Makeovers

Look who got into the new makeup kit Sophia got for her birthday....

I came downstairs in the morning and saw the makeup kit all over the basement floor. My head started snapping around trying to find who had gotten into it when Kate and Ceci popped out from behind the couch with huge grins. It was hard to get mad at them. I did have to promise Sophia that I'd buy her a new one though.

Gym time

Entering the gym locker room with Ceci and Katie feels like walking through a minefield. All the naked women of various shapes and sizes is too much for them to ignore. They have not mastered the "no eye contact" walk down the aisle and aren't afraid to stare and point as we make our way to the row closest to the pool entrance.

Yesterday after swim class Katie pointed at a large woman changing next to us and said:

"She has BIG underpants!"

I looked over and she did indeed have large underpants on. I just said: "Yes, she is wearing underpants. We all wear underpants."

Katie: "No mom. I said she has BIG UNDERPANTS!"

Ceci looks over now: "Those are BIG WHITE underpants!"

Now the whole row is snorting trying not make eye contact with the big white underpants or anyone else because we'll all lose it.

No more damage control can be done at this point. I just give the smile and shoulder shrug I've done many times.

Christmas parties

There were lots of festivites before Christmas. I'm going to try to condense it all here.

I signed the girls up for a gingerbread house decorating session at the park district. I should have known that having candy covered houses in our living room would be a nightmare. The girls kept grabbing pieces and when the low hanging fruit was gone they'd do everything they could to detach pieces of stale gumdrops from the frosting front yards. Here are some pictures from the workshop. We definitely got our money worth. I think they consumed more candy than actually went onto the houses.

Another highlight was the University Club party to see the real Santa. They stepped up the danger factor with the animals this year. They had an assortment of reptiles including a LARGE alligator roaming around. Initially I was worried it would use it's tail to smack a child. When I took a closer look I realized he had a full set of teeth and no restraints. Rick asked the handler, since that didn't seem possible, but he confirmed that the gator didn't have his jaw wired and "reassured" Rick that he had never bitten anyone.

Here it is eyeing Ceci's candy cane. I'm not sure it was a wise idea to have the animals stationed right where the kids exited from seeing Santa candy canes in hand.

Here are the girls in their dresses in front of our tree which was kind of puny this year.

Shopping for that tree. It looked bigger on the lot.

The St Joseph Preschool Christmas show was the last of our pre-Christmas events. Ella did a great job with her partner...who else...Sean. I'll post video at the end that Rick took.
Katie and Ceci looked cute in the skirts Kelly and John gave them for their birthday.
Who's having more fun? The little girl next to them kept trying to get in the picture while her mom was yelling for her to move. I was just happy Katie and Ceci were standing still for ten seconds.
Just takes a hug from Ceci to get a smile:
The hug got a little crazy and they pulled down the sign. It was after the performance though so I don't think anyone noticed.
And here is Ella with her bff:

Thanksgiving

Two months later I'm finally posting some pictures from Thanksgiving. We had a nice, relaxed time at home with the Bergmanns and both sets of grandparents. I cooked dinner with lots of help.

Here's my beautiful turkey:

and Katie, my little sneaker, taking a piece of my garnish. She is obsessed with clementines. She eats one a day and would eat a 5lb bag if I let her.

The girls made place cards:

Here are the kids at their table. Aunt Bobby made beautiful scarves for them that they put on right away.

Ella wore the turkey hat she made at school all evening.

Happy Birthday Katie and Cecilia!

Katie and Ceci turned 3 years old on November 21st. We celebrated with a party with friends and family including grandma and grandpa Patterson who came from California.

It has been a big year for the girls. They started school and can now go to activities without mom. They LOVE swim class. Ceci tells their teacher to let go of her and just let her swim. She is fearless and doesn't hesitate to plunge her head underwater. Katie also loves the water but is more timid than Ceci. She'll stick her face in and then pull it up with a huge smile saying "Mom! Mom! Look...I did it!" They have so much fun together splashing and cheering each other on. It's amazing to watch their relationship evolve. They really care about each other and have a special connection.

Katie is as sweet as can be but also always thinking of ways to get into mischief. She'll look up and me and say "You're the best mommy in the whole world!" or tell a little secret to me which is usually "I love you". The next moment she's writing on the walls or cutting the tails off of Sophia's stuffed animals. There is always a big apology afterward. She's the first one up in the morning and comes right into our room between 5:30 and 6:30am. She's very cheery and wants to talk and talk and talk and talk. Our little morning ray of sunshine. If someone doesn't get up with her she goes back to her room and wakes up Cecilia so she has a playmate. This year she started school and loves going and playing with her friends. Her favorite is the dollhouse where she'll sit and play family with the dolls.

Cecilia goes with the flow and is such a joy to hang out with. She's always smiling. She loves playing with other children and goes out of her way to make friends wherever we are. At the park she doesn't hesitate to go up to a group of older kids and say "Hey guys, here I am!" and just joins in the game. She loves to sit on my lap and read books or play. She plays with Polly Pockets and will sit and change the clothes and act out families all by herself.

The girls are playing together so well and always look out for each other. I love watching them grow up and mature.

Here are some pictures from their party:



Daniel came and managed to sleep through most of the festivities.



There wasn't a cohesive theme. I thought it would be fun for them to pick out their own cakes so we all went to Jewel to flip through the big cake binder where they picked and then changed their minds over and over with help from their sisters. Finally we settled on Care Bears and Tinkerbell with a Scooby Doo pinata. Scooby Doo is their obsession right now.

Permanent Pedi

Katie came up from the basement this afternoon and said "Mom, Mom, look at my toes!!"

She had given herself a pedicure.

With a Sharpie:

Halloween

We had a lively Halloween. The neighborhood was hopping despite the chilly temps. Katie and Ceci didn't remember last year so were thrilled all over again to get candy from strangers and managed to keep up for a while in the mad sprint from house to house with their cousins and big sisters.

Here is the crew:

Sophia was Hannah Montana. The wig didn't last long.Katie put on a hat but didn't want to ditch the tiara:
The adults on Greenwood dress up as well. Our neighbor John was Batman:
Ceci was very concerned to see the Riddler a block later. We assured her that nothing bad would happen to Sean's dad:The real excitement of the evening was the arrival of cousin Daniel at 10:15pm. Elizabeth went home and her water broke while reading stories to Anna:

And of course there was the day after candy breakfast. Sophia took an inventory to make sure her full size Skittles were still there. We passed out 400+ pieces of candy. I couldn't believe how many large candy bars they got. Must have been someone new to Kenilworth Gardens.