Wish they all could be California Girls!

Thank You so much Aunt Roxanne and Uncle Jack for the cute matching polar bear PJs....we girls love them! Addy was a little too enthralled with her princess shirt to put on the top to the PJs but she eventually came around. The pants however were a different story both girls thought they were super comfy and continued to wear them all the next day while dancing in front of every mirror they came across.

The visit to Cali was wonderful, refreshing, rejuvenating, relaxing and any other re- word you can think of! I loved spending QT with the Hollands, especially my Chelsea B!!! We went and shopped literally until we dropped (who has ever shopped for 6 hours straight...in my defense though it was outlet shopping!) Then we were able to see Jason and Marc's rehearsal for their new show "Beauty and the Beast" where Marc is the beast and Jason is Lumiere. They were both amazing and stole the show! Let's see what else? Oh, I got to run on the beach....man I could do that every day for the rest of my life!! AND...Rob made me the most delicious mushroom stew, I got the recipe so I could make it for Brent and the girls! Also, I got to see where Chelsea works and meet some of her friends there. We went out one night, which for an old lady like me was so much fun....I even made it to the greasy food part after the evening! (No, No, No, No, No, No.........) We went to Temecula for wine tasting and more outlet shopping. Oh yes, probably one of the neatest parts of all was that Chelsea set up a day of pampering for me while I was there....we got pedicures, which were out of this world and then I got my haircut (and I do mean cut...went back to short hair people!) oh yes and colored....trying something new all of you will have to wait and see! Thanks to Brent and Chelsea for enabling all of this to take place - it does wonders for the heart and soul to spend some uninterrupted time with the people you love.

As far as Brent and the girls - they seemed to manage fabulously while Mom was away. The house was spotless when I came home, laundry all up to date, refrigerator stocked, fruit bowl out on the kitchen table and everyone was in one piece. I surmised they had some secret fun as they were all giggling like crazy when I first walked up the stairs to put the girls to bed...but I have yet to figure out what went down. Anyway...getting ready for Thanksgiving now over these next few days. Wishing we all could be together! Keeping our prayers headed toward Old Froggie and GG! Lots of Love....LUMUKU.

Uncle Andy's Visit 101

What can I say about having my brother Andy here? It was sort of like having another 4 year old around the house. He would play hide and go seek every night before dinner, he took walks outside to hunt for nuts, he made forts out of everything all over the house, he colored, he played princess (Oh, excuse me Cinderella), he laughed, he made me smile. In truth the girls adored having Uncle Andy here especially since he was never afraid to be a kid with them. It warmed my heart to see them interact. The pictures posted are from when we took them to school and our "Silly Faces Only Day".... why are adults so afraid to let loose and be silly? You would think it would have a huge impact on our society if people were not so caught up in their own self-image. Anywho....

Having a great week, although I double booked the girls today...I mean really they are so busy I almost need little calendars for them to keep their activities in order. We had a playdate today after school which is a staple and then had to rush over to another playdate shortly thereafter with only a stop for a Sonic Slush in between. What a rough life these little ladies lead let me tell you :)

We are getting excited about Santa Fe - the girls have looked on the Internet to see what stuff they want to do while there. They are looking forward to it as well! However I think they are more thrilled about the hotel room over anything else! It is so funny what little kids are thinking.

Ciao for now.....

Austin or Bust!

So the first move for the 'rents down to Austin went fabulous! The girls spent some nice QT with Grandma ahead of time - going shopping, gymnastics, Chick-Fil-A and reading books. We made the drive on Thursday morning and got the house ready with the help of Walmart. All the boys: Dad, Brent and Andy, arrived on Friday early evening. We actually unloaded half of the stuff that night with the help of the girls....they were fired up and kept everyone in great spirits! Kaitlyn and Addison were in charge of pillows, blankets, and anything else that was as light as a feather...you would be surprised how much of that stuff one packs up! The girls loved walking up and down the truck ramp with their items and then yelling to Grandma to find out where to take their treasures. Since the girls took over my usual role in the moving process, I was placed in charge of unloading the kitchen stuff....YIKES!!!! Andy was also able to hit up Austin on Saturday night and check out the place he is interested in moving. He said it was wonderful and right up his alley with all the music and activity - yeah!!! Oh and get this...we saw two deer in the backyard of my parent's new place....it reminded us of Old Froggie...well excpet for the cold and snow (Shout out to AUNT VAL)...but still great memories! Anywho, just wanted to drop everyone a line to fill you in on the big weekend! This gets me so excited for the future and having family close by. Pray that everyone is doing amazingly well!!!!!

meet the parents

Alright, pretty uneventful week so far - although I have to admit the girls were amazing yesterday helping me clean before my parents and brother arrived. They were spraying everything they could find with Windex - and I don't mean one or two squirts - Kaitlyn would get the item so bogged down with the cleaner that it would pool. I could not say much to correct it though, as the girls were laughing together running from room to room cleaning and the cuteness far outweighed the necessity to get it right. Who needs things perfect anyway? No one ever really comes to see the house!!!
So this is a shout out to all those young individuals who can still stay up to the wee wee hours in the morning and then function the next day. How do you do that? Please do not tell me I am getting old and that is the problem? I accidentally had some caffeine last night - I say accidentally cause Brent bought these water packets and I did not read the label besides "pink lemonade" (oo, yummy), needless to say it was an energy drink. I have not seen 3am in the longest time; however I am amazingly productive on caffeine! Struggling a little bit this morning, so I can see how it can be a vicious cycle. Hope you all have a great day, LUMUKU!

Halloween was SPOOK-tacular!

Halloween Night was FANTASTIC! First off, the whole day was relaxing and fun as Daddy was home the entire day. Addison got her hair cut, which was adorable, and we had lunch with the Lowry's at Chick Fil-A. Then the real fun began as we went over to the Barber's house for a potluck dinner as our kids are close and we always have fun when we all get together. By the time the first doorbell rang at their house all the kids were ready to start out for the night. Brent and I really thought maybe after 5 houses the girls would be tired and ready to head home. Let me tell you we were wrong. We ended up trick or treating until 9pm. It was crazy, but we could not get enough of how wonderful it was to see the excitement and pure joy in the girls eyes. Addison's little legs could not keep up with her body as she would run from house to house to collect the treats. She never wanted to carry her treat bag though, so Brent or I would have to trail closely behind so she could drop the treat off on her run to the next house. I have to tell you though, the neighborhood was great especially for the little kids - all the lights on and people outside - it was so fun! About 3/4 of the way through the night, Uncle Bob and Aunt Linda joined us which was wonderful. The girls were so excited to see them! I think we wore them out too though with all our energy at such a late hour! Halloween was certainly a blast.