End of the year wrap-up

**post-edit note... I added Santa pics to the middle of this post.

---------------------------

Warning: This is a lengthy post. It covers a few of Caitie's school activities since November, Christmas trees and lights, an elf, Santa pics, a brief mention of Michael's birthday, Zoo Lights, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Here are some pics from back in November...

Caitie received a Pizza Hut gift certificate from her teacher for a free mini pizza for reading every night for 20 minutes through the month of October. This pic was taken at the beginning of November... Caitie and Bailey were still wearing shorts, but as you can see, Bailey looks a bit chilled in this pic.

Caitie and her first grade class, along with other first grade classes, performed 'Stone Soup' in November. Her music teacher was in charge of the performance. The children were to dress in 'dirty', 'worn' looking clothes. They all did really well. We didn't record the performance due to not having uploaded previous recordings off of our camcorder so didn't have any room left on it, but I did take pics, here are a few...

The children were brought out in small groups for different parts of the performance, so only some of the children are showing in these pics. Caitie is on the far left, holding a feather duster.

Caitie is in the center of this pic.

I took this pic after the performance; most of the people had left the building.

After the performance we treated Caitie to a chocolate mint Blizzard from Dairy Queen.

Caitie had a December book project, similar to the October book project, she did for class. She did her book report on the book "The Crippled Lamb" by Max Lucado. It's a cute and touching book. The 'visual' for this project was a Christmas tree ornament. We made a lamb out of a toilet paper roll, cotton, black pipe cleaner, glue, and a cute lamb face I printed off from the Internet and Caitie colored. We added an ornament hook to its back so it could hang on the class Christmas tree. It turned out really cute. She got a 100 on the project, just as she did on her October book project.

Here are some pics of Caitie with school stuff at Christmastime...

Here she is with a 'December Celebrations' book she made in class; it shows the different ways Christmas is celebrated. Isn't she cute in her santa hat? She made that in class too.

Her teacher gave her a couple of books, a Christmas pencil and stickers, and reindeer feed for Christmas.

Here she is with the goodies she got at her class Christmas party. There was a lot of stuff in that bag, including a book from another child that she got during the Christmas book exchange game at the party.

Here is Caitie's Christmas gifts for her teacher. See the snowman theme? It was mostly Starbucks stuff, a gift card and coffee mug, with a candy cane of white chocolate mint kisses and a snowman Christmas card as well. She took them in on PJ day.

Caitie's class had PJ day right before Christmas break. It included games, snacks and watching The Polar Express movie. This year I made sure Caitie wore PJs and not a sleeper like she did last year. ha It was a fun day.

We got our Christmas tree at Costco again this year. It was only around $50 total for a nice Douglas Fir. Here Michael is tying the tree to the top of our SUV in the Costco parking lot. I was barely able to get this pic due to feeling quite nauseous at the time due to a bad headache. I don't remember which, but either Advil or chocolate helped rid me of that awful headache, which helped with the nausea as well.

We didn't get around to decorating the Christmas tree for a few days due to my not feeling well the night we brought it home; I wasn't able to help get it into the house so it stayed in the garage a couple of days. But we finally got it set up and decorated. It was a nice tree.

Caitie decided to decorate the stair banister. So pretty. :)

Michael put Christmas lights up on the front of the house and on the back deck of the house; Caitie helped with the back deck lights.

It's tradition to get a pic of my reflection on a ball on the Christmas tree. I took this pic about a week after the tree was up; I usually do it the night we decorate the tree, but I forgot, or I was too tired... probably both. ha

Bailey is kissing the sheep Caitie and I made for the book project for school. Caitie hung it on the Christmas tree when she brought her project home from school.

Caitie and I got small Christmas trees this year. It all started when Caitie decided she wanted a tree of her own in her bedroom. We found some on sale at Big Lots and picked up a purple one for her and I ended up getting a small green one for me. Here it is on the piano in the living room. Caitie made me several home-made gifts which she found boxes for and wrapped, with her daddy's help. She spoiled me this year. Look at all those gifts under my tree, and the stocking she hung on the piano. :) I loved them all. She made a couple of things for her daddy as well. She also made me and her daddy a couple of craft items at school. So sweet.

I'm not into the 'elf on the shelf' thing... but when one of Caitie's friends at school mentioned his to her, and how cool it was, she kept mentioning how much she wish she had one. Her friend at school told her that if she found a doll and asked it to be an elf on the shelf it would become an elf. So Michael thought it would be funny to move the Disney doll she asked to become an elf onto the stair banister. Caitie was soooo excited when she saw this. What started as something funny became my having to move the elf and do things around the house to make it seem as if the elf did it so Caitie wouldn't be disappointed thinking it wasn't really an elf after all. It became quite a chore for me, but it was kind of fun as well. Jasmine ended up playing a big part in Christmas this year. Caitie chose Jasmine as her elf. I would move the elf all over Caitie's room, Caitie never knew where she would be when she came home from school. The first thing she wanted to do after school was find out where her elf was. As you can see in the pic below, one of the things I decided to have Jasmine do was read a book, but not just any book, it was a Disney book about Jasmine. I couldn't resist. Each night at bedtime Jasmine would make down Caitie's bed and then be under her Christmas tree with the lights on. Caitie came to expect that every night. It wasn't easy doing this without being caught, but I managed to do it every night up to Christmas.

See Jasmine in this pic? I decided to have her fly around the room in style... on the blade of Caitie's ceiling fan. Yes, I had fun with the elf project. ha :)

I took this pic of the girls while we were in line waiting to see Santa. It looks like Bailey is nervously biting her nails... she knew what was coming and she wasn't too happy about it.

Caitie was calm and relaxed, but poor Bailey was in distress. ha

As if one sitting wasn't terrying enough... we had her sit with Santa again a few days later. We wanted to get her pic with Santa while wearing her daddy's baby outfit (the same outfit i took pics of her in back in october). Michael's mom has a pic of him when he was a baby wearing the same outfit sitting with Santa. Bailey's a year older than he was in his pic though, so there isn't much resemblance. As you can see, Bailey still isn't too happy to be sitting on Santa's lap. I was glad it was the same Santa as before... but you can see that he's probably thinking... "not again" ... ha

Michael's birthday is right before Christmas, so it's usually crammed in between school stuff, tree decorating, shopping, etc. so here he is helping pick out his own birthday card from me at Walmart. He was reading through birthday cards while Caitie and I picked a couple out for him. He didn't care, he's used to it. ha :) We were at Best Buy earlier in the day... I picked up his birthday present while we were there. We were all in the store, and while he and Bailey were looking at Ipads, Caitie and I went and found the blu ray Indiana Jones DVD set and paid for it. I hid them behind my back all the way up to getting in the SUV. You think I would have planned ahead, but no... just call me lazy... real lazy. ha

Here is Bailey reading a card with her daddy. Caitie is in the background still searching for the perfect birthday card for her daddy. She picked a good one. It wasn't hard for me to find one, as soon as I saw the Indiana Jones card, I grabbed it. I love when things match like that... his gift and the card.

Caitie did the wrapping. She's a good gift wrapper, just like her daddy. Here she's holding both birthday cards and showing the gift she wrapped in frog paper. So cute.

We went to Zoo Lights at the Phoenix Zoo as we do every year; it's tradition. Michael gets free tickets for it from our financial advisor. If we didn't get free tickets, I doubt we would go. In order to enjoy the lights each year, which are pretty much the same every year, you need to do the extra activities they have available. The carousel costs, the camel ride costs, the polar ride costs, the toy lights costs, the food prices are high, etc. It wouldn't be worth going if we didn't get in for free. We went the Saturday before Christmas. There was quite a crowd when we went, but we had a good time. Here is a pic of a 'blue tree'.

We gave in and got Caitie a toy light this time. Remember the Fresh Beat Band Concert? We didn't give in and get her a toy light, but we did this time. I have to admit that the butterfly light we got her seemed worth the price. It's a pretty cool light.

I didn't take as many pics this time. I did get one of a praying mantis. Kinda cool... or not.

The girls went on the carousel, of course. It's always a favorite.

We went to Michael's brother's house on Christmas Eve. The girls and a friend played with the slot machine and the pool table, as usual. This time the girls opened their presents from their uncle on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day.

Bailey not enjoying a sweet treat. ha

The girls had packages waiting for them under Caitie's Christmas tree when we got home on Christmas Eve. Jasmine, the elf, had left them each a polar bear sleeper. It was pretty late when we got home, so the girls went to bed not long after we got home.

Michael and I were in for a long night... we had to wrap all the presents we had for the girls, which were quite a few. We also had the stockings to do. It was a full tree. We were up until around 6am. Caitie got us up around 7:30am. So we basically had a quick nap. Boy were we tired that day.

This is how Christmas morning looked... two excited kids tearing into packages. I don't know if you can make it out or not, the pic is pretty blurry, but the girls got a Wii Console for Christmas. We aren't liking some of the games we got to go with it, but one I would recommend if you have a Wii console is I Spy Spooky Mansion. Love it!

The girls sharing a crocodile ride on their new crocodile rocker. We got the girls a lot of gifts together; we like for them to have things to play with together.

Bailey enjoying a quiet moment before tearing into her next package.

One thing Caitie noticed first thing on Christmas morning was her elf, Jasmine, missing. She started to cry when she couldn't find her. It took a bit for us to get started opening the presents due to calming her down about it. The reason she wasn't to be found in the house was because she was outside on the girls new swing set. I don't know if you can see her in the pic below, but if you look carefully, you can see her at the top of the slide; I put her out there the night before, after wrapping gifts. The girls were excited about their new swing set, and Caitie was relieved to see Jasmine at the top of the slide. One thing I messed up on was the wording in the Santa letter that we put in the swing set box. I ordered the swing set from Walmart; it was store delivery, which meant it was shipped to a Walmart nearby for pickup. Michael and his dad picked it up a few weeks before Christmas; they stored it at Michael's dad's house, in his garage so the girls wouldn't see it. I didn't see the box before it was wrapped; Michael's mom put the note inside the box and wrapped it. I thought a picture of the swing set was on the box, so when I typed up the note to be left in the box for the girls to find Christmas morning, I put in the letter that Santa had left them a swing set out back, since I thought they would see a pic of it on the box anyway. If I had known it was just a brown box, with no picture of the swing set on it, I would have just put there was a surprise out back in the note instead of saying what it was. It was still a nice surprise for them. Michael and his dad built the swing set during the two days before Christmas; the girls didn't have a clue. Caitie thinks Santa's elves, with the help of Jasmine, built the swing set. Michael and his dad make some cute elves. ha :) We really appreciate Michael's dad helping build the swing set.

Another of the girls' favorite gifts was a mini roller coaster. They go down it forwards, backwards, sideways... they would probably go down it on their heads if they could. It can be used inside or outside; we have it inside for now. Here's Caitie going down it after first opening it.

Then it was Bailey's turn.

So fun!

We eventually moved it back further than it was so there would be more rolling space on the tile.

Then it was back to playing on their swing set.

They love it!

The girls got some sand toys as well; the swing set sits on top of sand. 

We went to Michael's parent's house later on Christmas Day. We didn't go as early as usual due to the girls having opened their Christmas gifts from their Uncle David the night before; it was nice having some time after the gifts were open that morning to enjoy them right away. The girls spent the day in their polar bear sleepers; as you can see below, they even had them on when we went to their grandparent's house.

Bailey's a bit sad that Christmas is over... 

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

  

  

  

  



The New Norm

It wasn't that long ago that I took Caitie to school and instead of walking her through the gate, as I did every morning up until then, I let her go on her own. This worked three times, and then it was back to my walking her through the gate as usual. The reason for this is that the third time I let her out on her own, I wasn't able to tell if she actually went through the gate; there was no reason to think she hadn't, but I wasn't sure. I started to panic and decided it was best to call the front office to make sure she got to class okay. When the person in the front office told me I would have to wait until the attendance was received 15 minutes later, I decided I couldn't wait that long and went to the front office and asked in person. A nice lady (not the one i talked to on the phone) called the teacher to make sure Caitie was there, of which she was. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing she was safe in her classroom. How quickly that has changed. I never thought I would have to worry about the safety of her classroom...

Last Friday on my way to pick Caitie up from school, I heard there had been a school shooting. As soon as I heard, I was hoping it wasn't an elementary school. A shooting at any school is bad, but little children facing something so horrifying concerned me, and as soon as I had that thought, it was told that it was an elementary school, and then more details were given. What happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School is tragic... shocking... heartbreaking. My heart goes out to all the families affected by the shootings. Some of the children were the same age as Caitie.

On the way to school this morning I heard on the radio that there was a school lockdown in Scottsdale; there was a report of a man wearing a trench coat holding a gun on the school campus. The kids had to be taken to a nearby church until the campus had been checked out before they could go to school.

It doesn't feel the same when I drop Caitie off at school now... I don't feel as secure as I once did; how safe is she really?

Here is what I saw yesterday morning in the school parking lot... a news crew. Most likely they were at the school to talk about school safety.

Here's what I saw at the school this morning... a police car. I saw a police truck there yesterday. This is the new norm, I guess. It's sad that it's come to this.

 
 
   
 
 
 

 
  
  
  

12-12-12

Pretty cool post title, eh? It has nothing to do with this post, but couldn't resist using it.

We went up north to our property a few weeks ago. Michael went up the week before to do some work on our trailer; mice have decided to live there, without paying rent! The nerve! hmph... Anyway, they made quite a mess... little poops (sounds better than feces, right? i guess i could have just used that word since i just typed it here. um, yeah...) are everywhere, which has ruined some items, including quite a few of the girls' toys we store there, a mattress, a dresser, etc. Michael and his dad worked on sealing up holes underneath the trailer, that's where the mice get in. They had to remove quite a bit of insulation, which they didn't pick up before coming home, so Michael decided it was best to go back and pick it up before the wind carried it all over the place. So we went up the next weekend. We went up on a Saturday afternoon and returned home the same night. It's too cold there this time of year for the girls' to stay overnight. When the trailer is set up with heat, we'll be able to stay overnight during the colder months.

Here are some pics from our trip...

There was a chance for rain, and possibly even snow, up at the property that weekend. We were hoping for snow. As you can see, we got what we hoped for... snow. The girls were thrilled, especially Caitie; she loves snow. It didn't last long though... it snowed when we first arrived, but cleared out a while later, but it did come back that night before we left. Here are the girls in front of my Mustang. It's been at the property for quite a few years now; we keep a cover on it. The rocks help hold the cover down; it gets quite windy at times.

Caitie loves a good snowball fight.

We stopped by to visit the mice. They were nowhere to be found. I guess they found a few good hiding places, or they only stay there at night. As you can see, there's still a lot of work to be done on the trailer.

The girls takin' a walk near the trailer.

It looks like Caitie's standing in a wheat field. Well, sorta. I liked the lighting so took a quick pic.

It started snowing again later that night. It was so beautiful coming down. Bailey was enjoying it.

It was pretty cold out by then, so the girls were in the SUV watching a movie while Michael and I picked up the insulation (it took quite a while to get it all; it was all over the place). As you can see in the pic above, Bailey got out of the SUV in time to enjoy the falling snow, but by the time Caitie got out, it had stopped. We headed home not too long after I took this pic. It was a short, but fun, trip.