Sibley's Very First Violin Concert

We're so proud of Sibley. She gets up early every Monday and Wednesday morning to go to school for violin lessons. She worked hard to get ready for her Christmas concert.

Sibley's 4th Grade Christmas Concert

Great job, Sibley!

Dear Sadie,

You're almost 21 months old and this is what you're up to these days:

You throw everything in the trash - money, toys, silverware, etc. We're constantly picking things out of the trash can in the kitchen.

You are writing a lot these days. You scribble on yourself and for some reason you like to write on the back of your neck. You also like to write on the walls, clothes, furniture, and last week you ruined one of my tablecloths.

You call Skyler "Ky" and Sibley "Dub-dub." We have no idea where the Dub-dub came from.

You can reach door knobs now but you're still not quite able to turn them. You can reach the buttons on the cable box and you like to turn it off when we're in the middle of a show. You like to snatch the ball ornaments off the Christmas tree so that the top of the ornament and the hook are still hanging. Surprisingly, though, you haven't opened any of the presents under the tree. Update: It's December 27th and you are now able to lock yourself into a room.

You love to watch Barney and Little Bill. You have parts of "Gru"(Despicable Me) memorized.

You say "noot nack" for fruit snack and "mo-man" for snowman. You are really into snowmen right now. You like for us to sing "Once There Was A Snowman."

You like to go to Nursery at church now.

You won't let anyone else feed you anymore. You insist on doing it yourself.
Sometimes you say "Mama-hug" and hold your arms out to hug me.

You count things now. You point to them and say "one-two" or "nine-two."

If you see a picture of Jesus, you recognize him and call him "Gee-yah."

You like to steal Skyler's mascara. Once last week you stole it and stuck the mascara wand up your nose...thus the picture.

You keep talking about the "potty." I let you sit on the potty and practice today. I need to buy you a training potty this week. You're growing up so fast.

You like to take part in any conversation that's going on around you. You constantly interject with "gosh" or "oh gosh."

You ask for "pizza" and "rice" a lot.

You prefer speaking in portmanteau terms. First there was the "baba-bippy." Now you ask for your two favorite TV shows together by saying "Barney-Bill." It sounds more like "Barney-Bell." You love Barney and Little Bill.

FUNNEST. VACATION. EVER.

I don't want to forget anything about our Thanksgiving vacation to California, so be prepared for picture/post overload. (Sorry some of them aren't in order.)

The Parade

They had a really cute parade in the afternoon. (The theme was Dickens Christmas.) One thing I liked about Knott's is that they still say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays." Also, we went and saw Snoopy's Christmas on Ice and they read the nativity story from Luke II at the end and said that was the true reason for Christmas. (I don't know if you can see it or not, but Sadie had busted the bridge of her nose on a windowsill in the train earlier.)

Poor Sadie was terrified of the characters.

Goofing off at the hotel

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with the Knott's hotel. It was really nice and there was a heated pool and hot tub, a sauna, a gym, and basketball and tennis courts. Also, it was just a short walk to the park. On a different note, I know our neighbors hated us. My husband is the biggest kid I know and he treats his girls just like they are boys. He rough houses with them, wrestles them, tickles them til they cry, etc. They know they're lucky, though, to have a daddy that plays with them. He is the funnest father and husband in the world. Here are just a few of the antics we caught on camera while at the hotel:


Bryant insisted that only he had the right to take a picture with the Xcelerator because he was the only one brave enough to ride it. It was his favorite.

Our fun day at Huntington Beach

We got 8 park tickets in our vacation package, so we went to Knott's on Thursday and Friday and the beach on Saturday. The weather was beautiful, the beach wasn't overcrowded, there were no scary homeless people, and we just had ourselves a nice, relaxing day at the beach. I, of course, did not get into the freezing cold Pacific Ocean water, but Bryant and the girls did. Sadie had a great time playing in the sand. She especially liked to sprinkle it over herself and walk on it. In fact, she wouldn't let me carry her back to the car at the end of the day because she was really enjoying walking on the sand. Also, would you believe that Skyler and her volleyball teammate/friend found each other on the beach? Well, they did.

Footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater

Bryant is a huge Old Western fan, so he was excited to get a picture with Roy Rogers' slab as well as John Wayne's slab. Skyler snapped one of the Twilight Saga slab, but it must not have completely cured yet because they had it blocked off. Sadie saw all of us squatting and having our picture made with different footprints, so she found one she wanted to have her picture with, squatted down on it, and yelled for her daddy to take her picture.

Here are just a few of the stars we took pictures of on the walk of fame...

We took about a million. I'm sure you get the point.

[It is very appropriate that Sadie wanted her picture taken with Godzilla's star because she was Godzilla on the way home, but I must say she had been excellent during the whole trip up to that point. Speaking of the drive home, there was a terrible traffic jam going toward California, thank goodness. There was an overturned truck on the interstate and traffic was literally backed up for 30 miles behind it. It was so bad and people were stuck for so long that they just got out of their cars and walked on and around the road. I'd never seen anything like it.]