Merry Christmas 2012

Our little humanitarian

My sweet, sweet Quinnie Ray. She carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. She secretly and quietly worries about anything and everything. Nothing is too big or small for her to worry about. She worries about world hunger, fire, patients at St. Jude, Daddy's heart, her tennis shoe laces, her sister's tiny scratch with a scab on it, what her snack will be at school. You name it ... she worries about it.  Every single morning when she leaves for school she worries that her "kids" will be scared and miss her. So she wraps them in her Bebe (the thing that provides her the most comfort in the world besides her Momma), gives them kisses and puts them around the house where she likes to be. When I pick them up from school she will look me square in the eyes and ask me how many times I checked on them while she was in school. She has a heart of gold. She swears she never wants to have children but I bet she will have a house full!

Sealey, Dumbo, Speckles and Speckles big sister Cheetah Bear on her bed.

Fuzzy sitting in her chair in the kitchen.

Maddy Nacho and Lady Bug snuggling on the kitchen table, looking at the door so they can see her come home.

Maddy Nacho wrapped in her Bebe reading a book on Quinn's favorite spot on the coach.

Your kindergarten soccer coach rocks!

fall camping trip

We needed a break from the hustle and bustle of life so we packed up after our Friday night soccer game and headed to the lake.  I was afraid that camping in cooler weather would be a bit boring. I should have known better! Our little outdoor girls loved every second of our weekend and begged to stay longer. We biked, hiked, explored, rested and ate like kings.  Thank goodness our little redneck camper has heated beds and a heater.

Home away from home

Rubes found being a lake as peaceful and relaxing as we do.

First time we have been brave enough to take Ruby camping with us. She LOVED it!

We are so fortunate to be able to do things like this and I promise never to take it for granted!

On the way out of town ate at our favorite lake pizza place. Ruby even joined us at our table:)

$100 popcorn

If you purchase $100 or more of overpriced gourmet popcorn (fundraiser for the school) your child / children get to come to a pizza and movie night at school and wear their PJ's. Doesn't that sound like a bargain? Geesh. I volunteered to work the event last year because there was no way I was dropping my pre-Ker's off during the night at a new school and I figured it was a good way to earn some service hours. That will NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. This year I walked them in and said "see ya in 2 hours lady bugs. Peace out!" The event is crazy, insanely chaotic with 100 tired 4-10 year olds running around while jacked up on sugar. INSANE ... but Hassie Clare and Quinn LOVE it!

Quinn, BFF Olivia and Hassie Clare

I think they are trying to establish some rules....maybe a pecking order.  Olivia and Quinn like to follow the rules. Hassie Clare ... not so much.

Quinnie's Toothsesss

My girls LOVE LOVE LOVE their dentist and his office.

Quinn finally lost her first tooth the night before her bi-annual dentist appointment. Or should I say ... her grown up tooth finally pushed it out. She was so, so, so excited! It helped tremendously that her sister lost a tooth first because she new it wouldn't hurt. Again, Quinn does not like change or anything that feels odd or different on or about her body (lotions, clothing, hair, etc.). She is MAJORLY psychotic particular about this stuff.  She worries and stews about it for days.

They look forward to going to the dentist and ask me at least twice a month when their next appointment is to see Dr. Jason. I think the endless supply of cheap toys and stickers they get to pick out helps!

So she followed suit and wrote a letter to the tooth fairy.  Pinky (our tooth fairy) left her 2 one dollar bills and a gold $1 coin with a letter asking her to save the special gold coin, donate $1 to her beloved charity and spend $1 on anything she wanted. She left fairy dust EVERYWHERE and came in through a small crack in the window.

Coincidentally the next morning we had a dentist appointment. Excellent reports on both girls. Their 6 year old molars are coming in  - HC faster then Quinn's. And he said Quinn's other bottom tooth needed to come out and that it might be the difference in braces or no braces down the road. PULL THAT SUCKER OUT!

Of course we didn't even mention it to Quinn. Now a days they don't give shots to pull teeth. He just packed it full of numbing gel for several minutes and yanked it out with some plier like contraption. My stomach contracted and I turned white as a ghost at the sight of him pulling it out ... grossed me out. Quinn was a rock star and so proud of herself. It bleed for an hour and left a nice little hole.

Before tooth extraction.

After

She said when her mouth is asleep (numb) it makes her eyes sleepy:)

I pray they have their daddy's teeth and not mine. Jamie has perfectly straight teeth and has never had any problems. My teeth (and most of my families teeth) are horrendous. Braces for years, retainers, surgery, even had 4 permanent teeth pulled because my mouth was so crowded (notice that I don't have eye teeth), crowns, root canals. You name it and I've had it. And I probably have the best teeth out of my siblings. So pleeeaassseee let them have their Daddy's teeth!

My sweet little Kinderbears / First day of Kindergarten

My babies are growing up and I'm so very proud of them. Since we did junior kindergarten at this school, going to senior kindergarten wasn't that being of a deal to Hassie Clare and Quinn. Although I was not near as emotional as I was last year on the their first day of school, I was still a bit weepy. They have matured so much over this past year and they are defiantly ready for Kindergarten.

Their teacher is lovely. Hassie Clare and Quinn quickly took over the classroom. Their teacher calls them her little assistants. Quinn is quick to point out any mistakes she makes and Hassie Clare loves to run errands for her at the school.

Here are some pics from the first week of school:

Quinn - first day of Kindergarten. Happy, excited and a little nervous. She kept her Bebe close by but wasn't allowed to take it to school:(  I kept in her car seat for her all day and it was there as soon as she got out of school.

Hassie Clare - first day of Kindergarten. Eager, off the wall excited and thankful that her sister is in her class. I read them "The Kissing Hand" that morning and kissed the palms of their hands. If they missed me during the day they could open their hand and feel my kisses. Hassie Clare said my kisses wore off by lunch time and she missed me so much it hurt her belly. Such a sweet book!

Kindergartners have homework twice a week.

Quinn is clearly not too happy. She is still as picky as ever about her clothing, socks, underclothes, hair, etc. I think on this particular morning she was a bit disheveled because it was "wear your tennis shoes to school day" and Quinn does not like change!

Goodbye Summer 2012

Goodbye summer 2012 - you have been very, very good to us. 3 vacations, 2 long weekend getaways, 2 camping trips, lots of swimming, a handful of trips to the lake, tons of yard play and local adventures, good times with good friends, sleeping in until it was time to get up and play, sleepovers in Mommy and Daddy's bed and the list goes on and on. We spent as much time with Nana as possible and enjoyed it immensely. We rode bikes, went on hikes, swam anywhere and everywhere we were allowed, stayed up late, ate Gracie Blue's tri-weekly and wore whatever the heck we wanted 90% of the time.

We are already looking forward to seeing you again next year!

Random pics from Summer 2012:

Quinn (left) and Hassie Clare (right) with their summer babysitter.

Hassie Clare - I can't even begin to tell you how often I would turn around while driving and see her chilling in the backseat while wearing snorkeling gear. Goof ball!

Dining at our favorite cafe - Newk's.

Now that both the girls can swim well we went swimming every chance we got!

Mass with Nana and Papa.

Camp at The Kids Only gym.

Enjoyed time reading lots and lots of books with the girls this summer. They are so close to reading! Reading with my niece Paisley (and acting silly cause my goof ball sister is a camera Nazi:)  in this picture.

Lots of snuggle time with Nana.

Lots of birthday parties (HC with Ava - my Goddaughter).

I LOVE their imagination. They spent hours every day creating different "pretend" scenarios while I worked. This is the hall way Thurman veterinarian office outside my office.

Maema came to visit us in her snazzy new cute car. Obviously Onyx liked it also:)

Snuggled on the couch watching movies and killing time while Mommy worked from home.

Quinn and Paisley playing Papa's organ.

Quinn was really sick one week so I took Hassie Clare to Nana and Papa's house while I took care of Quinn while working. She is laying in my lap on a pillow and holding her Bebe while I worked. Jamie sent me a text asking how Quinnie was feeling and I responded to him with this pic.

Wonderful weekend at Old Hickory Lake with the Ofenheusle's. This blurry pic (only pic I took all weekend) is of the kiddos having a sleepover and watching a movie while the adults had dance party USA and a Cornhole tourney out back. They were wiped out after a day of boating, swimming and tubing on the lake. Ahhh ... good times!  

jkl

These little turkeys ate and entire tub of Pancho Dip one day while I was in the back working. Look at those smirky little guilty grins!

Bathing beauties

Quinn and her masterpeice at Art class.

Hassie Clare and her masterpiece at Art class.

It makes my heart so full and happy that these 2 little girls are so close. They are together 24/7 and their connection and their unbelievably tight bond is amazing to witness. They are always together and never far away from one another. I tell them all the time that they are so lucky to have each other and on some 6 year old level I think they know it!