Merry Christmas 2009

We've been so busy, I didn't have a chance to do an obligatory Christmas blog post.

So, here it is!

Dev's still obsessed with with Wizard of Oz, so she got several presents with that theme.


But, the hit of the morning was this Lemur costume. It pretty much hasn't come off her body since Xmas morning, except to sleep.


What was she so excited about?


...this very basic, "Kinder Doll."


Present opening is a serious business.


Mom got the odd gift award, with this jewelry hanger:)


Tennis racket handle covers. I've never seen these before and neither has anyone in Louisville. The ladies are going CRAZY over them, when I went to the courts yesterday.








This video is her reading her, "Thank You Note." I've been reading her the Christmas cards and thank you notes...apparently it's rubbing off!

We're Still Here!

Just very, very busy!


I got my boss this awesome PR opportunity today. It's been months in the making and it finally came together!





I had several Xmas parties this week...our tennis party was quite the fiesta.






Then, I made my ALL-TIME favorite cookie...the Christmas Cut Out.




Devin loves to decorate cookies. We tackled it in several batches today.


She's so excited for Christmas! It's been a joy to watch.

"You have no power here, be gone!"

Name that movie!





Glinda says that to the WW of the West during their first encounter in Munchkinland.



The Wizard of Oz.

It's the kind of movie you might watch once a year, right? We watched it 2x today... Of course, edited a la' Devin. We skip all the "scary" parts, so the whole movie only takes 30 minutes. Which makes it pretty cute.

So, it's officially Devin's first movie that she'll pretty much sit all the way through. (Minus the flying monkey, apple throwing trees, and wicked witch gets Toto scenes)

The Tooth Fairy brought her a Dorothy costume, which she wears 24/7 at the moment. We roamed the aisles of Home Depot in her full Dorothy outfit...minus the wig. I've made a conscious choice to let her wear costumes in public if she wants. What I noticed today was, 75% of the employees at Home Depot (at 10:00 Thursday morning) could easily be Devin's Grandparent. The smiles on people's faces as they talked to her as "Dorothy" let me know it's a good thing to do. So many Grandparents let me know how hard it is to be grandparent, when they can't see the little ones whenever they want.

via William's cell phone


We're not in Kansas anymore.

(I couldn't help myself)

More posts later about why we were at Home Depot.

PIcs

35 minutes into her bath...



Sorry for the graphic socket picture. Her smile was too precious. I think she looks adorable and she's adjusting to the missing tooth.

1st Visit From the Tooth Fairy

I didn't expect it this early, but the Tooth Fairy will be stopping by this evening.

As always, Devin was amazing at the dentist. Even with NO2 & numbing cream, the process was painful and seemed to take forever. They used a small machine with tiny needle, connected with a wire. Dr. Yang made some amazing statements during this time, to help keep Devin calm:

1) Devin gets to eat ice cream for dinner tonight.
2) Dr. Yang has a red phone which rings straight to Santa & she will place a call to him letting him know how awesome she was.
3) Devin gets 2 prizes from the BIG (special) prize chest

Once she was numb, it was over in 30 seconds and she didn't seem to feel anything. Hooray for that. She got huge praise and a trip to the toy store for her icky morning.

She seems perfect, now. I cut a PB&J into small bites and she ate 2 whole sandwiches, a clementine, lemon yogurt and some watermelon.

I will post a picture of her new smile later:0

Tis' The Season

I've been a lazy blogger this week. No photos. No inspiration to write. It's such a busy time of year, with tons of fun things to document. I just haven't had the time or desire.

This week will be different, as I will make myself do something other than: clean house, take care of Devin, worry about Christmas, squeeze in work, play tennis 3-4 times, cook meals etc...

We did get the tree up, which is equivalent to straightening deck chairs on the Titantic. Between a 3 year old and 3 cats...the bottom 1/3 of the tree is a hot mess. I've given up control of that part of the tree and taken many (many) deep breaths about it.

Devin's taken a slight cold, just enough to feel crappy and not be able to go out. Also, one of her front teeth is infected. About a year ago, she had a filling in that tooth. Something must have worked it's way behind the filling and the tooth is dying. The Dentist wants to watch it, which I did for the last week. She's in no pain, but it really bothers me to have the infection present...and in close proximity to her brain. So, I'm making the choice to remove the tooth ASAP. Hopefully, sometime this week.

And, I'll certainly blog about that super-fun experience.

Home again, home again jiggity jig

We ventured to Peoria for Thanksgiving, which is pretty much our usual plan.

Devin was thrilled to see Uncle Carson & Aunt Catherine! She followed both around the house and asked them to play with her pretty much constantly.

We played cards.


We had tea parties.


We looked in amazement horror at many dead animals, while visiting a cousin's house.


So beautiful...and so dead:(


I guess there are plenty of zebras in Africa.






There was putting green, which made Devin and Matt very happy:)


Apparently, I interrupted their office game.


Pies, pies and more pies.


Connect Four Anyone? We play it in a very different way. All you have to do is fill up the squares and let them out!!


Dev spent the whole weekend dressed up in one costume or another. She rotated between polar bear, kitty and clown.


We all played Scrabble.


And, as always...we sang and danced to the piano music.


C&C brought their dogs. I learned the only thing harder than taking pictures of children is pets.

I took over 50 shots of the dogs and got maybe 3 decent ones.

Apparently is was just a matter of time

I should have known something was wrong. Dev was being so quiet and playing well by herself, so I could vacuum and dust.

What I didn't know was she was giving herself a haircut. And, not just a trim. I followed a hair trail up the stairs. *Cue Psycho shower scene music* I looked in horror at the sizable pile of hair on the floor.

When asked why she was cutting her hair...

"So I can look like Snow White."

So, luckily my little stylist has LOTS of hair and it's not horrible looking. I notice...the big chunks out of the bottom. But, it can be covered.

I told her that she would no longer have access to her scissors. Her response?

"I still have my hole punch, right Mama?"

My friends tell me it was just a matter of time...

Serendipity

Isn't is fun when things just work out?

We went to Westport Village to visit the wine shop and Chuck & Mikes.

The bad news...I forgot my camera all day and missed so many amazing photo ops. I guess my brain is just elsewhere. She had her preschool Thanksgiving luncheon, for which I made the famous Rainbow Cake. Good job Mama...no pictures of the 6 layer magic:(

So, I pick a few cheap"ish" bottles of wine and we decide to go look at the fire truck parked in the plaza. Turns out there's a fundraiser going on for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and we stopped by as it opened.

Devin was 2nd in line for face painting and she chose a kitty.



She was thrilled with the result! I had to move the full-length mirror into the main room so she could see herself all night long:)

Livin' On Tulsa Time

My trip to Tulsa was uneventful and it was good to see some of my family. Mom and I needed a good breakfast to face our very long Tuesday.

Nothing like a local diner to fill your tummy!



Apparently, they're known for their cinnamon rolls. I ordered one, but there was a 20 minute wait. Our tight time schedule meant a picture of the roll would have to do.


The biscuits and gravy sufficed.


The place was nearly full...and local law enforcement were present. (Always a good sign)


Mama Lou's house. Oh. My. God. When a 90 year old still lives at home alone...let's just say she had a few collections. Layers and layers of stuff, dust, catalogs.....

Like these clowns.


Jesus scarves.


The funeral was nice, as funerals go. We were waiting in the Bride's room. See the smiles?




Homemade lunch from the church ladies.


I flew back in the late afternoon, but didn't get home until well after midnight. It was an exhausting day & I'm glad it's over. Mom's still in Tulsa, so she can continue to help Bob and Carole with the house.

The fun side

We still had some fun this week, especially yesterday.

On Monday, I forgot to use my brain and agreed to let her make her own clown face.


She asked me why she, "Didn't look like a real clown."

We assured her all clowns look different...and her face was perfect in its' own way.


I went all Martha Stewart again and baked this apple pie for my tennis luncheon. This is my creation, which combines several recipes and a few twists of my own.

The top crust is made of leaf cutouts...you know, for Fall.


So. We went to the mall to find the perfect gift for a 4-year old's Birthday party. Can you believe Santa is already there? Neither did we...I assumed they were still getting the decorations up and prepping.

I was wrong.


They were so sweet to let us do a "practice" run. There was no one visiting Santa yet and he seemed ready to talk to the kids!

She was beaming while Santa asked her what she wishing for.


We had not talked about seeing Santa yet. Apparently, she asked for a bike and here he was telling her about always wearing a helmet.


Say, "Cheese!" We promised to come back for the real thing in a couple of weeks. I'm just not ready for the season yet. Soon. But, not before Thanksgiving.


As if we hadn't had enough fun, Devin went to her first "real" kids Birthday party.

This little girl and Devin found each other during summer camp. They're in different classes, but still see each other on the playground and when they trade classes on Mondays.


It's so fun to watch her interact with someone her age. And, A is perfect for Devin. She's spunky, outgoing and very verbal.

Devin had a great time at the party. Plus, she got a good lesson in watching someone else open presents and get all the attention.