desiree day 1

Desiree is here! God held the rain back just long enough for me to drive down to the airport and back to get her..... good thing, because I was really a little nervous to drive down there with all three kids in the torrential downpour and 75 mph winds!

Fortunately, she made it in yesterday just as they began canceling and postponing all the flights so we didn't lose any time!

This was us sitting in the cell phone lot, waiting for her to call us to come get her. Tella had had enough of her carseat, so I set her in the seat next to me. (disclaimer: the car was turned off, and for the record she was not chewing gum. I just let her bite the package for a few minutes to keep her happy. )

This is the other two waiting...... doing their dinosaur faces...

The kids immediately took to Aunt Desiree, and even let her pick a show for them to watch. Yes, JD is nude again. Always.

And this is us today, shopping at Trader Joe's.

What did we do? James got us breakfast burritos. Then we bummed around. At around 1 pm James took the kids and Desiree and I whisked off to Marshall's, Old Navy, Trader Joe's, and finally a movie. We came home to James cleaning the kitchen, having already fed the kids, with dinner ready for us. He had taken the kids to see a movie too. All three of them. Gutsy! Yes, my husband is incredible. Yes, he's better than yours. No, you can't have him.

Tomorrow we're off to Cafe 222 for Desiree's birthday meal. We were going to go to dinner, but have decided on breakfast instead....so we can sample Bobby Flay's favorite breakfast!!!!!

Ten on Tuesday

My friend Susie (and a bunch of others I know) do a Ten on Tuesday post. So, here is my first attempt at my own Ten on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it's still Monday, but if you don't read it 'til tomorrow then it will be right on time! Ha!

1. Today ends our several month long separation from......... THE FOOD NETWORK! Our cable company dropped it from their basic cable service so we've been pondering about what to do. It's our staple for TV watching. So, my loving husband did lots of research and pricing and we've decided to get upgraded cable from Dish. HOOOOOORRRAAAYYY!

2. I'm finally weaning our baby Tella. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. She, unfortunately, is not loving being cut off. She does, however, LOVE MILK ! good thing, otherwise I'd be in big trouble.....

3. I am having such a hard time keeping my hands off all the Valentine's Day stuff. Having a

V-day baby is just sooo fun!

4. I'm just now getting around to a New Years Resolution/Word for the year. This year it's

extraordinary. Like, doing things out of the ordinary... adding spice, unexpectedness (word?), shaking it up. Extra ordinary. This will be the 30th year of my life in September, so I'm thinking of ending the 20's with some extraordinary stuff. If I can think of stuff!!! Definitely up for suggestions!

5. Speaking of 30th birthdays, my friend Desiree is coming to visit for a few days. Her husband bought her ticket as her gift for her 30th. I'm really excited! It's been so long since any of my friends have visited from home! And, HELLO, it's hard when your two best friends live on the other side of the country!

6. Speaking of best friends, my other BFF -Brandy - is pregnant with her first baby. I'm dying to know what she's having but I've promised to stop pestering her. It ends here Bran, I promise. I am having fun planning out my gifts for her though. And I'll get to see baby Hogan this summer when we spend 2 weeks at the jersey shore!!! no, my jersey shore is nothing like the show "jersey shore". It bugs me that all those people are from NY claiming it's their place. My jersey shore is the best vacation you could ever take your kids on.

7. Tella's been trying to talk. Tonight she said "baby"!

8. I don't like Capri's ballet teacher. She's mean, rude, and cold. I'm trying and trying to teach my kids kindness and love, and this teacher is not exemplifying ANY of that. My lovely neighbor has a friend that teaches ballet, and we might just switch up.

9. Tonight is our HOA meeting. Though we've lived here 2 1/2 years it's only our second meeting. I'm bringing up that we have a RAT problem in our neighborhood, and a few other issues. I'm that nosy neighbor you see in the movies, I like it though, and so does my neighbor sarah who's just like me.

10. I secretly like Lady Gaga... I know it's bad. She's just so stinkin' catchy, and ummmmm extraordinary!

Christmas Faces

I'm so lame, I know it's a month past Christmas.

You still want to see Christmas pictures don't you??

Sure you do!

I thought these faces were too good not to share!

Capri's reaction to a Polly Pocket Cruise Ship (that Daddy spent ALL NIGHT at Toys R Us on black friday to obtain)

JD's sea exploration gear, all set up and mid-game...

Christmas Eve at church...

Capri's celebratory mood...

And, well, who could resist posting this one of little Tella??

Merry (extra belated) Christmas!

A small post, more of Capri's party

Here are a few more birthday pictures...

This is of her & her AMAZING cake, right after we sang.

Daddy & Capri ran the games... We got stuck inside because of terrible rain, so we had to think on our feet and get some games going to keep the kids occupied.

The BEAUTIFUL decorations, courtesy of my sister Gabby and my mom. They did such a great job. There were lots of treats on the table, none of which anyone ate! Except for the cake of course.

Capri took the butterflies out of the cake and put them in her hair. She wasn't trying to be funny, that's just how she is. A wild imagination. I think she was pretending she was a butterfly too.

one last shot of the cake....

and there you have it. Christmas post is next.

You're missing...

.....a nice post (that should've been done a month ago) on Capri's birthday. I haven't neglected doing it, I just can't. The PROBLEM is getting the pictures to load here onto the blog. I have no idea how to get things moving. I think it's our internet connection which I have no idea how to fix. So I'll continue trying.

Meanwhile, here is the one picture that did load- the welcome banner for the party. How cute is that???

The Reluctant/Totally Excited Ballerina

Capri has been so excited to get back into ballet. She's been anticipating it, and talking about it, and preparing herself for it. But, when we finally get around to the day/time of her class this is what always happens:

Fortunately, I've done this a time or two. Because I knew once we got there this would happen:

Despite the face on her in this picture she really was enjoying it. There's to be NO photography during the class so I had to sneak... so obviously my choices for picture posting are limited.

Upon arrival her new instructor (who spoke so slowly & quietly I could barely hear) did manage to say loud enough that Capri's ballet shoes were done perfectly (ahem, that was me!!). I noticed she had to stop and re-tie the bows on some of the other girls shoes throughout the class (a big no-no!) I couldn't have been more proud of our preparedness! Capri was sort of nervous, but managed along without a hitch! Also, and this gets me every time, she was noticeably taller than the other girls. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but I'm only 5'2". I married a tall husband on purpose, and it seems my smart choices are paying off!

I did not, however, count on the baby being such a problem! She was wild. Not loud, but just everywhere. I'll have to find another arrangement for her and JD during ballet. It's just too crazy to try and keep the two of them entertained and quiet in the hallway the community center calls a viewing area. I miss our other location, it was so much closer, convenient, and family friendly.

What happened to your gingerbread house?

Here is our gingerbread house, all completed on Christmas Eve. It turned out great! My husband has really gotten good at this lovely tradition, we've had lots of years of not so great experiences to learn from. This year was the best by far! The kids loved doing it, and it really looked great. For the first time though they wanted to eat it.... so we made 'em wait 'til after Christmas.

And here's what happened!!!!!!

Capri daintily and thoughtfully chose the candies she wanted to eat off the roof, and JD went buck wild biting the roof itself! Hilarious!