peacock

chemo

Reagan was back in the hospital this weekend for Chemo treatments. We got to see her the last day of her stay so she was quite ready to go home, but doing great. We were able to catch up with Jen while these little ladies played games. 
This is when I told them we had to go home: 
They quit being mad at me for a little bit and let me take a cute picture of them:

I love how close these girls are and how much they beg to see each other. No matter how long we stay it’s never long enough.

merry christmas morning

Merry, Merry Christmas! 
We were greeted by a very eager Gwyneth at 4;30 a.m. asking if we could please get up at 5 am to open gifts. We had originally requested to not open gifts before 6 am, but that hour was just so darn painful for her. B sent the girls back to bed and at 6:05 we were greeted again and so it was off to open gifts! (Annabelle fell back to asleep, but Gwyneth just laid there counting down the minutes!)
Santa was here! He left lots of fun goodies in their stockings. 
…And lots of gifts under the tree. He gathers gifts from all over to bring them – from Godparents, Grandparents, Friends and Family. Of course he brings a few special treats from the North Pole too. 
Annabelle is emoji crazy!
Seriously crazy. I don’t get this emoji poop craze…especially the rainbow poop. 
It sure does make her happy though and these reactions make my day. 
Dance outfits, sleep masks, emoji socks, oh my!
The girls have been begging for robes for ages. Santa delivered!
Poppy and Melissa sent new American Girl dolls. The new tally of dolls in this house is slightly embarrassing, but they are the most adored and played with dolls and you can see the girls were quite thrilled. 
Poppy and Melissa also sent each of the girls an Osmo kit to use with their iPads. I didn’t really know much about them and they took a few seconds to get set up and for us to download all the apps. Once the girls were set up, these Osmo games became the true hit of the day. They can create their own art masterpieces, run their own pizza store, and play word games. They absolutely LOVE them! 
I’m not a huge fan of iPads, but these are pretty great gadgets. I think they just got tricked right into learning too.
Playing with my new camera gadgets. The ‘picture clicker’ is an awesome gift and we are definitely getting our use out it. We seem to be doing much better with this than with the auto timer or a selfie. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. And I’m loving all the family pictures we can capture. 
Self portraits:
We packed up and headed to Chicago tonight. Thank goodness for good weather and timely flights and easy travelers. We arrived in Chicago at 11 pm and my mom still came to the hotel to see us. The girls were so excited to see their YaYa and she made their day. 

sleepover with reagan

We had special sleepover guest this holiday break – Reagan! The girls and I went down to pick her up and we stopped at the American Girl Doll Store. They had all received money for Christmas from their Grandfather so I gave them each a budget and they were able to pick out their own Christmas gift. 
We went home, had pizza, the girls climbed in their pjs and then it appeared an American Girl Doll store exploded in our living room. They had a grand time playing with their cousin. They absolutely loved having her at our house and I hope we can make it happen again very soon for them! 

symphony

Today was a day of maintenance. The girls had doctor’s appointments and hair cuts and all that not so fun stuff that has to get done over break. 
They brought along the bears to their doctor’s appointment in case they needed shots. Thankfully they didn’t. Both are healthy and growing quickly. 
Haircut time. Gwyneth giving me sass and said she was going to get 6 inches cut off. I love her long hair and knew she wouldn’t actually go through with it…but someday I think she’ll get up the nerve…
That evening I had a special surprise planned for the girls. We went for dinner at Pizza Republica…
…and then went to the Symphony. The evening was called “Frosty and Frozen”. It was a sing along of popular Christmas tunes and songs from cold winter movies including The Grinch, Polar Express, and of course, Frozen. 
I snagged $10 tickets and we landed ourselves in the 2nd row! What a steal! Annabelle was really excited because she had a great view of the trumpets. 
I had tried taking them when they were much younger and they got a little bored. This time around was a very different story. We all absolutely loved it. It was such a special night for us and I can’t wait to take them back again. 

holiday parties and botanic garden lights

The last day of school before winter break…and it’s all about the parties!
Lots of celebrating going on in both the girls’ classrooms. The kids were full of happiness, joy and a bit of madness with the anticipation of a long winters break. 
Gwynethy’s party theme was The Grinch and the parents really went all out on these festivities!
This game is one of my favorites and always gets such laughs. 
The theme of Annabelle’s class party was…
well, Christmas and Tweens and Candy I guess, if I had to name a few. 
The played lots of games and you can see they were very enthusiastic and excited
I’ve said it before, this group is fiercely competitive and even at parties there always seems to be someone with hurt feelings. It makes me a bit sad, but I try to focus on my little bundle of joy and make sure she’s always being a good sport….at least we’re trying anyway! 
The silly face pictures are always my favorites. 
After filling the girls with cookies and candies and treats galore, we decided to head downtown to Botanic Gardens for the Lights of Bloom. You really gotta love this family of mine. They sure do go along with some of my wackiest plans. 
I had it in my head we were going and then I checked the weather report. The temps were forecasted in the single digits and there was also a slight chance of snow. I wouldn’t let that deter me. I wanted to take them to see the Lights and I didn’t care about a silly ol’ weather forecast. We  were going to make some jolly holiday memories, damn it! 
We got there and it was COLD! Not a little cold. It was no joke cold! We all bundled up, walked around and enjoyed those beautiful lights and had a grand time. We made record time through the exhibits and our noses and feet were all frozen. 
At one point Annabelle looked pretty miserable and I asked her “What do you think of the lights?”. She simply stared at me and B responded “She’ll see it later honey. Her eyes are frozen.” You gotta love a well-timed Christmas Vacation reference. 
B and I joked on the drive home about these type of adventures. We dread going, we are miserable during, but we create great memories and can’t wait to do it all over again next year! Ha! 
Gwyneth’s friend Ruby joined us for this frigid adventure
Annabelle is turning into quite the little photographer. 

winter concert

We attended the girls’ school winter concert this evening. Again, these little ladies picked out matching dresses. I’ll be sad when they outgrow that, but for now I’m just lovin’ it. 
The concert started with a performance from the 4th grade band. They have only been playing for a few months. I was so impressed at how well they have progressed in such a short amount of time. 
Taking their bows. Annabelle is awfully cute with her trumpet. 
The upper classes joined together for a choir concert. The girls have been practicing their songs for quite some time and were really excited for us to hear them. 
See our sweet little 3rd grader on the far left…
Gwyneth was very, very serious about this performance. 
We snapped lots of pictures with friends after the performance. 
So happy to celebrate with these families.
Only one more day and then holiday break….

dance

Our fifth year of holiday performances at Dance Space. We love this studio and the girls have learned so much. 
Monday night the girls had their ballet and pom performances. Tuesday they had tap and jazz. Watching them dance always makes me smile!

paint with santa

B has been a catering fool lately so the girls joined me at Color Me Mine today. We try not to work Sundays, but with the busy holidays upon us all rules for work/life balance are out the window. 
Today we had a special treat at the studio. Santa came to paint with the kids! My girls joined in on the fun and then painted lots of presents for family and friends. B came over after his catering event and helped me close up shop and we all grabbed a peaceful dinner together. 
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….
Annabelle and her emojis. This girl!
So much sass in one little picture. 
Never too old to visit Santa!
What a bunch of goofballs!

gingerbread house

We are in full holiday mode around here. I’m a bit of a Grinch this time of year. It’s too much. Too much shopping. Too much planning. Too much bickering about meet ups and dinners and gifts and travel and…well, it just feels like a bit too much of everything. Most wonderful time of the year? ok, sure. 
I decided to embrace the busy and turn my attitude around. I don’t want to be a grump all through the holidays. I want to create happy memories with my family. 
Our elf left the girls a gingerbread house kit and they gladly put it together while waiting for dinner tonight. They did a great job. I embraced the mess. I embraced the rush for showers, homework, dinner, etc etc etc. We’re going to make these holidays happy, damn it! (I kid, I kid). 
Look at those happy little faces. What’s not to love about this?

family pictures….fail

I figured while we were getting dolled up for the Nutcracker we should snap some family photos for our Christmas card. Everyone looked great and we had some beautiful light….
…and then we felt rushed, and the sun was a little too bright, and B couldn’t remember how to open his eyes, and I seemed to have some rogue hair that was attacking my face, and Gwyneth forget how to smile. 
But Annabelle just kept on smiling and looked perfectly posed in every picture. 
The girls clean up pretty nice so we’ll give it a try another time…soon, I hope. We don’t have much time to get those Christmas cards together and that’s another one of my favorite holiday traditions. Wish me luck. 
Look at this little tween. Such a gorgeous gal
Smile Gwyneth, Smile!

Wait, maybe that’s too much smile! 
It all just falls apart from here…
but Annabelle keeps on smiling!

We sure are a goofy bunch, but we’re nice and goofy together!