what a lovely weekend

We have had a great long weekend!
Well, it started Tuesday night with our neighbors James and Michele coming over for a little pre-Thanksgiving hang out time. We played a new game they got and drank some wine and had cheese ball. The year I was pregnant (2005) with Mollie and couldn't travel...maybe couldn't fit in the car...we had T-giving dinner with them. It was so much fun. They went to CO this year to visit some friends. We are definitely thankful for them as friends !
Oh, and around midnight Mollie woke up with a fever. She had started with a little cough that afternoon. She was fine by the next day, but I guess it was just the kick-off of a cold.

Wednesday Phil took the day off work. Mollie was still sniffly, but no fever. I had a dentist appt. We all had a great day hanging out at home. And Q-doba for lunch. Kim, the chicken nachos were in honor of you.

Thursday: difficult to explain, but my parents decided to cancel our T-giving dinner at Nancy's house. We hung out at home until about 2 then left for Dobson, NC to Phil's Aunt Brenda's house for his mom's side of the family's T-giving dinner. He has gone every year for like 30 years. Minus 2005! We had a great dinner and lots of fun. He is really close with all of his cousins and aunt and uncle and there are now 11 kids among he, his brother, and all his cousins ranging from 3-12 I think. We went to spend the night at Phil's mom's house. The girls love it there. Short trips are great ;)
We did learn some disturbing news about Phil's mom's health. She had some pretty in-depth surgery in May where lymph nodes in her leg were removed because of some Melanoma. She didn't have to have any further treatment because they were confident that they "got it all". Last week she had a mole removed that came back as Melanoma as well. They said they got it all, but are concerned because apparently it is metastatic (spreads). So we're definitely praying about that situation and ask for yours as well. His Dad has also had Cancer 3 times and is getting ready to have another surgery for some tumors on his skin that they believe to be benign, but yet keep growing.

Friday we left around lunch time and headed to Mocksville. We had borrowed my brother in law Travis's trailer and loaded up some stuff for my mom to move to her apartment in Apex. She was in Mocksville for the weekend. We brought lots of boxes back and the twin beds that the girls always slept in at their house! They were very excited. So now Mom's 2nd bedroom is turning into the girls' room! Mom followed us back home.

Saturday we had the last home NCSU football game. Mollie still had the sniffles and we convinced Gramma to let her play over there for the day. She took a nap in her Dora bed and had a great time! It was so cold and a little rainy at the game, but we won! Sydney had a lot of fun playing with her cousins Olivia and Emma. During the 3rd quarter my sister in law Angela took the girls all back to their car because of the yucky weather and they played and Phil, his brother and I enjoyed watching the rest of the great game. I usually do not watch that much of the game because I usually have someone climbing on me!

Today I took just Sydney to church so that Mollie could get all the way better for school tomorrow and her birthday on Tuesday!! We pretty much laid around all day, cleaned, made playdoh for Sydney's class this week, did lesson plans, went to Bear Rock for dinner and went to Home Depot and Lowes.
And...I got my new tree tonight. The one I wanted at Lowes. It just looked the most real! And I've had a real tree all my life. I realize that the burden lies on Phil, who doesn't care about a real tree, to put it in the darn stand and take it down as it explodes needles all over our home...
But still, I said, if we get an artificial tree, it has to look real! Phil finally gave in to my wishes. And to repay him...when we checked out it rang up for $60 less!! Then we had a $10 off coupon so we only paid $228 instead of $298 for my real looking fake tree. He was very happy and I was very happy.
We're very happy people in the Greenehouse tonight after our lovely weekend as a family. And the tree will go up on Wednesday after my beautiful girl celebrates her 3rd birthday on Tuesday!

rudolph the red nosed reindeer

I am very tired and will blog more later about our lovely Thanksgiving.
But going down the road the girls wanted to listen to their Christmas CD and were singing Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.
Here are the lyrics I think you probably missed:
"then one foggy trick or treat Santa came to say..."

in case you didn't know....

nerdy

I hope the girls get our nerdy genes.
Sunday at MacGregor for lunch they bring out Sydney's plate and she says, "I really don't like these octagon plates they use." We haven't talked about shapes in a long time. Maybe they are at school.
Mollie tonight at the gym looking up at the key rack: "Daddy, those keys over there are very similar to yours." It was an Acura key. She recognized the symbol on it.
Mollie also said tonight during dinner that Cinderella was a mommy, "just like you mommy". I said, "she is? to who", and she said "she is like a mommy to the mice!" Duh.

Speaking of nerdy, Phil is really an electronics guy if you didn't know. He loves to look through the weekly ads on Sunday morning and see what's out there. I think he memorizes them. If you need something call him at like 10am on Sunday and he'll tell you where it is the cheapest without looking. I guess along with this comes his interest in money. Saving money, earning money, saving money, me not spending money, etc. I won't call him cheap. We'll say frugal. We got a new tv for the living room a few weeks ago. My only problem is that a new tv was still "necessary", but he doesn't want to pay $300 for the new Christmas tree I want after finally conceeding to the artificial when I've had real all my life. But I digress.

Anyway, we bought the tv from Best Buy and it was an open box. At the time it was $300 less than the current sale price. Well this week it went on sale for $100 less than we paid for it for a brand new one. We were out Christmas shopping yesterday evening so we went into Best Buy. Phil had his receipt and wanted to see if he could get $100 back for a price adjustment since technically he could return ours and get a new one cheaper. Which would be a huge hassle and we wouldn't really do. The girl was very nice (maybe not very smart) and said that we could return it if we wanted to, but to save the work that that would be she would just give us 10% back because that's what they would mark the return down for as an open box item on the floor. Yeah, I guess just crediting us $100 was not an option. So instead she credited us $330, haha.
And then I still did not get my Christmas tree! I WILL have it by next weekend...stay tuned;)

Annie

We had such a great night last night. It was so much fun, our girls night out. I hope to have many more. It was so neat for my mom and sister to be able to go with us. And Phil was oh so thankful that he didn't have to go! It does make me so happy that I have 2 girls.

We met for dinner first at Mellow Mushroom downtown. It was the best ever! Super fresh crust. Yum. I want to go back soon. I can still taste the yumminess! We then went to Memorial Auditorium and got there just in time. They were so mesmerized when the lights went down and the curtain opened. Mollie was singing right along to all the songs and danced in the aisles. Sydney loved it too, but is just does not get quite as openly excited as Mollie does about things like that. Mollie's pretty dramatic. I see performances in her future. They both loved Mrs. Hannigan and thought she was hilarious and loved that Sandy was a real dog! That really surprised them for some reason. It was a long play. Intermission (half time as Sydney called it) was more like 3/4 way through. Oh and there were some kids we saw there in pajamas! I thought that was a great idea. Because we didn't get home until almost 10:30!

We saw that the Wizard of Oz is coming in May and we're definitely going to try to go to that.

I love to do fun things like this with the girls. Economically speaking it's not reasonable to do very often. We had the $27 tickets and you know they add like $6.50 for handling fees per freakin' ticket! And really, I guess it wouldn't really be SO special if you did it all the time....but when we have such a good time and when I tear up at their every little morsel of excitement it makes me want to do it every day!

flurries

We had lots of flurries this afternoon. It was cool!
Sydney was at gymnastics and Mollie ran over by the door and noticed the snow out the glass door/windows.
She exclaimed so beautifully, "it's winter!!!"
A little while later she and her little friend ran back over by the window. Mollie said, "it's not winter anymore!"
It was so cute. I really hope we have a good snow this year for them to play in! Too bad they won't have any good snow gear since it's such a gamble around here about whether we'll have any or not.

first day with the kids

Today was my first official day back at work that I got paid for:) Friday I took Mollie with me and got my class lists, a rough schedule set up and an idea of what to do this week. I had to get copies of all the literacy assessments to see what letters they know/don't know, print concept check lists, and phonics assessments. Mollie was really good, the secretary gave her 2 pieces of candy, and we said hello to all the new people I didn't know.

This morning I went to HR to get a new badge made. I have no idea what I did with my old one. Probably burned it b/c it was a horrible picture that I used to cover up with a sticker of a frog.

I have 4 groups on M&W, 5 on Fridays.

I have 3-4 kids in 3 of the Kindergarten groups. My fourth Kindergarten group is about 6 kids who only need help with rhyme. That will change based on phonics assessments. The teachers will decide what the next critical area is based on ongoing assessment and the group and focus will change.
On Fridays I'm there a little longer so I'll have a high first grade group to do a book study/literature circle with. There are 6 kids in that group right now all on the same level, about end of first grade level. We're doing Frog and Toad first. One of my favorites:)
So I'm working 9:30-12 on M&W and 9:30-12:30 on Fridays. Phil is dropping off the girls most M&W's so I can get in a little earlier and gather materials, plan ahead, etc. Then I pick up at 12:15. Actually my friend Jennifer is going to go ahead and get Mollie most days for me and go ahead and start lunch with Mollie and her little one Lindsay outside.
Krystina, our babysitter, will be dropping Sydney off and picking her up on Fridays and hanging out with Mollie so I won't be rushing to or from.

It all seems to be working out nicely, for the first day, haha. It was fun! Sounds weird to say it was fun, but it is!

does anyone remember this Sydney?

What was I feeding that girl? I was showing these to Sydney the other day and she got a huge kick out of it!

weekly report, haha

The blue ribbon funny that I will never forget:
The girls were in the bathtub. Phil and I were up there too and went in the guest room/my office to work on some things with my computer, junk, etc. They were playing with their soap bars. We heard them singing, they frequently sing in the tub. We walked back in and they're standing up, backs to us, little naked butts shining...scrubbing the walls with their soaps singing "It's a hard knock life for us, It's a hard knock life for us! Stead of treated we get tricked! It's a hard knock life!"
No camera near by, the funniest thing ever. We go see Annie next week and I can't wait! Mom, Nancy, Courtney (my sisters) and I are taking the girls. They have their pretty dresses ready for their night at the theater and I told them they can wear mascara, their favorite:)

Chase got tubes in his ears on Wednesday! He did great. He is so, so cute. I have some adorable pictures from the beach last weekend and this week that I need to post soon. And so now hopefully he'll start feeling better on a regular basis. You should see that dude with his camo sippy cup now and some pizza. He'll tear it up.
Yesterday Nancy stayed home with him again so they came over for a while. He loves Sydney. She really plays with him and he gets really excited when he sees her now. I had made some chili and corn muffins for dinner so we coerced Courtney to make the journey from Chapel Hill and Mom came over. If I had known I could get Courtney to come over during the week just for chili and grilled cheese I would have made it a long time ago. We broke out a holiday cheese ball and had a great time. Travis and Cameron were busy and Phil got home at the tail end of the party. It is fun having family close by. And this is exactly why mom wanted to move here!

I start my job finally today. I didn't find out until Wed. evening. I had already told my babysitter I didn't need her today because I hadn't heard anything. My principal said I could either start today or Monday, depending on child care, but it would be good to go today, get all the details worked out, then start seeing kids on Monday. I told him I would love to come today, but don't have my babysitter so just start paying me Monday and I'll bring Mollie with me for today. It's just a few hours. Then everyone can see one of my cute little reasons for only wanting to work 8 hours a week! I'm excited. Guess I better go shower if I want to look decent and be ready to take Sydney to school...at least Friday is jean day at school. Actually, I think you have to wear a Reedy Creek shirt to wear jeans. But I think I still have like 5 somewhere.

And Leanne G. it was so nice to see you at the gym and I'm glad you read my blog! HI!

christmas junkie

I just started listening to Christmas music. I couldn't help it. I love it. I can't wait! I love shopping. I love buying things for people that I know they will like. I am about 1/2 way done now probably. I know it's early. I don't mean for Thanksgiving to get the shaft. I love Thanksgiving too. But I see it as more of a kick off to Christmas, haha.

I've been talking to Sydney's teachers some about how she's doing. She's doing great in school! She just is really focused on her friend Ayden right now and doesn't want to play with anyone else in her class. We've been having a lot of talks about playing with everyone. They said that she is very well liked, she just needs to spread herself around, haha. Phil said, it's because she's OCD, have they heard about the tank tops? I almost died laughing. She is so like that. She picks something that she gets so focused on and doesn't want to give it up. The tank top is an extreme case of something that is probably not going away. She wears them under her clothes every day, and sometimes 2!!
Anyway, luckily Ayden doesn't seem to mind that Sydney is possessive. She goes and plays with others just fine and Sydney doesn't mind. But if Sydney and Ayden are playing she will put other kids in their place about them playing alone. Not too nice, but we're working on it. Poor Ayden, haha!! Her teachers are really good about redirecting her. I do like one of them a lot more now. The other one I like a little more, still not sold.
Oh! But she really does this with 2 other friends also. Matthew and our neighbor Emily. She is currently waiting for Emily to come over after she gets off the school bus. She swears that she has to be home by now. But Emily's mom already told her she will send her over when she gets home. She won't do anything else so she can be on the lookout. We just tickled each other for about 10 minutes, but really, how long can that last?;)

Mollie is happy and having fun as usual. We're seeing some of the almost 3 year old girl coming out in her dramatically at times, but she is really so happy unless she has just woken up or Sydney is trying to take something from her or is "in her space".
I can't wait to take these girls to Disney in Jan! We spent almost an hour in the Disney store at the outlets at the beach. It was great fun! I feel like I'm going to end up with a smile permanently tatooed on my face by the end of January with birthdays, Christmas and Disney!

beach

We're at the beach now. Got here around 6. Had a yummy dinner at a little pizza place down the street and bought a few groceries to just get us by until Sunday. On the way down Phil called Time Warner to talk about our cable bill. He hasn't really been paying attention to it as it is drafted and we kind of just stick it with the beach stuff every month. Well he noticed that it has been like $20 more the last few months. He called in to talk about our rates, see if there are any specials, etc. thinking that the special we signed up under just expired after 6 months. Nooooo....come to find out a renter we had on July 13th signed us up for HBO via remote control!! You can do that!!!??? Yes. Subscribed us with the click of a button and $12 a month. We had blocked out all the pay per view channels and password protected we thought everything. Little did we know you could subscribe to a new channel with a freakin' remote control, haha. Bad, but sort of funny. Especially considering our luck lately. We got it taken off and are going to call the rental company and tell them. I'm sure they won't do anything, but at least they'll know. And we totally know now we should have paid more attention to the bill!

Anyway, the place was really clean when we got here. The people here last did a good job cleaning up and we have some new entries in our guest book so that's exciting! Can't find the broom. Maybe our $4.97 Walmart broom was so exciting that they had to take it with them. Last time we were here the mop was gone. Are cleaning products really that exciting?....maybe I'm missing something.

flu shots and sisters

So we had a flu shot appt. for today. I asked the nurse if they could get the mist and she reluctantly said yes. Not sure why she was so weird about it. But Sydney was disappointed! She wanted a shot! I said, well, if you don't like it you can have the shot next year. And don't worry, you have your 5 year check up in January and you'll get some shots then. She was like, okay. Weird!!!

After our yummy Beef O'Brady's dinner with Kim and Joshua where the kids were all silly all through dinner...
Sydney is getting in the car and said "I wish I didn't have a sister. She sure is a lot of work for me." I said, "Sydney that is not very nice, you love your sister." She said, "yeah, but she sure does like to fight with me." So I said, "yes Sydney, and you fight with her as well."
"oh yeah"
She didn't even say it with a mean voice, just like she'd been seriously considering it, HAHA!

wowsers

• Dishwasher still broken. I never heard back from the "magic people" yesterday about the repair that supposed to occur. They just called and said that another authorized dealer would be contacting me to set up a time. Better be today. I'm getting impatient and cranky in my old age:)
• Garage door can now be added to the broken list. As I'm trying to get out to the gym yesterday morning we realize that we are stuck and not going anywhere. I tried lots of things and Phil came home from work to look at it. Thank God he was in his office and not on the road like he is today until Friday! So I'm currently sitting at home waiting for the garage door people to come fix it. We moved the car seats to Phil's car, thankfully he has a rental for travel this month.
• Our internet router has been on the blink. Finally last night at 8:45 Phil said he thinks it needs to be replaced. I said well Circuit City closes in 15 min, you better get your buns over there because I'm not dealing with no internet with 2 days until you get back home. Can't take one more broken thing. He did. It was on sale:) Shaunt our neighbor works there and tried to get Phil his discount. Because it was on sale the discount was $.08, haha.
• Unfortunately I take these frustrations out on Phil. Poor guy. Why do we do that? I just expect him to be able to fix things for me! He is really good at being handy around the house, but a broken dishwasher, garage door spring...that's just beyond him. And that's fine. He's probably glad to be leaving:)

Last night was so exciting! 2 couples from our neighborhood came over to watch the election coverage. It was great because regardless of who you supported, it was just such an important election. So we sat around and drank some wine. No one even talked about who they voted for President-wise. I'm pretty sure it was split 50/50 between the 6 of us. But we didn't need to share that. We talked about some local races where we had no idea who the people were and all admitted we ended up voting for a few based on signs, haha. It was just fun and exciting to watch something happen that will be such a turning point for our country for better or worse. And NC where there were a lot of big races as well.

dishwasher vent

We got a new dishwasher. I've been begging for one for about a year. It was delivered on Friday. Phil hooked it up Sat. morning. He's done it before, we don't think he screwed it up. He started testing it out, it did a few things, then error code. In the lovely manual it says if you get one of these error codes call the manufacturer. Super. Of course they're not open on weekends. He called Best Buy b/c they have a 30 day guarantee. They're coming today sometime. Have they called yet to give me their "window"? No. Luckily all I have on the agenda is Sydney's gymnastics class at 2. But I need my dishwasher!!!! We have been handwashing since Sat. Now, I realize there are worse things and I should count my blessings that I have one. But I just don't feel like they're clean enough. It really makes me wonder about all the dirty dishes that we probably ate off of when I was growing up and it was Nancy and I's job to wash them. I guess I lived. Anyway, now I have my old dishwasher that still runs, I just hate it, sitting in my kitchen floor in case they have to take my new one away and order me another new one. And I feel selfish for wanting a new dishwasher. But the old one is so freakin' loud you have to turn up the tv to hear over it and you can't talk to someone across the room. And the top rack dishes rarely get all the way clean.
I'm really hoping Best Buy calls in the next 30 min and is able to fix my lovely new one that I've been staring at for 2 days and can't use!

TGI-over

Well, we had a fun, exciting, stressful Halloween week in our house. The girls mostly had a blast. I am glad it's over and yet have a bowl of candy the size of a small mountain. Granted, there were other things going on in "real" life (as opposed to "party" life) that contributed to the craziness.

It started last Saturday with the Apex Halloween Carnival at the community center. It is geared toward kids under 8, yet the time is always 2-4. So they knock out the whole napping crowd. I just took Sydney and Phil stayed home while Mollie slept. She decided to wear a cute witch costume that my mom had gotten to keep at her apt. for dress up clothes. She got to hang out with her BFF Matthew so it was a good time!

Tuesday a girl in Sydney's class invited us to a party at her house. It was huge! There were tons of kids there and food, crafts, games all over the place! It was somewhat chaotic, but a lot of fun. I forgot my camera for that one, but took this one before we left:

Wednesday was Sydney's Halloween parade and song performance at her school. She was really shy about all the people around and was not in the mood to smile for many pictures. She didn't sing either, but she had been singing all the songs at home so I had already heard her do it:) I love things like this!

Thursday we had our TH playgroup Halloween party at our friends Kim, Aaron and Sarah's house. That was more low key because it was all the kids we usually hang out with and very well organized.

Last night our friends the Wrights met us for trick or treating. Their oldest 2 are Sydney and Mollie's ages. Trick or treating was FUN. The girls all had a blast and didn't really complain about being cold. We went to Ms. Mary's house (Mollie's dance teacher) and about 1/2 the houses in this little circle of our neighborhood.

Now we get about a month reprieve before Christmas kick in full swing!