I Bit the Bullet...

I did it.

I cut Cate's mullet.
I didn't know I had it in me, but I did.
Thursday morning Towns asked me if I'd cut her hair, and once I got started on it Cate couldn't wait to have her turn. I took it as a sign that it needed to be done. Towns has never had a real hair cut - I've always cut it myself. And I've always done it while Cate was asleep because I didn't want her catching on to how the whole thing works. I know without a doubt she'll be my child who takes the scissors to her hair. It's just a matter of time. I've already mentally prepared myself. I never had to worry about that with Towns, but Cate is a completely different story. She waited somewhat patiently to hop on the stool, and once I started on her she asked 'you beauty shopping me, Mommy?' about fifty times. Towns and I laughed hysterically every single time. She couldn't be still for trying to see what I was doing back there...

I'm happy to report that she's not rocking a mull anymore! I believe it's still long enough for 'ponky tails', and that was her Daddy's one request.

We played around all weekend long...




And Sunday after church I just so happened to have my camera on hand to get pictures of the girls doing what they do best.
Putting on a show (for everyone in the church parking lot)...


Towns is singing her heart out in this one, and Cate's the back up dancer (living her Mother's dream)...




Pretend microphone in hand...

Raise your hand if you're excited that Christmas is in less than two weeks...

We are!!
And speaking of Christmas, this morning on the way home from taking Bethany to school Cate informed me that baby Jesus was born in Birmingham.
Bethlehem...Birmingham...I can see how it can be confusing.
But she wasn't backing off the fact that she knew she was right about knowing exactly where He was born! Leave it to Cate to come up with her own version of the Christmas story...

Santa's Village or Bust!

Last night we were in the mood to do something Christmas-y, so we headed to Huntsville for dinner at Mellow Mushroom and a trip to Santa's Village. Given the fact that it was below 30 degrees and we didn't realize that most of Santa's Village was outside (translation: we were unprepared), we were in and out in less than an hour!
B was oh-so-thrilled about going (as most teenagers would be). But the girls were ecstatic about it...if you didn't remind them that Santa was actually going to be there! They're terrified of him for some reason, and both nearly came unglued at the thought of having to sit in his lap. We didn't push the issue. One day they'll come around!

Not quite tall enough for this one...


Towns loved pretending she was Santa...

And she wouldn't let Cate sit in the front with her. She stuck her in the back and told her that she could be a reindeer, even though that's not really where reindeer go...



Can you find Bethany and Towns in the Christmas tree?

I need someone to give me a class in picture-taking for Christmas. I tried to get a picture of the reindeer, and got mostly the fence instead...

Can I get an A for effort?

The girls got to write their letters to Santa at one of the indoor stops...we let them take their dear sweet time so we could thaw out! That's why I didn't mind letting Towns spell out her entire name which took all of 5 minutes to write. She took it upon herself to check the 'nice' box and I couldn't really disagree with that one. Bethany checked both boxes on Cate's letter! They dropped their letters in an elf's bag that was ever so patiently waiting on Towns to finish, only for me to chase the elf down and ask for the letter back so I could keep it.
Bethany called me crazy. I call it sentimental! :)

Heaven Help Me!

Just out of curiosity...

Say you have a 2 year old who is quite a pistol. And say, perhaps, that she's been told to keep her hands away from the ceramic Nativity scene...oh, maybe 74 times a day. And just for fun, let's say that she disregards the fact that she's ever heard those words uttered in her presence and captures a wise man every so often. I can live with that. It's pretty tempting. But let's go a little further and say that she brings you this fellow here and tells you that it's Lady Gaga...

What would you do?
Start praying?
That's what I thought, too.

An Early White Christmas

Saturday morning we woke up to this...

We don't get snow very often, so when we do it's major excitement!
We bundled up and headed outside...


Cate was trying her best to throw snowballs, but all she could get was dirt and leaves!
Maybe one day she can see real snow, but for now we'll take what we can get...

By the time the snow had melted, Grandmommy and Pop had arrived so we could help Grandmommy celebrate her birthday. She's one of the girls' favorite people in the world (mine too!), so we were glad we got to be with her on her birthday...

Unfortunately, the only other birthday picture I have is with a green balloon covering up Grandmommy blowing out her candle...thanks B! HA!

Sunday we went to Christmas on Church Street at our church, which was just as great as it is every year. It was a packed house, and everyone there had to have left even more in the Christmas spirit than when they came. There was no way not to! These people, along with the choir and orchestra, did an amazing job! Have I mentioned that I love this time of year? Can I say it again? I love Christmas!!

Festive

The majority won. It was four against one, and I didn't have a shot.

There you see my poor little white lights in the background just waiting to be put on a tree...

But those big ol' lights in the front took the prize!
We pulled out all of our Christmas decorations (about a month late according to the schedule we're usually on) Tuesday night after Bethany and Towns got home from cheer practice and gymnastics. We turned on really fun Christmas music, B made us all hot chocolate, and we got down to business!
Isn't it funny how things change over the years? I used to be so meticulous in how our tree was decorated. I wanted all the ornaments in just the right place. But it's become less about my idea of how our house should be decorated and more about making the children happy by letting them be involved.
So the fact that most every ornament on the tree is practically touching the ground because they can't reach very high doesn't bother me a bit. Want to know why? Because I'll always remember how sweet it was for them to be so excited about this...


By the time I took the picture above, the initial ornament hanging had been done. Towns and Cate took everything off and put it back on several times. And they've done it every day since!
I have to share a funny picture. J was behind the camera and took this one...

Towns was preparing herself to jump from the stools to the couch (about a 4 foot jump...my nerves are permanently shot), I'd just hit my head pretty hard on the corner of the mantle, and B is smiling like there's nothing in the world going on around her. That picture pretty much sums up how it is at our house day in and day out...a zoo!!

The night wouldn't be complete without hopping in the Rubbermaid ornament tub and getting spun around in circles on the hard wood floors in the dining room. Surprisingly enough, that was my idea. J didn't have a chance to think that one up on his own! HA!

(No need to point out that my children look like they've been through the ringer...they start the day looking really good and by nightfall they're a disaster!)

As Towns was getting out our decorations she came across these...

One of my favorite dance students made them out of clay for me last Christmas. There's baby Jesus, an angel, and Joseph and Mary. She's had the best time with them, and you can tell that because Joseph is missing a leg. She doesn't let them out of her sight. She sits her dolls down for school and teaches them everything she knows about them. She's so curious and asks a lot of questions, and she never forgets how we answer them. So it's neat to hear her taking what she's been taught and passing it on to her pretend students.

Yesterday and today she's said some really sweet things that I always want to remember...
Last night I was laying down with her before bed and she was saying her prayers. Last Friday one of her teachers had her wisdom teeth cut out, and she obviously had that on her mind. Her prayer went like this...
"Dear God, thank you for our house. And thank you for letting Mrs. Michelle's mouth feel better. I hope you have a merry Christmas. Amen. Bye God!"

And today I was helping her put a preemie outfit on one of her dolls. I have all of Cate's tiny little outfits from when she was a baby and they love to dress their dolls in them. She was telling me how much she loves the particular outfit we were playing with and said that she couldn't wait until she was a baby again so that she could wear it. I was trying to explain to her that she'd only get bigger and older and wouldn't be a baby ever again. That made her a little mad and she insisted that she could really be little again. Once again, I told her that she would always be a big girl. She must have heard us say that anything is possible with God, so she looked at me with the most serious face and said "well maybe you just need to pray about it."
Love, love, love her! And little does she know that I'd do just about anything to keep her my baby forever!

Thankful

We've had the best week and have seized the opportunity to realize how much we have to be thankful for! We spent a very relaxing Thanksgiving at home this year which was just what the doctor ordered. We missed seeing all of our family on the holiday, but it was so incredibly nice just to be still. I've been convicted lately of being way too busy and on-the-go to stop and enjoy everything around me. Family, friends, life in general. As a result in taking a little time off, my timliness in my work has suffered. But I know it will be alright. The verse "be still and know that I am God" has gone through my head repeatedly, and it's not just coincidence. So Thanksgiving was a special time for me. I fully enjoyed J and the girls, and I'm one happy lady.
Something else that makes me happy...

The other night as the girls were going to sleep I caught Towns playing the loving sister role to Cate, which was quite possibly the most precious thing I've ever seen...

Here she's telling me how sweet Bug's little hands are...

She totally disregarded the fact that Buggy was sound asleep and thought a bottle was exactly what she needed...

We've had to come up with fun, new ideas to keep the girls entertained with Bebby gone all week. J is the king of crazy fun and came up with this one which provided hours of laughs...

A battery operated vehicle, a box, and some rope...and voila! Instant (dangerous) fun!

Everyone still has their limbs in tact, so all is well!

The church service this morning kicked our Christmas spirit into high gear. I get chills every single time I read the Christmas story in the book of Luke. The sermon was on the Gospel according to Mary, which is the first in a series for December. And I'm never any less amazed by it all. Bethany and I were showing each other our favorite verses in the Bible not too long ago, and we got on the subject of the birth of Jesus. She asked me to show her where it was in the Bible, so I did and I read it to her. We all know the story, but there's just something about reading it from Luke. Wouldn't you agree?

After church, we had lunch and went on the search for a Christmas tree. Our tree always comes from the same spot...we love tradition! We take the same pictures every year which makes it fun to go back and look at how much everyone changes from year to year. And J wonders why we have to have 10,000+ pictures on our computer! HA!
It was meant for us to have this tree...

It was the first one we picked up, and I almost caught myself missing the 45 minute heated discussions that ensue every year when we all have our own opinions on what our tree should look like! :)
It was way too easy this time around!
Speaking of easy...pretending like she's 16 comes easy to Bethany! It won't be long, B!

And two little girls went into hysterics because they thought she was leaving them. When she got out, they both ran full speed to her like they haven't seen her in five years...


I believe they missed you a tad bit while you were gone, B!
We've got to be the only people in history to turn buying a Christmas tree into a family picture extravaganza...


We follow a strict dress code when shopping for a Christmas tree. Can you tell? J sweet talked his way out of wearing a gray dress...he's lucky I like him so much!



I'm the only person in the family who likes pictures, and since everyone was ready and willing to cooperate today without the wailing and gnashing of teeth I couldn't let the opportunity pass!

We clowned around in the car while J paid for our tree...

Cate was giving me her best fake smile ever, right before she found out how much fun it is to make faces at herself in the mirror...

As soon as we got home, Towns and I headed to Mary Reese's tea party to celebrate her 5th birthday...which was just as fun for us moms to watch as it was for the girls to participate in!

The girls were so fancy...quite the little ladies!

Thanks for having us, MR!
And I'll end on a Christmas-y note...after major furniture rearranging, the tree is up! It's in a new spot this year, and we'll wait and see how well we handle the change. We're creatures of habit! The girls really wanted it in the window by the piano where it's always been, but the computer got in the way this year. I told them Santa wouldn't have nearly as far to take their presents since the tree was right beside the chimney...and that has satisfied them for now!

We're already planning a tree decorating party for Tuesday night...J and the girls are voting for the massive colored lights, and I'm a fan of classic white. I already know who's going to win.
And it isn't me!!
Whatever makes them happy...