Haircut Day!

Cassidy had to come to my hair appointment with me last week.  She's been asking for her own appointment ever since.  Her last haircut was right before school started, so she was overdue.  Campbell has never had her hair cut, so she was WAY overdue.

I made an appointments for both of them - today was the big day.  I took Cassidy first and Sergeant Sexy brought Campbell about 25 minutes later.

Cassidy loved getting her hair shampooed

Let the cutting begin!

Campbell sat in my lap (facing me) for her haircut, so there are no pictures of it.  It was just a trim - the curls are intact and she still looks very much like herself.


Sergeant Sexy had already warned me that I'd have some serious 'splainin to do if I cut her curls off.

Pretty Girlz!!

Birthday Party and Dinner With Gramma

We had an exciting day today!  Cassidy and I checked out the after-Christmas sales at the mall.  My all-time favorite after-Christmas sale is the Gymboree Red Balloon Sale.  That sale will get this internet-shopper into a local brick-and-mortar Gymboree REAL FAST.


This afternoon we went to Sarah Grace's birthday party.  Sarah Grace is our friend from church and we were super-excited to celebrate with her.  She had her party at Kangaroo Jac's and Cassidy has been excited about it all week.


However, it became crystal clear within 30 seconds of walking in the door that Campbell hasn't had enough exposure to bounce places.  She wouldn't go near the inflatables - not even the one meant for toddlers.  We need to take her back on a slow day so she can explore at her own pace.

Waiting for the party to start

Pizza!

After the party ended, we met Gramma Kathy for dinner.  The girlz did a pretty good job in the restaurant, considering the late hours.  They could have done better, but they definitely weren't terrible.


In Gramma's eyes, they can do no wrong... example - the restaurant has a small enclosed entryway.  As we were leaving, the doors had shut behind us but we hadn't yet opened the doors in front of us.  For a few seconds we were completely closed in the entryway, and that's when the girlz let loose with the screaming.


I immediately started hushing them, certain my ear drums must have ruptured.  What does Gramma say?  "Oh yes!  This is a GREAT place to try out our voices!!"  Meanwhile, my ears are bleeding.


The old saying is absolutely true - the softest place a child can land is in their Grandparents arms!  

Gramma Kisses

Gramma Love

Hands Up!

I had Sunday School the week before Christmas, so I decided to throw a birthday party for Jesus.  It's super easy - buy some cupcakes, get some party supplies from the dollar store, and rock the party tunes.  No sweat!


I loaded a bunch of Kidz Bop Christmas songs and random kid's party songs into my iPod, and one of those songs is a new favorite for the girlz - Hands Up by Ottawan.


If you're not familiar with it, you can hear it here...



It's a fun and addicting Disco-era song.  I turned it on this morning and the girlz started dancing right away.  Hands and mouths full of breakfast?  No problem!

Snow = Hot Chocolate

We took the girlz out in the snow today, and neither one of them was all that interested in it.  Cassidy felt the snow was deep to make a snow angel.  We tried to make a snowman, but the snow was too dry and wouldn't stay packed.

Cassidy didn't want to lay down in the snow, but she had no problem letting her Lalaloopsy doll have a turn.

One we'd had our fill of snow, we came back inside for hot chocolate.  Cassidy knows snow days mean hot chocolate, and she starts talking about it at the sight of the first snowflake.


She drinks hot chocolate out of the same Strawberry Shortcake mug I used when I was a little girl.  Check out the vintage Strawberry Shortcake in the picture below... she doesn't look like that anymore!

We have a collection of these Snow Day Hot Chocolate Mugs that I keep safely tucked away in our kitchen cabinets.  I'm very lucky to have these mugs... About 10 years ago, Papa donated them to our church's Yard Sale.  Lucky for me, I just happened to find them on display.


The church ladies were going to give them back to me, seeing how Papa had released them from our house without proper authorization.  But Papa wasn't having any of that... he made me buy our mugs back from the church.  Yes, you read it right - he made me buy my own stuff back from the church.

And just because of that, I plan to drink hot chocolate from these mugs until I'm too old to know what hot chocolate is.

More Snow

It snowed throughout the night last night, and we woke up to a full-on blizzard.  It has snowed non-stop all day, and the last time I measured (2 hours ago) we had exactly 8 inches in the front yard.

Welcome to my hell.

I made snow cones for the girlz using real snow.  Cassidy thought it was outstanding, but Campbell wasn't impressed.

She preferred goldfish crackers.

I've already given up hope that Campbell will go to school tomorrow, but I;m hoping she'll be back in her routine Tuesday.  If all goes well, they'll be able to get outside and run off some steam tomorrow afternoon and I'll be able to salvage some of my sanity.

Note to Mother Nature: Thank you for this beautiful White Christmas.  Not trying to be ungrateful or anything, but I'd like the snow to go away now.  Mmmmkay?

Merry Christmas!

It's been an exhausting couple of days, but we got through it.  The girlz have been bouncing off the walls, barely able to contain their excitement for Santa's arrival.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Nana Jill and Poppie Bill...

And then darted off to church for the Christmas Eve service... 

After the service, we came home and threw reindeer food in the front yard...

... and left cookies and milk for Santa.


Once the girlz were safely tucked into bed, Sergeant Sexy and I went to work.

The girlz were so excited this morning!  They got the most wonderful gifts from Aunt Nita and Uncle Matt...

And Santa brought some pretty cool stuff, too...

We headed to Mama and Papa's house in the afternoon...

And got to spend time with more of our family... 

And once we were all partied out and safely home, the snow began to fall.

We are so very blessed.

ChristmasTown

We took the girlz to have a late lunch with Santa at ChristmasTown yesterday.  The decorations were beautiful, and it only got prettier once the sun went down.  The downside was the temperature - it was cold and windy, so we didn't get to stay very long.


Cassidy had another long talk with Santa at lunch, and rode quite a few rides.  Campbell is still anti-Santa, so Daddy had to hold her when we got close to the big guy.  She rode one ride that was stopped after about 20 seconds to let her off.  She was seriously flipping out.


We watched a Sesame Street Christmas show, and Campbell did great during the show but wigged out when we met Elmo.  We rode the train around the park and both girlz really loved that.


So while it wasn't the greatest idea I've ever had, the day definitely wasn't a bust either.

Lunch with Santa!

Santa read Twas The Night Before Christmas

Campbell is still not ready for the baby rides...

... or the meet and greet with our friends from Sesame Street.

But she did love the train!

And Cassidy liked the rides.

We'd heard a rumor that Mama and Papa might be at ChristmasTown, but we didn't expect to see them.  Imagine our surprise when we saw them on the Rhine River bridge! 

Campbell's Christmas Party and Another Santa Sighting

We went to Campbell's Christmas party at school today and had a great time.  She was REALLY excited that we came to help her class celebrate!

 After the party, we went to the Farm Fresh to see Santa and enjoy some fun Christmas activities!

Waiting in line to see Santa!

 Campbell got *thisclose* but still wouldn't get close enough to give Santa a high five.

On the other hand, Cassidy hopped right up in his lap and started chattering away.

Campbell was more interested in the Elf's cool hat.

Cassidy decorated some cookies...

And they both colored a Christmas picture that will be displayed in the store.

We even got to meet the Farm Fresh mascot!!

What a fun day.  We have much more planned for tomorrow... it only gets better!