Silly Box Head

She's a silly tissue girl.

Doggy Party

Today we celebrated Lila's third Birthday with a little party for her friends. It was low key (I'm tired of party-planning), but they all had a good time.

She had McKenna and Brooke, Andrew and Lilliane, Ben, and Annie (the little girl that Becca nannies). She kept saying that she had to invite "my boys - Andrew and Ben", so it couldn't be a princess party.

They colored doggy pictures, made a foam sticker craft thing, and played toss the dog bone in the bowl.

We served doggy snack mix (dry puff cereal, popcorn, and "scooby snacks" - graham crackers that look like dog treats) and cupcakes with paw prints on them.
This is a rare, great picture of Lila. She must have been really happy to give the camera a smile like that!

The kids played nicely and relatively quietly. The moms, who happen to be most of my closest friends and my sister, drank coffee with peppermint mocha creamer. -Yum!

It was a lovely hour and a half. Lila was genuinely thrilled with each of her gifts. She squealed with joy, "Oh my goodness, Mommy!" as she opened each one. I told Emma that the kids at Lila's 3rd Birthday Party were much better behaved than the ones at Emma's 8th Birthday Party. Oh well, some day Lila's friends will be 8 year old screaming girls too.

So, the birthday party was a success, next I'm hosting the neighborhood house tour on Saturday. Relaxation is underrated.

NYC Girls' Day

Emma and I had an awesome mother - daughter day on Saturday! We went to Manhattan for the day with four friends and their eldest daughters. It was Emma's birthday gift and we've been looking so forward to our day together.
We took the train in, then the Subway to Times Square. We had a delicious lunch at Carmine's (with a reservation, so no wait!) and shopped at Toys R Us for a bit. Then we went to the BIG event - The Little Mermaid on Broadway! The show was amazing, and I loved watching Emma's face follow every detail. After the show we headed up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and the American Girl Store. For dinner she and I shared a cheeseburger and fries. Can you get a better girls' day than this?!
I loved spending the time with Emma without having to concentrate on Lila. The group we went with was perfect because the girls' spent time with their moms, but also enjoyed hanging out with their friends - which made restaurant conversation especially nice.
I took a few pictures, but my friend Melynie's blog has more to check out.

Snowball Fight!

This site is too fun! Check it out!

Family Snowball Fight.

Lila's New Shirt

December Snowfall

How exciting! We had our first snowfall today. I love snow! -Especially in December! The best part was that it was kind of a surprise. That could be because I haven't seen TV for a week (I've been living in Christmas Banquet Land), but I didn't hear about the expected snow until this morning. Even then, the weather guy only mentioned it. We usually have to hear about the "Storm of the Century" for a week, and then it doesn't even snow!

Anyway, Lila and I decided to celebrate the weather by going in the hot tub - it's SO fun when it's snowing. You can barely see the snow in this picture, but it was coming down. When Emma got home, we bundled up and went out to play in our almost snow-covered yard. That was fun until Lila's socks got shruggilly and she took off her boots and socks in the yard.

Now we're really ready for a snowy Christmas in Washington!!

Mystery Spots

I've been out of the house for the last two nights and am trying to piece together all that's gone on in my absence. For example, yesterday morning, a sleepy Lila came stumbling in to where I was getting Emma ready for school. I nearly had a heart attack when I noticed bright red marks all along her part line of her scalp. I was panicked and asking what happened to her head?! Does she have measles? Did she have a head injury last night? Emma replied, "No Mom, she just wrote on her head with a Sharpie marker."

Oh, that's better - I guess... How long do you think it will take to wear off?!

Women's Christmas Outreach Banquet

Well, it's all over.... and I think it was great! I heard that the talk at the church office today is that it was the best one ever! We had close to 600 women attend in two nights. The place was beautiful, the program was even more beautiful. My good friend Melynie was the emcee for the event - and she was awesome! I heard people say she was like the "Christian Ellen Degeneres". We had music, skits, gingerbread houses everywhere, and the most amazing testimony I've ever heard. It was a powerful night, and pray that the memory of it is still touching hearts for the days to come. Someone took pictures for me, but here's a few from my camera.

Shruggilly

I've noticed lately that one of Lila's invented words has become part of our family's everyday language.

"shruggilly" - adj. uncomfortable or irritating due to wrinkled fabric.

She uses it to describe her socks (she hates wearing socks!), her shirt sleeves inside her coat (she hates wearing coats!), her footie pajamas (she hates footie pajamas!), or anything else that gets all shruggily. --Can you blame her?!!

In the past few days, I've noticed Emma, myself, and even Ryan using the word in conversation without even realizing it. And why shouldn't we be using it? It's a good word! I challenge you to try it for yourself.

Stressed Out

Here I am. I haven't posted in a while, but all is well. Our church Women's Christmas Outreach Banquet is tomorrow and Tuesday nights. I've been coordinating the whole shi-bang, so I've been a bit busy lately. Everything is done - I think. My car is loaded with gingerbread house centerpieces, favors, prizes, etc. Babysitters are lined up. Rehearsal was today, and it went really well. I've had so much help from everyone - it's been such a blessing. I've even made some new friends through the adventure. Of course, my friends and mom and sister have gone above and beyond to help and support this effort. I don't really have much to do except hold onto all of the loose ends - and it's stressing me out! What if there's something I'm supposed to be doing that even I don't realize yet?! I've never done event planning for 600 before with my Special Ed. Teacher/ Stay at Home Mom background. God has definitely shown me that if I give Him all that I can. He'll do the rest. I've done that. I've planned to the best of my ability with joy and enthusiasm, now I can't wait to see what God will do!