Hugs!

Some days we all just need a hug, and getting one from

either of these cuties sure brightens my day.

Trimming the tree

After years of practice, Regan is becoming a professional at helping me decorate our Christmas tree. Last year, there were a few ornaments broken; this year, we made it to the very last ornament before she dropped it on the hardwood and it broke. Poor girl, she really felt horribly. I don't make it easy seeing as though we only use German glass ornaments on our tree, I can't give her the "non breakables" because there are none!

Sidney planted herself right in front of the tree to play as Regan and I tried to decorate. So not only did we have to be careful not to drop an ornament, we had to be extra careful not to trip over the pint-sized 2 year old who was oblivious about where she was playing!

The end result!

It was simply adorable to listen as they chatted about the tree and Regan gushed over her work. She spotted the pickle hidden deep in the thick of the tree and pointed it out to daddy as soon as he got home tonight.

Regan has her very own tree as well; she decorated this one entirely on her own and keeps it lit in her room as she drifts to sleep.

Welcome Christmas season!

Retrieve

re·trieve/riˈtrēv/

Verb: Get (something) back; regain possession of

Today was a big lesson in the above.

You see, while dad tried to get a head start on the work week and spent the day at the office, Sidney decided to throw me a curve ball. While already quite sleep deprived from her rough night, she challenged me further. It went something like this....

Sidney climbed up on the toilet seat (lid closed) to grab her toothbrush while I stood next to her and fixed Regan's hair. She accidentally dropped her toothbrush (can you sense where this is going?), and it somehow managed to slide between the lid/bowl and into the toilet water.

Gross.

I quickly looked inside to find that the bulk of the brush was already well down the hole of the toilet. I didn't have time to think; I stuck my hand in the toilet water in an attempt to retrieve said toothbrush.

That didn't work the way I had intended. Instead, I pushed it FURTHER down the black hole.

Double gross.

Regan looked at me and said "that's disgusting mom!". Yep, but I went in for another round and this time, successfully retrieved toilet-water-saturated toothbrush and disposed of it quickly in the garbage.

Sidney cried.

She thought I was going to give her the Elmo toothbrush to use!!

Parade of Lights

Despite the temps, we took in the Parade of Lights tonight with all of the grandparents, my feet were utterly freezing but the girls loved the music, lights and of course, seeing Santa! I'd like Grandpa to bring his truck next year so we can load chairs into the bed and watch from there :) It truly is a festive experience and something the girls really enjoy watching. Something tells me they enjoy the parade just as much as spending extra time with their grandmas and grandpas.

Happy Thanksgiving

Here's hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! These two cuties had their fill of turkey, ham, stuffing, pie and everything in between :) I'm hopeful they'll sleep well tonight.

Thankful for....

On Thanksgiving, we are so very thankful for the ones we love. Where would anyone be without the love and support of friends and family? So today we think about those that make our life brighter....

Last night Ryan was able to have a "few more" drinks

with Paul before he heads back home to Germany.

We will miss you Paul and are thankful we got to see you this month!

I cannot begin to say how thankful I am for the best friend a gal could ask for. Kari and I spend countless hours, at all ends of the day, in conversation. My day doesn't officially begin until I hear from her and it cannot officially end until we say goodnight! I have a terribly heavy heart for her this Thanksgiving as we lifted her wonderful father into heaven this week.

We are thankful for these two sweet angels that love each other more than anything. Sidney's arms-wrapped-tight-around-my-neck-hugs are top notch and make my heart melt instantly. Regan's belly laugh can get me rolling along side her and forget about all my troubles.

And it goes without saying that we are thankful for our parents on this Thanksgiving. Without their wonderful expertise, help, support and love, we would be completely lost.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Eve and Grandma Jan's birthday

We've been hit by another ice/snow storm. Depending where you are in the state, you got one or the other or a mix of the two. The girls went outside tonight to help grandma Jan shovel.....they weren't much help :)

Apparently this is what you do when you don't have a sled on hand, use the shovel instead! The girls laughed hysterically and grandma Jan seemed to think it was pretty fun too.

And after all that shoveling, or sledding, it was time to warm up inside, eat cake and celebrate grandma's birthday! Hope you had a HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

Flashback Friday

This week we will celebrate my mom's birthday; don't worry mom, there's no embarrassing surprise party planned like there was in 2007 :) Enjoy this flashback Friday and have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Friends from a far

One of Ryan's closest friends, Paul, left for Germany years ago; and we've missed him dearly ever since. While he and his family are in town on vacation, we were fortunate enough to have them over for dinner.

Ryan and Paul

Me/Sid and Renata

And of course, the stars of the show, Regan, Niklas and Sidney having a great playdate!

This November, I'm thankful for wonderful friends!

Snow girl

First snowfall!

This morning, we woke to multiple inches of wet, heavy (heart attack causing) snow on the ground. The jury is still out as to the amount, roughly 5 is our guess.

Sidney jumped for joy, having no idea what she was getting so excited for. She screamed for us to come to the window, she was mesmerized that the rocks were "all gone" in the rock beds so we spent 20 minutes bundling up. And the next hour outside re-bundling and replacing mittens and boots.

Then Sidney stood in the garage, refusing to go any further. It was cold, can you blame her!

Regan ran straight out the door into the beautiful white snow, begging me to help her build a snow man. Soon, we heard a loud crack from across the street, and a tree came tumbling to the ground from the weight of snow. I decided to quickly wrap up the snowman project under our tree and opted out of a picture...just in case.

It was a family ordeal to shovel the driveway for the first time, much too heavy for our baby snow thrower. I have a hunch the new slippery slope is going to cause a few falls and "stuck" cars this winter.

And then it was onto the back yard and some fun for the girls :) Regan went down the slide and cleared all the snow off with her snow pants; and boy did she laugh at how fun that was!

Not to fret, Sidney quickly had fun too and didn't spend the morning in the garage. Once she figured out how to walk in the depths of the snow, she laughed along with her big sister.

I really am trying to love this white stuff. It's just a bit too early for me. I asked Regan if she had fun this morning and her response was "yea!, but the snow is cold".

Flashback Friday

Notice the snowflakes?

I thought it was appropriate given all the weather talk lately.....

ready or not, here it comes!

And by the way, I'm not ready!!!!

Wednesday nights....

Wednesday nights around here see a few more faces. Logan has been joining us for dinner weekly and when Maddi isn't working, she comes along for some fun too. Our girls simply love to spend a few hours with these two gals and tonight was no different. After dinner, we played in the toy room, got the kiddos pretty hyper, and finally settled down to some "salon" play. We all got some pretty good laughs as Maddi created a pretty interesting new do for Regan....

Thankfully Regan disagreed with Maddi that she should wear this "French twist", as Maddi called it, to school tomorrow, or worse, for her high school prom some day!

Not to be left out, Sidney only wanted Logan to touch her hair.... I wonder why?! She had a couple of cute pony tails but after pulling them each out, we started to call her Elvis.

Best dressed

Thanks to a grandma who absolutely loves to shop, these two definitely win the "best dressed" award. Today they each sported their own little tutu/dance themed outfit, of course, because it was dance class day! What a couple of little hams posing for pictures.

I love chocolate

Grandma Sheri sent some Halloween treats last weekend and Sidney picked the last chocolate/pumpkin brownie for dessert yesterday. This peanut does not mind one bit about getting her hands dirty, but she was pretty upset that her shirt got dirty in the process.

I'm happy the dessert is gone.

From Halloween to Thanksgiving

We like to decorate the house for every holiday. This time of year, we go directly from one holiday to the next so when I packed up the Halloween knick knacks, we immediately pulled out Thanksgiving ones. The girls' favorite job is to display the window gel clings in our big bay window. We clear off the ledge and they climb right up and go to work. It's adorable to listen to them chat as they work and in the end, I have two very proud little girls and two very nice lines of leaves, pumpkins and acorns.