December Summary

I've been horrible about updating our site (for the five of you who actually read it!). Our December was typical for a family with two young kids- BUSY! Here are a few pictures...
Christmas tree shopping
Makena
Reese (show tunes, anyone?)
decorating cookies with Alex and West
Makena's last day of gymnastics
Reese and Hannah as angels at the playschool Christmas program
Makena and Papaw
Reese and her favorite present- Horton (the one who heard a Who)

da Bears and Pull Ups

Last month, we made our annual (two years running makes it "annual" right?) trip downtown to see the animatronic bear symphony that has become something of a Charlotte Christmas institution. We made an adventure of it with our friends the Benders and the Johnstons by taking the light rail downtown, then stopping at Pike's for lunch on the way home. Much fun was had by all!
Here was the wrench Reese threw at me that morning. She insisted on making that day the first day she was ready to wear panties. Keep in mind- I've been dreading the onset of potty training her since Makena was such a challenge, so I hadn't been pushing her to start. Hmmmm...let's take stock of our day. 15 minutes in the car with no available potty. 25 minutes (plus potential wait-time at the station) on the light rail with no availale potty. 5 minute walk through downtown, 45 minutes standing watching the bears (potty available, but at least 50 yards + 1 escalator away), another 15 minutes on the train to the restaurant (POTTY!!), more train then back in the car. This was not looking good. We compromised with a pull-up and, wouldn't you know, she is a dream potty-trainer! Yippee!!
Here are a few of our favorite pictures from our adventure.
Makena and Reese staring at the bears
Cade and Makena- we're in favor of this pairing!
All the kids at lunch- Reese, Cade, Reece, Makena- they did so well!
The after-effects of milkshakes...although one would think three women would be every man's dream...the next picture in this series has Reece and Makena hanging on to Cade's jacket while he appears to dash off for dear life...
Makena in her favorite coat. She wears it inside. When it's 65 outside. Constantly.

Reese's last gymnastics class

A few shots from Reese's last gymnastics class this semester. She looooves bouncing on the trampoline!
There's always time to stop and pet a dog
Hoola-hooping (or at least attempting to)

Go Speed Racer, goooooo....

Last week, Brett bought the girls (or possibly himself) an early Christmas present. A race track! James and I had one of these- albeit we were older and it was one that went up the wall and we spent a disproportionate amount of time seeing what various objects we could crash the cars into. Makena "got it" more than Reese, but they both have fun.

Fall is most definitely here

Last week Brett took advantage of another time-honored holiday enjoyed only by government employees and bankers. Veterans' Day. Yes, while the rest of the country was hard at work and wondering why their mailboxes were empty, half of the city of Charlotte had a play day. We went to one of the huge parks here and enjoyed the paths and picnic tables and playgrounds.
Another fall favorite is the leaf pile. We've got some very large, very leafy trees in our yards that make for great leaf-jumping.
In case you were wondering, most of those leaves are still there. It's a week-long process.

Halloween

This year on October 31 we participated in that time-honored ritual in which children dress up in overpriced, flimsy costumes from Target and collect pounds of sugar and fat from strangers. Happy Halloween! Only kidding! (sort of)
This year Makena was a ballerina and Reese was a ladybug ("radybug") and we made the most out of our costumes with appearances at two parties and our neighborhood social.
Believe it or not, we did have other things going on on that day that proved more exciting than Milky Ways and Snickers. We moved Reese into a big-girl bed! She LOVES it and has asked me at least once a day for the past five days if it's night-night time yet. To make the event even bigger, once I finally chose the bed I wanted to buy for her, we wound up buying one for Makena, too. She had been in a big-girl bed for over a year, but the bed she was in was an old daybed I've had for years. Now they both have their own new beds...which had better last them until college!

My Favorite Pet Peeves

Just think of this post as my version of Oprah's "Favorite Things"...minus the refrigerators and croissants.
Pre-recorded political phone calls. These are out of control this year and the level of pandering only goes to prove that the politicians all think we're a bunch of lemmings whose minds can be changed with a generic message. Michelle Obama called me one day. Thanks to her, I know that there is early voting here in North Carolina. Whew. Neither John nor Cindy McCain has yet to call me, but I'm hopeful. A group called "Americans for Job Security" called yesterday. I can only assume that, since I am not a member of said group, they think I enjoy mass corporate turnover rates.
People who turn right in order to turn left. Have you ever noticed that some people get into the left-turn lane only to swerve back into the go-straight lane in a misguided effort to make a ridiculously wide left turn? You're not in an eighteen wheeler, you're in a Prius. Your turning radius can handle 90 degrees. Get out of my lane.
"I don't believe in...". An aggravating phrase when misused. "I don't believe in Santa": fine- your choice- enjoy the coal you find in your stocking. "I don't believe in God": also fine- let me know how that turns out for you . "I don't believe in ghosts": your call. "I don't believe in the lottery (insert your choice of controversial topic here)": not fine. You can choose not to believe in it but, generally speaking, that's going to be a losing battle for you. The lottery/whatever exists. Denying its existence seems rather silly, no?
2 year olds who don't nap. Further explanation should not be necessary.