A Christmas Story

Even though it took mommy until the 19th to get the Christmas tree up and decorated, the girls still managed to fully enjoy each and every day that it has graced our very cramped living room (boy mommy cannot wait until the basement renovation is completed so we are re-organized our life). Mommy and the girls decorated the tree in the afternoon and the girls got to see their very special ornaments for the tree to remember 2007 by ... two Miss Spiders carrying packages and two lovely glass ornament ladybugs ... our girls absolute favorites for the year! I think they really loved them, especially since they repeatedly kept going to the tree to give Miss Spider kisses.

The Christmas cards started rolling in this week and it was nice to get updates from family and friends and lots of new pictures of all the kiddos!!

This year our big family celebration was on Christmas Eve. Mommy, daddy and the girls met up with Grandma & Grandpa B, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Kory & Uncle Clayton for our traditional Christmas Eve breakfast at the Uptown in Minneapolis. Breakfast was great and we left with our traditional Uptown drinking glass to add to our collection.

After breakfast, we were off to finish up some last minute (literally) gift shopping and then home to let mommy get appetizers ready to that evening and the egg bake ready for the Christmas morning brunch at our house. After the girls awoke from their nap, we then headed to Grandma & Grandpa B's house where Granny M, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Kory, Joshua, Kaylynn, Uncle Clayton and Alexia were all waiting for us to begin the official festivities.

We opened up our "fun" stockings and ate Round #1 from the Christmas Eve buffet. The food was excellent!!!

With full bellies, we proceeded to opening gifts ... much of which mommy missed as the girls kept me busy trying to keep up the gifts they were opening on their own. The girls were absolutely great this year with gifts. They thought each and every thing they opened was amazing and worth a great big verbal "WOW" ... even mommy's new foot massager (thank you Granny), was worthy of exclamations of joy from the girls. Here is the Christmas Tree before the gift opening at Grandma & Grandpa B's:

The girls got lots of nice things but one of their favorites were inflatable Miss Spider Ready Beds. Even though we are yet to "sleep" in them, they feel pretty important laying in them and both settled in for a while during a viewing of Shrek. Another big hit of the night came from Aunt Carrie with glow in the dark star wands ($1 at the Dollar Store) ... who would have thought!!??!!

After a very full day and evening, we headed for home and got ready to start all over again in the morning at our own home.

Christmas morning arrived and the girls got up and had breakfast and then we settled in to open up their gifts from Farmor. They loved all their new clothes and had lots of fun with the wrapping paper and ribbons. Here they are modeling one of the new outfits:

Next it was time for the gifts from mommy and daddy (Miss Spider's Singing Buggy Bunch and Little People's Sarah Lynn & Maggie Camper Set & two Miss Spider Books).

Last but not least, the gifts from Santa ... Pat Pat Rockets!!!!! WOW!!!

Granny M and Grandma & Grandpa B joined us mid morning on Christmas Day for brunch and spent a lazy day with us and the girls. It was a wonderful holiday and a special time shared with family.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Christmas with Christian 2007

Last night daddy, mommy and the girls' headed over to Aunt Tammy's house to celebrate an early Christmas for the kiddos. The girls had lots of fun playing with Christian's toys. Aunt Tammy made chicken parmigiana for dinner and it was wonderful. We actually had an "adult" table with mommy, daddy, Aunt Tammy and Uncle Chris while the kiddos had their own little table in the kitchen. It went well except for some table sliding shenanigans out in the kitchen.

After we got dinner cleaned up, the girls and Christian opened up their Christmas presents. Christian got the Little Peoples Race & Park Garage and the Little Peoples Airplane while the girls each got very warm, soft robes and the Little Peoples Nativity/Manger Set. They were all excited about the new toys, but thanks to the kind folks at Fisher Price, it took mommy and Aunt Tammy a long time to free the new toys and by the time they were out of the packages and assembled, the kids were back to old favorites. I understand Christian likes his new toys and settled down to play with them after we left. The girls are enjoying their Nativity set and Madison even took the little dog to bed with her last night.


Here are the girls modeling their new bath robes:

After the gift opening, it was cookie time which was a bit hit ... thank you Aunt Tammy for all the baking you did!! The kids enjoyed playing for a while and before we knew it, it was time to head home and get ready for bed. The girls wore their bath robes home in the car and didn't want to take them off when we got home. It was a great evening with great friends ... exactly what the holidays are all about ...

Oh, going through the pictures, I started thinking about how the same activity witnessed from different angles can certainly give a different impression. For example, you decide, was this a hug or a burping session:

Aunt Tammy's View:

Mommy's View:

For those of you who chose Hug, you got it right!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Amy

A Visit With Granny B

We have had a busy, busy weekend!! Between all the potty trips in our household lately, we managed to squeeze in a short visit with Granny B in Wisconsin. We headed over Friday morning and arrived about lunch time. We took Granny out to do some shopping, had fun playing at her apartment and made a nice dinner before settling down to a slightly restless night for Miss Madison and mommy.

Saturday morning we took Granny out to breakfast and met up with Grandma and Grandpa B who were coming over for a visit with Granny too. The girls spent some time with daddy and Grandpa B while mommy, Granny and Grandma B went shopping. We all got to visit with the girls' Great Aunt Debbie, Great Uncle Gale and Great Uncle Willard before we packed everything up and headed back home.

We hope to return for a longer visit after the holidays to see Granny B again.

Love & Hugs -
Amy

Yes, I'm Going To A Potty Party ...

Okay, so this definitely wasn't my BIG idea, but rather Miss Madison's ... Potty training has officially begun around here at her insistence. Peepee and Poop have become regular words in our vocabulary around here and Prudence has become a favorite little girl to watch on the Potty Time Video. Alyssa is a reluctant participate at this time and mostly just observes and carries her empty potty insert to dump along with her sisters, but she is slowly coming around and we have gotten her to peepee a couple of times on her potty and on the big potty.

Madison on the other hand, has become a champion pooper and prefers the big potty. We have had only one diaper accident in the last week for poop. Peepee however is hit and miss, but we have had a lot of hits on the potties and I think it is coming along nicely. Madison has decided that everything that comes out and goes into the potty is poop, even the peepee is yellow poop, hey whatever works I guess.

The down side to all of this ... is a constant announcement of "poop" from Miss Madison and this has extended our bedtime later and later and later. I hear Madison's voice in the crib at night and during naps ... "Mama, please, poop" ... "Mama, please, poop." So, I get her up, she usually goes, return her to bed to find her copy-cat sister claiming she now needs to as well ... so I start again with Alyssa and typically that produces nothing, we exclaim "good try" and then back off to bed. Never thought I would be spending so much of my day and evening sitting on the floor next to potty chairs without it being my own doing, if you know what I mean ...

Love & Hugs -
Amy

Daddy + Snow = Fun!!

The girls are completely in love with the snow and being outside. Daddy took advantage of slightly warmer weather and he and girls headed outdoors for some fun winter style!

Not only did they have fun going for a sled ride, but they discovered their little riding cars still worked on the ice and snow in the driveway. Before heading in, they both decided to check out the snow that had settled on the trees by the front door.

Finally, nice and warm after some warm cocoa made by daddy!

Ahh, to be a kid again ...

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Holiday Brunch with Santa

Today was mommy's annual Holiday Brunch for her work. We had a lot of fun and had a very special visitor stop by the party to see the kids. Yup, you guessed it, the man in red!!! Our girls reactions to Santa Claus were as different as each of their personalities ... one loved him and one not so much so ...

Madison Meeting Santa Claus:

Alyssa Meeting Santa Claus:

I will leave it to your own imaginations to decide who wasn't exactly enamored with good old Santa Claus; although she did opt to take the gift home with her.

Finally, just for old times sake here are the girls with the same Santa for their first and second Christmas', my how they have changed!! You can also see that Santa's beard and mustache have improved over the years too!

1st Christmas:

2nd Christmas:

Love & Ho, Ho, Ho Hugs -

Amy

Can you say bad hair day??!!

Despite the mop tops, they still "love" their sisters ... No Maddie is not being strangled by Alyssa, but rather is trying to say "cheese" for the camera ...

Here is proof she survived the "hug":

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Decorating Grandma & Grandpa B's Tree

Well Grandpa out did himself this year and brought home a tree three grandpas wide and a grandpa plus some in height (mind you Grandpa is 6' 4" tall). It is a beautiful tree!! The family all got together to help decorate the tree include Cousins Joshua, Kaylynn and Alexia, mommy, daddy and Granny M. Mommy's cousin, Alex, from Florida was even visiting and got to participate in the big event!

The kids all had fun and the tree looked great when it was done ... now Grandma just had to add her ribbons to finish it off!

I guess the holiday season is here ... maybe mommy should consider putting up her tree one of these days ...

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Smile, Smile, Smile ...

Just because I finally got a picture of the girls together, both looking at the camera and both smiling for the first time in like at least 6-7 months ...

Also, do you think Quincy is liked very much by Miss Madison??!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!!

Love & Hugs -

Amy

SNOW!!!

Although not the first flakes of the season ... they are the first to come in any grand enough quantities to actually look like it is snowing and, of course, the girls headed outside this morning to check it out!! Now, I really am not a winter person, but I must say that seeing the season change through the eyes of my girls, helps to keep me warm inside ... but I am still counting the days until April!

Trying to Catch a Snowflake:

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Say Hi To Quincy (aka Itty Bitty)

Please welcome the newest member of our little family ... Quincy (also lovingly known as Itty Bitty by Aunt Carrie). Quincy came to stay with us last Sunday, much to Chloe's (our 3-year-old furbaby) disapproval. After four days, Chloe is finally coming around and although I am sure Quincy misses his mama, Aunt Carrie, he is adapting very nicely to life with a 3-year-old neurotic furbaby and two 2-year-old human babies who think he is a great new toy!

Aunt Carrie found him in the pasture on their hobby farm with two siblings when they were just days old and bottle fed and cared for them. She must have of done a GREAT job as the vet informed me that Itty Bitty not only is a BOY and not a girl (hence the new name Quincy), but that he is a tad bit overweight at his young, young age of 12-14 weeks, and we have noticed that he is generously helping himself to all of the food he get his little paws on ... again to Chloe's disapproval.

Although there are some ongoing "talks" and "negotiations" continuing between Chloe and Quincy, I think they may be a peace agreement coming soon ...

So, welcome Quincy ... we look forward to a lot of years together with very liberal visitation rights granted to Aunt Carrie ...

((Hugs))

Amy

A Bugless Welcome for Santa Claus

Yes, dare I say it, we made it one whole entire day without any ladybug or bumble bee costume pieces on either of the girls ... of course mommy hid the actual Halloween outfits two days ago, but still the spider hat and the ladybug hatwere left laying untouched and sort of sad looking in the living chair for the entire day ... progress!!

Anyway, after a very sleepless night for mommy (both girls are now sick with colds and very kindly decided they would like to share their agony alternating throughout the late night and early morning hours ... so nice of them to want to include their mommy), we got to share the morning with Grandma and Grandpa B. Grandma watched the girls while mommy and Grandpa continued the never ending "mudding" of the drywall (sheetrock) to finish out the basement.

After a quick clean up, the girls and mommy were off to the Burnsville Mall to view the "Welcome Santa" parade and to begin breaking the kiddos into the idea of a big man dressed in red being everywhere for the next two months. We met Aunt Tammy and Christian at the mall and did some shopping at Old Navy for winter hats and mittens. We then headed down to the food court for some curly fries and milk for a snack while we viewed the parade. After picking out "prime" spots for viewing, we waited ...


Soon we heard the drum corps coming towards us and we moved the kiddos into position ... here it comes the big start the Holiday Season ... eight drumers or so passed us, a group of people (not sure who they were), the Subway Sandwich, a demented looking Teddy Bear with suckers, oh yeah ... the Applebee's Apple and Bumble Bee ... thanks for the handful of candy on the floor in front the stroller (I am picking it up) ... wait ... what happened ... were did everybody go??!!?? Yup, mommy missed seeing Santa & The Mrs. in that brief moment of picking up smarties and suckers ...

The entire parade lasted ummm, about 2 minutes and 30 seconds ... barely enough time to get the kids brains focused on the event. The five of us frantically followed the parade desperate for mommy to get her coveted picture of Santa to document the whole occasion and so here it is ... Santa from a far, oh and he appears to have arrived safely and soundly at the Burnsville Mall for those of you who absentmindedly missed the big event:

Tis the Season right??!! Despite the parade, we had fun seeing Aunt Tammy and Christian and the kids all got to see Santa (from a distance) and agreed that it was indeed him.

Let the Holidays begin ...

Love & Hugs -
Amy

Happy Birthday Grandpa Bee ... umm I mean B

So, today mommy, daddy, ladybug Alyssa and bumble bee Madison all received our flu shots. Mommy did just fine ... daddy complained a little bit up accepted his fate and the bug and the bee, despite their costumes, both cried ... Madison only because she heard her sister crying. The crying was short lived and we were off, stopping by the sticker station for a reward and then down to mommy's office to get her mail. We got to visit with a few of mommy's co-workers and before we left the office the girls had smiled their way to little jack-o-lantern buckets from two desks ... maybe we are still trick-or-treating ...


After taking a rest back at home, we were off once again to help Grandpa B celebrate his birthday. We met, Grandpa, Grandma, Granny M, Uncle Clayton and Cousin Alexia at Bonfire and had a great meal!!! Yes, in our bug outfits (although Alyssa agreed to take the thick winter coat like ladybug off while she ate).

Happy Birthday Grandpa "Bee" ... we love you!!

Love & Hugs -

Amy, Peter, Ladybug Alyssa & Bumble Bee Madison

Any Buggy Seen My Girls?

Yes, here we are on day eight of the Bug-A-Boo Festival which has been taking place at our little home ... although we managed to remove the bug outfits long enough to get the girls to school in "regular" clothes, the outfits were promptly put back on upon returning home. It is still mainly Alyssa who demands to remain a ladybug rather than a human girl and she unfortunately can be a bad influence on her sister who has now added Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Buzzzzzzzzzzz as the primary word in her already limited vocabulary whenever donning the bumble bee outfit.

As we were shopping at Target this afternoon, parents smile at us, kids point at us and store clerks as if we are trick-or-treating ... cute, no ... yeah ... maybe ... I say if being a bee and a bug on our shopping trips makes for two happy girls, who am I to argue!

We have flu shots scheduled for Thursday morning and dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Thursday evening to celebrate Grandpa's birthday, I wonder if the girls will be attending or if it will be the bugs ...

Love & Hugs -

Amy

The Bee & The Bug

Okay, daddy was down helping Aunt Carrie and Uncle Kory install some trim work in their house today. While there, Grandma B and Aunt Carrie went in town to do some shopping while the men worked. On the clearance rack at one store Grandma found a thin, sleeveless ladybug costume and a cute little bumble bee one ... she bought them in the hopes that it would get the heavy winter coat ladybug off of Alyssa while in the house. Daddy brought them home with him in time for supper and they were a hit!! Although Alyssa's outfit is a tad bit too small for her and she looks like a hunch-backed, no neck ladybug, but she loves it just the same.

Later that day, the IKEA ladybug hat made another appearance underneath the hood of the new ladybug outfit ... Alyssa definitely is persistent ...

Love & Hugs -

Amy

The Spider & The Bug

Here we are enjoying breakfast this morning ... yes we immediately upon arising this morning put on our spider and ladybug hats ... shortly after eating, Alyssa demanded the rest of the original ladybug outfit as well ...

Kids will be kids right??!! I just hope they outgrow this phase by Christmas ...

Love & Hugs -

Amy

NWA Employee Appreciation Day(s)

This weekend is the "big" Minneapolis based NWA Employee Appreciation Celebration which takes place annually at the MOA (Mall of America for non-locals). This year is the first year that they have offered free unlimited ride bands for the kids to play in the amusement park and go on rides. We decided to take the girls for the afternoon and check out the festivities. Of course, we had to wear our ladybug costumes to the event (they were also the chosen attire for our outing to Target yesterday). Alyssa is very adamant about wearing it and Madison, poor girl, is just along for the ride at this point!!

After getting a goody bag for the girls and a banana for each, we signed up for the prize drawings and headed over the amusement park only to find out that Madison is 1" to short for all of the rides, unless the ride workers would allow us to measure her to the top of her ladybug antenna, we were out of luck.

Since we were not ready to go home just yet as we had anticipated a fun filled few hours at the park, we decided to walk over to IKEA and do some food shopping as well as some "window" shopping for our soon to be finished basement. The girls did pretty good in the stroller for a while but it soon became apartment that two little lady bugs wanted to be free, so we let them lose in the store and it actually went quite well, especially once we arrived at the section of the store devoted to kids toys and beds ... they were in heaven. While in the kids area, mommy found a ladybug hat and a spider hat (Madison loves spiders!!), the girls loved them and wore the sample ones around while they played.

Next it was way past the girls supper time, so we decided to get them a bit to eat at the IKEA restaurant ... little did we know that half the population of Minneapolis was also thinking the same thing ... really, that many people actually wanted to eat at IKEA ... I am still dumbfounded by it all. It took me about 20 minutes to make my way through the line to come back with mac & cheese, french fries and Swedish meatballs ... to which they ate some french fries. During my time in the IKEA food line, Alyssa noticed that her ladybug hat was not on her head (mommy had put them back in the kids area) and I saw her repeatedly tapping her head and looking at daddy with accusing eyes ... so once I brought the food, I immediately headed back to get one ladybug hat and one spider hat. On the upside, maybe Alyssa will now give up the whole ladybug costume and be happy with just the bug hat ... we can hope right??!!!

Finally, we made it to the food mart in IKEA and daddy made a mad dash through it throwing items left and right into his basket. While he waited to pay, I had one very delirious spider (it was now at least one hour past their bedtime). Yes, in the back of the stroller sat Miss Madison, ladybug jacket with wings on and a spider hat with green goggles and eight long legs danging from it ... shouting SPIDER as loud as she could over and over again while her sister, the ladybug (now wearing the original ladybug costume as well as the new ladybug hat) laughed and pointed ... Yes we do make quite the site ...

Stay tuned for the continuing saga of the bug girls ...

Love & Hugs -


Amy