princess

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!

juniors: holiday party

Annabelle’s troop met up tonight for a holiday party. They had pizza, treats, and enjoyed a hot chocolate bar. They also played several games which had me cracking up. 
The girls exchanged secret Santa gifts and we loaded up the cars for a holiday lights scavenger hunt. A fun time was had by all….well, by most. They are nine and ten and sometimes this troop is not easy. I do love my girl and her dear friends. Annabelle was all smiles and happiness so I’m calling it a success. 

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!

birthday extravaganza

Annabelle has been friends with Sofia since kindergarten and went off to celebrate her 10th birthday with her today. Sofia had a grand party including a limo and scavenger hunt. The girls were all over town and had a blast. The party lasted for about 9 hours and Annabelle was worn out when she got home. Sofia’s mom sent us pictures along the way of their adventures: 
(I have posted the pictures in reverse order, but I’m too tired to fix it and I’m going to just be proud of myself for getting them posted at all.)
Last stop dinner at Cinzetti’s
Marshmallow softball 
(Annabelle’s marshmallow is missing because she ate it. The girl loves marshmallows!)
Their game faces
A visit to Mile High. 
(Annabelle posing in the back – such a character!)
Behind the counter at Yogurt Brothers
Such a fun birthday party. I can hardly believe these girls are turning double digits!

brownies: holiday party

Annabelle helped me out at work today. It was nice to have her along and she really is a good helper. She also made her teacher a mug for Christmas and we went out for a little lunch together. She’s a good girl and I really get a kick out of her. 
Her candy cane poop emoji shirt is a big hit. (so, so weird. my aversion to all things disgusting makes me not want to like this, but you just have to love her and her emoji obsession).

Gwyneth was so excited for her Girl Scout holiday party tonight!

We had a small group but its impossible to find a night around the holidays when everyone can make it. We did a secret santa style gift exchange, learned about being organized (another one of my favorite things!) and went on a holiday lights scavenger hunt. We used this scavenger hunt as a guide and cruised around our neighborhood. The girls found all but 3 or four. It was a really fun night with a great group of little gals.

18 years

We celebrated our 18 year anniversary today. 18 years???
It’s hard to believe we have been married that long. My goodness, how we have changed in those years! 
We grabbed a quick drink together while the girls were at dancing school and had dinner as a family of four. It was nice and relaxing and exactly who we are these days. Low-key and all about this little family. 
The girls are quite interested in my wedding dress and asked if they could see it. It was all sealed up in a box, but I noticed through the plastic window that it was starting to yellow. I figured I better open it up and let them take a look. I didn’t expect them to like it so much – I got married in the 90’s, not sure about that fashion. 
The girls loved it though and had a great time playing in it! It brought back some very lovely memories from our wedding day and all the fun we had with our friends and families on this special day 18 years ago.
Some oldies: 
Annabelle wore my dress and Gwyneth wore her Grandma Carole’s dress. They practiced being each other’s maid of honors and assured me there would never be a double wedding. 
I walked in to the living room to find them chilling on the couch together not wanting to take off the dresses…
it reminded me of a funny Friends episode (you know, The One with All the Wedding Dresses) and I had to chuckle. 

mcclaney visit

It was a gorgeous day in Colorado and my sister and her family drove down from Breckenridge to spend the night with us. I asked if they wanted to go to Boulder, downtown Denver, a museum, see any of the sites. Nope, they didn’t want to do any of it. They wanted to just spend the day hanging out together and letting the girls play. I love that!! 
My gals were so happy to see their cousins and we cruised down to the park to get out a little energy. The weather was perfect and we got in a great walk. Lily was not so happy about that and even hopped on Annabelle’s back for most of the walk home. I sure do love these girls and I’m so glad I got to spend this time with my sister and her family. 

mid air adventures

The girls each had a friend join them for a trip to Mid Air Adventures today. They love that place and have a blast zip lining. I love this place because I can hear their giggles and get lots of work done. This may be one of my favorite offices away from home. 
I love that they both chose friends they have known since kindergarten. They picked good friends with these gals. 
Ella and Gwyneth
Annabelle and Sofia

mortons

Gwyneth joined a buddy at the pool and Annabelle asked me to take her to a different pool. Seriously? Sisters! Honestly they are good to each other and spend a lot of time together and just wanted a break. Can’t blame a girl for that. We went to the pool for the bit. Annabelle swam – I worked. I wish I would have brought my suit though. That would have been much more fun. I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with this little fish though.
We joined my dad, Melissa, and her parents for a night at Morton’s. Big steaks and good fun. It was a lovely evening and a nice kick off to the girls Thanksgiving break.