Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Reviving an old family tradition

After laying all my ornaments out on the floor and grouping them together (cardinals, Wizard of Oz, baseball, princesses) I had the girls come in and help me decorate the tree. And not until this year did I ever understand why Santa would decorate our tree when he stopped in on Christmas Eve. All I heard was "I wanted to hang that one....MINE!!!) I think Santa might be decorating our tree for the next few years!













First snow of winter 2009

Here's Cooper, not sure what to make of being dressed up like the "stay puffed marshmallow man"!






Jilly and Cooper playing in the whopping 2 inches of snow. We drove across town to my parents house (they have a great hill right across the street) and took the girls sledding. Wyatt stayed in the house with Gra-ma and Pop-pop.




Who needs a sled dog when you have a Daddy?







Poor Courtney! She was nice enough to let the little girls play with her sled, so she had nothing. She tried a cardboard box...no luck. Then she tried the wax coated bag from a bag of dog food...again no luck. Note to self: find the saucer sleds we had as kids, light weight and very speedy! So they all took turns (hardest on Cooper who is yet to understand the concept) and fun was had by all!

yet more vocab

There is only one new one, the other two are older, but I had not included them. (Mostly because I forgot...it's not like I'm a busy person or anything ;0)

(new) candy cane comes out with a hard i it sounds like "candy kine"

disk-a-peered = disappeared

Wretch-skins = Redskins...funny story here. We were driving through town and I hear from the back seat "Look Mommy, Daddy's wretch-skins!" Jilly had seen a sticker in the back window of the SUV in front of us. Now here's why this is so funny...you need to say this out loud a few times...yes I thought that Jilly was talking about erections. So I must have asked her a good dozen times at least what she was trying to say, until she finally said "Daddy's football...Wretch-skins." There's nothing like a little blue humor with your 3 and a half year old!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Jilly's Concert

Lining up to sing with one of her teachers, Mrs Cohrs. Jilly loves anything to do with her school and teachers. Hopefully she will stay that way for years to come!






Seems to me that some little girl has no problem with stage fright! She was so animated while singing, it was hard not to laugh. Jilly did a great job, she practiced at home (and in the car...at Gra-ma's, oh yeah, even in Target..where ever she found an audience!) and remembered all the words and sang with great confidence.


Family bonding

After our turkey dinner, Uncle Bubba got some snuggle time with Wyatt. There are few "real men" who can look so comfortable holding a baby





Riley man got his turn holding Wyatt.






And goodness knows...no one can hold "her" baby without her getting a turn as well!

Kids and pies


Courtney has become our resident pie maker. She makes the crusts from scratch (a lost art in my opinion). This is her apple pie...all from scratch! She cuts the apples and makes the crusts, and doesn't not need any help (just company...she's very chatty when she's in the kitchen!)



Jilly did not fell well during dinner (she was getting over a stomach bug) and didn't eat very much...dinner that is. Girl friend felt fine enough come dessert time to down like a half a container of Cool Whip! (I was a little mad, but mostly proud...kiddo is like her mommy, you don't need pie to have Cool Whip!)



If you happen to be helping Cooper, it is just too funny. She does this little baby bird thing where she opens her mouth and just kinda grunts, all while using sign language and saying please. Who ever is with her usually just ends up laughing.




Mom, I'm a teen-ager now, and that means I can't look happy...EVER!!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

You bunch of turkey's


My Little Buddy, all dressed up (or as dressed up as we get for Thanksgiving...we just might be one of the most casual dressing families for the holiday in the USA!)









My big guy holding my little guy. Two of my four favorite men.










Russell got to do the honors of carving this year...you cook it you cut it.






C'mon Russell where's the food!!

Gingerbread house

Before heading out to Winchester to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family, I though it would be cool if Courtney and I made a gingerbread house for the holiday season. Good in theory...but not that she is 13, she is more then capable of doing things like this on her own, and all I basically did was keep her company.




It is now apparent to me that in order for Bug and I to share an experience like this nowadays, it's going to be the two of us doing our own thing in the same space.




It kinda makes me sad knowing that she is growing up, but then I look at how she is turning out, and the things she is capable of doing on her own, and I don't feel too bad.

Not my baby any more

I have been trying for a few years now to get Courtney to cut some length off her hair. But I've always respected her decisions to just get it trimmed. Well, she made up her mind that she wanted it shortER not short! She came to this decision while we were at lunch for Aunt Sara's birthday last year and one of Aunt Sara's friends Angie was telling us about Locks of Love. Basically, as long as you have 10 inches to cut you can donate your hair so that some one (I have always assumed cancer patients) can have a wig made of human hair. Well, Courtney heard that and decided right there and then that's what she was doing. So when we went to see Miss Mandy for back to school hair cuts Courtney asked her about it. Mandy told her it was still a little short to be able to donate and still look good. (Poor kid got my Mom's incredibly curly hair, and Mandy wanted to make sure it would still look good once it was styled.)


So Mandy gave Courtney the OK to cut it in the spring of this year, and I asked Courtney if we could keep it long until after Finals (I have trouble french braiding the pig-tails as it is, let alone there barely being enough hair to braid!) and she agreed. So we set the appointment, and after making sure about 100 times that this is what she wanted...she did it.



It was amazing to me how her confidence level seemed to sky rocket after getting it cut. She loves it, and I love the fact that she made this decision on her own and is thrilled about it. Let's face it...we have all had our fair share of bad hair cuts!!


Jilly got her bangs cut (she won't let me near her hair, she loves Miss Mandy too much!) We made the appointment so that we were the last ones in there for the night..and good thing too! My kids were running all over the place, but at least I didn't have to feel like "that mom" who couldn't control her kids and let them disturb anybody...that's why we went when there was nobody there to be able to disturb!

Cave woman


This is how I found her after a nap one day. Makes me wonder Girl, what were you thinking?!? Jilly was with me, and said she looked like a cave woman. I have to agree, but how Jilly knows what a cave woman looks like is beyond me!!



















more of Jilly's vocab

OK, so when she cuts something she uses "sNcissors".

She and Bug were playing in Bug's room, and Jilly got to play the "DRS" Bug's Nintendo DS...oh I forgot she sings it like the ABC song!

And her new nickname for Cooper is "Swiper" because just like the fox in Dora, Cooper has been swiping what ever she can get her hands on!

I love how kids speak, and I think I love to be able to see the world through their eyes more than anything.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

School project

Either because I work on crafty projects, or due to Courtney's homework projects, Jilly has decided that any time she makes something in school, it is her project. This is her Pilgrim hat "project" they made in school from a cookie and a marshmallow. I don't know where these teachers come up with these things, but the kids love to do them, and I love to see the amount of creativity Jilly is allowed and encouraged to have.

Western Day


While studying about the western expansion in Courtney's history class got to have a "Western Day" party in the auditorium. They were encouraged to dress from the west. It's a little hard to see here, but Gran-ma made Courtney a vest that looks very authentic to what a Native American Indian might have worn. She added to the look with Gran-ma's cowboy hat, and her riding chaps and boots. Bug had a great time at the party, and enjoyed all the compliments she received on her vest and outfit.




Anniversary


Good homemade food, good family, what more could a girl ask for on her birt......ummm 4th anniversary of of her 29th birthday. Grammy was down from NJ, and we had dinner over at my parents house.
Jilly wanted to help me blow out my candles, but she forgets that you need to make a wish first...that's why my hand is over her mouth.


She did get to help me, but only after I made my wish...yes there are some things I'm not too old and cynical to believe in!

snow memories

As I sit here looking at the 2-3 FEET of snow out my window...it makes me think back to Jilly's first "real" sentence. In January of 07 my Pop-pop got pretty sick and was in the hospital. My Dad went up to New Jersey to be with him and Grammy. My Dad called to make sure we were doing OK (he knew we were going to be getting some snow) and it had been snowing for about a half an hour. Jilly has always loved to talk on the phone, so I had let her say hi to Pop-pop, and she busted out with "no-ing Pop-pop, no-ing". It made my Dad feel special at a time when he needed it the most. So I think from now on snow will remind me of my Daddy, Jilly and how much I miss Little Pop-pop,and how a blizzard can lead to kids (blizzard of 96 = Courtney). (Not to worry folks, I made sure we had plenty of things to do to keep us busy!! No more kids for us...for now.)

Meet Grammy

Courtney was going to ride in the State Finals November 13-16, but having broken her finger she was not able to ride. My Grandmother ("Grammy") was going to join us in Lexington for the horse show, but decided to just visit us for the weekend. It worked out really well, she came down on Thursday (my birthday) got to hang out with the girls, meet Wyatt, and hang out with my parents for a bit. It is always great to see Grammy, and I love watching Grammy with her Great-grand-kids.


Grammy has some great stories, and I get to hear a new one each time we visit. Best of all, I have someone else in my life who understands what it is like to be raising 4 kids...and for that matter doesn't think I'm crazy!

Lovely Fall Day


What a surprise to have a beautiful 70 degree Sunday in the middle of November. Jilly wanted so desperately wanted to play in the leaves, and then did not want to come in and take a nap. The only way to make her happy was to promise to play again when she woke up...which we did.




Cooper was not sure what to make of the leaves at first, but she eventually warmed up to the idea.











After naps, the kids got back out in the front yard and the giggles were indescribable. I love when the simple things in life bring such fun memories.










Follow up: Jeff raked up the leaves into a pile on the street so that the town would pick them up. If not for the fact that the kids were eating lunch when the truck came by, we would have been in the clear. However, Jilly was sitting at the kitchen table (where she looks right out into the front yard) and started screaming "Why are they taking my leaves?!?" I had to remind her that we kept a smaller pile to play in, but most of the leaves had to go to be able to play with other kids. It worked, she calmed down finished her lunch and went to play in the (now much smaller) pile of leaves when she got up.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

apologies

Between Christmas sneaking up on me, my house falling apart (literally) my dryer having died and being forced to drive around town to do laundry, and now Cooper has some sniffles (which means the rest of us will too in the next few days!) it has been hard to find time to sit still long enough to type. But I will do my best.

Merry Christmas

Friday, December 11, 2009

Really great news

OK, so I'm not going to win the mother of the year award due to the fact that for the life of me I can't remember the date...but it is finally over. After 3 and a half years of pestering the lawyer to do what we paid him to do, and actually doing some of the leg work ourselves, at some point in late October we got the paperwork making Jeff's adoption of Courtney official. Once the school year is over we will change her name with the school. But as of right now, she is Courtney Morgan Curtis.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Ride off into the sunset

(Courtney decided to be paparazzi girl) On a beautiful Sunday afternoon we decided to take our wagon out for a spin. Jilly and Cooper were very good about sitting...well they would only stay seated if the wagon was moving. I love living on a circle, we walked around the block a few times as the sun was setting. It really was a great way to spend an afternoon.




Daddy getting a work out.







Cooper saying "oh-no!"







Mommy and Wyatt (ok, sorry, not trying to insult anyone's intelligence here...I just didn't have anything cute to say!)






Jilly is already a backseat driver!

Vocab test (part 2)

Cooper is also talking up a storm, here is some of what she is saying.

Tee = please

cee-cee = horsey/pony

ta-to = thank you

me-me = excuse me

beep-beep = well, it means beep-beep, or can you move please

Mommy (sometimes Daddy)= She will call for me (and keep calling) and when I answer her she throws me a kiss, it is the equivalent to Jilly yelling "Mommy, I love you"

gogie = dog or doggie (which you can hear her say if she sees a dog or one of those lit up reindeer in a front yard)

buga = Buggy (Courtney)

G-G = Jilly

gra-ma = Granma

stintee = stinky meaning she has pooped

cookie = one of her favorite words...this will usually get her some princess graham crackers

baby = Wyatt...and she shows him off to EVERYBODY! (not to be confused for...)

bee-bee = binky and blankie which means bed time (both have lived in her bed for months now, no more Linus for her)

It is also amazing how well she understands what you say to her. Again, that's all I can think of currently, but I'm sure I will add to this list very soon...we all know my kids are talkers!

Vocab test (part 1)

Here is a quick list of some things Jilly is saying that we find too cute (and most times have to chuckle when she says) and a translation for them.

wratsting paper = wrapping paper

vamanos = instead of saying let's go in english thanks to Dora and Diego she will say it in spanish

open sesatee= open sesame (to make the doors on the magic van open by themselves)

Hannah On-tanna = Hannah Montana, she has chapstick and a guitar from HM

pre-ing-tend = pretending

3 scat teers = barbie and the 3 Musketeers

ittle man = my black cat formerly known as "bad cat" I have called him Little man for years, but his real name is Montana

princess hair = pigtails

ormament = ornaments for the Christmas tree

nopoly = monopoly for the Wii, she "plays" but with a controller with no batteries when Bug Daddy and I play together

nanas for my boyfriend = bananas for Zeb the horse at the barn who is Jilly's "boyfriend"

Mrs. Monart = Mrs Monarch one of Jilly's teachers

Corney = Courtney Bug (for some reason Jilly doesn't call her just Buggy anymore)

That's all I can think of right now, I'm sure I'll be putting another list together very soon!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Halloween Tradition



For every year of their lives (with the exception of the year we were in Carolina) Sunny and I have gotten our kids together for Trick-or-Treating. When the girls were younger we use to do the parade then Trick-or-Treat, but after being pelted with hard candy one year we've been skipping the parade and just get started earlier. When the kids were smaller with little legs that didn't run so fast, we use to do the smaller neighborhood (Usually mine, nice small circle takes 20 minutes on a crowded Halloween), but sadly as the "older" kids have grown, so has their need for MORE CANDY!! So we have been going over to Sunny's parents neighborhood (or as we like to call it, the ritzy side of town) where I think you hit just as many houses, but you have to work a little more for it. Instead of the houses being right on top of each other you have a good walk from one house to the next. Needless to say the kids are ALWAYS tired afterward!



Jilly was Princess Jasmine, and Cooper was Abu the monkey both from the Disney movie Aladdin. Courtney liked the costume, but had NO INTENTION of being a princess so was a Genie. (I wanted her to dress up like the flying carpet, but was having nothing to do with that either!)








It did not take Cooper long to realize what to do. At first all she knew was she wanted to be with the big kids...but then if she went with them and held out her little pumpkin candy holder people would give her things. Then there was no stopping her...and heaven forbid the Daddy tried to carry her...no, she would have none of that! She had to walk just like the other big kids.

Jilly loved it as well. At every house (and I do mean EVERY house) she would say "Trick-or-Treat, I'm Princess Jasmine and my Cooper is the Monkey 'Boo' because she doesn't say Abu, just Boo. There were no meltdowns, and the rain held off until we were home, so it really was a great night.

P.S. I didn't mention much about Courtney because she and Lexi ditched us old folks and "babies" to do the teenager thing...Thanks Mikey for always keeping them in sight!