Balloon Magic

Tonight was a special dinner at Tomato Jake's b/c Mr. Balloon Man entertained the masses while we dined. He visited each table and made whatever frog princess or horse was requested of him, entirely out of balloon! Even the grown-ups were in awe of his art!

Like any good parent, we used the balloons as a bribe to get the kids to eat their dinner. If only we had Mr. Balloon Man at home...

The loot: Frog Princess, horse, heart flower (on the ground), Blue Devils hat & pitch fork, Spiderman.

Let It Snow!

I bragged to my Northern friends earlier this week that it was 72. Last night it snowed! An inch, tops. It was beautiful and the kids loved the giant flakes. The South is not nearly as equipt to handle the snow as the North so schools were let out early. My meeting in Winston-Salem was cancelled so we could all get home before the Big Storm. I was one of 3000 in Target getting supplies in case we had to hunker down for the weekend. The snow has has all melted. But we now have snow in our freezer for a snack this afternoon.

Nutcracker, part 1

Deane organized the street outing to go see the Nutcracker Ballet. We started with lunch at Maggiano's. Clearly, the kids enjoyed each other's company.

How I know I’m a Rockin’ Mom!

These are Jackie's most recent notes to me:

I still love you even though you made me cry.

Dear Santa, I know I have too many toys, but I really would like a magic wand like this. (drawing attached).

I ROCK at this Mom Thing! Only 2 more kids to bring up right!

Dee and the kids at Nutcracker. I don't know what is going on here.

Leigh's 3rd Birthday Party!

We celebrate parties so that the adults have as much fun as the kids. This means, the entire street shows up and we eat ourselves sick. We leave the entertainment to the kids. At 3, Leigh is everything Mulan. And the boys are all about superheros and pirates. So the cowboy and the pirate serenaded the Princess on her birthday.

Susie loving on Lucy.

Piano Recital

Yesterday was Jacqueline's first piano recital. She choose to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Many of our neighbors also take lessons from Miss Betty, so it was a party once again!

Lucy is our budding pianist.

Mash-Up

Even without a TV, Dave and I managed to get addicted to Glee. It’s no surprise really, b/c it’s the adult version of High School Muscial and we’ve watched HSM 1, 2 & 3 so many time we know all the lines, sing along with the kids and text each other with our personal HSM moment. You know how victims sometimes embrace their offenders? Well, that's how we feel about HSM. But I digress...

The other reason for The Addiction is hotel travel. Y’all know how much time I’ve been spending in hotels lately. (Can I get a witness?) And hotels have LARGE screen TV’s without our children. So now, Dave and I download episodes, albeit a week or 2 later and watch them together. I can’t wait to watch the semi-finale tonight so don’t tell us who wins sectionals. We can only guess!



In the meantime, enjoy pics of our little Glee Club.

Here Lucy is writing the lyrics for their production.

Jackie preps for the performance.

The Paul Glee Club has drama...

...and competition...

...cheating...

And dancing.

Also, there are superheros in Glee Club, who attack princesses in homemade dresses. Look closely at J's dress. She made it herself.

Role Playing

Leigh and Cameron practicing their roles as husband and wife.

Our little scholar

Lucy put on her own glasses today. They are Jackie's fake glasses w/o lenses. Jackie and I have many discussions about why she can't wear fake glasses to school, even though Christian has real ones, but that's for another blog. Lucy spends many mornings crawling around the house with a marker in her hand (washable, closed-top, duh!). And when she comes across paper, she really tries to write on it. She DID choose the pencil on her first birthday for the Korean celebration! Anyway, I take it out of her right hand and place it in her left. ONE of my children will be left-handed!

Also, we had our last post-adoption meeting with our social worker last week. She submits the plethora of paperwork yet to submit and we go before a judge and officially adopt our Little Lucy! (No, we haven't officially adopted her yet- we are simply guardians.) Our Christmas Wish would be to adopt her before the year is out, but we'll see!

Santa Train

For the second year in a row, we've joined the Messicks for a visit to the North Pole. Thanks to Deane's stalking abilities (she was in line to get tickets in October!) we got a prime seat on the Santa Train. Just like the North Pole, the weather was cold and rainy, but the kids didn't mind- they KNEW they would see Santa at the end and it was well worth it. When the time came and Santa asked each kid what they wanted for Christmas, mine choked. CamO stared blankly into Santa's eyes in awe of the beard, speechless. Jackie just replied 'I don't know.' (Trust me, she knows what she wants!) Lucy was ALL about the candycane. She ate hers faster than all the others. Hunter and Leigh, on the other hand, were well prepared for their meeting w/ Santa. They rehearsed their lists ahead of time, and recited them perfectly to Santa when their chance arrived.

We did pass Rudolph on the way back to NC. Thankfully, Mr. Chad forgot his Red Rider BB Gun and Rudolph made it through another hunting season, unscathed.

Goiter Girl

We have 3 kids on antibiotics for an assortment of ailments. And one baby jacked up on Prednisone. SUPER FUN!
Oh- and one Happy dog who ate more than her share of choco chips. $700 and 2 different vet clinics later, she's back to her fat and happy self. Karen actually drove Happy to the vet and the ER vet b/c I had my hands full w/ Crack Baby & Goiter Girl. What do we get Karen to show our deepest gratitude?

Different Strokes

So Dave decided that it's time for Cameron to learn his numbers. He grabbed some of Jackie's flashcards.

Dave (holding up #4): Cameron, what # is this?

CamO: 7.

Dave (holding up #3):What # is this?

CamO: S

Dave: That's not even a number!

...But, MAN, this boy can ride a 2-wheeler like nobody's business!