Silver Bells

Doug had these silver bells before we were married and man, have they been the highlight of our Christmas since 2003 when Savannah got ahold of them for the first time. Then, in 2004 when we were in our apartment in Utah, Savannah ran around in circles and up and down the hallway ringing the bells and singing her 18 month old version of "Jingle bells". It was hilarious! Well, we got them out on Sunday to put on the tree and gave them to Holly to see what she would do. It was quite entertaining!

" Hmmm...what do I do with these?"
"Maybe this will work...."
" Oh! Now I got it!" Ring, ring, ring!
Here is Savannah trying to figure them out in 2003.
We had the bows pulled out so the ribbon attached to the bell was nice and long for her to hold and ring away!
Oh what fun!

Attack of the Kleenex Box

Every baby has to experience the sheer satisfaction of pulling kleenex out of the box one, by one...by one. It's impossible to resist once they've discovered it. Holly had her go this week. We were sitting on the couch watching tv and since Doug and Holly have had constant runny noses, the kleenex was sitting on the couch next to us. Holly got ahold of one, pulled it out of the box, and that was the all it took. She couldn't help herself.

"Hi!"
"Just look at this mess!"

Here is a comparison, as close as I could get, of Holly (above) and Savannah (below) each covered in kleenex.

IT'S FINISHED!

It's tradition in my family to make each child a Bucilla stocking (at least that's what my mom did for us so my sister and I are carrying on the tradition). Of course, my mom kept ours when we moved out because she wanted them for her mantle at Christmas time.

Okay, fine!

Anyway, I finished Savannah's stocking before her first Christmas and I was so proud of myself for getting it done (unlike the cross stitch I've been working on for 5 years...=}) but since Holly was 4 days old for her first Christmas, I figured I could wait a year to make hers. I bought it about 3 weeks ago, but just opened it this past Monday and started on it. It probably took me 6 or 7 hours, but I finally finished it about 10 minutes ago! I'm so excited that it is done! I stayed up pretty late last night working on it, and tonight too (now that it's 11:52pm Ugh.). Holly was such an angel today while I worked on it. She ate cheerios and bananas in her high chair for a half hour, and then crawled around on the floor going from the family room to the kitchen and livingroom, just exploring for an HOUR AND A HALF! Not kidding. She didn't fuss at all until she got hungry. I looked at the clock and saw that I had been sitting at the kitchen table for 2 1/2 hours. I was so amazed and STOKED! I got so much done on her stocking. Anyway, here is the finished product! It's poinsettias and "holly", of course! This stocking pattern wasn't too labor intensive since it didn't have a TON of sequins to put on, and I didn't have to stuff any of the parts with batting. That can take more time. I just hope Holly likes it when she is older. It's kind of a more sophisticated stocking instead of a little kid pattern. But, I think it turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself. =)

"Surprise" visit from Jen

Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but when Jen got here and realized that I was NOT here, it kind of threw a wrench in her plans to show up on my doorstep. I got a message on my phone from her when I was in NC saying, "What are you doing in the woods, I'm at your house!" I was so bummed. Luckily, we flew in Friday afternoon and they were scheduled to leave Saturday morning so I told her she was out of the dog house as long as she came to see me before she left. So, that Friday night, she came by for a quick visit. It was SO great to see her. When she was here she said, "I'm home!" I wish. I miss my Jen. :-(

She often calls me from Arizona to tell me she needs a "Kacy's chocolate chip cookie fix". So, I knew I couldn't send her home without them. When she arrived, I had whipped up nearly an entire batch of my chocolate chip cookies for her to take home. She said she was going to stick them in her freezer and take one out any time she needed her fix and she wasn't going to share them. =)
We were comparing heights here. Look how tall Sam is! He isn't quite 6 months old but his height would make you think otherwise. Holly is twice his age. He is a growing boy...following after his Daddy who is 6'5", or something close to that. I think he looks a lot like his daddy too. He's such a happy boy and loves to smile for the camera! The mommy in the middle is Jen's sister Sarah and her 2 week old baby Savannah. What a beautiful baby girl! Say cheese! =) Brooklyn had to get her Holly fix too. Then, she changed baby Savannah's diaper like a good cousin. *wink* I need Brooklyn to live close to me!!!
Of course we had to get a picture of Savannah holding Savannah. ;-)

North Carolina Trip

We went to North Carolina for Thanksgiving to visit Charlotte's side of the family. Savannah and Holly were FANTASTIC travelers and hardly cried/complained at all. Even with our split flight and long layovers! We all managed to stay healthy throughout the entire trip (which was my biggest "worry"...having sick kids on the flight). We had a great time and have never seen such amazing/beautiful colors! Just breathtaking. I've posted quite a few pictures (just be glad I picked the best of the 177 I took)! =)

It was tight quarters on the plane so when Nana got up to stretch her legs, Holly immediately stole her seat. She felt like such a big girl in a seat of her own next to Papa.
Papa orders a complimentary drink and Holly tugs at his sleeve, "Hey Papa, I want a drink too!"

"I got me a seat!"
Blowing kisses
Holly: "I'm flyin'!" Holly did great on the flights. She cried a little on the first leg of our flight as we decended but I think she was just tired. Other than that, she was happy! Savannah colored the entire 2 1/2 hours on the plane. WOW!
Killing time in the airport...4 hour layover. Ugh. We arrived in Charlotte, NC at around 11pm. We got to our hotel at midnight (we drove around for nearly 45 minutes trying to find it because the hotel people were numnuts and gave awful directions). We got to bed about 1am. It was a very long day of traveling.
This is a squirrel that I caught in a dead run across the street. I thought it was funny so I had to include it. =)
We stayed at Charlotte's neices house in Raleigh for the first 2 days. The drive from the hotel in Charlotte to Raleigh was absolutely stunning! The colors of the trees were so incredibly breathtaking that I couldn't stop saying "Look at that!" Unfortunately, I only took video of the trees and didn't get any still shots. But, you'll see a little bit of the color in the next several pictures.
We found a Ward meeting at 1:30pm at the church just 3 minutes up the road from where we were staying. Doug and I had attended that Ward 7 years ago when we came. After church, I took lots of pictures of the girls and the family outside (the family picture will be on our Christmas card so I didn't include it). Savannah LOVED picking up pretty colored leaves and making bouquets out of them.

"I got a leaf!"
These doggie statues were Holly's favorite thing at Barbara's (Charlotte's Neice). She could not stay away from them.
More playing in the leaves. This is now in Morganton, NC behind Uncle Kenneth's house.
Savannah made piles of leaves and picked them up and threw them above her head about a million times.

Daddy's girls
The house in the background is Charlotte's sister Jean's house. Jean and James built this house nearly 50 years ago!

Monkey in the tree!
Nana and Mommy holding monkeys in the trees
Making "leaf" angels with cousin Kaylee. Kaylee is Doug's brother Dean's daughter.
"Unkie Dough" with Kara
Holly with Uncle Dean

Cute Cousins
Cute cousins...again
Doug and his brothers Dean and Shane
Brotherly Love
Mollers and Redwines

(check out all those beautiful girls!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

7 Weird/Random Things About Me

Hmmmm...my sister tagged me with this one on the 9th of November. I've been avoiding it because I've had too much going on to have to think of 7 things but I'll give it a shot on the spot! =)

1. I love learning new skills and how to do different crafty projects but my problem is that once I learn the skill, I go out and buy everything you need to do LOTS of those projects and then don't have time to do them so all the materials just sit in boxes in my house. (Hair bow supplies, crochet thread/needles, beaded sock supplies, holiday felt kits, cake decorating materail, fabric plate material, etc. etc.) Maybe when my kids are all in school, I'll have time to go back to them.

2. It drives me nuts to have "stuff" on the counters, floors, etc.. Especially papers in the office. I HATE IT! I am constantly picking stuff up and putting it away or moving it to a room where it's not in the main living area. If there is stuff all over the family room floor and couches, I feel like my house is a disaster. Doug always tells me "It's not dirty, it's just stuff that takes 5 minutes to clean up." I still hate it.

3. I HAVE to get 8 hours of good sleep or I'm a cranky zombie. I rarely stay up past 10:30pm. I was always the first one to fall asleep at slumber parties and the first one to wake up. (Funny story: I was at a slumber party once and they put my bra in the freezer. When I woke up before anyone else and noticed my bra missing, I looked in the freezer and found my bra, took it out of the freezer and warmed it up (aren't you supposed to get it wet so it freezes? They didn't.) and had it back in my bag by the time everyone else woke up. I acted like nothing had happened. They were all so confused.)

4. I have receeded gums on many of my teeth because I brush too hard. They tell you to brush with light pressure for a long period of time. I've tried, and tried, but I almost always end up pushing hard and brushing fast. I feel like my teeth just aren't clean enough if I don't push hard. Well, I'm paying for it now on some of my teeth where the nerve is exposed. Doh!

5. I love scrapbook paper. My friend, Carli, once asked on her blog if there is such a thing as a paperaholic. I think I'm one for sure. I have more scrapbook paper than I could ever get through. The funny thing is, I buy it and then I don't want to use it or cut it up because then I won't have it anymore. So, my goal this year was to USE what I have and not buy anymore paper. Well, it's November and I've done really well. (I've just moved on to ribbon!) AAAHHHH!

6. I am a "WW" as my grandma used to call me. A Worry Wart. I worry about a lot of stuff, much of which I have no control over. I think I create a lot of anxiety in my life from worrying. Especially when it comes to my kids.

7. When I was about 10 years old, there was some kind of boxing show on the tv and the looser of the match was getting his long hair shaved off and shouting "No!" as they were shaving his head. I remember watching that and getting so sick to my stomach that I almost threw up. From that point on, I was never able to get my hair cut any more than a 1-2 inch trim at a time. I would have nightmares about someone shaving my head or cutting my hair really short. I've loosened up quite a bit since then, and I was finally able to get 7-8 inches cut off my hair when I was in college. But it really disturbed me as a child.

Well, I don't know if those are really random enough, but it's done. =) And, I don't like making people feel obligated to do anything, so I'm not tagging anyone else, but I hope you enjoy my random querks! =)

Nana turns 39...AGAIN! =)

We treated Nana to a manicure/pedicure for her birthday and Savannah and I got one too! Savannah got the full pedicure treatment...hot wax (well, not too hot), hot towels...
...and a great leg massage. (I didn't get my first pedicure until I was in my late teens!) She wasn't sure what to think of it all, but I think she enjoyed herself. We were at the nail salon for TWO hours! Savannah was such a trooper. Holly was there too, but slept most of the time. What great kids!
For dinner, we went to Nana and Papa's new favorite place for ribs...Texas Roadhouse. Yum! For birthday guests, they have them "saddle up" and they yell out a big "Yeehaw!" Nana was such a great sport and didn't even ride side saddle! Go NANA!
"Happy birthday dear Nana.... "

(please excuse the mess in the background.)
She did it in one breath! YEAH!

(Good thing there weren't "39" candles) *wink*