The End of 2010

I asked my family for a quick pic for the blog and this is what I got! This pretty much sums up our life.....wild 'n crazy, chaotic, loud, funny, and full of LOVE. I love my family and am thankful for another year filled with many blessings. This picture was taken about an hour ago. Margo's now asleep and I'm gonna let the big girls stay up to ring in the new year with me. David's going to bed because he's working tomorrow. This is the first New Year's Eve night that I haven't worked in several years. Here's wishing everyone a Happy 2011.

Here are some highlights of our 2010:
January: Easing into 2010 after the holidays. Gina had a much needed girls weekend with Kelly and Robin. We got snow at the end of the month.
February: Our puppy Kramer was killed on the day before my 37th birthday. Later in the month we adopted our sweet, sweet Annie :-)
March: Birthday girls: Lydia turned six and Madeline turned 8 and they had a spa party and sleepover.
April: Easter and David ran his 1st 5K.
May: Hot day at the Ham N Yam. David ran his second 5K. Mother's Day. Dance Recital.
June: Weekend at Camp Don Lee with the Grimes. End of school. VBS. Cousin Caroline turns THREE! David participated in his first triathlon on his 36th birthday. Margo turns TWO!
July: 4th of July neighborhood parade. Find out the girls are gonna have a new cousin! Madeline goes to starter camp at Camp Don Lee. Beach week at Pine Knoll Shores. The girls start 1st and 3rd grades.
August: David participates in his second triathlon. The girls attend their first concert (Brad Paisley) with us at Walnut Creek.
September: Lydia starts piano lessons. Children's choir resumes at church. Camping at Lake Gaston...Annie's 1st camping trip.
October: Madeline starts violin lessons at school. Family camping trip to the mountains and Biltmore. David and I celebrate 13 years of marriage :-) Cousin Brayden turns TWO. Our niece and cousin, Avery, is born at 26 weeks.
November: School and activities are in full swing. I met Avery for the first time. Spent Thanksgiving with the Grimes/Gammons families in Wake Forest.
December: Girls play piano at Festival of Trees. Breakfast with Santa. Madeline misses being in Christmas parade with Brownies because she's sick :-( Children's choir musical. Lydia is Mrs. Claus in school musical. Holiday baking. Lots of excitement in our household. Santa came. Margo gave him her pacis. SNOW the day after Christmas. Cabin fever! PJ days. Visiting with Avery and her family.

White {day after} Christmas

We had a very merry Christmas and hope you did too. We had a snowy WHITE day after Christmas! The weatherman got this one right!!!

We got close to a foot of snow. That's ALOT for us here in NC! The girls had fun playing in the snow. Margo wasn't too fond of the snow since she kept falling down in it.....so, we pulled her around in the wagon. It was more like a sled once the snow got built up on the wheels.

She was happiest in Mama's arms.

Madeline was lovin' this snow. Look at that ginormous snowball.

Later in the day, the girls got in some sledding.

On Monday the girls and I built a Carolina girl snowwoman! Then we spent the rest of the day inside. I took down decorations and the girls played with all their new toys.

I'm happy to report that Margo gave her pacis to Santa and has done GREAT! Here's a picture of her putting them in her stocking for Santa on Christmas Eve. I think she was pretty happy with what he gave her in return for those pacis. She was so distracted on Christmas day with toys and chocolate and excitement that it really wasn't even an issue.

After loading up the pacis, we gave Margo a candy cane and the girls listened to David read The Night Before Christmas.

Christmas morning....checking out their gifts from Santa! The girls also opened some presents from mommy & daddy and then we had one last present for them. They had to do a scavenger hunt to get the present. We had the girls going all over the house looking for clues. They loved it.

And here they are opening the final gift! It was a cake that said:

Yes, it's true! They were pretty excited about this gift. We are beyond blessed and are thankful that we could spend our Christmas holiday with friends and family. I do wish we could've seen our tiniest niece in the NICU, but the weather prevented us from going to see her. But I am super happy to report that as of today, she is officially over 3lbs! We hope to get a visit in soon with her and her family.

Next up: venturing out tomorrow. We're starting to get a little cabin fever :-)

T-2 :: The Paci

Margo has been in love with her paci since day one! She followed in her sister's footsteps and has loved her Nuk pacifiers. I'm ashamed to say how many pacis we have owned over the last eight years. It has been a source of comfort for her and on many occasions a lifesaver for us and our ears :-)

Well, the time has come to hand over the pacis to Santa. So tomorrow night (if all goes well), Margo will place all of her pacis in her stocking for Santa and he will replace them with toys and goodies. This worked for Madeline and Lydia. So let's just hope the same will work for Margo. We have been talking about it for weeks now and she has even watched the videos of M& L putting their pacis in their stockings on Christmas Eve. Wish us luck, because we would like to get some sleep tomorrow night :-)

Video Clips

Pause the playlist on the right sidebar to hear some clips from Sunday night's Children's Choir musical. Lydia did her solo and at the end there was a slight delay in one of her words. She said, "Mama, I had spit in my mouth and it was gonna come out if I didn't swallow, so that's why I couldn't sing that part." You'll also see Madeline in action spelling one of her words.

Santa and Musicals

Our church had Breakfast with Santa on Saturday morning. Madeline and Lydia did not hesitate to hop in his lap and tell them their wish lists.

Margo, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with him!

On Sunday night our Children's Choir performed The Christmas County Spelling Bee. They have been practicing for this since September and they did an outstanding job! The storyline was a spelling bee where children spelled all the different names of Jesus, such as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, etc. Madeline was one of the main characters, Amanda Allen. She did a great job. Madeline is not as outspoken as Lydia in public, so I'm really proud of her for doing so well with this part. She spoke clearly and knew every one of her lines. She didn't seem nervous at all.

Lydia was Bella McDoubt and a shepherd lady. Here she is singing a solo to Wonderful Counselor. She did a great job, too!

Madeline as Amanda and Nathan as Ferris in a tie-breaker for the spelling bee....writing down their words.

Amanda and Ferris were both winners because you can spell Emmanuel with an "E' or an "I". They became Mary and Joseph in the nativity scene.

I'm sure little mother Madeline was right at home holding Baby Jesus!

Last night Lydia was Mrs. Claus in her school musical, The Littlest Christmas Tree.

Grandma's reading glasses perfected the look!

Now with the apron on, she is ready to perform!

Mrs. Claus with Santa.

Saying her lines! She loves the stage and a microphone! (big surprise)

Decorating the littlest Christmas tree. The little girl who played this part could SING!

This was a really cute program and Lydia was pretty excited about being Mrs. Claus.

With Lydia's performance in church on Sunday night, last night as Mrs. Claus and the little girl drama that occurred when I was fixing her hair prior to the musical last night (which I must say was Oscar worthy), Lydia just might have a future on the stage.

'Tis the Season.....

This past weekend the girls had a piano performance at The Festival of Trees at the Medical Mall.

Here they are waiting for their turn.

Next up: Lydia

This was her first performance in public! She did great. She played Good King Wenceslas. She loves piano lessons. Her teacher, Mr. Buddy, introduced her as a very lively child who usually stands during her piano lessons!

Madeline played Jingle Bells.

A family picture in our festive church clothes before heading out the door on Sunday morning. All three girls are looking at the camera! Or I should say the Santa ornament that I hung right under the camera on the tripod!

Somehow we were chosen again this year to light the Advent Candle for the second Sunday of Advent. Last year during the reading, Margo grabbed the microphone and yelled "MINE". This year she just sat on my hip and waved at Grandma in the choir loft :-) In the above picture, Lydia helps David light the candles.

Madeline read some scripture and did an excellent job!

One weekend down and a few more busy ones to go......Fa-la-la-la-la.......

Below is a clip of the girls playing their Christmas songs. The first bit is pretty shaky because I was holding Margo while videotaping.

Pause the playlist and enjoy!

Something to Think About

I saw this on facebook and thought it was great. Happy Friday everyone. Will post pictures soon :-)

pause the playlist on the right sidebar before watching this