Thanks, Mom

Today the kids had their school Christmas parties.  Such a fun time!  I think I remember every one of my Christmas parties from school-- maybe I should have remembered what I learned instead of the parties, but at least I remembered something!  One thing I remember from my parties at school was that my mom was always there.  She was usually the room mom, and I loved it!  At the school I grew up in, there wasn't near the parent support as there is at the school my kids attend, so sometimes she was the only mom there.  I was so proud that it was my mom that was up there.  She was always up there when I needed her-- party or not.  She sacrificed A LOT so she could be there for my brother and myself.  For that, and many other things, I thank her.  Actually, that sounds pretty similar to life now.. she is always there for me.  I hope that is one thing that my kids remember, that I was always there for them.. either at the parties, or when they needed me.   So, for all the years I didn't thank you and took you for granted I would like to say:  Thanks mom.  Thanks for putting your children first, and leading by such a great example of how to be a mom.  I hope that I can live up to your example, and maybe I won't, but I will sure try.  (ok, enough sucking up.. but hey, Christmas is around the corner!  ;)  We all know I can't get too mushy, it's just not my thang...)

Kara had her Christmas party, too, but moms can't go to those!  Tomorrow the kids get out early, and then we have 2.5 weeks off!  I'm excited now, but check my blog in a week or two to see how I'm doing!!!

Our performer

Tonight was Barnes and Nobles night for our elementary school. The kids in grades K-2 go and perform and a percentage of the sales that entire day go to our school. Kates group sang a song, and it was really cute, of course! Noah decided he would rather buy a book to support the school than go in front of everybody and talk about a book he read, and we totally supported that decision! Here are a few pictures of Kate.



She has become our little performer!  She loves it!  Funny thing, some of the
kids got to "read" their letters to Santa and she was upset
that she wasn't picked!  If you know my kids,
you know the humor in that!  :)



Tomorrow is Polar Express day at school and they get to wear PJ's.  It's also their Christmas Feast where we get to go eat lunch with them.  I love the holiday season!  :)

One down...

Well, it finally happened. My Kate is growing up. She has lost her first tooth! I can't believe she is old enough to lose the teeth she worked SO HARD to get! All my babies got most of their teeth closely around 6 months. So, I guess it's fitting that they lose them quickly, too. She was SO excited to lose it. She still has 2 more that are wiggly.. all on the bottom. The tooth that fell out already has an adult tooth growing in. One of the wiggly teeth already has the adult tooth growing behind it. Yes, we DO see braces in our future.. and yes, that would be my genes coming out... Dang, the ONE think my kids get from me is crooked teeth?? How cruel is that? Anyways, I will leave you with my sweet girl and her lost tooth.... btw, if you want to know what the tooth fairys hand looks like.. or her wing.. ask Kate.. she saw her. ;)

Yellow Day

There was NO way I was going to let "yellow day" get as out of control as "red day". The Friday of the dreaded "red day", the teacher sent home a note saying the next week was "yellow week". I do have to wonder why she sent home that note, and Kate even told me that next week was yellow week. It couldn't have been because of her horrid outfit... could it? Nah, teachers have too much on their mind to give my daughters outfit a second thought.. or do they? hmmm. Anyways, I was DETERMINED my little girl would look cute on yellow day. I got started looking, and looking, and looking. Omygoodness, yellow must not be an "in" color this season. I couldn't find yellow anywhere.. not even a resale shop. I finally found a yellow shirt at Target. Not my first pick; but it was cute, wasn't a dress, wasn't hawaiin.... and most importantly.. it was yellow! Sounds like a winner! So, I got a little headband to match, and by Monday I had her outfit for Friday! yea! She missed school Tuesday through Thursday because she was sick, but she WAS going on Friday.. after all, I went through a lot to get her a yellow shirt! ha!

Apparently, most moms had trouble finding a "yellow" shirt. She said 5 girls were wearing the same shirt as she was. Bet she couldn't say that for Red Day! ha!

Red Day

I was so proud of my back-to-school shopping this year. I actually started early in the summer, and did it online. I sifted through websites with coupon codes, and combed through all the stores clearance sections. After all, the stuff they have on the rack at the beginning of the summer is already their winter selections, so I figured clearance is a great place to go. I saved a butt-load of money, and got the kids a pretty good amount of clothes to start school with. So, this week went great, clothes-wise, and my kids looked handsome or cute (depending on if your talking about the boy or the girl). Enter Friday. Do you remember the Kinder Kate blog where Kate told me she had to wear red, but didn't know the day she had to? Well, Thursday, I found out that she had to wear red on Friday. Yes, yes, in the back of my head I assumed it would be Friday that she had to wear red, afterall I have had one kid do this kindergarten thing before. On the otherside of my head, I thought, well.. if the teacher hadn't said anything yet, maybe they are doing the colors for two weeks.. or maybe I was just being lazy and didn't find her anything to wear. Choosing to worry about other things besides what my daughter was going to wear on red day. I should have worried a wee bit more. Thursday night, I was trying to figure out what she was going to wear. Hmm, she has a denim skirt with a red belt with white polk-a-dots. She could wear a white shirt, but at least the belt would be red. Then, I found an old 4th of July shirt that was red. Well, I thought, she could wear that.. but NAH, she would look PWT (poor-white-trash) and we don't want that. Plus, that shirt is getting a little small, and it says "happy 4th of July"--definitely out for the school she goes to. Lets just say, at this school, WE are the kids on the "other side" of the track... if ya getmydrift. So, I did what any other good mom would do. Hmmm.. I'll sit here and watch reruns of THE OFFICE and get my mind off the stress. And that it did. I went to bed forgetting all about Red Day. So, this morning the alarm goes off. Red Day quickly enters my head. oh, craaaaaaaaaap. well, i'll just get her denim skirt and make her wear her white shirt (that she wore the day before -- another PWT option) with the denim skirt and red belt. Only problem.. said denim skirt is in the dirty clothes. Now, I'm not one that has to have clothes crisp and clean. Heck, I'll admit it, I even take clothes out of the "dirty" pile once in a while (read.. "three times a week")and put them on my kids, or even.. myself (shameful, yes... I'm trying to keep up with the laundry.. really, I am!) but, alas, this time the skirt was WAY too dirty.. even for my standards. Well, dang, where does that leave me? I go in her closet and dig through her clothes. And then I found it, the only other red thing in her closet. A hawaiian "shirt". Yup, it was red and it was going on her body. (much to her protest--THIS LOOKS FUNNY.. I CAN'T WEAAAAAAAAAR THIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!). I found some khaki capris to put on her and some white tennis shoes (they pretty much have to wear tennis shoes b/c I can't ever remember if its a freakin' PE day, or art day, or whatever day.. and heaven knows, the ONE day I put her in sandals she would have PE, and then have to sit out, and then she would be HORRIFIED). Innocent enough, right? Well, no. Lemme explain. The hawaiian "shirt" was apparently a freakin' DRESS. I thought it looked dress like, but when we have 5 minutes until we have to get out the door, I don't care what it is, it's going on her body. I didn't find out until after school when I texted the friend who "handed down" the shirt, that said shirt was a dress. Cute. When I went to pick her up, and I saw her at the little cone waiting on me, I was horrified. That can't be MY child.. let alone Donna Bennetts granddaughter! (My mom ALWAYS had me dressed perfectly for school, and my hair was always perfect, clothes ironed.. you know, what good moms do. She made sure I was dressed to the "T" --whatever that means.) The shirt/dress she was wearing was all wrinkled with the inner seams looking like they were on the outside because, yes, it was THAT wrinkly. The khahi capris were now pants. Guess them capris were a little long, dontchathink? (said in my best hick voice), and her shoes were more of a "dirty gray" than white. All the white "paint" (whatever it is that colors the shoe that color) was chipping off the shoes, and they are also about 2 sizes to small. Luckily, the shirt/dress covered her hiney from where her pants were falling down to her ankles.. but at least the pants at the ankles covered up the shoes that were too small. Oh well, at least her hair was cute.. oh wait IT WASN'T. I really need to wake up better in the morning. I did her hair in two clips. I THOUGHT the clips were red. They were pink. By the end of the day, they were falling out, and just hanging on by one strand of hair on both sides. As I'm staring at her waiting for me at the cone I'm thinking, DOES THAT POOR GIRL HAVE A MOTHER?????? OH WAIT, THAT POOR GIRL IS MY DAUGHTER!!! A part of me wanted to keep driving past her cone. I couldn't admit that I dressed my daughter that way! Plus, Noah would run after me. Kate would try, but her pants would probably fall all the way to the ground. (who knew SHE would be my "pants on the ground" kid!?). So, I pulled up and braced myself for the teacher to open the door and let my poor PWT child in---at least Noah looked decent-- When the teacher opened the door, I looked at Kate and said, "silly daddy put you in that today??" Luckily Kate said, "Hey, you dressed me" AFTER the door was closed!
I guess wearing dirty clothes to school isn't as bad as I thought....

Kinder Kate

Me: Kate, what did you learn today?

Kate: justin bie.ber makes beautiful music and I don't like him

There is an example of your tax dollars at work, people!! haha!

Kinder Kate

I figured I would start a segment called "kinder kate". This will be little musings my daughter says about her day at school. We have two things (so far) that she has said today that have made me laugh:

Mommy! I can spell RED now!!!

Me: Really, how??

Kate: uh, I dunno.. but we learned in school today


and #2

Kate: oh, mommy, my teacher wanted me to tell you something.

Me: Ok, what is it?

Kate: I have to wear red.

Me: when?

Kate: I have no idea.

It might prove to be a long year. This will definitely be a different ride than Noahs Kinder year. Not a better ride, not a worse ride.. just different. Thats whats so great about all your kids, you might do the exact same things with them (school, activities, church, etc.) but each "ride" is a totally different experience. Never gets dull!

Girls Vacay!

The weekend after Sea World the boys stayed home and had a "boys weekend". They painted Noah's room, rode go-karts, saw SMURFS 3-D, and probably stayed up late watching movies and just doing "manly" things. While all this "man-stuff" was going on, the girls and I escaped. I hadn't been able to see my Mamaw (dad's mom) in a long time. She is.. uh.. not sure how old, but whenever I'm that young, I hope to look and be as fiesty as her. Anyways, I needed to go see her. So the girls and my mom and I headed up to Dallas. The girls were pretty good travellers and we got to Dallas in a record time of ... 6 hours!? maybe that's a little exaggeration? We got to our hotel, checked-in and then took my Mamaw out to eat. She lives in a new retirement community. Everybody has their individual apartments. I love where she lives and I love that she is around other people and not so alone. She seems to be really happy, which makes me happy. We ate at Cheddars and she kept me laughing at stories of her life at her new home. You know, maybe she should start a blog. I bet she would have people laughing just at her fiesty-ness if nothing else. After we visited with her, we went back to the hotel and crashed... after 3 hours of Kate and Kara talking and giggling.
The next day we got to visit with one of my moms dear, sweet friends from High School. I love Paula like an Aunt. She is one of the most kind, tender-hearted people that you will ever meet. She has never met a stranger, and loves everybody. She has two grandsons, and we got to meet one of them. He was just 2 days old and such a sweetie. We took her to eat (I'm loving vacations.. eating and no dishes!) and then had a cupcake Tea-Party at her house and just visited with her and loved being with her. She loved having "grand-daughters" for the day, too. My girls took to her quickly as well and wanted her to sit by them and hold her hands. It was so sweet. Thanks, Miss Paula, for loving on my girls!!
After we got with her, we went to a local outlet mall. Well, that was a letdown, but it was still nice to walk around in the scourching 100+ degree weather. It's not like we aren't used to it, but at least our scourching has humidity to it, so you don't feel like your just in hot weather. If you use your imagination you can talk yourself in to thinking its the sauna at a spa. Anyways, I think I will take Houston hot over Dallas hot anyday. Actually, I would prefer to take Colorado hot, over Houston hot.. but that will never happen. Why, you ask? Well, my bones wouldn't be able to take the winter. Now, my ideal would be to have a winter house in Roatan, Hondorus and a Summer home in Colorado.. ..
Anyways, the next day we drove home and made it home safely. Not sure if my mom wants to do a girls weekend again, but I wouldn't mind next summer! Thanks for coming with us and playing with us, Mimi.. we had a blast!!!
**and again, blogger isn't letting me upload pictures, so I will do it soon! :)

Recital and Graduation

Well, here I am AGAIN playing "catch-up". Seriously, it gets rediculous. Oh well. First on the agenda: Kate's dance recital and graduation. Kate has had a busy month of May. We had her graduation from pre-school. My goodness, can't BELIEVE my first baby girl is going to Kinder in a little over 2 months... makes me almost sick to my stomach! She was a beautiful graduate.. of course, and we were very proud! She sang her songs, ran down the aisle when her name was called, and there was a hint of a smile. I laugh when I look at the pictures because she was on the front row, and still came to the shoulders of the people who stood beside her. I'm guessing she actually got something from MY side of the family... go figure! :)

Kate and Luke :)

see?? It almost looks like she is on the

bottom row by herself! love it!



Congratulations, Kate! Can't wait to see how your Kinder year goes. I know it will go Fantastic!

Next up: Dance recital! I LOVED dance when I was Kate's age. To say I loved it is almost an understatement. I loved going in there and just dance and be girly. It made me feel like a girl. I looked forward to it every week. I wanted this for Kate. She has been begging to go in "balleg" since she turned 3. After two years of gymnastics, we felt she was ready. She was kind of "ho-hum" about the whole thing.. more indifferent, I guess. I wanted her to stick it out until the recital so she would at least get the entire experience for a year. Well, the recital sold her on Ballet. Much to my surprise she LOVED being on stage. So much, that after she danced she was upset she couldn't go back out there to do ANOTHER dance. I'm really shocked by this.. a good shock, but shocked non-the-less. I was SO proud of how she did on stage. She did EVERY move, and if I do say so myself, was the most beautiful ballerina there ever was. Both sets of grandparents came to watch (of course! they wouldn't miss it!!). I have to laugh because my brother and sis-in-law (Dustin and Megan) and my precious neice came (Addison)... little did Dustin know that when he was enduring watching my recitals for 7 years, one day he would have to endure watching his niece as well.... hahaha.. for some reason, though, he seemed to enjoy Kate's... hmmmmmmm... Thank you everyone who came.. it meant a lot to her! :)

Nothing says "ballerina" like this picture!

Kate's class during "dress rehearsal"

Kate and Mommy backstage before it started!

She is 3rd from the right.. best one, of course!

Better watch out, Dustin.. I know another

Ballerina in our family!! :)

What is a recial without icecream afterwards?

Our Angel

Kate had her MDO Christmas play on Tuesday, and it was very fitting that she was an angel. She looked so angelic in her little outfit.

I can't believe that this was her last MDO Christmas concert! She has grown up WAY too fast!!! When did my 5lb 11oz baby grow up? Good grief! I'm sure if I was PREGNANT for almost 5 years, it would seem like a life-time, (heck, labor for only 3 hours seems like a lifetime...) but for your baby, 5 years seems like a blink of an eye! Anyways, I was so proud of her. She stood on stage and actually faced forward! There was some eye-contact, a little smiling, and golly-gee, she actually sang (some...)!!!! The Surface's are making progress on stage, people!! Better watch out, Taylor Swift.. Kate is a'comin!

One thing I was shocked about was how short this child is! (yes, I realize she IS my daughter, and I'm pretty short.. but I thought she was pretty average. She wears pretty average size clothes.. but apparently she is REALLY short.. Which is not a bad thing. Embrace the shortness, sweet girl.. it can be fun! :)

Yes, she is the same age as the girls beside her!

Anyways, we were really proud of our angel!! good job, bug-a-boo, cup-Kate, fruit-Kate, or as you like to say, "Just Kate" We love you!

Look at those gold shoes!! Every angel needs gold shoes! ;)

our newest member...

Oh my! I have a couple of good posts to post. One involves a certain guy, super-glue, a pipe cleaner and a fork...and it's FUUUNY, but I don't have the pics on my computer yet, so it just wouldn't do it justice, so I will keep you in suspense. I still have a Thanksgiving post hanging in the balance, but today my post is about our newest member of the family (and no, I'm NOT pregnant.. I have KEPT that new years resolution!! Sure, it's the only one I kept.. but, I think that was the MOST important one to keep!!!). We are now the proud owners of an elf named Joshua. For those of you who don't know, the "newest thing" is a book called ELF. ON THE SH.ELF. It's about an Elf that lives on the shelf during the day, and then goes to Santa to report the days activities during the night, and then returns to your house in the morning... usually in a different spot than where you put him the night before. Confusing?? yeah, I know... Anyways, we got the elf today. When Noah came home, I somehow was able to get the elf on the train around our Christmas tree without him seeing. He walked in the dining room for something and saw it...came out with this little smile and asked where it came from. Like a good mommy, I played dumb, and we read the note that was attached to this elf which said:

Dear Noah, Kate, and Kara,

Santa sent me and now I'm your new elf. Please name me because I do not have a name yet. Every night I go back to Santa and report how the night before went. So please be really good so I can tell Santa!! Oh, just so you know, Santa calls me mischievous (that means I sometimes get in trouble...) so Beware!!!

your elf!

Anyways, it's been precious to see how the kids, especially Noah, has reacted to this elf. I wanted to do this because I know Noah won't *believe* that much longer, and I wanted to make the last few times magical for him, and magical it's been. It's only been day one and he has carried that elf EVERYWHERE. He keeps guessing what the elf will be doing when he wakes up. He keeps talking to the elf, and telling him things to tell Santa.. precious, I say! The added bonus: I put them to bed at 6:45, and they ran up the stairs SO FAST, got in bed, and was asleep by 7:00!!! Oh, Mr. Elf.. you MIGHT have to stay at our house year round!!!!!

I'm loving the imagination that they have. It's amazing what a kid can imagine, if only you let them! I can't WAIT for the kids to wake up and look for the Elf!! He MIGHT be hanging from our ceiling fan in the living room :)

Kate's school

My four year old baby started her "school" a couple of weeks ago, and I'm just now getting to download the pictures (it's been a crazy few weeks around here!). Here are some pics. of her! I'm nervous about her being in the 4 year old class.. she is growing up!! They are expected to do worksheets (todays count was 12!!!!), and the worksheets have proved to be interesting. We think she thinks "outside the box.." :) When they miss a day, the worksheets are sent home the next time for them to complete.. (Uh, is this Mothers day out or "lets grow a rocket scientist preschool".. honestly, I just want her to be a kid while she can.. but we will see how this goes).

My pretty girl! where has the time gone??

Sweet sisters! Makes me want to have a sister!

Traditional back shot.. but it cracks me up

with Kara there!!

Kate with Luke and 'Lanny'! Crazy friends!

..and about 2 minutes after this I was carrying

Kara out like a sack of potatoes kicking and screaming

because she couldn't stay.. oh the life!

Repunzel no more...

Kate has had LONG and BEAUTIFUL hair for so long now. It has gotten to the point of stringy and a bit of a mess. She has actually asked to get it cut the past couple of weeks, so I decided I might want to jump on the chance while she was willing! She has been wanting it shorter like her friend, Elisabeth, and she told memaw that the reason she can't hear me when I tell her to do something is because her hair is too long (and apparently that's the reason she can't put on her seatbelt... darn hair...). Anyways, so before school started we decided now is probably the best time to go ahead and get her hair cut. Here is the before

and here is the during/after:

I love it!! I think it looks so cute, and shows her pretty face that much more!! She is seeming a little sassier though! Last night I was laying in bed with Noah since he had a rough day at school. She comes out of her room and sees that I'm laying with him and she says, "YOU HAAAAAAAATE ME MOMMY, YOU JUST HATE ME!! YOU NEVER LAY WITH ME!!!! YOU JUST HAAAAAAAAAATE ME!!!!" oh, goodness, Kate! What will you be saying at 16?? and no, I don't HAAAAAAATE you, but LOOOOOOVE you very much!! goofy girl....

The things we do!

Kate and Kara share a room, and have since Kara was born. Even when we moved, it wasn't on my "must have" list for the girls to have their seperate rooms. I know one day I might regret it, but for now, I think it's sweet. The girls love to play in there and have their own "princess paradise". Of course, this *might* make Noah jealous, and I could go on to a blog of its own on what happens when Noah gets jealous... but don't want to go there! Anyways, it's now where Kara WILL NOT go to sleep unless Kate is in her bed. She will scream, holler, and get her leg stuck in the slats of her crib (yes, she is still in a crib.. I learned my lesson after the first two.. keep them in there AS LONG AS POSSIBLE... of course, this leads to getting legs stuck in slats b/c she is trying to climb out of the crib. And when I say stuck, I don't mean a little bit. Her leg turns purple and Chris has to pry the slats while I shove her leg back) just because she wants Kate in the bed next to her. Now all this *might* sound sweet, and be because she just LOVES her sister so much, but don't be fooled. She has now realized that her brother and sister are staying up later than her and get to watch a few TV shows before they go to bed. This does NOT set will with our "mild tempered" child. She gets VERY upset... to the point of head spinning, green snot shooting out of her head mad. So Chris and I have remedied this. Every evening now at bedtime, I take Kara and change her diaper. Sounds normal enough, but this is when it gets "tricky". In the time that I change her diaper and put her pj's on, Chris runs the older two upstairs in our room, puts on the TV, threatens them with their life to NOT make a sound, closes our door, then high tails it to the girls room, puts a pillow under Kate's sheet, raises up the comforter just a bit to look like a body. sheeeew. I take Kara upstairs and tell her to "be quiet, sissy is already asleep", put Kara in her crib, do our goodnight "rituals" (don't ask), then kiss her goodnight. Chris tells Kara goodnight as well, then we both go over to "kate" (the pillow stuffed sheet), tell the sheet/pillow we love her, give it a hug and kiss and leave the room (why, yes.. it IS a freak show at our house). Kara is silent, kind of stares at the bed like "how did she go to sleep so fast"...and lays down and goes to sleep. Our evil work here is done. It works like this great until Kate comes out of our room and hollers, "Is it o.k. to come out yet?????" and if you know our Kate, you know it's pretty LOUD!!!! That only happened once... I wonder how long kara can be fooled???
oh the things we do to keep our sanity!!! Just another look in to the life of a Surface!

*july 4th post coming soon*

Kate conversation

Chris: Hey, Kate, did you have fun at the baby shower today?

Kate: I guess, but I didn't get wet...

and mind you, this wasn't her first shower to go to, you would think she would know by now! Oh well, that's one of the reasons we love her!

A princess turns 4

Kaitlyn Olivia Surface

1-17-06

This post is about a week and a day late. Last Sunday was Kate's 4th birthday, but we were out of town, so I didn't get this up until this evening. I can't believe my princess girl is 4. Really, I think that of all 3 of my kids, she is growing up the fastest. I guess because she had an older brother, and when she was 2.5 she had a baby sister, so it made her "grow up" faster. Sure, she is only 4.. but wow, I can't believe she is 4!! She is so precious to me. She makes me smile and has such a pure, sweet heart. Sure, she has some normal 4 year old "testing mommy" issues, but for the most part, she is just sweet.

She so enjoys life. She laughs at EVERYTHING and everything is fun and exciting to her.. (well, apparently performing on stage isn't.. but everything else). She is fulfilling her role as "big sister" so well. She helps Kara play, and she LOVES to make her laugh. She tries to wash her hair, but I'm not a big fan of siblings drowning siblings, so I don't really let her do that. If Kara does something that she's not supposed to do, and gets in trouble for it, Kate will look at me and tell me, "she's only a baby, be nice!". I have a feeling one day, she will be loving her getting in trouble... maybe.

She is slower than molasses (physically.. not mentally), but at least she enjoys life. She eats SO SLOW, but that's the key to a good metabolism.. right!? Sure, it takes 1 hour (literally.. not exaggerating) to eat, but she enjoys good conversation.

Anyways, Kate, I love you so much. You are such a sweet girl, and a beautiful young lady. Thanks for reminding me that life, a little slower to enjoy it, is not a bad thing. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

allergies

Me-- Kate, you need to go potty (yes, I realize she is almost 4, but the girl forgets to go potty.. all the time)

Kate-- I can't

Me-- Uh, yeah, you can..

Kate-- nuh uh, I'm allergic.

oh, so that explains the gazillion accidents.

2 Eskimos and an Accountant

It's no secret that it has been ridiculously cold outside. I mean seriously, is it necessary to be in 20 degree weather?? I live by the freakin' Gulf of Mexico, it should be sunny and 62 degrees outside (since that is the winter I am used to..)! Sure, it's been cold here before. When I was little our pipes even burst (or busted.. which ever is correct..), but it has never been THIS cold for THIS amount of time. Seriously, do we LIVE in Antarctica?? I think not. Anyways, my kids have been so anxious to play on the swingset that everyone bought for them, that the other day, they just couldn't take it anymore. They bundled up (in their snow suits.. as Noah called them--which consists of 2 jackets, scarves, and a blanket..) and went out and played in the 28 degree weather. They lasted about 5 minutes, but they sure had fun!!

The famous swingset for Christmas

Kate--who knew that a blanket tied around a waist was stylish?? she did!

Noah with two jackets and a scarf...

I know in the summer, I will be missing this weather--uh, maybe not.

Meanwhile, while the older two were freezing snot in their noses, Kara was "helping" daddy study for the CPA. Chris is taking the CPA this year--with the first part on the 26th of January. Kara thought that she could help him learn the material:

She looks so happy studying for Accounting--she must not know what is really going on! Ha! Isn't she getting so big??

On the resolution front - I have worked out for 4 days in a row now... Sign me up for a marathon! ... like that would EVER happen! My eating habits aren't that great, but one at a time I guess! I got Kate's room clean today, and some laundry done. SO i'm slowly working on the house resolution. I think I finally remembered why I don't like resolutions--don't like doing them! haha! Well at least I'm blogging a little more!

I'm excited because it's supposed to get up to 55 degrees today! Yay for warmer weather!

Just blogging to check off my resolutions...

So, Noah brought home 2 library books yesterday from school:

1. How to be a Stunt Double

2. The training of Batman for the movie

I'm thinking that this gymnastics is not going to take us to the Olympics.. but to the ER. Oh well.. at least he is having fun (for the moment anyway!)

Also, Happy 2 months to my niece Addison!! We love ya!! (even if Kate calls you Allison, on a good talking day; and aa-son, on a not so good talking day. But don't feel bad, Kate calls STAR WARS - STAR WHORES, so it could be worse!! :))

Going to get on a heating pad now, just did the Jillian Michaels workout, and I. can't. move. (did you notice, I'm working on resolutions.... working out.. blogging?? MAKE THE MADNESS STOP!!!)

Girls will be girls!

So, yesterday I take Kate and Kara to Target. We had to pick up some Christmas cards to send out, and plus the girls and I just wanted to get out of the house. Kate had to pack a purse before we left, which of course was a pink "meow" purse. I thought it was so cute. She grabs her purse and out the door we go. We get to Target and I put Kara in the front of the basket, and since Kate is a "big girl", she got to sit in the big part of the basket. I went down the card aisle which takes me FOREVER! I must find the perfect Christmas cards to send out. (SHHH.. don't tell.. I actually buy two separate Christmas cards. A goofy one, and a reason for the season one...It's a lottery to see which one you get...) Anyways, that aisle takes a while to go down. As I was looking at the cards, Kate was looking at the things in her purse.. and I wasn't paying much attention. We start looking around the store at other things, then I precede to check out. Kate said, "WAIT!!!" You FORGOT to get me my purse and shoes!!" I asked her what in the WORLD she was talking about. She gets in her purse, PULLS OUT A NEWSPAPER ADD, opens it up and shows me the purse, and shoes, that I was supposed to get her! Um... wow. I looked at it and told her they were pretty, but it wasn't a Target add, but a PAYLESS add. She looked at me and said, "Then we need to go to Payless. I need this purse and these shoes.". Wow. There are no words. REALLY?? She is 3 and she is taking adds to the store to show ME what to get HER??? I have never brought an add to the store.. I don't know where she got that! I guess it's just in her girly DNA!! She's such a hoot!