A strange name for a man...

In Walmart after viewing a man stocking the shelves:

Michaela: Mom, either that guy is wearing someone else's name tag, or his name is Sara Lee...

Me: ( I didn't really say anything at first; after I finished laughing I explained to her that he worked for Sara Lee.)

Michaela only consented to let me put this on my blog if I didn't say much about it. Enough said!

American Idol in my basement!

Ok, this isn't American Idol, just cute. My dad got Ava a dance cam for Christmas. You hook it up to your tv, and they can see themselves dancing on tv. Ava thoroughly enjoyed it!

Here is the American Idol clips. They just might kill me for putting these on here, but what are sisters for, really, if not for antagonizing their brothers......

My talent may or may not run in the family. I'll let you be the judge.

A tractor ride in the snow

My dad came over with his tractor today to help us with the mounds of snow in our driveway. It is way to much for a shovel (or Jason!) to handle alone. Of course the girls wanted a ride, and Grandpa obliged. Thanks Dad!

Michaela got to drive (steer) by herself and she really liked that.


Payden reacted to the opportunity like she does everything else, with unguarded enthusiasm. It is always a joy to watch her experience life.

Ava thought it a bit cold, but liked the ride anyway. My dad was going to try to drive his tractor home. He had gotten it out of a storage shed close to our house, and driven it there. But his house is all the way across town. I couldn't help but giggle at the thought of my dad chugging along in his old tractor through town. I would never be brave enough to try that. But alas, the tractor was acting up and he didn't think it would make it, so back to the storage shed it went. We appreciated the help and the rides!

We had a great holiday week. It was a whirlwind and tiring, but I wouldn't change a moment of it. My brother and his wife were able to come from Tennesee, and we were all so happy to see them and spend time with them. We spent Tuesday and Christmas Eve with them.

PJ and Jackie giving Corrine loves.

Corrine hadn't seen Jackie since this summer, but she took to her wonderfully. Look at that smile!

We all watched a movie that night. The girls love their Uncle Paul and Aunt Jackie; they maul Jackie. She must get "touched out" when she is here. We joke about the heirarchy the girls have created; if Grandma is here, she is the special one, but if Uncle Paul is here, then it is him. However, if Jackie is here, she trumps everyone.

We played a game that night, and drank wassail, yummy! We also ate way too many sweets.


The next day, Christmas Eve, the girls went sledding. Grandma got them new sleds, and they had lots of fun. These are from Jason's camera, because I stayed home with the baby to finish some projects up. (The nice quiet house was just too much to resist!)

I was told Payden took quiet a spill on her sled!

Ava had fun in a sled just perfect for her.

Michaela falling off hers!

Then they all came home and we made cookies for Santa. This is a yearly tradition on Christmas Eve.

We always end up with way too many cookies, but it is fun. The girls get to decorate three cookies as elaborately as they choose; two for Santa, and one for themselves!

After we got cleaned up from cookies(you will notice a theme; I was constantly cooking and cleaning up to get ready to cook more!) we made dinner. My mom suggested a Mexican theme, so we had two kinds of enchiladas, tacos, and chips, salsa and quacamole. The enchiladas were so good. We accidently left the leftovers sitting on the counter, and I was soooo bummed we wouldn't get to eat them again!

A Mexican dinner feast!

Ava had to sprinkle her reindeer food in the snow ,and the girls put out their cookies for Santa.

I will spare you all the pictures of us opening presents, but we did that with my mom and PJ and Jackie on Christmas Eve. Each Christmas, I make matching pajamas for my girls that they get to open Christmas Eve. This was this years:

And my brother sang a moving rendition of a holiday favorite, complete with choreography.Too bad we didn't get a video, but trust me, it was stellar.

My mom spent the night with us, and in the morning we opened up all our presents. I made the girls new robes this year, this is Ava sporting hers.

This is out of order, but Christmas night the girls got to sleep in the tents Santa left for them.

Christmas night, we had Jason's family over for dinner. My mother in law, Marlene, got me American Idol for the wii. More on that in another post.

Are you noticing a theme here? Cooking and eating, cooking and eating..........

We had Jason's mom and his two brothers, David and Brian over. David brought his son, Caden, and Brian brought his new wife, Heather and her daugther, Tausha. We had a nice dinner and of course opened presents, again.

Then on Friday, we had my dad and PJ and Jackie over for breakfast and to open yet again more presents. In keeping with the theme, I cooked and we ate!

Then it was time to say goodbye to PJ and Jackie for a while. It is always so hard to say goodbye when you know how far away someone is going. One last smooch for the baby, and off they went.

Like I said, it was crazy busy but fun. In the effort to not make this post too long :), I even left out parts. I am tired, but content and happy. I love spending so much time with our family in so few days. Now I have to clean the house, so nobody come over for at least a few days!

Merry Christmas!!

Taleneted Girls

Michaela and Payden had their piano recital on Frinday, and both did beautifully. It was held at the piano gallery, a piano store here in town, and they got to play on a gorgeous black grand piano! It was a treat for them and they looked so pretty sitting in front of it. Each child played Christmas music.

Beverly, their piano teacher, gave them a choice to play one or two songs. I'll let you guess which of my girls chose one, and which chose to play two! (Hint: Payden loves to play in front of people, Michaela doesn't.)

Payden played the first one from the book, and had the second one memorized. It was so cute; when she got ready to play the second, she closed her book, got a cute little smile on her face and started to play. You could tell she was excited to play that one. We have heard these songs over and over, especially Payden's(she is always playing the piano) but it was still so much fun to see them perform.

Michaela played just one song, but did it well. She enjoyed playing on this piano, and said it was so easy to play. I love that they are learning to play the piano. I hope they use it for the rest of their lives.

6 months old!

Happy 6 month birthday, Corrine! I can't believe she is already 6 months old. We have a joke in our house, we say "noboby loves Corrine" because it is so far from the truth. She is constantly getting kisses, hugs, pats and being talked to and loved on. Maybe that is why she is such a happy baby! We are so glad we got to have her as part of our family; she is a perfect addition.

Peek closely, you can see her two bottom teeth coming it!

Happy baby

Silly Baby!

Ok, another happy baby.

I had to put this one in, we see her like this often enough that I should save it for posterity!