Elf And The Snow 5-0

It took us a little while this morning, but we finally spotted Darby chillaxin' with our Snow 5-0 and his Snow Dawg Partner.


It's good to know our Elf is on the law-abiding side of the Thin Blue Line.

Elf And A Candy Cane

The girlz caught Darby eating a candy cane for breakfast, sitting on a box of Christmas Tree Cakes.  We *think* she must have seen the picture of Santa on the box and wanted to be close to him.

Caught In The Act!

Darby was up to no good last night.  Campbell found her this morning all laid out on the piano with some very incriminating evidence.

When we flipped through the pictures on my mini-camcorder, we realized what she'd been doing all night...

Playing with the Nativity Set that Gramma Kathy gave us.

Posing with Dora.  They're BFFs now.

Playing with the tree ornaments.

Smelling Campbell's shoes... gross!!

Eating our delicious Goldfish crackers... bad Darby!!

Dare Devil Princess

Campbell tapped into her inner Dare Devil tonight.  As we were putting up the exterior Christmas decorations, she cruised around on Cassidy's scooter and zipped up and down the street in her race car.  It was adorable.

Elf in a Megaphone

Cassidy and Campbell found Darby sitting in one of Cassidy's megaphones this morning.

So silly!!

We got a video from the North Pole yesterday showing us what the Elves have been up to since last Christmas.  Cassidy watched it several times... it's really cute!  We tried to spot Darby, but it was difficult because the Elves all look alike.  Maybe you can spot her...

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Welcome Back, Darby!

It's the morning after Thanksgiving, and in our house that means Darby (our family's Elf On The Shelf) should be returning to check in on us.


Sure enough, she was here bright and early this morning.  Cassidy was thrilled to find her sitting on a pumpkin in the kitchen.

The plan for today includes putting up the Christmas decorations, and probably a Mani/Pedi for Cassidy.  I have to work for a little while, but we won't think about that right now.  It should be a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving for our family for the very first time this year.  Uncle Butthead had surgery scheduled the day before Thanksgiving and Papa was getting anxious about preparing everything while tending to a broke-down Uncle Butthead.  So Sergeant Sexy and I inherited the job, and it's no small task.


You already know how many brothers and sisters I have.  All but one of us has multiplied.  You can do the math.


We planned the menu 4 weeks ago.  I started grocery shopping 3 weeks ago.  I created a Thanksgiving Project Plan, Risk Mitigation Plan, and a Task Timeline 2 weeks ago (don't roll your eyes at me!).  We felt like we were prepared, but since this was our first time it was difficult to know if we had planned properly or were just blissfully ignorant.


I'm proud to report we were prepared!  Dinner was ready on time, everything was cooked properly, the food was scrumptious, and the company was wonderful.  Planning and preparation pay off, and I don't care how Nerdy it makes me look.


The only downside to hosting Thanksgiving was that we may have accidentally crossed over to the "Adult" side of the family.


Note to Mama and Papa: If I don't have a spot at the Children's Table this Christmas, I'm going to file a complaint.  Just because we hosted Thanksgiving doesn't mean we have any intention of sitting at the Adult Table, mmmmkay?

The girlz in their Thanksgiving outfits

There's nothing more precious than a pretty little girl in a smocked outfit.  Seriously.

One of the tables we decorated for Thanksgiving dinner!

Sergeant Sexy and Pop worked hard to dismantle the turkey.  Uncle Harley supervised.

Campbell and Aunt Harley!

The girlz finally discovered how much fun their Cousin M is!

Visiting Santa... Or Not

We skipped Gymboree this morning and decided to take the girlz to the Toy Store instead.  We wanted them to compile a list of 2 or 3 things to politely request from Santa.  The idea was to get the lists ready and then go talk to Santa at the mall.

They did fine in the Toy Store, and we got to see exactly what they wanted most.  Something tells me Campbell may be getting a Mini Cooper this year.

We went across the parking lot to the mall, and waited in line to see Santa.  Campbell waved at him and called out "Hi Santa!".  The girlz were armed with Skittles and ready to visit this Big Guy... or so we thought.

And then it happened.  Campbell got within three feet of Santa and decided she wasn't having it.  We tried letting her sit on my knee close to the chair, but it wasn't happening.  She was not going near Santa for all the Mini Coopers in the world.


So something's missing from this year's picture with Santa...

And that's okay.  We still had fun!

Lessons Learned in the Windy City

1. Chicago taxi drivers are psychotic.  The white lines on the road are merely a gentle suggestion, and taxi drivers will stop at nothing to make you as car sick as possible while getting you where you need to go.  One of my drivers even drove on the sidewalk.  I AM NOT KIDDING.


2. Chicago knows how to eat.  We went to some fantastic restaurants and I didn't have one bad dish the entire time I was there.  Yum!!


3. My hotel friends with the whistles aren't really my friends.  They're not flagging down a taxi to be nice - they want me to give them a tip.  Who knew?


4. Staplers can be trickier to work than I thought.


5. I miss being in an office and going for Starbucks breaks more than I realized.


6. Visiting a big city is fun, but I would be miserable living in one full-time.


7. Even after years of flying around the country, I'm still afraid the plane will crash.


8. There's no place like home. 

Chicago!

I got home from Chicago this morning at 1AM.  It wasn't half as cold as I'd feared.  In fact, I didn't even wear my coat 4 of the 5 days I was there.

Sergeant Sexy did an excellent job holding down the fort by himself while I was away.  Everyone got where they needed to be and Cassidy didn't even miss one of her after-school activities.  She got to go to after-school care with her friends, which was a nice change for her.  Mama and Papa picked her up from school every day, and I'm certain she loved getting them all to herself for a few minutes.  Campbell's teachers told me this morning that she's had a fantastic week.  They all did great, and that makes me happy.


On the other hand, I had an exhausting week.  We worked 10-11 hour days all week, all of which were followed with another 1-2 hours of dinner with teammates.  I didn't get to see much of the city at all... of the 5 days I was there, I had ONE HOUR on Wednesday evening to dart out and quickly find gifts for the girlz and Sergeant Sexy.


Much to my delight, there was an Old Navy around the corner from my hotel.  It was a Flagship store, and I learned that means REALLY BIG.  This Old Navy was three stories tall!!  I was able to quickly grab some Christmas shirts and stuffed monkeys for the girlz.  Sergeant Sexy got a Chicago magnet.


The city was gorgeous, and I enjoyed playing Important Business Executive for a few days.  It was nice to trade the Silver Bullet for a smelly taxi and wear business suits instead of snot-stained sweatshirts for a few days.


And although this scenery is beautiful...

I much prefer the view from our back deck.

It's so good to be home!

Note To Smart Girl Glasses

Everybody knows I wear Smart Girl Glasses so I can summon my inner Smart Girl. But sometimes (like yesterday) my brain doesn't work as good as I'd like.

I blame it on missing the girlz.

I'm working at a different location of the Evil Empire this week, and my super-awesome Manager asked me to create a presentation and make 60 stapled copies.

No sweat, right? Correct... until you get to the point where the stapler comes into play.

This location of the Evil Empire has a very fancy stapler. And I'm embarrassed to admit I had to ask the Admin how to use it.

I can do ultra-nerdy things with mainframes and web apps, and I needed help working the stapler.

Note to my Smart Girl Glasses: You can start working any time now. Seriously.

Mommy Did It

We changed things up and I took Campbell to Gymboree this morning.  She did pretty good, but got tired of Art about 3/4 of the way through the class.  The last project was a cat mask and she just wasn't feeling it.  I wound up making the mask for her.


When I was done, Campbell carried it across the room and placed it on the table to dry.  The teacher, Miss Sam, made a comment about what a great job Campbell did on her mask.


Campbell responded, and it was the one time I would have ever wished for some garbled 2 year-old nonsense to have come out of her mouth.


No dice.  Her words were crystal clear and loud... "Mommy did it!"


The whole room laughed.


Thanks, Campbell! 

Check out the beautiful cat mask I made by myself at Gymboree today.

Wardrobe FAIL

I didn't mention it in my last post because I didn't want to brag too much, but Mrs. H's wonderful comments yesterday also included Cassidy's adorable clothes.  Dressing the girlz in cute clothes gives me great pleasure.  Mrs. H especially likes Cassidy's embroidered dresses, and those are a special favorite of mine as well.


I was still mentally patting myself on the back as I picked a cute pink apron dress and striped tights for her this morning.


As I was getting her a snack this afternoon, my heart dropped to my toes.  The day after getting such wonderful feedback on her wardrobe, I was horrified to realize Cassidy wore her dress backwards all day.  Luckily, it's barely noticeable... it was only when I saw the impression of the tag that I realized our mistake.

Wardrobe FAIL

Words escape me, but the irony does not.

Parent/Teacher Conference

We had our first Parent/Teacher Conference with Cassidy's teacher yesterday afternoon.  Mrs. H gave the following overview of Cassidy's performance:


1. She's doing a spectacular job in school.
2. She drew a self-portrait in September that will be compared to one she'll draw at the end of the year.  She did an exceptionally detailed job with  facial features and body parts.  She even drew the exact ruffles that were on the skort she wore that day.  Typical.
3. Her work is neat.
4. She knows her letters and sounds.
5. She's doing well in Language Arts and Math.
6. She's doing well with her resource classes (music, art, computer, world studies, PE, library).
7. She's one of only a few in her class that can read.
8. She can be very silly.


Mrs. H said the class is generally a talkative one this year, and asked that we remind Cassidy to keep the chatter down.


I had to smile when Mrs. H mentioned the chattiness.  The major contributing factor to the chit chat is the fact that many of these kids have known each other for quite some time now... with the exception of 2 or 3 children, this exact group of kids was together last year with Mrs. M *AND* with Mrs. A the year prior.  They have a lot to say!


We gently reminded Cassidy to keep the chatter down, and made sure she knew what a great job she's doing in school.


Go Cassidy!

Mourning My Lost "Me Time"

I have to admit, I'm bitterly disappointed.  Ever since the girlz came, 99% of my vacation time is spent on Spring Break, early dismissal days, Christmas Break, Thanksgiving, Class Parties, Field Trips, etc...  I'm okay with that.  If I wasn't, I wouldn't have chosen to have kids.


In the Baby School days, there were three Evil Empire holidays that fell on days when Baby School was open - President's Day, Columbus Day, and Veteran's Day.  I loved and cherished those days.  I could go shopping where I wanted and not have to rush.  I could get my car serviced without wanting to gouge my eyes out with a screwdriver.  Sometimes, I scheduled a massage.  And other times I was content to read a good book and take a nap.


When Cassidy moved to Big Girl School last year, I lost two of those three days.  Big Girl School is closed on President's Day and Columbus Day.  BUT... Big Girl School and Campbell's Baby School are both open on Veteran's Day, so I still get one day.  I'm okay with having one day.  At least I get ONE.


Today is Veteran's Day.  Today was my one day.  Sergeant Sexy and I have been looking forward to eating a quiet lunch together for weeks.


And today, Campbell is home sick with strep.  She has no fever, but she's still snotty and irritable.  And because she hasn't been on antibiotics for exactly 24 hours, the school sent her back home with me this morning.


She looks really sick, doesn't she?

It's all my doing, really.  I dragged my feet in taking her to the doctor because she never really seemed Doctor Visit sick.  This is the third time she's had strep, and this round looks nothing like the previous two.  Yes, she's been snotty and irritable and clingy, but that's part of being two.  There was no sky-high fever, no dehydration, no sleepless nights, and she never put on her lethargic "Hey Mommy, I Have Strep" show.

Strep is miserable, and I feel terrible for letting her stay sick for so long.  And taking one teeny second to be selfish, I'm disappointed that I'm missing out on my one day.

There's always next year.  They won't be little forever, and one day I'll look back on this and smile.  Hopefully.

All Aboard The Crazy Train

I've been lax in posting this week... life was way more hectic than usual and I could never seem to stop running long enough to post anything.  We spent last week rotating between two extremes.  I have whiplash from changing direction so much.


Cassidy's school bus broke down, so I got to drive her to school AND walk with her to class... a very nice change to our usual routine.  HOORAY!


Driving Cassidy to school chewed up the time I typically use for my morning workout.  BOO!


Cassidy brought home a stellar report card - the Kindergarten equivalent of straight A's.  DOUBLE HOORAY!!


Cassidy also brought home a note from her teacher telling us she'll be sent to the Headmaster's Office if she doesn't stop misbehaving on the bus.  We kept her home from cheerleading to send a strong message, which hurt me to do... but not because I was terribly upset about missing cheerleading.  We pay for cheerleading and I HATE feeling like I'm wasting money.  TRIPLE BOO!


Campbell used the potty all day three days last week.  HOORAY!


Campbell was sent home sick from school, causing me to miss a second morning workout last week.  BOO!


The Nerdery summoned me to a city I've never been to.  HOORAY!


The weather there is cold and windy this time of year.  BOO!


Plus we have to pay an extra $122 for four days of after school care for Cassidy while I'm gone.  YUCKY BOO!


And she'll likely miss most of her extra curricular activities while I'm gone.  OMG - BOO! BOO! BOO!


An old friend (it's our friendship that's old, not my friend) came over yesterday to take an updated family portrait for us and some of our friends.  She did a phenomenal job, as always.  HOORAY!


Now I have to choose which ones to buy, and I want them all.  BOO!


We spent the week gripping the Crazy Train with white knuckles as it sent us to the mountaintop one minute and through a canyon the next.  I'm hopeful this coming week will be calm and chill, with just a pinch of crazy.


I can always hope, right?

Trick Or Treat!

We had a great Halloween.  The girlz had a blast Trick or Treating their way around a relatively small section of our neighborhood.  Even though we only visited about 1/3 of our neighbors, we still had two overflowing candy buckets when we got home.


Cassidy was a bride and Campbell was a bumblebee.  They both looked absolutely precious.


We're all tired today, but it's a good tired!

Papa and The Girlz

Mama and the Girlz

The girlz loved Trick or Treating with Nana Jill and Poppie Bill!

Getting candy from our neighbors

Cassidy was tuckered out after a long night...

... and Campbell tried to keep herself awake with an infusion of M&Ms.