Merry Merry Christmas

This picture is from the last week of ballet before Christmas.  I just love it and had to post it before we moved on to Christmas!

On Dec. 22nd we went to a fun cookie party at the zoo....the girls had a blast and high on sugar till bedtime!  Thank you to Frances and her mama and aunts for having us!

Now onto the big day.....we had a wonderful Christmas Eve.  Siggi and Frank meet us at church for the noon service.  Elizabeth Magee was so excited to have them at church.  Then, Pops came and we had a fun visit with Melissa and Thorne.  We had a big family dinner with Aunt Cindy and fam.  When I tucked EM into bed she said, "Aunt Cindy is so much fun."  Elizabeth Magee was very apprehensive about Santa.  She kept saying that "Santa does not come downstairs."  She was very insistent that her roman shade be all the way down......(Our house is kinda flipped flopped and the children's rooms are downstairs and most of the house upstairs)

The girls got up around 7 this morning.  Oliver told Elizabeth Magee that Santa had come  and she said, "But I didn't hear the jingle bells and I stayed up all night."

Mary Thorne was a hoot today.  She loved Christmas for all its worth.  She played with each thing as she opened it.  She ate everything in her stocking.  She put on her tutu.  She loves her grandfathers.

Elizabeth Magee loves Siggi so much.  Tonight at dinner she asked me why Siggi had to leave.  I told her that Siggi had to go to her house.  She said, "But I love her so much.  She's my favorite person."  Elizabeth Magee has such a sweet spirit.  Tonight she asked Oliver, "Did you have a good Christmas Daddy?'  He said yes and she said, "Did you like your presents?"

She likes her skates but her favorite thing has been the paddle ball from the Dollar Tree.  She has said  1000 times today that she wants to keep it forever and please mama let's not give this away.....

And Poppy....she is her own person....she loved her pony but wasn't so much into Christmas.  About half way through opening presents we realized she wasn't in the room.  Pops found her downstairs playing by herself with a rubber duck.

She has cried every time her sisters have gotten on the pony.....tonight she had to get one last ride in after bath:

It was a very Merry Merry Christmas.  As Oliver said tonight, "Christmases just get better and better."

Library Fancy Nancy Party

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again but our library is AMAZING.  I've heard the programs only get better as you get older but that's hard to believe because the pre-school programs are out of this world.  Yesterday the library hosted a Fancy Nancy Hair Boutique.  This was our second year to attend.....and Elizabeth Magee participated this year!  She was so proud of her hair and I must say she looked adorable!

These are the silliest two little girls and we love Annie so much!  The twins routinely start asking for Annie around 4 o'clock!

CHICAGO

Eataly.  I could run away and just go to Eataly.  We spent the last few days in Chicago, sans kids, and literally ate our way through the city with some really good friends.  One the way home Oliver and I were talking and he said, "You know to me vacation is eating REALLY good."  That we did.   If you've never been to Eataly before, you need to put it on your bucket list.  A gourmet Italian super market doesn't even begin to describe it.....but this picture of cheese kinda does:

In between eating...we took in the beautiful, clean city.....we looked at fancy cars.....

This was our cheese plate at Acanto....in the middle is a parmesan cheese that is MELTED....we all double dipped in that goodness!

The Bean is where Emily and Sean got engaged.  It's really neat...if you look close you can see Emily taking our picture in the Bean!

This was lunch at The Purple Pig - they say that when a pig drinks wine and gets drunk she will turn purple.  Not sure if that is true but the food good.....the meat and cheese was better than our food but I'd go back!

We saw the Bears play the Saints last night -- very unreal how different 8:47 is at home versus on vacation --- but anyway -- the Bears lost.  At the half, the Bears fans BOOED their team off the field. It kinda shocked me.  Even if the Bears weren't impressive, Solider Field was VERY impressive.  On the way into the stadium Oliver noticed a Tahoe with a Leflore County tag....he stuck his head our the window and saw Gary Woody!  Small world!

I don't have a picture but we ate at this Italian place called Sapori.  AMAZING.  Emily got a picture and I need to update with it.  If you are going to Chicago - Spori is a must!

Giving Thanks!

Our Thanksgiving was full and fun and exhausting!  We crammed a lot of visiting and food into our trip home.   We spent Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving in Oxford.  It was cold, but we enjoyed the Square.  We don't have a house phone and I've realized Elizabeth Magee doesn't really recognize a real, landline telephone (much less a phone booth)! When one rings at someone else's house she jumps and asks, "What's that?"
 

We ate at Ajax on Wednesday night.  Oliver was a little distraught that no one wanted to sit on his side of the booth!  It was a good reminder of why we don't eat out with the girls.......

 Thanksgiving we had a cold, beautiful day at Taylor with the Williams' clan.  It was so fun to have everyone together and see the cousins play --- Aunt Cindy outdid herself with games for all ages!

5 Brothers, Wives, Children, In-Laws, Grandchildren, Great-Grandchildren and two dogs!

On Friday, we celebrated birthday #8 for the twins -- I can't believe they are 8!  Poppy is still looking JUST like Strain to me!  Isn't it funny how genetics work?  She and Strain are second cousins (their dad is Oliver's first cousin) but they REALLY favor.....something about the eyes I think!

We got home on Sunday in time for EM and Oliver to get our tree.....we decorated it with only non-breakable ornaments this year....it looks a little bare but that's better than broken glass!

Santa - First Attempt

The other day I was on facebook and found a picture from the day that Annie and Elizabeth Magee first met -- November 21, 2011 -- at an Ole Miss game.  I texted Cathy and said we had to take the girls for ice cream for their "anniversary" -- they thought it was a great idea!

This morning we decided to go see Santa.  We talked about it for the last two days and our neighbors were there at the same time as us.....waiting for Santa was fun......

Seeing Santa was not so fun.  In the first 10 seconds Santa said, "I think this is going to be a family picture." He was right.

Maybe between now and Christmas we will try again......

Living the Life!

We've been trying to get a Christmas card picture.  This picture isn't it....but I REALLY wanted it to be --- it so captures who they are right now.   Elizabeth Magee the little mama, Poppy the laid back content one, and Mary Thorne.....who really needs me to hold her every minute of every day....and standing four feet away by the camera is to far away!

These two.  They got in trouble at school yesterday.  When I went to pick them up there was an Accident Report and the director.  Apparently, they were fighting in the corner and were not making a sound but literally scratching each other's faces.  The teacher determined that Mary Thorne was the "victim" because she was scratched up the most....and they were mad at each other all day.  Then this morning, I found them asleep like this.  Mary Thorne determined that Poppy's day will not start without her!

Look at all that in the baby bed!  Poppy insists on taking 10 animals to bed...and that blanket you see in the corner...it's the baby doll Blanket that Poppy made for Elizabeth Magee's baby bed.  But it has dogs on it and Poppy loves it.  I think we are going to ring in the New Year with big girl beds so trying to capture each of these sweet moments in the crib!

My Kinda Weekend

 We had a low key weekend at home.  It was kinda perfect.  We needed it after all our travels to Mississippi the last two months.  How cute is our sweet neighbor, Olivia?  We all love her...I'm glad my girls have such a sweet girl to look up to on our street.  She went home on Friday with a few my Readers Digest books -- including Christy.  We talk Little House on the Prairie and I can't get enough of those conversations!

Mary Thorne has discovered kissing.  She loves it.  She kisses everyone but this special kiss was just for daddy.

Oliver can still old all three.  I can't.  I can barely make it up the stairs with two these days.

It was FINALLY Halloween!

Our ACTUAL (and final) Halloween was so fun.  I love that we are developing our own family traditions here....we celebrated just as we have the past two years - walk down to the Crestline Village Parade and then head to the Stuermann's house for kid dinner and trick or treating.  They literally have hundreds of trick or treaters.  We had not one -- and we live right around the corner...I'm not complaining....I'll gladly donate candy :) The weather turned from the high 80s earlier in the week to the 40s on Halloween......never know what you will get in October in Birmingham!

Poppy was not happy before the parade.  She did not want to be a chicken.  She wanted to be the cow but EM got up from her nap first and had already claimed the cow.  Note to self for next year --- 3 matching costumes!

 Elizabeth Magee wore this costume TWO years ago....and it still fits.  It's an 18 month.  REALLY????

I'm so glad I captured this expression of Mary Thorne.  This expression is the one she gets on her face when I've escaped her for a few minutes, and then she sees me, and she makes a beeline to get me to pick her up.  This is the sweet, determined to be held every single second, face I see all day everyday!

After trick-or-treating we put everyone in the car and headed to Senatobia.  Net watched the girls while Oliver and I escaped for a few hours to Oxford.  We didn't win but it was a fun (and very cold) day!

If you didn't know Net when I was little this picture doesn't say a lot but she is letting the girls put honey on their own toast.  That would have NEVER happened when I was little.  I think she spoon feed me on the counter till I was 7.  Poppy and Biscuit dropped by to visit and left goodies for the girls.  Mary Thorne thought that Santa had come when she woke up and saw her new tutu!  This sweet child loves a tutu.....

These two.  They actually fit in the babydoll stroller....they love to play with each other and are loving doing the same thing at the same time.....we are starting potty training! Wish us luck!

Pre-Halloween Parties

Our kitchen is ALMOST finished.  After today the only thing left will be to hang the vent-a-hood.  I've been unpacking the boxes and they have provided hours of entertainment.  These two prefer to be put inside the box to color.  We went for our 18 month wellness visits yesterday - Poppy was 20.4 pounds and 32.5 inches (5% for weight and 50% for height).  We didn't make it home with Mary Thorne's stat sheet but I believe she was 21.8 pounds and 34 inches (9% for weight and 90% for height).

We've lived here two years this month and I'm still shocked at how much this town loves Halloween. A friend of ours threw a party at Overton Park on Monday.  It was almost 90 decrees so we left off all tights and undershirts!

Annie and Elizabeth Magee both wanted to be mouses....they were pretty funny looking.  EM's 2T costume was very short and Annie's 4T costume was very long......they were kinda perfect looking :)

Mary Thorne made a pretty cute chicken....and Poppy was adorable in EM's old cow costume :)

Even our local retirement homes holds a party for the children.  Last night they had all the children over for dinner and trick or treating.  That is the best way to trick or treat.  Hallways filled with candy and people willing to let you have as much as you wanted.  At the beginning of the night, Poppy and Mary Thorne didn't want to hold their pumpkins.  By the end of they night, they completely wanted to hold them......I think they learned how to "trick or treat."

Elizabeth Magee decided to be the cow, Mary Thorne wanted to be Minnie Mouse, and Poppy was a Pig!  We can't wait for the real Halloween parade, parties, and trick or treating tonight!