Change

It seems that everyone talks of "Change" in the New Year. Changing habbits, lifestyles, expectations, sheets (oh, gotta put the wash in the dryer). So I'm leaving Blogger and doing a little changing myself. Here's my official change of address notification. No need to bring flowers. Unless of course you are Arizaphale. She has already sent me a beautiful bouquet. Thank you! I've already unpacked, come visit.

Color

The theme this week over at Stacey's is Color. So here's what I did, I adjusted to add more color. Before, SOOC:

And after, with a tweek here and there:

Go check out the color.

Hiking

We're pretty good about getting the girls out into nature and trying new things. But today I was reminded again about how much fun they have. We decided to go "hiking"on the first day of 2008. The first park we thought of happened to be closed on New Year's Day but luckily there is a very nice nature trail right here in Boerne. The girls had so much fun exploring and Vienne always fills her pockets with "treasures". It was cold though. A frigid 50 degrees. I know, some places are under feets of snow. But that's cold for S. Texas.

My Best Shot

When was the last time you've seen one of these? A couple of days ago we took a short drive out to Fredericksburg for the the morning. Of course, Natalya and her horse radar found this. We didn't have any change to find out if it still worked. But cool anyway.

This is My Best Shot for today. Have a fun New Year's Eve celebration.

Pic of the Day

Daddy is trying to teach Natalya how to ride her brand new skate board. She got one from Santa. I wish there were more gear I could put on her to keep her from getting hurt. She is a complete wimp when she gets banged so I'm not sure why she has been wanting a skate board.

Wrapping it Up

Random photos from the last few days.

Our tree in all it's glory. We didn't put any gifts under it until Christmas Eve. I loved the way it looked for just that one night. We are fortunate.

Natalya's note to Santa.

Toys that were hits this year: The horse barns and all things that neighed, lava lamps, Natalya's digital camera and Vienne's harp (both were the one things they wanted from Santa), Vienne's cheerleader dress up outfit, and Natalya's talking parrot. Somehow I ended up with two vacuums this year. What is everyone trying to tell me?

And a random tidbit from V. She's been talking about Disney World and the It's a Small World ride, which she loved. But instead of Small World she's calling it "Tiny Town". Don't know how that came about but I hope no one corrects her.

Happy Birthday to You

I had to say, before the day ends, Happy Birthday to my HipHub! Cue the birthday song. He's celebrating the big 21 again. I love you, honey. Now I'm off to wrap presents. I haven't wrapped a single one. I knew that the anticipation would be to hard for V so no gifts went under the tree. I guess I could have still wrapped them as I got them so that I wouldn't have to do them all in one night. Darn that fiend Procrastination.

Happy Holidays

Thanks to everyone who visited our "home" this year. Here's to peace in 2008. (Click to enlarge.)

Welcome "home" to Tracey's Best Shot Monday. And our Disney pictures are below.

The Happiest Place on Earth

We had a wonderful trip to Disney World and the girls did great. I think we saw a little of everything on this trip. Our favorite park continues to be the Magic Kingdom park and our least favorite park was Epcot. Not enough there to keep the girls interested I guess. We stayed at our favorite Disney resort and saw just about every character the girls set out to see. Vienne loved the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and Natalya's favorite ride is always the carousel. I was so glad to see that Natalya, at her ripe old age of 6 1/2, was still interested in everything. She hugged the characters was just as happy as Vienne was. I just hope that it stays that way for a long while. And don't believe the guide books when they say that the week before Christmas is the least busiest time to go. It was pretty busy.

Our first park day was cold! We started the day at about 40 degrees and it only reached about 60. It was on it's way to about 80 on the day we left.

We are going to ditch the autograph books next time. It just takes too much time.

Vienne got chosen from the audience to help Belle tell her story. A very happy moment for her.

Our two Princesses. These shirts are from the Sweet Bling-a-Doo Boutique at Etsy. Visit her shop. She is very sweet and shipped right to the hotel to make sure I got the shirts for our trip. She has lots of cute things.

I was so happy that Natalya agreed to dress as a Princess, too. These are the gowns that I made. I finished them up at about 11:00 the night before. They weren't as difficult as I thought they would be but I'm I was very good at procrastinating.

On our way to have dinner with Cinderella.

V loved Cinderella but loved the Prince even more. You should have seen how big her eyes were the whole time we were there.

A little Mickey love...

...And lots of Minnie love. Minnie was very happy to see V in her Minnie dress courtesy of Sweet Priya. It had really made Vienne happy to know that Priya had worn it first.

The lobby of our hotel.

And this is what happens when you ask for kechup at the hotel restaurant. You get ALL of the ketchup. When another table asked for ketchup, we had to bring it to that table. The girls got such a kick out of it.

And now, we rest. I always think that I need a vacation after my vacations. I may post more on Flickr 'cause there are so many cute pictures. Later.

Whew!

I will dust myself off and sleep tonight. I will share our Disney trip tomorrow. Princesses are asleep, dirty clothes are in the washer, there's a stack of mail this high (the post office was supposed to hold the mail but didn't), and there appears to have been a tornado in the house while we were gone. Don't you hate coming home to a messy house? Not sure what happened there 'cause I thought I cleaned a bit. Anyway, more tomorrow. What did I miss?

Pic of the Day

By the light of the tree.

V is feeling good and actually went back to school this week. Thanks to everyone who was concerned. We're leaving for Disney World next week so I just want everyone to be well and in a good mood. I hate flying. Yuck. Vienne want's to "do something Christmas" so we're off to the Riverwalk to see the lights.

(I posted this a couple of days ago but I'm making it My Best Shot. 'Cause I said so.)

We're Takin' a Sick Day

Actually a sick week. We took V to the pedi yesterday because she woke up with a cough and wheeze. Our pediatrician has her on a plethora of meds for the week to make sure she recovers and stays well. But as you can tell, she's taking the whole thing just horribly. But nothing a good tutu, tap shoes, and glitter can't fix. 'Cause that's probably the best medicine of all. And makin' Mommy pretend to be a dog named Princess Cece. "Sit, Mommy. I mean Princess Cece."

Gingerbread in the House

Today we visited the Bear Moon Bakery. We invited our friends to join us in decorating gingerbread houses. What a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday. The wonderful owner of the bakery laid out all the goodies and set the kids a decorating. They all truly took the job seriously. They had so much fun and we went home with works or childhood art. I really hope we can do it again next year. What do you think, Jen? We'll see how long these works of art last. They are just so yummy.

Daddy helping V. When she gave him permission to help.

What fun is decorating a gingerbread house if you can't taste it? No fun at all. Cutie pie Trevor.

Good thing we didn't have to clean up! What a blast the kiddos had. This last one will be My Best Shot for today. For more festivities head over to Picture This.

Main Street with our Buddies

Last night on Main Street was the Christmas parade. Lots of pretty lights, a high school marching band (currently, Boerne only has one high school. Until next Fall, when the second one opens. Won't be a small town anymore!), candy canes thrown at ya' smashing into pieces as they hit the ground. The kiddos sat so excitedly waiting to see Santa. It couldn't have been more fun because our wonderful friends joined us. Oh, and the weather here is whack. For those that are visiting, last weekend we went to Main Street it was 40 degrees. This weekend 77 degrees.

That's what Natalya had to say about that. Maybe Jen got a better picture of the kiddos all lined up in a row.

And THIS is what a Santa experience should be like. The girls saw Santa and the Mrs. walking in the street and ran right up to them. And this REAL Santa opened his arms and scooped them up! Then the Mrs. joined us and and mentioned how she "remembered me from when I was little." Sweet. Natalya asked for a camera and Vienne asked for a harp. I know. And Santa was sweating. The poor guy is used to the freezing North Pole and here he is in 77 degree weather.

(Trying to figure out why when you click the pictures to enlarge and open on another screen they are instead asking to save to disk. Apparently lots of people are having the same problem with Blogger.)


AND Seven Random Facts About Me. Miss Arizaphale has tagged me for a meme. I thought this was my first one but I then remembered that she has tagged me before. I never completed that assignment. She failed me that term and so I must redeem myself and beg for extra credit. Here are the rules to this one:

1. Link to the person that tagged you. Check.
2. Post the rules. Check.
3. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself. Will do.
4. “Tag” 7 people at the end of the post and include links to their blogs. No problemo.
5. Let each person know that you tagged them. Gotcha.

Here goes, 7 Random Facts about me. I will wake you up when it's over:

1. I was born in Thailand. My dad was in the Air Force stationed in Thailand. He met my mom and well, you know how it happens.
2. My favorite movie is Chocolat.
3. My sister and I once, when we were little, opened up every single present under the Christmas tree and then taped them back up. We did not get caught.
4. I taught ball room dancing. For less than a month. I hated it because I wasn't flirtatious like the other gals and that's what was expected. And most of the men that came in were old. OLD.
5. Growing up I always hated my name, Melody. It was so unique and I wanted the names that every one else had, like Michelle, Kim, Debbie (oh, man, are those name so typically 80's?)
6. I have a funky, long, second toe on my right foot. No, I will not include a picture.
7. I have two tattoos and want a third.

Now I tag:
The Honorary Indian, Mama's Boyz, Horizon Way Stories, Texas Cowgirlz, Princess Bishop , Golightly (she's visiting the Alamo City soon, makin' sure she's got street cred), and my sister Steph who doesn't have a blog but can do it in my comments . How do ya like that?

What's Up?

So yesterday I had a day at home while the girls were at school. I have to sew princess costumes for them. We're going to Disney World in a few weeks (yay!) It's sorta the thing for the girls to dress up like a princess while dining with THE princess. Somehow it came outta my mouth that I would make them costumes. Anyway, I'm home, I get all my instruments out, clear some of the stuff from the table, and... I can't find my scissors. My good ones. I spend over an hour looking before I decide that for some reason they are lost and I must work. I try the everyday scissors and then decide this ain't happenin' so I have to go buy new scissors. But guess what I find when I pick Natalya up from school? In the back seat of the car at Natalya's feet. How they ended up there, I will never know. But I did end up buying the springy scissors the retract for you. Now I'm cooking with gas. I'll post pictures of the final creations when I'm done.

Hey, for all you greenies out there, look what I found on Etsy as I'm doing a search for "cuff", you know the wrist kind. The wonderful things people think up:

$5.00! Reusable, washable, and funky fun. And she recommened gifting it with a bag of coffee beans. Neato.
Edit: Apparently this one is sold out but she does have other fabric options. Browse through her store.

And does anyone else have a child who makes you pick out their wedgies?

Pic of the Day

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday. What's up with that?

'Tis the Season

Can we officially celebrate now without everyone going, "Oh, it's too early." We put our tree up last week. It just goes by way to fast. So, to those of you on on my Christmas card list, this is what you will get in the mail. Hopefully it looks just as great on paper. Lookey what I put together:

We took the girls to a creek and let them play. They had a blast. Here's a behind the scenes shot. I call it "The Croc Hunter":

I think this happened a couple of times. What a sport Daddy was. Oh, that's a pink Croc gettin' away in case you missed that.


And because I just LOVE this shot of some very adorable girls, friends of a friend. If you don't just say "Aw" then you are the Grinch.

Meet the beautiful Avery and Adelyn. Click to truly enjoy their cuteness. You should have seen how they totally destroyed those lollies about 20 minutes after they started them. Slammed them into the sidewalk. Just to see what would happen. A riot.


'Tis the season. Enjoy every moment.

My Best Shot? Hmm, what do you think? Now, off to Picture This while you ponder.

Colleen, Your a Genius!

Now how come no one told me this secret before Colleen? She gets my cyber plate of Christmas cookies. Thanks! Now every picture is going to be humongous.

Oh Christmas Tree

We put our tree up last Monday and then decorated it on Wednesday. It turns out that we only have two boxes of ornaments here with us while the rest of the decorations sit in storage. I guess we figured that we could do without most of it for one year but the girls are remembering some stuff that we just didn't bring. They made the tree look beautiful. Even though there is a very heavy spot of ornaments in the front at the bottom. I love it so much I won't change it. It has their finger prints all over it.

(Do any of you smarties out there know how to make the pictures larger in Blogger? I mean larger than the "large" picture option they have.)

Santa the Grinch

He wasn't the jolliest of fellas but he sure was good lookin'. Tonight we took the Grands to the Main Street Boerne Christmas festivities. It was totally Christmas decked out with lights up and down, fake snow, Mexican hot chocolate, and 40 degree weather. We didn't get to ride the horse drawn carriages (and Vienne was a little more than upset about that) because the line was too long so we'll probably go back again next week. This runs for two more weekends so if you are in the area, small town fun.

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving started and ended as usual. We went to the Grands' house with the pecan pie. I think we could have pretty much replayed last Turkey day and wouldn't have missed a thing. Even the same food because we so look forward to our usual turkey and fixins. If any deviation occurs, it's just not Thanksgiving. Natalya started the day announcing that her other top front tooth came out. We were sooooo thankful for that because, again, it was causing great stress. And she was able to enjoy her wonderful turkey feast with no worries.

Another one bites the dust. I couldn't wait to see both front teeth out.

After turkey, after nap exercise. It is cold here. It has been around the mid 40's. That's cold around these parts. Some of North Texas even got snow.

Natalya brings paper out and sits on the driveway to draw. Even in freezing weather, she was drawing trees. I wish I had the tree drawing to scan but she gave the wonderful tree art to Grandma. It was a nice day.

I'm Thankful For...

...This face. And this from Vienne:
(Noticing that Natalya had glitter on her face) Vienne says, "Natalya, why do you have magic on your face?"

Have a wonderful Turkey Day. Count your blessings, not the calories.

This is another shot from our Christmas card session. The Card unveiling on Monday.

And the Winners Are...

Can I first say, "Wow!" And where were you when I was trying to sell theses things at the not-really-a- craft show? Thanks to everyone who came this time. And I got so many new visitors from Maile and Shawn. Thanks gals! OK, drum roll please... The lucky size 2 winner is Cynthia and the lucky size 3 winner is Stacy. Congrats! I will get in touch with you to get your address and choice of color. Thanks to everyone who participated.


Cynthia, I know I've seen you in the blog world somewhere. Leave me a comment on how to find you again.

Looky at What I Just Bought

I love this company. This is the second hat that I've bought from them. Handmade in Portland, Oregon.

Christmas shopping has begun for me. Unfortunately I feel like some of the fun has been taken out of it in light of the many toy recalls. Does anyone else feel jipped? Like some of the naivete has been taken away from childhood. Gone are the days of of perusing the toy aisles with wide eye merriement? I'll be doing lots of searching on the internet for unique, safe alternatives. And if you've been doing that too you've already discovered how difficult it is to buy things not made in China. So, pass on anything you find. And better yet, reevaluate the "stuff" we have and go minimal this year. Maybe each child gets a whole day to herself with Mom or Dad. Suggestions?

Christmas Card Preview

(But that's all I can say because today is Wordless Wednesday.)

Shiner

And I don't mean Bock. Look at my poor baby. She got this when Natalya hit her in the eye with a baseball bat. It was an accident and it was a foam bat. A hard foam bat. When I was little my sister hit me in the eye with a bat, too. Supposedly that was also an accident but that was a REAL bat. 'Member that, Steph? Oh, and that boo boo on V's lip is from the night before when she apparently ran into the fence. I think my baby is going to have a bumpy ride.