haircut!

McGregor needed a haircut so Daddy is trimming her up. WOW! Look at all that fur!

McGregor is back!!

Our beloved cocker spaniel, McGregor is back home! Almost three years ago, we were waiting for our house to be finished being built and had to move into a rental that did not allow pets. My friend from work took our McGregor in and has taken care of her since then. My friend is now not able to keep her and asked us if we could take her back. Of course we can! So here she is! The Superstar is soooo excited to have her back home and the Princess is happy to have a "doggie".

Do you want to Build A Bear? NO

The Superstar, Herbie, and I took the Princess to the Build A Bear store so she could make her first bear. When we there, the Princess was feeling a little cranky. Well, a lot cranky to be exact. When we asked do you want to build a bear she said: NO!

Herbie tried to convince her that it would be fun but it didn't work.

So the Superstar stepped up to help his little sister out.

And he even brushed and bathed the new bear.

By the time we were at the naming station, the Princess was much happier. She named her bear Bear Bear. You can see her sitting by the keyboard with the purple shirt.Oh what a diva Princess we have!

Christmas Smilebox...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Merry Christmas!

Happy kids!
opening...her first Vera! A Mod Floral Blue (just like Mommy!) Katie. Fabulous!
We love Abby Cadabby!

Kung Fu Panda? Awesome!

The Magnificent Bowhead!

Star Wars...cool...

BIG blocks!

He shook this one and said immediately, "I know. It's a Lego set!"

pretty Princess castle...cheese!

still taking care of those 2 babies...

playing with the new cash register that came with 2 coins, a credit card, and some paper "honey" as the princess calls it!

showing off her new Vera purse and Princess backpack

Hey! The Superstar got a Speed Racer watch!

Christmas Eve

Another fun holiday day! We had our friends the Pirate and the Mermaid over for our usual gift exchange. First, we enjoyed Christmas subs:
and then waited patiently to open presents:The Princess was super duper excited about getting new babies:And I heard the Superstar say that his RC Robot on an ATV was the coolest present EVER! That "Mommy Doodle" sure knows how to shop!

I had a picture collage made at walgreens.com of the two boys. They opened those today too:

After opening presents, the kids played for awhile. It was fun! We're glad you guys came over!

Later this evening, my two wonder kids decided to have fun with "dots". Why? Who knows but it was fun! Oh wait, I started it by putting a dot on the Princess' nose and telling her she was a red nose reindeer like Rudolph.

After it was dark, we went out in front of the house to put the Christmas lights on and to leave magical food on the lawn for the reindeer.

(Yes, readers from up North, they are wearing shorts! And the Princess isn't even wearing shoes!) After coming inside, we watched more Christmas movies and the Superstar and I finished up some Christmas crafts:And the Princess played with her new babies on top of daddy:

It is now a "silent night" without a single creature stirring! Good night to all! May the wonder of this holiday bring joy to you all!

A visit with Santa Claus

We made our annual trip to visit Santa Claus at the mall last night. We always go with the Pirate and his family. And now, we get to take the Mermaid too! This was her first visit to the mall to see Santa. Here's a couple of pictures from last year:

Notice, the Princess is not too happy to be with Santa! And now for this year's pictures...

We love Santa! Well, all of us EXCEPT for the Princess!

Just after this picture Santa Claus said, "Please take her. I can't take it (the screaming) anymore." Does that mean the Princess wins the award for most dramatic hysterical screaming in a Santa Photo?
The Superstar has no fear! Here he is telling Santa what he wants for Christmas.

So I've traumatized my little Princess again with a visit to a Holiday icon. Who remembers this visit with the Easter Bunny last spring?

Yes, I promise I'll pay for the therapy later!

Holiday Crafting

The Mermaid's mommy and I wanted to have pretty bows and ribbons for our little girls' hair. So I got some stuff from the craft store and started making some. I took the inspiration for the ones on top from the ribbon-y barrettes that the Mermaid got from Becky :) I think they look pretty good! I have more ribbon and barrettes for the Mermaid's mommy and I to craft. Fun! The girls wore these ones on our annual trip to see Santa at the mall. More on that visit on another post!

We're on Christmas break!

WHEW!!! We made it! We are FINALLY on Christmas break from school!!! The last week of school before Christmas is always a difficult one. The students are all crazy from the excitement of the season and the teachers are all exhausted from the season and from trying to keep all those kiddos engaged in learning! We made it! All the projects have been done and I've packed my glitter away for another year. Hurray!

Today was special at school. All the Kindergartners and first graders had breakfast with Santa and the school chorus performed. It was so wonderful to see all of those faces just light up and hear those big cheers when Santa came in! The Superstar and his buddy the Pirate were right in the front row of the stage performing. I didn't get a picture of the Pirate singing (sorry, mommy doodle :( ) but here's one of the Superstar and some other chorus friends of his...
After performing, the chorus members were able to come and sit down for a breakfast snack too. Here's the Superstar with his friend Crickett. They were together in their 4 year old preschool class and are now in the same first grade class:

Everyone LOVES Santa! I planned for the Superstar's class to make a special gift for their wonderful teacher. With the help of some of the other moms, we painted their hands and put together this keepsake quilt. We surprised her with it today:

Yesterday, the Princess had a good hair day! Her hair is growing fuller and longer and the pig tails are looking really good. Cute!