New Years Eve!

We wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year! We had hoped to do something with friends, but had a hard time finding people at home. So, this year, we're going low key and spending it with the girls at home. You would think they would be tired, but so far we haven't been that lucky. Whatever your plans, we hope you have a safe and fun night!

School Break Fun

The girls have had so much fun this school break. Riley has used the time to play with all her friends in the neighborhood. She has had two sleepovers already. Last night, we hosted the sleepover. The two kids who live behind us came over for pizza, played all evening, and then they all crashed in sleeping bags on the floor. This morning Doug got up really early to play golf. It wouldn't have been that bad except the kids were up until about 11:30 last night. There was no sleeping in though. All four kids were awake by 7:30 and had a big breakfast of pancakes. Then they played all morning here and all afternoon at the other house and outside. I'm really glad that Riley has lots of friends in the neighborhood. Kamryn isn't as lucky, but it doesn't slow her down. She just follows along with everybody and works hard to keep up. It makes her mad when they take off on their bikes or run too fast, but they usually do a good job including her. Due to the girls playing with all the neighbor kids, they have already requested an item for Christmas next year - a wii. Several of the area kids got them for Christmas and Riley has really had a blast paying. We've already laid down the rules of what she has to do in order to even think about getting one next year. We'll see how it goes. It would be a big move for us as neither Doug nor I grew up with any kind of video game system and really don't see what all the fuss is about. Having said that, we have played the wii with friends and do enjoy it. We have a year to figure it out.

Fingers

Kamryn got some Hello Kitty nails to wear and had to put them on. Doug actually helped with this as I was getting dinner ready. She was so proud to have her nails on, until she realized she couldn't do anything. They didn't stay on for long. In the picture you'll notice she's missing two nails. It wasn't an accident nor were they lost. If you look closely you'll see her fingers are a little bruised (or at least one is). They day before (Christmas Eve morning) we were heading out to the gym and Riley accidentally slammed Kamryn's fingers in the door. It was very traumatic for Kamryn and it took FOREVER to get her to calm down. We were concerned because we could tell that they really hurt and she wouldn't move her ring finger at all. So, we called a friend who is a nurse and she said that unless the finger was misshapen in some way, there was nothing that could really be done. So, that info saved us a trip to the doctor or hospital. She recommended ice (already done), a splint, and taping the fingers together. It took awhile to find something to use for a splint, but we did. Kamryn milked it for all it was worth. She cradled her hand and got people to do pretty much everything for her. When we had gotten to Ocala that evening, she showed of her fingers with pride and told everyone the story. We took the splint off Christmas afternoon and she favored those fingers for a little bit (they were still a little tender), but by that night she seemed fine. Her finger is still blue/purple (especially the nail) but is healing nicely. We're glad we had friends who know so much!

Christmas Day

Our Christmas morning turned out to be quite wonderful! It usually is, but this year was better because Doug had insisted I have everything wrapped by Tuesday so I wouldn't be stuck wrapping until all hours of the night. Too bad my mom didn't follow that same advice! Instead of going to Ocala with us, she went to St. Pete and picked up my grandfather. We knew they would get back before us and told her to use that time to get as much done as possible. Well, she wasn't quite finished when we got back. I helped her finish and then is was off to bed so we'd ready for the morning. Our girls are early risers and this day was no different. They were up and ready to go by 7:15 or so. Doug had actually woken up early and gone to the hotel to pick up my grandfather and was back a little after 7:30. The girls could hardly wait to tear into their presents. We try and have a system and stockings go first. So, we all took turns going through our stockings and seeing what was there.

The girls checking out their stockings!

Somehow, Santa was able to bring the girls everything on their list. He must have some really good elves because Kamryn even got her pink firetruck and a pink ambulance - both a hit. The girls also got what they had asked us for and a few little surprises. All in all, they did very well and got way too much stuff. Poppop (my grandfather) really enjoyed watching them open their gifts and we were glad he could be there with us. It's not often you have four generations in a family together at one time.

After our presents were done, Doug made a great breakfast of cinnamon rolls and eggs. We were done with everything (breakfast included) by 10:30 and figured Vic, Josie and the kids (our family in Ocala) were probably just getting up. We keep hoping one day our kids might sleep in, but it is still just a dream now. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing with presents. It also was spent trying to figure out why our floor was getting wet. It ended up we had a leak under our sink. Fortunately, we were able to still make dinner and do the dishes. We arranged for someone to come and look at it the next day and found out our disposal was shot. Oh well, first the air conditioner and then the disposal. At least we were able to get both fixed and pretty quickly.

We hope all of you had a wonderful day with your families as well!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent with Doug's family in Ocala. We always try to spend some time with them either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It usually depends on what day the holiday falls and Doug's schedule at work. Christmas Eve is our favorite time to go though. We headed up there in the afternoon and the girls had fun playing with their cousins, aunt and uncle, and grandpa. The girls played basketball, fuse ball, ping pong and rode scooters/skateboards and even took Madison (their dog) for a walk. They had a blast!! After a wonderful dinner and some more fun, it was present ans dessert time. Then, it was time to head home. We're so glad that we have some family that lives close enough to visit during the holidays. We really treasure those times with them and we enjoy seeing them throughout the year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

We want to wish you all a Merry Christmas! We feel so blessed to have such a great family and awesome friends in our lives. Thank you for being the great people you are!!

White Christmas

The girls had a white Christmas after all. Just take a look!!

At least, white as flour can get you! I thought it would be fun to make cookies with the girls. I had done this when Riley was young, but that was awhile ago. I'm just glad my mom was here to help. With the two of them, I needed the extra hands to help with the dough and placing the cookies on the pans. Kamryn's favorite part was putting the flour down on the table and on the dough. She became an excellent cookie cutter outer. Riley was also great and laughed as she started getting "dirty". Well, as you can see, by the end they had flour everywhere! It was awesome!! The girls decided we should use sprinkles on some cookies and then ice the others. They all turned out quite yummy! Riley picked out some friends in the neighborhood to take them too and she has been having fun delivering them.

Getting the dough ready

The rolling and cookie cutting process

The finished product!! YUM!!