Merry Christmas!

Well, we had an awesome Thanksgiving - now onto Christmas! Sorry for no posts of Thanksgiving. We ate turkey, had tons of company, went "Black Friday" shopping, etc - you get the picture....

It started with Jilian and I on a baking frenzie. We made 7 different types of cookies, and they were all scrumptious....

Then, we took the girls ice skating at the Galleria. They did a lot better this year than last. Although, I have to say that the money we spent on ice skating lessons - really NOT worth it! Oh well, they had fun anyway!

So, on Christmas Eve, I had to work from 8am to 1pm, and I have to say that it was a vacation from the madness at my house. Brad, Janie and PopPop took the kids to see the trains at NorthPark Mall.

On Christmas Eve, we went to Prestonwood Baptist Church for Christmas Eve service. We ventured out in the "Christmas Eve Blizzard 2009"! And, boy was it cold. We got to see Miss Sarah, and that was so exciting!

We even caught a glimpse of Santa on Christmas Eve.

So, on Christmas morning, Mimi, Poppi, PopPop and the Wileys were at our house.

Jilian got what she wanted from Santa.....Hello Kitty Makeup!

It was a hit - you should see my kitchen table....

Mimi and Poppi got a web cam so they can now SEE us when they call. Now, if only they could figure out how to use it.....The girls also got a cupcake maker.....yuumm....that was a mess.....

We have a tradition at our house where all the wrapping paper goes in one BIG pile called the trash pile. We all take turns being burried in it and covering each other up....

And, of course it wouldn't be Christmas without a SNOWBALL FIGHT!!

Next stop - Tulsa, Oklahoma....stay tuned for more Christmas events....

My New Obsession

First of all, Jilian started ice skating lessons last week. She is the clumsiest kid I've ever known, so I was a little worried. But, she did really good. The coach came to us afterward to tell us that she did good, and our reaction was "Really??" But, apparently to them, she did better than most in her class. She barely fell down, but she was a little wobbly.

Here they are 'stomping'...Practicing getting up after falling down...First time on the ice!So, I have this new 'thing' I like to do - we'll call it my 'hidden talent.' I learned from a 'how-to' video how to make all kinds of bows. The more I do, the better I get. I have made, like, I dunno, 30 bows. Jilian has a bow for EVERY outfit! Well, Brad suggested that I try to sell them - he says 'because they're so good' but I think it's to make up for all the ribbon I bought! I couldn't help myself! So, I set up Jilian and Ella's pink Christmas tree at work and attached the Christmas bows I've made on it. It's real cute, and I'm only going to sell them for $5. Let's hope I can sell some......*fingers crossed*

And, our den has bee transformed into....And, just for fun....here is Jilian practicing her gymnastics in the living room - she has become quite daring since gymnastics started up again!

And, showing off her new bow!This month we, as well as Jilian's school, celebrated Veteran's Day. We brought pictures of our loved ones who were or are in the military to school and they posted them on a Veteran's Wall. The first one is Poppi, Brad's dad, and the second one is PopPop, my dad. Happy Veteran's Day - thank you for your service!Now, we're getting ready for everyone to come over for Thanksgiving. Looks like we'll have about 20 adults and a few kids. This is my favorite holiday - I love having everyone over. And, my house gets real clean because I deep clean every year right before this holiday. I spent ALL day on Saturday cleaning. It smells like Pine Sol in this place!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone - gobble, gobble, gobble!

Happy Halloween!

Now that the SWINE flu has passed, it's time to celebrate HALLOWEEN! Can you tell Jilian was a little stir crazy, quarantined to the house for 3 and a half days?

We started last Friday night with a Fall Festival at her school.She got her face painted....played some games.....decorated a pumpkin....and decorated a cookie.... I have to admit I was a little weary about decorating the cookie and then EATING it having just gotten over the SWINE flu! On Saturday, we went to the Pumpkin Festival in Allen at the new Village at Allen shopping center. I entered the baking contest which required the use of pumpkin somehow. Now, I don't even like pumpkin, but I would never pass up an opportunity to BAKE! I made pumpkin cookies with homemade icing. The icing was the best part!Here's my competition.....there were only 6 entries; surely I had a chance, right?And, here are the judges.....Well, I didn't win.... :( I think the contest was rigged. Really? Who's the chick in the cheerleader outfit? Does she qualify as a judge? :) Oh well, there's always next year. We had fun doing other stuff, too.

Look at how patient she stood in line to get her face painted.

We even saw a Snow White dog!

This past week was the celebration of my service technicians at work. Jilian and I made a cake and baked some cookies. I think we ate more than I actually took to work. Frost one, eat one, frost one, eat one....

So, we finally decided to carve a pumpkin on Thursday night (yes, only 2 days before Halloween). Brad went o Walmart to get one, and THEY WERE OUT OF PUMPKINS! What? How can they already be out? That's what happens when you wait until the last minute to carve your pumpkin.....lesson learned. He went to Tom Thumb, and all they had were the small pumpkins....that'll do the trick!The finished product....On Friday, my work had a pumpkin carving contest. Here is our pumpkin....Another contest I did not win.

Jilian's school had a parade of costumes on Friday afternoon. OMG! These kid are so cute dressed up in their costumes. Brad, Mimi and I went to the parade. Once again, Jilian was taking her job so seriously.

After the parade, we went to downtown McKinney for Scare on the Square with Mimi and the next door neighbors. They close the roads, and the kids trick-or-treat to all the businesses. There are always a ton of people there, but this year my tolerance was non-existant. We bailed after about an hour and went to Cristina's for Mexican food. The girls had fun anyway, just like they always do!My little kitty-cat!While Brad and I had a Mimi-sitter on Friday night, we went back to downtown McKinney for the Ghost Walk. At this event, there are storeytellers at a few of the historical sites, and they tell us about a few events that happened in downtown where people were killed. They believe there is an existance of ghosts as a result of these tragedies. Not only did they tell us about the existance of ghosts, but also some history about McKinney. In the old courthouse in the middle of downtown, the Texas Paranormal Researchers had a presentation of their findings of the existance of ghosts in downtown. It was pretty cool!

"The Moms" took Jilian and Jocelyn (the next door neighbor) trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. I have to say, there were hardly any houses with lights on. It looks as though families have given up on the tradition of trick-or-treating and instead go to events around town. But, not us. We like to go to the friendly neighbors that we know and the kids have so much fun!

Look how patiently they are waiting...Jilian's costum didn't last long. The pink fuzzy stuff started coming off. Another lesson learned for next year - costumes from Party City don't last very long.And, this is what her face paint looked like by the time the night was over....My mother-in-law and I went to 1st Monday in Canton on Saturday morning. It was perfect weather for it, and we found a few good things. I finally got my candy cane yard art that I have been looking for forever. Yay! I also learned that a new trend for toddlers is tall, footless tights or "baby legs." A nice lady told us how to make them instead of buying them, but Mimi still bought a pair for J. Once I get them on her with an outfit, I'll feel a little better about this purchase. And, the bow situation: I'm now on board with the obsession over big bows and feathers in big bows. We found a ton everywhere. However, these bows are not the size of Jilian's head! I think that's why I'm on board. I could hardly resist from buying every one we saw. They were so precious. And, I happened to spy on a lady who was making one, and I think I might give it a try. It probably won't happen, but it's the thought that counts, right?

And, for days like this when Jilian does her own hair....

...Mimi found the PERFECT shirt!Poor Daddy - he gets blamed for EVERYTHING!

Next stop - Thanksgiving. Bring on the food....