Goodbye, 2013!

2013 hasn't been the best of years for us. To be honest, it's been a terrible year. We've experienced more loss this year any any other I can remember, the last being my cousin on Christmas Eve. I'm hopeful she was the last one.

Christmas without my brother-in-law was weird and watching my sister suffer through it was hard. Lieutenant Sexy and I made a point to ensure our gift to parents and siblings this year was done with his giving spirit in mind, and I think we hit a home run.

Tonight can't come fast enough. It's time for a new beginning!

Christmas Break

I haven't posted much lately -- we've been just a little bit busy!! Here's what we've been up to...

The weekend before Christmas, we made our annual trip to the Teddy Bear Tea with Gramma Kathy. We LOVE everything about this tradition - the dressing up, the fancy tea party, the beautiful decorations, the face painting, and especially getting Gramma all to themselves for 2+ hours!

After church on Sunday, we took a secret roadtrip. The girlz had no idea where we were going, and at the last minute, I got an idea to put the tickets and reservation forms in a brown envelope marked "confidential". In the rush to get out the door, I misspelled "confidential" and the spell-checker didn't catch it. Thanks, Microsoft.

The surprise was supposed to be a night at Great Wolf Lodge, followed by an evening at Christmas Town and Mama and Papa's condo. Unfortunately, the rain postponed Christmas Town until the day after Christmas. It was for the best -- the girlz were completely wiped out when we left Great Wolf Lodge!

Where are we going??? It's CONFIDENTIAL!

They LOVED their room at Great Wolf Lodge!

They got to see Santa!

And they both got a mani and pedi at Scoops Kid's Spa!

Girlz at Christmas Town!

They got to see Santa one last time...

The Young Chef's Academy was offering a Winter Break Workshop a few days after Christmas and the girlz really wanted to go. They LOVED it and have already asked to go back the week of Spring Break!

Our 2 Young Chefs!

We have a few more fun activities planned for them before school starts back up. It's truly been a GREAT break!

Christmas Morning 2013

After church tonight, the girlz got busy getting ready for Santa. They scattered the reindeer food and set out treats for the big guy. They made sure the special key was clearly visible and cleaned up the living room so he wouldn't trip on any stray toys.

Scattering food for the reindeer!

They carefully chose peppermint Oreos, chocolate milk, and 4 candy canes for Santa.

Before Santa's arrival...

After Santa and Darby left...

The tree before Santa came...

And the tree after Santa's visit!

 Cassidy got the American Girl doll (Molly) she asked for!

And Campbell got the Ariel bicycle she wanted!

Merry Christmas!!

Darby Brought Them Coal

The girlz have NOT been very good lately, so Darby brought 2 packages of coal back from the North Pole last night.

Let this be your warning, Girlz!

What Has Darby Been Up To?

I haven't been that great about posting Darby's antics, but she's definitely making her fair share of mischief this Christmas season!

Here are a few pictures from the last week or so...

In the freezer, homesick!

With her skirt on her head, hanging on the Angel Tree gifts...

By the Christmas tree with a special M&M message...

School picture graffiti!

We only have 5 more mornings with Darby until next year. We're going to miss that little elf!

One Day Early!!

I didn't think it would get done, but somehow I have achieved the impossible. I have our teacher gifts purchased and packaged EARLY. I finished just one day early, but still... early is early, y'all!

We have a TON of dance teachers so we had to keep it simple - each one gets a set of cozy socks, a small tube of lotion, and a bottle of nail polish. I packaged it in a cello bag with a glittery mini Christmas ornament and a tag that says "Wishing you warm and cozy toes this winter" (thank you, Pinterest!).

School teachers and the bus driver get a Good Grips kitchen whisk filled with a target Gift Card and chocolate kisses, with a tag that says "We whisk you a Merry Kiss-mas".

And finally the classroom gift exchange gifts - wrapped, tagged, and ready to be driven to school tomorrow morning.

Are we almost to Christmas yet? I need a nap!!

Neighbor Gifts!

The girlz wanted to give small gifts to our neighbors again this year, so I looked through Pinterest until I found something reasonably priced and 100% practical.

This year's gift was decorative boxes of Kleenex tissue that look like little Christmas houses, with a card that says "We tissue a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!". It doesn't get more practical than tissues. I mean really, who doesn't use Kleenex?

I bought every box I could find at the Stuff Mart and we packaged them up last week. The weather was so pretty today, we decided to deliver our Christmas Cheer.

Cassidy created a matrix and meticulously planned which neighbor would get what design. She even included the design that was on the top of the boxes so we could easily and quickly determine which was which.

They take this gift giving stuff very seriously!!

Christmas Dance Recital

What used to be a highlight of the Christmas season has now been reduced to a small blip on the radar - the Christmas Dance Recital. It snuck up on us in a hurry and was over before we knew it, lost in the sea of things to get done in a very compact window of time.

I've been standing up most of the day, so my feet are killing me. And as usual, I spent the entire show backstage and will have to wait until the DVD arrives to see any of it.

But the important thing is that the girlz did a terrific job and had a ton of fun!

Girlz at the Candyland Tea!

Selfies

Darby took a bunch of selfies on my phone and the girl'z iPods last night. Too funny!!

She Pooped On The Carpet

Darby pooped on the carpet last night. The girls were confused and didn't understand why Darby would have pooped on the carpet. They didn't want to help clean it up, so we left it right where it was all day.

Just before bed, Cassidy finally noticed that Elf poop looks an awful lot like candy... specifically Tootsie Rolls and Whoppers!

The Nutcracker!

We've spent every Sunday afternoon since September shuttling Cassidy back and forth to dance rehearsals in downtown Norfolk. Over the summer, a good friend suggested we consider letting Cassidy audition for The Richmond Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker. They were looking for local children to fill several roles and held open auditions in September. Cassidy was excited and honored to be cast in not one, but TWO parts!

This was very different from anything she's done before. Not only was she dancing with a professional dance company, but the music was performed live by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Parents weren't allowed backstage and the kids were given special backstage passes to wear. It was a whole new world!

She LOVED the entire experience and soaked up every moment from the weekly practices until the last curtain drop on Sunday afternoon. I was beyond exhausted by Sunday afternoon, but she would have done 10 more shows if she could have.

She was so sad to see the experience end, and has already asked to audition next year. I'm hoping Campbell will be big enough to audition next year, too.

I'm not sure it's even possible, but I think this experience deepened her love of dance.

Tiny dancer, big city

Obviously the most beautiful mouse that ever scampered across the stage!

Our lamb!

BRAVO, Cassidy!!

Darby Days

I've lost track of what Darby did on which days.  So here's a run down of some of her more recent escapades:

She took a bubble bath with the ducks

She hid in one of the Christmas decorations

She sat on the light fixture

She played with one of Campbell's trains

Too Much Candy

Darby got into the Halloween candy last night, and indulged a little too much. We found the whole bag dumped out on the kitchen island, and Darby laid out on the stove top with empty wrappers and antacids.

The girlz decided that we should let her lay down on the mantle instead of making her sit up all day. I took it one step further and gave the poor thing a blanket. Hopefully she'll feel better by tonight!

In other news, Lieutenant Sexy found a set of Rudolph car accessories that I've been wanting FOREVER. Back when I had the big SUV Mom-Mobile, I thought it would be so much fun to deck it out with reindeer antlers and a big red nose. He sent me a text yesterday afternoon asking if I still wanted a set, since I drive a smaller car now.

Ummmmmm, do I?!?!?  YES!!!!!!

I couldn't wait to put those antlers and the big red nose right on that fancy German car. I'm pretty certain I'll get some eye rolls from any German Car Enthusiasts that spot me on the road in the next few weeks.

I don't care.

Because these two think I'm the best Mommy with the coolest car EVER.  

She Missed Them, Again

We had our annual Christmas Dinner with our friends last night. We typically wait until much closer to Christmas, but we realized several weeks ago that there was exactly ONE available night for Christmas Dinner. An early Christmas Dinner is still a good Christmas Dinner!

Mama and Papa kept the girlz again (twice in one week... are they insane or are they saints?). They were excited to come home from church this afternoon and find Darby had hung her "I missed you" toilet paper note on the Christmas Tree!

A Decorating and Baking Kind Of Day

While we decorated the house for Christmas yesterday, the girlz made gingerbread houses and baked cupcakes in their Easy Bake Oven. The cupcakes looked pretty gross to me, but the girlz thought it was outstanding.

To each their own.

Darby found the red velvet cupcakes sitting on the counter this morning and decided to eat a few. She's still smiling, so I guess they're not as bad as they look.