Gifts...

Ray's Mom sent the girls an early Christmas present last week - aprons with matching hats (except in the picture the hats are mixed up...). The girls love to cook with me and it was a great gift.

And while they are all smiles here, that only lasted so long. It seems that the favorite apron was the cupcake one. So fighting, trying to take turns, and some more fighting ensued. It made me reconsider some of the gifts I have purchased the girls for Christmas and if I should have gotten the same thing. But now, a few days later, they have gotten over it, and they have been wearing both aprons interchangeably, thank God.

I am hoping to do some baking of treats this weekend. My Grandmother always made so many things at Christmas time, I am hoping to recreate some of that. Any recipes of candy and such you want to pass along to me, feel free...

Also this weekend is our town's Christmas parade where I will be walking with some of the girls in our Daisy troop. The high will only be 50 degrees, and I am hopeful no one will have to go to the bathroom along the parade route...cause that will suck.

Flu

As most of you know from reading here, I am psychotic about the flu shot. I know that vaccines are a subject like politics that can get someone upset quickly. I vaccinate my children, and I make sure that I am one of the first in line for flu shots. First off, both Ashley and Audrey have been diagnosed with asthma, Ashley virally induced and Audrey allergy induced, although we have seen it crop up recently more and more. Secondly, Ray ended up in the ER when Ashley was one with the flu. It progressively got worse and worse until we realized he needed some help.

For the second year in a row, I have been asked to join a webinar put on by the CDC about the flu. In my typical fashion, I failed to remember when it was, but they passed on some great information about the flu to me.

This video will make you cry...I only suggest you watch it if you have a box of tissues close by.




It's not too late to get vaccinated...check out CDC.gov/flu for more information.

What we have spent our December doing so far...

I finally sat down at my computer and did some uploading of pictures and stuff. And with the end of December barreling right for us, I thought I would update you guys with some pictures....

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the girls opened one gift early. Ashley also admitted later that day that she wanted to open a "big" gift early; I told her those will wait until Christmas (although I have no idea what big gift she thinks she has under the tree, I barely have anything wrapped for her). Ashley was semi-excited, although she did spend some time on the Webkinz site tonight playing with her dog which she named Lucy. She seems to name everything Lucy.

Audrey, on the other hand, couldn't contain her excitement. This kid would be excited to open a box of cereal. Christmas is going to be so much fun for her this year.
She got a Panda, which Ashley named "Pandy" for her.
We also hosted the PJ exchange last Friday night at our house. Audrey's PJs were adorable (size 2T, the girl is little...).

The aftermath of 10 kids opening gifts....

And then tonight, our favorite 10 year old on our street who comes over for dinner and some homework help every week wanted to play our Wii. The kids played for a while, then we made some cookies, of which Ashley and Audrey love...(they look so innocent here, thinking they are watching Daddy play Mario Kart).
When they are really eating the batter off of some beaters. Thankfully, we were able to send most of the cookies home with our friend. I do not need anymore sweets...

The Inevitable Has Happened....

I know my parents worked hard to keep the presents equal for my twin brother and I when we were little. And with Ray, him and his brother still compare the number of presents they each have (and really, it's just his brother...and he knows it, and he knows I mean it in the most nicest way possible (one year he really did get me coal for Christmas, hence the disclaimer)).

So I am working really hard this Christmas to keep things sort of equal. And a good thing too, because it started this morning.

Ashley pulled the "open one present early" tag off the activity wreath. I had purchased some Webkinz for this occasion (they were buy one get on free at the Justice outlet in Myrtle Beach when we were there).

"Audrey's present is bigger."

"No, it's not. It's the same exact size."

So, this should be an interesting Christmas. We are trying to beat into her head (not literally...) that Christmas isn't just about present and such and who cares if one is bigger than the other. It's the thought that counts, but I am not sure that goes over well with a five year old.

My House Has Become a Black Hole

Ray has been taking Ashley to the library once a week to get her excited about reading and get new books for us to have at home. We also are trying to get Ashley to realize we don't need to buy her new books, she has plenty to choose from at the library.

One of the books has gone missing. Poof, gone, disappeared, no where in our house to be found. I last saw it in our bed when Audrey was reading it. So I am guessing I will have to pay for that one.

So that's one thing missing in the "black hole" of our house. And just let me clarify, our house is not that cluttered. We don't have a lot sitting out, we try to keep toys in their respective rooms in the house. Ray will say we have a lot of crap, but there really isn't that much room for stuff to go missing in. I searched the couch cushions, took apart our bed. It's just gone.

So then Friday night we had that PJ exchange at our house...I of course had two kids I was supposed to buy for. As is my normal fashion, I waited until 5:00pm to wrap the gifts. And of course I could not find one of them. I searched, Ray searched, the pj's were no where to be found.

Grrr.

Thankfully, the one I lost for a just turned one year old, so she didn't even realize I had misplaced her present.

Then last night I remembered I have to turn in Ashley cheerleading uniform at some point this week.

You guessed it, I can't find it. I give up.

Yea, this week?

December has started out with a bang. Audrey had to stay home from school on Monday and Tuesday due to the fact that she may or may not have ringworm (the pediatrician wasn't sure if it was or not). Because Audrey's class had a huge outbreak over 3 months ago, the rules were changed, and any rash resembling ringworm means you stay home for 48 hours.

And then work is kicking my butt. I had a couple of deadlines this week, went out of town for a quick trip yesterday, and we have our "Holiday" party today of which I have to help with because I am on the social committee (I need to learn how to say "no").

Tonight, I am hosting a PJ exchange for some of our friends on the street we see the most. So that meant every night of cleaning and cleaning and prepping for dinner tonight which I secretly love doing. Not the cleaning part (oh, how I miss the cleaning lady...), but the cooking part.

I also started tutoring kids online, had our last band practice before our concert next week, and had to coordinate all the gifts for the teachers for Ashley since today is her last day at school until January 5th. She tracks out and is looking forward to spending some time in camp, at some of the Grandparents houses, and hanging out with us.

Tomorrow both Ashley and Audrey have birthday parties, and Virginia Tech plays in the ACC championship game at 1:00pm. I am so looking forward to sitting back, watching the game, and praying and crossing my fingers they win.

Don't even get me started on next weekend...

Ray made my Christmas this year...

When I was younger, we would get a real Christmas tree. I vividly remember one year nailing the sucker to the floor because we just couldn't get it to stay up. I also remember dragging the thing through the townhouse we lived in, creating a carpet of dead pine needles.

But still, real trees are my favorite.

Last year, we purchased a sad looking artificial tree. It was a pre-lit tree, but we went for the one on sale, and it looked pretty sad.

It looked even sadder Sunday night when I put it up and half the lights were blown. It was my only chance to try and convince Ray to get a real tree. The stars must of been aligned, because he agreed, and off we were to buy a stand and then to the local tree lot to get a tree.

It is really lovely, the house smells like Christmas, the kids love it. Now if I could only convince him that I need another tree...

Throw-up, snot, coughing and ringworm

That pretty much sums up the past 5 days. Audrey started with a nasty cough on Tuesday night which was wonderful since she was sleeping in my bed and decided to cough so bad she would throw up on my pillow. We ended up taking her to a doctor in Myrtle Beach who gave her some steroids and other drugs. The steroids made Audrey completely irritable and cranky, but it did bring back her appetite. For a girl who is turning 3 in January, she only weighs 26 pounds.

We did have a good time in Myrtle, though. Audrey was well enough to go to Broadway at the Beach and to go with her sister to get a pedicure and manicure at a nail place that had kid chairs. We also had a great time with our friends on Thanksgiving Day.

The other throw up incident was on the trip to Myrtle. Tootles, our lovely dog, decided to get car sick and throw up all over Ray. I thought it was comical, Ray did not. On the way home, she stayed in her cage and did fine.

And then this morning, I get Audrey to school and she always uses the restroom and washes her hands before I leave. As I rolled up her sleeves to wash her hands, I noticed a perfectly circular rash near her elbow. I asked her teacher, and yup, it is ringworm. There was an epidemic of it in Audrey's class almost 2 months ago - I have no idea what the incubation period is for ringworm. Another parent arrived at this time and started to freak out that Audrey was standing there with ringworm. Lucky for Audrey, this means no school for 48 hours. Ray is taking her to the pediatrician this morning while I head into work.