  I pictured this sugar laden cookie sitting on a sideboard with ants crawling all over it.  One of my friends has assured me that it isn't a problem, so I bought a kit for her to try out.

 

 

Don't let the happy face fool you.  She thought she had the cookie parts all put together and then moved a can holding it up and disaster struck. Both sidewalls collapsed, broke into pieces, and the tears flowed for awhile.  Thank goodness I could fix everything with frosting. Once we let it sit for awhile she was ready to finish it. 

 

 

Another accomplisment for the weekend was all of the outside lights are now strung on the bushes or trees.

 

 

Brian worked for a long time, with the help of Blondie and Cheesie to get them in front of the house, and up our Bradford pear tree.

 

It also included the garland around the front door. 

 

Coming up this week:  SOMEONE'S 16th birthday, and a church retreat for her, and hopefully more working on ceilings and Christmas ornaments. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Today our family got together (minus my brother-in-law Chad, brother Colin, and his girlfriend Charley).  Back row- Brian, T-Rex, Natalie, Me, Christy holding my nephew Super S, Cheesie, Big Al, and Blondie. I'm noticing my mom didn't include any of the ones with her in them..... hmmmmmmmm.

Cheesie has a bad habit of blinking..... a lot! I don't think she looks too worried about it though.

We also got to have my honorary fifth daughter "I" with us today.  She will always be part of our family.

Big Al and "I" have been friends since 2nd grade. Brian and I are actually her guardians.

\

From all of us, we wish you a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Halloween

Tuesday, Cheesie had a fever at school, so Wednesday we had to keep her home.  She was definitely feeling better, but I had to grab a substitute while I could, and make sure she wasn't going to share her bug with anyone else.  Which left me Wednesday to clean the heck out of the house (sorely needed because we've been working on renovating a couple of things). 

 

So I hastily decorated for Halloween, and put on a snacky spread for the family, friends, and teens who would be with us that evening. 

 

 

 

Cheesie dressed as an Olympic gymnast (although the sequins I sewed all over her leotard were covered up with a jacket), and Blondie was a prisoner.  Cousin CJ came with us and was a "butterfly princess,"  as well as another family of friends.  T-Rex did end up going out (she was waffling) with our neighbor for awhile, while Big Al had a bunch of friends over to watch scary movies, and hang out around the firepit.  It was a busy day, but thankfully not too cold to walk around and have a little fun.