“Christmas Joy”…STARING Hadley and Seville!

Last night was the annual “Christmas Joy” service at my Mom and Jon’s church. They said it was the fourth annual, and I think we have made it to all four! This year Hadley got recruited in advance to be an angel during the nativity scene. She took her role very seriously and even knelt down beside the manager and acted like she was praying. When we arrived last night a lady came up and asked us if Seville could be a sheep for the same scene. Well, I must admit that with Seville’s strong willed personality my first gut reaction was to say “are you kidding,” but my mind moved quickly past that and I thought that if there is anything Seville is ready for it would be to play the role of a sheep…she has had that “baa” sound down for months and months now and will ALWAYS say it on cue. Well, they had a little sheep headband for her to wear and when her time came we plopped her up on stage and she just stood there, left the headband in place and was quite the little sheep if I do say so myself (even if she did leave her fingers in her mouth the whole time...sigh!)

(note her hands in position!) After the nativity scene it was time to sing Jingle Bells!

Don't they make a cute sheep and angel?

Yesterday afternoon Scott, Kristi and I took the big girls to see “The Nutcraker: All Jazzed Up”, which was put on by the girls’ dance studio. It was very cute, and I think we all enjoyed it. Hadley and Alyson can try out to be in it once they are six. That will be so fun!

Friday night Alyson asked Hadley to spend the night, so we were down to one kid for the evening and went out to Panzon’s for dinner. Seville was so, so good at dinner…better than she has ever been! Boy does that girl love chips and salsa! We always enjoy our one-on-one time with Seville since she doesn’t tend to get it as often as her big sis!

Have a great week everyone! I high doubt I will have anytime to post!

Oreo Turkeys and Mini Horses for Thanksgiving!

We've had a great and busy Thanksgiving week. It is my tradition the last several years to always take the week of Thanksgiving off and get some stuff done around the house (fun stuff ya know...like filing, closets, projects that I never have enough time to do, etc.!) My list is always much bigger than I can accomplish and then I feel bad at the end of the week because I hardly crossed anything off it, but owell! This year was no different...especially since we had a lot of conflicts that prevented me from getting my list done...but that is okay because it was a really good week and I feel overall pretty good about it. What I didn't get done will just have to wait until I am off at Christmas, although it seems even harder to get things done that week!

We drove to a wedding and back all day Saturday, then on Sunday we helped my dad set-up his new computer/wireless internet/wireless printer and attended a birthday party for one of the boys on our street. On Monday I had lunch with my good friend Aundria and her son Laith and then I had a doctor appt. Tuesday I actually brought breakfast to Aundria and Laith because I had to drop something off at their house, and then I got several items on my list done. YEAH! I got my hair cut that night. Wednesday Hadley was off of school so we met Kristi and Alyson for lunch and then ran a BUNCH of errands. When we got home we packed for the lake and then headed out the door as soon as Scott and Seville got home.

This was the first year that my dad's side of the family has decided to celebrate Thanksgiving together down at the lake. We all got down late on Wednesday night and then left on Friday. We had a great time and I definitely want to do it again! We all pitched in and made Thanksgiving dinner and I think it turned out really great!

While we were down there my oldest niece, who is a nanny, helped the girls make this neat Thanksgiving treat. They are turkeys made out of oreos, peanut butter cups and candy corn. So cute!

Seville was more interested in eating the turkey than making it!

This is my youngest niece Jacqueline (JJ) and Hadley!
My oldest niece Francesca...the ring leader for this project!

Finished product!It was such a beautiful day we were able to make them on the deck overlooking the lake!
A few houses up from my dad's lake house they have three mini horses. I think they are the cutest things ever! Don't you just want to do their hair...look at those bangs! Needless to say the girls loved these mini horses!

Finally, here is the whole family. Yep, that is it...we aren't very big. My dad actually took this picture using his tiny point and shoot camera on a tiny tripod and used the timer. No bad! Back row from left to right: My brother Johnny (John), niece Jacqueline, nephew Sam, sister Shawn, her husband Frank, Scott. Front row from left to right: My niece Francesca, step-mom Pat, dad John, me, Seville and Hadley!

We decorated the house yesterday and then got together with my mom and some family that was in town. Today we celebrate with Susie, Jim and Craig! Overall it has been a really great week and it makes me realize once again how much less stressed I am when I am not working! Sigh! Owell...tomorrow I will be back at it...at least for a few weeks and then I am off for Christmas! I truly can't wait!

On a side note, our schedule is completely jam packed for the next few weeks...how about everyone else?

Have a great week everyone!

P.S. I did not get to the Mexico pictures this week, but I hope to do that soon! I still want to post them. I am sure there are some really cute ones, but to be totally honest I haven't even looked at them. I have been too busy messing with other stuff! Why can't there be more hours in the day!

I forgot to post these...in SEPTEMBER!!

Well, I always thought I would get around to posting these pictures and writing about my AWESOME birthday weekend (in September), but here it is three months later and I haven't, so I thought I might as well share the pictures and a little background on them. I know one of them Kristi has been waiting to see for a long time! It seems silly to talk about my birthday now since it was so long ago, but it really was the best birthday I have had in a really long time. Scott and Kristi took extra effort to make sure it was extra special...even if we did have to dodge a few tornadoes on Friday night! After the tornadoes cleared we all celebrated and I would have been plenty happy if it all stopped there! When we said goodbye Friday night Kristi told me they were headed to Warrensburg the next morning which is totally normal since they were only home like two weekends this whole summer. So you can imagine the look on my face when I walked down the stairs Saturday morning getting ready to go to Panera and run some errands with Scott and the girls when I saw Kristi standing on my front porch. They had stayed in town and arranged a fun morning for me including breakfast at Panera (my favorite) and a surprise pedicure! It was great! I am so lucky to have Scott and Kristi in my life!

Kristi and I have joked ever since that even though we would like to keep pedicures as part of our birthday traditions (we went for her birthday in June too), we would like to do away with the tornadoes since we just barely got home from her celebration in time for the sirens to go off. What is the deal with tornadoes on our birthdays? TOES - TORNADOES = PERFECT BIRTHDAY!

So, here is the background on these pics. We had planned on taking the girls somewhere fun to celebrate on Friday night, but the tornadoes put a kink in our plans and we ended up at the mall after dinner. Our ever cautious and timid Hadley surprised us and wanted to try the new trampolines in the mall, while Alyson the always outgoing one wanted nothing to do with them. Go figure! We let Hadley try it and figured she would want off after the first few jumps...much to our surprise that was not the case at all! She LOVED it and after her turn was over asked to do it again! I guess I should have gone since it was my birthday, but it was so fun watching her!

Ready to go!

Listening to instructions!
And she's off...

higher...

higher...

coming down...

"Mommy, Daddy...can I go again!!!!!"

Here is the picture Kristi has been waiting for. The weekend after my birthday we had Alyson over to spend the night and I thought it would be fun for the girls to sleep in a tent. They loved it and stayed in there all night!

We just set it up on the bed in our guest bedroom with the TV in clear view out the "front door"! They had so much fun watching movies, eating popcorn/candy and of course sleeping in the tent! Actually, Hadley had so much fun she slept there for the next week or so!

The NOT So Desperate Housewives!

I have been too swamped and too stressed to even begin to post, but I thought I would throw out two quick pictures to give everyone a good laugh for their Monday morning! My week is shaping up to be a not very good one with too many things to do, too few hours, and many, many conflicts, but owell! Somehow what needs to get done will get done and the rest will just have to wait! Have a great week! BTW...these pictures (well, the first one at least) is from our "Girl's Night Out" a few weeks ago with most of the girls from the cul-de-sac! The second picture was created by Lori (second from the left!!) Too cute and funny not to share!

From left to right: Katey, Lori, Sue, Amy H., Amy S., and ME!

And now for the NOT so Desperate Housewives...

Two 4 Two

She did it again! When Seville got up this morning I asked her if she wanted to go potty and she nodded yes, so we went in and tried again and VOILA!! She is so cute because she tightens her little tummy muscles and then goes...just like she knows what she is doing! I feel kind of lost and like I don't know what to do...even though I have done this before. Hadley was so much older and I knew she was mentally ready. I am not sure if Seville is truly old enough or has the communication skills to routinely tell us she needs to go. If anyone has done this potty training thing at under two years old please give me some tips. I was really not planning on this, but if she wants to I am willing to go with it, and she is dry almost every time she wakes up in the morning or from nap. Maybe I will just keep it low key until she turns two and then go for it. I really don't know what is the right thing to do! HELP!

A night for the history books...or at least my scrapbook!

While everyone else is watching CNN and history in the making tonight...we at the Skinner household are making history of our own! SEVILLE WENT POTTY IN THE BIG GIRL POTTY!! She just turned 20 months old on Saturday, and although I am sure there are many 20 month olds who have gone potty in the potty, this is a really big deal in our house because despite our valiant efforts Hadley did not even go in the potty once until right after she turned three (instead she would just hold it ALL DAY LONG!!!) Don't get me wrong, once she was ready she was ready and it was pretty much an instant thing and we never had to mess with pull-ups at naps, nighttime, etc., but Seville has been interested in the potty for months and we are SO proud of her!! She was dry when we got home from gymnastics, so before bath she sat down on the potty and went like it was no big deal. We didn't even hear it because the bath water was running, but when we saw it Hadley and I screamed at the top of our lungs and I immediately ran down stairs to get some M&Ms and reward her! I never thought in a million years she would have done this tonight...it was so out of the blue! Hopefully this will continue down a good path, or maybe it will go no where, but I just had to share (because I am a mom and that is what mom's do!!) Now to the rest of you...don't stay up too late watching CNN!!!

The Beautiful Life of Stephanie Vest

One of my friends/co-workers and her husband are friends of the Vest Family, and she introduced me to Stephanie's story at the beginning of September. Everyday since I have been following this AMAZING woman's story of faith and the fight for her life. She is a true role model to all of us and has changed the lives of many though her fight with unwavering courage and faith. This last Friday things took a turn for the worse, but Stephanie rose to the occasion and had a joyous weekend with her family and friends, as you can read first hand on their blog "The Beautiful Life of Stephanie Vest." Their slogan throughout this whole ordeal has been "Expect Miracles"...and that is exactly what I am expecting, hoping and praying for for the Vest Family! Stephanie deserves to be home with her husband and three kids, one of whom is only a few months old. I am not sure why I haven't done it before, but I feel compelled to share her story with you today! Please pray that they are blessed with the miracle of all miracles!

http://www.stephanievest.com/