Christmas Cookies & Gingerbread Houses

Today we went to Aunt Lisa's house to make sugar cookies and gingerbread houses. Lisa was there with all her kids, Jenny and her three were there and Shauna (I hope I spelled that right) a friend from school was there with all of her kids. It was a house full which is generally the case when we go to Lisa's house. The kids were so excited to see each other that they weren't interested in making cookies when we first got there. So the adults mixed the sugar cookie dough so it would have time to set before we rolled it out. After the dough was made the kids tackled their gingerbread houses. Actually I guess you should call them graham cracker houses since that is what we used. They all had a fun, sticky time engineering their buildings. We had a few earthquakes but once the frosting glue started to dry most of the houses remained standing. Aidan enjoyed watching the festivities as he snacked on graham crackers and candy. Chloe was so excited to see some of her friends from school outside of school. It was a great day of visiting and enjoying one another's company.

Santa Claus

Today we went to a Children's Christmas Party held for Matt's command. There were simple games set up along with a bouncy house (a huge hit as you can imagine). We had pizza and popcorn. Both the kids seem to enjoy themselves. Later in the afternoon Santa Claus came by to say "hello" and give each child a goody bag. Chloe, of course, was all into Santa and told him that she wanted a red ballerina (not sure where she got that one). Aidan was exhausted by the time Santa arrived and wanted nothing to do with him of course. All in all it was a nice afternoon.

Growing Pains

After a few weeks of playing with it, Chloe lost her first tooth tonight. She was so excited today when it was loose enough to move in a circle or in other words--hanging on by a thread. Tonight she had her Jazz/Tumbling class. She was playing with it all evening of course, like any kid would. She sneezed towards the end of class, while she was playing with it and pulled the tooth right out. I think the amount of blood scared her, I didn't think to warn her about that. But she was so proud of herself and eager to share and show the world the gap in her teeth.

Here is Aidan comforting Chloe over the loss of her tooth. It is not very often we catch the two of them cuddling with one another. They are usually too busy playing or Aidan is busy annoying Chloe by getting into her stuff. So we figured we'd better take the picture while we could.

She has decided that she is going to give the tooth to Santa Claus because the Tooth Fairy doesn't need any teeth. Pretty cute huh? I am thinking about getting a little bag for the tooth and hanging it on the tree. She can check the bag on Christmas morning to see what she gets. If anyone else has any ideas let me know! Leave a comment.

Ladies Night Out

Last night we went to the south end of the island to see our local dance company's production of the Nutcracker. Nana and Poppa surprised Chloe with her Christmas dress (an early Christmas gift). She was so excited. I had her convinced that she had to go to the Nutcracker in her jeans and shirt. She was not very happy with that plan. So when Poppa showed her the dress, she was speechless (if you can believe it). The dress came with a matching tiara and purse so of course our little "princess" was in big girl heaven. She looked absolutely beautiful and she knew it too. Nana and Mommy looked quite smashing as well but Chloe of course stole the night.

We went out to dinner at one of our favorite little restaurants on the south end. It was so nice to go out to dinner before the show. We attempted to do that last year but it didn't work out. We ended up watching the show hungry last time. Chloe was a bit confused when we pulled up to the restaurant at first because she realized it wasn't the Nutcracker but once she understood that we were going to eat dinner she was all for the stop.

We got to the theatre in plenty of time to find our friends and our seats. Chloe was thrilled that she got to sit next to her good friend Katy. The two of them were beyond excited. Katy's parents, Becca and Paul, were there too! We saw lots of friends from school all dressed up for a night out. Chloe got to show off her beautiful Christmas dress to all of her friends.

Once the ballet started both girls were completely mesmerized. The costumes are stunning and all hand-made. The sets and props were all painted and designed by our school's art teacher, she is an amazing artist. Plus the stage where the performance was held is incredible and very state-of-the-art, we don't have anything close to it on the north end of the island. Chloe remembered quite a bit of the show from the year before. She couldn't wait for the giant Christmas tree to grow, for the Nutcracker to come to life and for the mermaids to appear. Her biggest shock was when she discovered that "Madame Bumbles" (she wears a large dress where lots of little dancers hide under) was actually a man in stilts. I can believe it is a man that dress is HUGE and it looks very heavy.

Chloe got a "Clara" Nutcracker and Aidan got a red Nutcracker from the gift shop. We figured they would be fun Christmas decorations to add to the house. Although I may have trouble packing Chloe's away, she is rather attached. After the show the art teacher gave us a tour of the backstage. Both Katy and Chloe were thrilled to be on the stage and able to touch the set and props. I even got a picture of Chloe sitting on the chair used in the party scene. She was pretty excited about that. We headed home right after that and stopped off at Applebees for some yummy desserts. We ran into the Cox and Newman families there and had a good time. All too soon it was time for bed!

Aidan Candids

I thought I had better put some pictures up of Aidan. I don't have any of his new haircut but I will get some soon! He has been quite a handful lately--into everything, testing boundaries, and full of energy. But we love every minute of it!

Christmas Play

We are all doing well just extremely busy. Last night we performed our big Christmas Musical at church. It was a large undertaking with many people helping and supporting the event. We started planning the play in August and have been rehearsing once a week since September. It was so much fun and all the kids (including Chloe) had so much fun singing and acting. I actually got the opportunity to act, which is a rare event since I usually direct. It was very refreshing to be on stage and have fun that way too! Chloe decided at the last minute that she had to be on stage too and got to play an extra during the beginning song. She was so excited to be on stage. I think the acting bug has bit. :)

Well now that the play is over things will slow down quite a bit for us over the holidays if you can believe it. Next weekend Chloe, Mom and I are going to the Nutcracker. We went last year and now it has become a Christmas tradition. As soon as Chloe started to see the Christmas decorations going up she wanted to know when we were going to see the Nutcracker again. She has really gotten into dance this year and is looking forward to seeing all the ballerinas with the "fancy shoes" (pointe shoes). It should be a fun night. I will try to take pictures.

That's all for now. I need to pack things up from the play and get things back to normal. Have a great week!

Thanksgiving Day!

We had a great day spent with family and friends. We ate way too much great food followed by great desserts. We got to visit all afternoon which was a nice break from our busy lives The kids played hard all day and are completely exhausted tonight. It won't take long for them to crash for the night.

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving with family and friends. May God's Blessings continue to flow in all of your lives.

Feeling Better

Thank you all for your prayers and support! I am feeling much better, still fighting the queasiness a bit but I can live through it. The stomach cramps are still there but are much less painful and far between. I honestly think I either ate something the baby didn't like or have a touch of the stomach flu that no one else in the family got. I am ready for this pregnancy to be over and I still have 27 weeks to go. Joy!

A Day at the ER

Once again this pregnancy is taking its toll. I woke up at 1:30am with horrible stomach cramps and nausea. The pain was so severe it kept me up most of the night. By 8:00am my stomach hurt so bad that I had no choice but to head to the hospital. I dropped the kids off at Mom's and Matt took me to the ER at the closest county hospital (I was not about to go to the base for something that could be serious).

It was quite a long day (made worse by the stomach cramps and nausea), the ER was flooded with patients. I had a battery of tests run: an ultrasound, blood drawn and a urine sample. The tests came back fine. The baby is fine and moving around during the ultrasound. The doctor is not sure why I am having such bad cramps. It could be the stomach flu, something I ate (but highly unlikely since no one else is sick), or the early stages of appendicitis. We have to see how I feel in the next 24 hours to determine if my appendix needs to come out.

We appreciate your prayers and support through this rocky pregnancy. We will let you know how I am feeling over the weekend.

Cutie Pies!

Somedays the kids are just way too cute. Today was one of those days. Chloe has been asking to have her hair curled so last night after her bath we put in the curlers. She was also sporting a new outfit so I thought I would take a picture before she lost all her curl (her hair is so fine that it won't hold curls for more than a few hours).


Aidan was just being a clown as usual. As soon as he saw the camera he began to ham it up. Too funny! He has recently discovered that he likes having his picture taken although I am sure he has no idea what that little silver box does.