December's Random Ramblings

• Abby was sick, throwing up and just miserable.  The next day she was still under the weather but starting to feel better and she informed me she wanted to get ready to go to school.  I explained that since she was sick and had been throwing up, she had to stay home.  She got very upset and was crying and said, "well, you just don't have to tell my teachers I was throwing up and then they won't know!"  I just wish she would remember this when she is 13 and not wanting to go to school!
• Abby insists chapstick is "chopstick"
• While I was out running with my mom for the first time Abby told her Grammy Jane that she hopes Gram-cracker can keep up her mommy because she is fast and Gram-cracker is pretty new to this!  Haha, I am NOT a fast runner and my mom has been running for YEARS, but it was very sweet of her!
• Abby told me when she is a Mommy she isn't going to move around so much.  It was kind of sad to hear her say this, but I hope she will look back at all the moving around as a wonderful opportunity that some people may never have.
• Abby says "Tabunga Do"  all the time.  I can only think that she is actually saying Cowabunga Dude but she refuses to say it correctly even though I have told her many times.
• Abby calls Olivia "a bucket of bolts" when she is annoyed with her.

Holiday Baking

We did a little holiday baking and decorating over at my mom's house one day.  We made fudge, sugar cookies, and cream cheese cookies.  Abby enjoyed baking and both girls enjoyed decorating the tree and cookies and of course eating the finished products.

Abby and Gram Cracker doing some baking

Ana and Mikey got in on the action too!

Decorating with frosting is the BEST!

Santa

We were at the mall one day and there was no line to see Santa so we took the girls. Unfortunately, they were not dressed for the occasion but Santa didn't seem to mind.  Abby went right up to Santa and told him what she wanted for Christmas with no problem or hesitation.  When she was done chatting with Santa I brought Olivia over for a little Santa time.  I thought she would do ok because up until then she had been seeing Santa everywhere...in books, on ornaments, on decorations and she would always point to him and say "Ho, Ho, Ho".  Well, I thought wrong.  She wanted NOTHING to do with the jolly ol' fat guy in the red suit.  I even gave her a pretzel to try to distract her.  The minute I let go of her she started screaming!  All the people that were near the Santa looked over and sighed then started laughing. I guess we will have to see if she is a little more brave next year!

Abby and Santa

Abby telling Santa that she wanted a Princess and the Frog Doll, Moxie Dolls, and a balance beam

Abby, Santa, and a not-so-happy Olivia

Zoo Lights

Back in the beginning of December we went to the Phoenix Zoo to see the Zoo Lights.  It was beautiful and the girls really enjoyed it.  As you can see we were all bundled up in jackets, but it was about 55 degrees outside.  At first Abby was a bit confused and kept asking where all the animals were, but after some time she decided that the pretty lights would do.  In addition to all of the lights Abby was able to ride the carousel, take a real-live camel ride, enjoy some cotton-candy, and watch the light show that was set to music in the middle of the zoo.  It was a great night and lots of fun!

Daddy and his girls

One of the displays

Abby by her favorite pink tree

Abby in front of the "zebra"

Mommy and Abby by the "peacock"

This tree was gorgeous all lit up in different colors....Abby and Olivia loved looking at it

Name the movie this is from:

Abby and Daddy on their camel ride!

A Run for Maggie's Place

Back in the beginning of November Andrew and I ran the Maggie's Place 9k and Abby did her first kid's dash.  It was a beautiful day and the girls did really good in the jogging stroller till the end of the run.  Olivia got a little agitated and bored and she was ready to get out of the stroller and stretch her legs.  I told Andrew to go ahead and run so that they could get done faster, so I ran the last 1-2 miles solo.  Andrew and the girls were waiting near the finish line for me and as soon as Abby saw me she ran up to me and grabbed my hand and finished the race with me and told me how proud of me she was, it was so sweet!  After our race Abby stretched and did her race, she had a ton of fun and was very proud of herself as were Andrew and I.

Andrew and Olivia before the race started

The girls right before the race started

Abby getting ready for the kids dash

Abby running

Abby with her post-race popsicle and her proud Papa

Olivia and Mommy relaxing a bit after the race

Turkey Day

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day complete with all the fixins' thanks to Andrew and Jane!  We had a pretty laid back day of cooking, eating, chatting, and laughing.  Olivia was feeling under the weather and spent a good chunk of the day sleeping.  We woke her up just in time to sit down to eat with us, I just couldn't let her sleep through Thanksgiving dinner!  Abby led us in our Thanksgiving prayer and she also let us know that she is very thankful for her friends and her family.  We all had a lot to be thankful for this year and I am grateful that we are able to set aside a day to remember all of our many blessings.  We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well that ended with full bellies and full hearts, just as ours did!

I wasn't too good about taking pictures but, here are a few from the day...

Our wonderful chef and the amazing turkey!  Yummy!!

Olivia LOVED the turkey leg!!

Abby was a bit shocked at Olivia's table manners!!

Papi, Abby, Mom (the rainbow on Abby's face is from the face painting they did at the gym that morning.  She told me she was going to sleep in her sleeping bag that night so it didn't rub off on her sheets, thankfully she forgot and slept soundly in her own bed!)