New addition

Meet Sammy.  He's been visiting us this December.  He's our elf on the shelf.  Robyn's kindergarten class last year had one and the kids loved having the elf visit them every morning.  Robyn liked it so much it was the number one thing she wanted for Christmas.  Sammy arrived on Jeff's birthday. 

Jeff & I have been having a lot of fun with Sammy.  Annalise thinks he's creepy looking (it must be the eyes).  Sooooo, one morning he appeared in their bathroom.....said she couldn't use it that day.  Later that day she needed to take a shower.  I found Sammy with a towel over him.  We thought it would be funny if he showed up in her room but she has threatened Sammy with bodily harm. 

Musical Season

'Tis the season to go to multiple musical performances.  I love hearing Christmas music and going to performances.

I enjoyed seeing Lisey play the flute in her band performance but you'd think by now the school would have an idea of how many chairs you need to set up in the school gym.  We had a great seat next to the side wall so we got to see the back of her head. :) 

Robyn's performance was a bit more organized as it was helped by being held in a theater here in town.  We got our own seats and was able to see the whole performance face first.



 They were so cute!  This was the 31st year of Kids Are Music.  Robyn enjoyed it so much she wants to do it next year.

Festival of Trees

All I Want for Christmas is...

Recent projects

 I've been having fun using the fabric I bought on eBay.  So far two dresses for the girls.  I can't believe how big the girls are getting, and I see them every day.  I used a woman's pattern for Annalise's dress!  Her dress was going to have gathered sleeves but she decided the elastic would be too uncomfortable.  Hey, anything to get her to wear once it's completed...

I have some fabric set aside for a dress for me but I want to lose a couple pounds before I make it -- so we'll see how long it takes for THAT to get made. 

I did buy some Liberty of London fabric on eBay (and at a great price).  I'm not sure what I want to make with it but I love the feel of the fabric so I know I want to use it for me! 

All I Want for Christmas

She's definitely braver than her parents!  Her front tooth was pretty loose and with a little encouragement from her aunt she pulled it out herself.  The excited look on her face when it came out was priceless (though the grossed out look of her older sister was good too!)  

Did You Know

Did you know that soccer is a rough sport?

Neither did I, but this year between a broken wrist and a black eye my opinion has changed.

It's a good thing she loves it so much.  :)

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from all of us! 

Draculara from Monster High

Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games

                                                           

                 Skeleton Soccer Crew

Enjoy your candy!

Time for a Change

This week I decided I was finished with having long hair.  It was getting into things, such as purse straps, car doors, food; plus it was always in a ponytail.  This is the longest I've grown my hair ever.  In the past I would have cut it before it got this long.  Maybe I'm getting more patient in my old age -- nah.

Before:

After:



This was taken just after getting my hair cut.  Amy, my hairdresser, had fun styling it.  If only I had decent hair skills, it would always look this nice. 

It's Autumn-time

It's seems like every year, as much as I would like to avoid it, there's at least one trip to the pumpkin patch.  Last year I got out of it because Robyn went with her kindergarten class.  This year I did not.  Though, it wasn't so bad because this new pumpkin patch had an baby animal area.  Baby animals -- they are just soooo darn cute.

Annalise's favorite animals were the ducklings:

My favorite animal was the baby goat.  He/she (I didn't check) was so adorable.  There was a label attached to the collar saying don't pick me up, but how could you resist.

Robyn's favorite animals were the kittens.  There were four and she liked them all.  She would have taken them home if we would have let her.



At least it's not my fault

Our beautiful new car - Honda Accord.  It's only 5 months old.

Last week Jeff was in an accident.  It happened right after Lisey's soccer game.  As he was pulling out the van directly behind him was also pulling out of their parking spot.  It was a no fault/both at fault accident so no penalty on our insurance.  Though we needed to get a new bumper.  There was no way this was going to be fixed.



No was hurt but we are very thankful for insurance.  It's expensive to replace a bumper!

Our Little Pumpkin

We had to go to the dentist to create this little space.  The root was detached but her gums didn't want to let the tooth go.  (Also, her dad & mom are chicken when it comes to pulling teeth out!) 

Annalise must have felt left out because two days later she lost a tooth - a molar.  Well, that's siblings for you -- can't let each other do something without them.



What's Up

So what have I been up to???  Well I've discovered eBay.  Now I've known about them for years but this last month I've actually used it.  I first started looking for this really nice, but expensive, Liberty of London fabric.  I saw this lovely  fabric in a store in Santa Cruz  -- retailing for $42 a yard.  As much as I liked the fabric I'm a cheap person and that's just too much so someone suggested to look for it on eBay. 

Instead of the cool, expensive fabric I have found other cool things to buy.  So far I've bought 4 different yards of fabric, a jeans skirt, something Hunger Games for Lisey (can't specifically say - just in case she reads this) and a cell phone cover for Annalise's phone.  That's just in the last six weeks.  I'm not a huge shopper but shopping on eBay is just too easy.

On Friday I got my new glasses.  This last month I've had to wear my backup pair because my other glasses got run over by a car.  How, you ask? 

In order to be outside and see I have to wear my sunglasses so my regular glasses were in a case in my purse.  Somehow as I was getting the keys out of my purse my glasses case fell out onto the parking lot.  I didn't realize the case was missing until I reached my next destination.  So I drove back and found the glasses.  I was so excited until I took the glasses out of the case.  The lenses were not broken but the frame was all twisted.  Boo!  I had to wait to order the new frames until my vision insurance would pay for them.  Thank goodness for backup pairs of glasses!   

Saturdays for the next couple months

This is how our Saturdays are going to look until November because soccer season has started.  Especially now that both girls are playing soccer.  This is Robyn's first year and Jeff is the assistant coach of her team.  She's liking soccer and has even made a goal in her first game.  Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me so I couldn't take a picture -- bad mommy!

So far we've been able to go to both games but that will change as the season progress as Annalise's games are all over the county.  When that happens we will definitely need to divide and conquer! 

School, here we come

No, a seventh grader cannot stand next to a first grader?!



Carpool buddies



School started and not a minute too soon.  I'm not sure about them but I know I was ready. 

This is my first time having the whole day to myself (not including the four months of pregnancy during Annalise's kindergarten) in 12 years.  I'm not sure what I'll do but I'm excited nonetheless!

Happy Birthday

Hard to believe we now have a 12 year old/7th grader in the house.  It's a little easier to believe now that we can see each other eye to eye.  I think I'm still a little bit taller than her but it's probably wishful thinking on my part. 

Annalise got to celebrate her birthday many times this past week.  The only time I actually took pictures was the first celebration and the reason for that was our new niece.  She was the cutest little 11 day old we ever did see.  I don't think she ever touched her car seat the whole night.

Opening presents.  That night she got some cool presents -- a good hair dryer and a super dooper neat hair straightener (picked out by her talented hairdresser auntie). 

 This is a horrible picture but it was the only one showing her birthday cake.  You can't see it so let me describe it to you:  instead of regular candles Annalise decided she wanted to use Robyn's 5 candle.  I guess it made it easier to blow it out??

 Pictures of Baby L.  It was so much fun to meet her.  What a cutie!

Santa Cruz

This past weekend we spent two days in Santa Cruz.  Annalise had her first soccer tournament.  There were three games over the space of two days so we decided to stay.  Santa Cruz -- what an interesting place.  First off, the hotel.  We spent the most money for a room that was on par with $40 room in Winnemucca.  It was within walking distance to the boardwalk but that was the only perk.  Second, the boardwalk.  The boardwalk is fun but only when there aren't thousands of people there at the same time.  The weather was nice but I ended up forgetting to reapply sunscreen and ended up with a burnt forehead. :(

This was our first soccer tournament so there's a learning curve.  Even so, it was fun to see the team play.  They are getting better.  They played three games -- lost the first & third games, but won the second game.  The second game was fun to watch.  It was the first time the team played, well, as a team.  We saw what they were capable of and hopefully they will get there this fall. 

County Fair 2011

 For the last couple years I have participated in the county fair. Last year Annalise entered in brownies so this year Robyn had to enter something as well. Because you know that little sisters have to do everything their older sisters do. 

We did pretty well.  All of us earned ribbons, though my photographs got nada. 

Robyn's entries: 

Annalise's entries:

My entries:

Waiting for the fair to start:

Balloon animals compliments of the fair -- cool!

We had a surprisingly fun time at the fair.  In the past it has had its issues but they are definitely trying to make it better.

The Archer

Last week Annalise got to go to Girls Camp for the first time.  She's not yet 12 but since she is going into seventh grade she was old enough to attend.  She had a great time (which I knew she would).  It was quiet around the house without her.  Robyn said she didn't miss her, but I don't think that was true.  

Annalise forgot her camera but the archery instructor took some pictures and gave us a couple.  Annalise is obsessed with the Hunger Games books where the main character is an expert archer.  She was really excited to be able to try archery, so excited that she spent all her free time at the range.  

Turns out she's pretty good.  I guess we will be trying to find out a place nearby where she can take lessons and practice.    But not until after soccer season!