A Few Things

Henry BEGGED me for this ornament - don't ask me why!  But it was about the only thing on sale that I could find today - I can not believe the lack of post Christmas sales out there!!  He then proceeded to spend an hour on www.pillsbury.com looking at recipes!!  What??

What is a mother to do when she is trying to grow out the top of a child's head?  One would think that since she is small, the hair wouldn't take as long to grow out because there is not as far for it to grow - not the case.  Ponytails make her head itch.  Barrettes fall out.   So I decided to try something new with Kyra's hair - headbands!  She looks SO CUTE in them, doesn't she?  But alas, they hurt her neck, or her head.  Back to the drawing board...

Kyra got a hold of my camera again... I didn't realize she had until I went to download the camera & there were 50 pictures on it... all that basically resembled the ones below.

Day Before, Day of and Day After Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, we went to Aunt Cyndi's for dinner, then to 7:00 Candlelight Service.... try as I did, I could not convince Henry to wear nicer pants for the entire evening, instead I had to bring his nice pants for him to change into!  I really hope this sweat pants / track pants thing is a phase!

Thankfully, the kids slept in until 7am on Christmas morning, because Mommy & Daddy didn't get to bed until midnight!  That's what I get for waiting until Christmas Eve to wrap their presents!!

Kyra is LOVING her new art table!

This morning, Kyra and I hit Target for some after Christmas sales... however, the pickins were rather slim.  So we went to Dunkin Donuts for coffee & chocolate creme filled donuts, which even Hobbies enjoyed!

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Yesterday the kids and I finally started making some Christmas cookies.  First up were Peanut Butter Blossoms... it was all Henry could do to keep from eating the dough and most of the Kisses were eaten, but Kyra had LOTS of fun rolling the balls in sugar!!

Earlier in the day, Kyra got a hold of my camera AGAIN!  I have lovely pictures of Henry's computer, a stack of pillows, the floor, the desk... but my favorite was the one she took of Barty!!  Well Done Kit Cat!

More Holiday Fun

I've been a bit lax about posting anything for the last few weeks - I don't remember being so busy around the holidays before... work has been crazy busy lately and I still have to wrap gifts, bake cookies for Santa and get rid of the grey hair that is sprouting out of the top of my head!  And only 3 days left!

Anyway, on Sunday (once our Gingerbread Tree was stable), we spent the afternoon with the extended James Family... an annual gathering with Brad's dad's side of the family.  It's always fun to get together with the James Family... there are 11 grandchildren now... 3 of whom Kyra simply referred to as "the girls."  For the first time ever, she actually cried when it was time to go, because she did not want to leave her new friends!  It was actually very cute... but so was the fact that she fell asleep at 5:30pm on the drive home!!!

Well, the falling asleep at 5:30 would have been cute, had she not gotten up at 3am and proceeded to vomit every half hour for the next 4 hours!!!  Thankfully, a short lived bug, but that never gets old, does it?

Thanks again to Mia & Trey for these adorable hand me downs!!!!  

Run, Run as Fast as You Can

On Sunday, the kiddies and I attempted to create our first Gingerbread Masterpiece - a Christmas Tree!  I'll be honest - I bought this kit last year, after Christmas, when it was about 75% off... so when we opened it the other morning, the icing was a tad on the hard as a rock side and a couple of the "limbs" had broken.... but a little kneading of that icing brought it back to life and well, year old icing will glue just about anything together.

The kids had a great time and were determined to use every piece of candy provided on their tree.  Of course, every time I walk by this masterpiece, I do wonder if it will last another day... it has a bit of a lean to it!  Likely caused by the fact that I can barely assemble a house of cards, let alone a tree of gingerbread!!

The Holiday Shop

Henry's school has a "holiday shop" and each class gets to go shopping there one time.  The email I received from school said that most items in the shop were $1 or less, some were $2 and even fewer items were $3.  Henry's class went today to do their shopping.  The idea is that you put money in an envelope, write on the envelope who they are buying for & send them on their merry shopping way.

Last night, Henry totally did not want to shop.  This morning, I stuck $5 in an envelope and wrote "For Mommy, Daddy & Kyra."  I told him that if he wanted to shop, he had plenty of cash to do so... or did he?

He was VERY excited when I picked him up today - it was the first thing he told me... he said, "I went to the holiday shop today... but I ran out of money... I couldn't buy you anything."

I was sure he was kidding - a little 5 year old humor... I mean, I'm his MOTHER - I gave him LIFE!  I still dress him every morning, give him a bath almost every night and stay up with him when he's sick.  I planned his birthday party & made up all the party favors.  I bake him brownies every few weeks... Surely I got a sticker or something?  Surely his teacher provided him with a quick math lesson on what to spend per person when you have $5 for 3 people?

He wasn't kidding... he bought Kyra a container of bubble gum (because she loves the stuff) and he bought Brad a picture frame with baseballs on it... I know this because he insisted that they open their presents today!  These are extremely sweet, well thought out gifts... I'm actually quite proud that he saw these items and thought of his sister & Dad.  

I've decided to chalk this up to the fact that MAYBE I am hard to shop for????   

The Polar Express

Yesterday we drove over to Bryson City to take a ride on "The Polar Express."  This was the first time we've ever done this and since I had no idea what to expect, I opted for the 8pm ride and decided we would spend the night afterward.  The lady who took my registration information encouraged me to put the kids in their pajamas for the ride.

Had it not been raining the entire day and night, had the train not been 15 minutes late, and had I not just gotten flu shots for myself and the children the day before, this would have been a PERFECT evening.... but alas, it did rain all day & night in Bryson City (well, mostly mist) and I let Kyra choose the Abby Cadabby footie pajamas, so someone had to carry her all night... then the train was 15 minutes late, so we waited in mist for 1/2 hour... 

Once we were on the train though, it was great if only because the kids were SO EXCITED!!!  We were served candy & hot cocoa, they read a story and when Santa finally got on our car, I thought the kids would lose their mind!  Henry asked for a  Batcave & McDonald's Kitchen, while Kyra asked for a sweater & a cradle for her baby doll.  Honestly, Santa was rather surprised that Henry asked for the McDonald's Kitchen given the kitchen he brought them last year, but I digress.

By the time we got back to our hotel, it was well after 10pm and I thought Henry felt a little warm, but figured it had been a long day.  At 3am, I heard him moaning and say "I'm hot."  The poor guy was burning up!  I gave him Tylenol, he and Brad switched places in the beds, and I waited for the Tylenol to kick in!!  I got a cool washcloth for his forehead, worried that my Tylenol had expired & tried to remember if I had seen a drug store (or hospital) in Cherokee... thankfully, at some point we both fell asleep.  He wasn't 100% today and I do wonder if he'll be able to go to school tomorrow, but they both are already talking about taking the ride again next year!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today Brad and I hosted his mom's side of the family for Thanksgiving dinner.  This is our 2nd year doing this - the Drum family gets together for Thanksgiving dinner every year, but normally, my MIL plays host.  The Drum family is very big - we easily had 25 people here today and not everyone came - so last year, we offered to host and I think have started a new tradition.  

It's funny - Brad and I have very specific childhood traditions that we followed every year, but since getting married, we haven't really been able to recreate any or start any new ones... so it is kind of exciting to take over this annual role.

Henry and Kyra were very excited to have a house full of people - as you can see, they were sitting by the front window, waiting for Ammy & Paw Paw to get here.... and they had so much fun with their second cousins!!  The food was great - and apparently, especially our bird!!!  People were raving about it!  I was shocked, because I'm normally a pretty bad cook!  I found the recipe for the turkey & cornbread dressing.  I made the dressing & Brad prepared the bird... I checked & basted it each hour and was rather fearful that we had over cooked it, but apparently not!  What a team we are over here!!!

And I've said this before - but how friggin cute is Kyra's outfit?  Before she had an accident that is?  Thanks Mia!!!

First Haircut

Well, I did it - I took Kyra for her first hair cut ever!  Since this was a big deal, and because we had to go to Ballentyne for Jeffrey's birthday party, I made her an appointment at Sweet & Sassy - this little girl hair boutique.  It's a cute place - they do manicures & pedicures on little girls in addition to hair cuts & very loud birthday parties where they put extensions in the girl's hair & let them sing loudly... this last part I know because there was such a party going on while we were there.

Anyway, I paid $15.95 for the stylist to spray Kyra's hair wet with a water bottle, snip for roughly 5 minutes, blow her hair dry, put glitter spray in her hair, spray her with cupcake smelling perfume and give her a gourmet lollipop.... I'm still trying to determine whether or not I was completely ripped off and that cupcake perfume made me want sugar all afternoon!  But, the stylist did put some of Kyra's hair into a plastic baggie for me and Kyra loved it all, so I guess it was worth it.  She easily cut off an inch from the back, but you wouldn't know - her hair is still pretty long.... and very pretty!!

SunDay? No, ColdDay!

So I guess winter has finally arrived?  Today was one of those deceptive weather kind of days... it looked nice out.   The sun was out, the sky was blue... but it was chilly... and by the time it got to be 5pm and Henry reminded Daddy that they hadn't played football yet, it had to be like 40??  

The boys bundled up and out they went... Kyra wanted to go out too, which means that I had to go out as well.  Now, there is a reason that I no longer live in Rochester, NY.... ok, maybe there are a couple of reasons, but the MAIN reason is because I HATE COLD! 

I lasted long enough to take these pictures and that was it - maybe 5 minutes.  Henry & Daddy played football for about 1/2 hour before they had to quit and Kyra lasted about 5 minutes longer than me.... oh and she chose the hat & "glubbs."

Night Time Twist

Henry and Daddy went to their last ASU game of the season today... and froze their hineys off!  Henry normally NEVER wants to leave a football game early, but he was ready to go after half-time.  They had a good time & Appalachian did win, but when they got home at 7:30, they were both exhausted.

Kyra and I spent the afternoon playing at Sydney's and once again I forgot my camera.  But they had a great time - played outside in Sydney's "house," painted, played Guess Who and Hi Ho Cheerio, and only got into an almost heated battle over a Sesame Street light up, spinning Elmo toy once.  When we left there, we went out for an early dinner and did a little shopping at the Super WalMart (with approximately 5,000 other people)!!!  She never fell asleep once - I couldn't believe it.

So at 8pm, after watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas, I knew they were both very tired.  Kyra wanted a sleep over in Henry's room.  He did not.  She wouldn't stop crying and he refused to budge.  So, I let them go to sleep in my bed - they were very excited.  I layed down with them to ensure they went right to sleep... they did, but not before doing the oddest thing.

I closed my eyes & pretended to be sleeping, but actually kept one eye ever so slightly open to see what they would do.  Oddly, both pick their nose before falling asleep.  It was the strangest thing... Kyra was doing a thorough review of her nostrils one second, and the very next, she was out cold.  Henry alternated sucking his two middle fingers on his left hand, while rubbing his left ear with his right hand (his normal ritual) with checking out his nose... then he rolled over & snuggled under the covers... he did this twice before I left the room.

Should I be concerned about this I wonder???  It is totally natural for kids to do this right???

Gymnastics

For those of you who hear me talk about Kyra's gymnastics and wonder if I'm really telling the truth, here are some pics of her doing a split & a flip.  This flip is literally bringing her feet up & over her head.  It is so cool!!  

Fall Day

Isn't it so pretty in Charlotte these days?  I can't remember when the colors have been so pretty - even driving down the interstate on the way to work I'm amazed at how pretty it is outside!  

We decided to spend some time outdoors today while Daddy cleaned out the cars... while I love when he cleans out my car, I inevitably hear about how many previously enjoyed tissues are in there and the vast amount of papers that have accumulated inside... that's always a fun conversation to have with my beloved!

Anyway, we rode bikes, played two-square, pretended we were Humpty Dumpty & rolled down a hill and then went to the park.  After lunch we got out the crafts and played with the stickers.  Henry used his stickers to add to his drawings... Kyra just stuck stuff anywhere and everywhere and when I wasn't looking, she poured blue glitter all over the table.