Santa Claus, 2008

As many of you know, I work a retail job during the holidays, in addition to my regular job. I have done it for many years and LOVE it. Well, today I was thinking about my schedule & how crazy it was about to get. Then, I realized that I didn't know when I would have time to take the girls to see Santa. So, I called Todd & told him to bring them to the mall to see Santa after taekwondo class. At first he didn't want to because they would be in their uniforms. I didn't care. TKD is a part of the girls lives, so who cares if they wear them to see Santa.

Lexi was very excited to see Santa, but when the time came she changed her mind. She didn't want to sit next to him or anything. Laney didn't care & sat right on his lap. After some coaxing we got Lexi to sit with him. Then, she didn't want her picture taken with him. So, Todd got on one side & I got on the other and said we would be in the picture too. Before the picture was taken we would lean in, when they got to 2 with counting we leaned back so we wouldn't be in it. Then after the picture was taken we quickly leaned in again. Lexi didn't know what happened until after we got the picture. Both girls were very sweet and only asked for 2 gifts each. Then Laney asked for 1 more gift, but it was a toy for our dog, Jack. After all was said and done Lexi ran up to Santa and gave him a big hug. So much for being afraid of him.

Pumpkin Carving

I have never claimed to be the world's greatest mom. Sometimes there is ice cream for dinner, but that is only on the summer months. There are days that I proclaim that chocolate is the breakfast of champions and let them have something chocolately in the morning. Then, there are the times that I let the days get away from me and forget to carve our pumpkins. Even with all the begging, I still forget to let them do it. So, on November 2nd (yes the date on the pictures is correct) I let them FINALLY carve a pumpkin. They had a great time, with the exception of scraping out the inside, they found that gross. Laney wanted to make it a little dog so she put the cut out eyes on top with toothpicks so they would look like ears. I didn't get a picture of that part, but it was cute. She also named it Jack O'Lantern, after our dog Jack. Here is the pre Jack pumpkin.

November 1st

Thanks to a dear, sweet friend, we were able to take the girls to see Charlotte's Web at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival last weekend. We were really looking forward to it and decided to make an evening out of it and also go to dinner. The play was much, much better than I expected. I will admit, I got teary eyed at the end. I always cry when Charlotte dies because her little spider babies won't know her. I know, it's crazy, but I can't help it. I have cried at the end of the book and movie for years, why should the play have been any different?! After the girl's got dressed I realized how grown up they looked. It really shocked me. So, here are my 'babies' before we left.

Halloween

On Halloween we went to the Fall Festival at our church. They had inflatables, games, trunk-or-treating and food. We all had a great time. As for the girl's costumes, well, let me explain. Lexi wanted to be the same thing that she was last year. Great, that's easy. I forgot about Laney's costume until the day before. So, I had her be the same thing that Lexi was. Both my girl's went as girl's from the '80's!!! You all know that I am stuck in the 80's so I couldn't pass it up. Lexi's look didn't turn out quite the way I envisioned. Her hair wouldn't get big enough and there was just something that was off. Laney's turned out better than I could have hoped. She wasn't happy & thought that her hair was "too big"!!! I told her that in the '80's there was no such thing as hair being too big. Then I showed her some friends on Facebook who have pictures from high school up. She understood then. I haven't downloaded the pictures that I took at home, but as soon as I do I will get them posted since they are better than the one's that I have.

Waiting to trunk-or-treat

Just after eating dinner, with a mouthful of candy that she had for dessert

Digging for a prize

Heck, if Laney can get one, so can I

She's a maniac, maniac, on the floor!!!

Glasses

Last month I was informed that Lexi was not doing well in school. I was told (already) that there was the possiblity of her repeating kindergarten and then I was told that it was possibly ADD or ADHD. Of course, I was a total wreck. I mean, I have one child that is extremely gifted and then I have to hear this about my other child. I know that Lexi is not Laney, and I try not to compare them, but when I heard this I started comparing them. Then, I started questioning what I was doing wrong. I talked to Lexis' K-4 teacher since we are friends to get her opinion. I even called my pediatrician and got the number for a place in Birmingham that tests for ADD & ADHD. Then, my mom asked if I had thought to have her vision checked. Of course not! Why would I do that? It was too simple! I did call the next day to make an appointment and we were able to get her in 3 days later. It turns out that my baby girl is far-sighted. I have to admit, I was very happy about this. At least we had a reason as to why she was not doing well in school, poor girl couldn't see. So, we picked out 5 pairs of frames and then narrowed it down to two. After that I let her pick her frames since she was going to be the one wearing them. Two days later, on October 22, we were able to pick up her new glasses. I think that she looks so sweet in them. The best part of everything is that there is already a change in her at school. So, I have to give credit where credit is due, great call Nana!

October 7th, Belt Rank Ceremony

As I posted before, on October 5th we found out that Laney had moved up to senior green belt in Tae Kwon Do. I am so proud of her. On the 7th she had a belt rank ceremony where she was able to get together with other students & receive her new belt. Here is a picture of her with her belt. She was so happy. She didn't think that she was going to get it because she had made a mistake in testing. I am so proud of hte progress that she is making. I can't wait to see what else she does.

More excitement on October 4th

On October 4th, after a full day of Laney testing for her senior green belt and then going to the pumpkin patch we were prepared for a quiet night at home. Well, as they say, things don't always go as planned. Laney informed me that Lexi had thrown up in the kitchen. Todd said he would clean it up & the next thing I knew he was asking me if we had any medication in the house that was blue & green!! Well, I had just flushed medicine that looked like that before we left that morning, so I freaked out. It turns out that I had missed a pill & Lexi had found it. Because of the color she thought that it was candy & tried to eat it. When she bit down the medicine in the capsule was released & since it tasted bad she spit MOST of it out. After a call to poison control we found that there is no safe dosage of this medicine for children her age, so it was off to the emergency room for Lexi & I (Todd stayed home with Laney). After 2 cups of liguid charcoal, one major throw up session, and 6.5 hours of monitoring we were finally released at 3am!!!! Of course, you all know that I am rarely without a camera and this day was no different. When we were in the exam room and she had finished some of hte liquid charcoal I decided to take a couple of pictures. I wanted to be able to show them to her when she got older. So, until that time, here they are for your viewing pleasure.