Today....

* This is the face of little girl that is in serious need of her "blankas" today.  Her little body is fighting off some kind of bug.  She is in pretty good spirits while on the Tylenol high, but crashes when it wears off.

Poor baby!

* This is the face of a big girl who didn't have school today because of the weather.  Got to love the weather when wind chills are in the -40s and the actual temperature didn't even reach zero today.  Quinn spent the afternoon with her friend Gabby, playing dolls and hanging out.

Quinn and I both did our happy dance last night when they cancelled school.  Yippeee!!!

Turning One X 2

We were invited to a very special birthday party this past weekend.  A party for two dear, sweet boys that were turning one years old!  And we all love a good party - so it goes without saying that we were there!

The boys got some serious lovin' from the grandparents and everyone else at the party!

They dug (well, not really) into their cakes.  Crew took an intentional face plant into the cake!

They unwrapped (well, not really) all their presents.  They left that job to their cousins.  Quinn and Sullivan were happy to oblige.  

They went for a ride in one of their new presents... and partied their pants off!  

It was such a great party - so hard to believe that they are already one and 'so big!'  And just to prove that fact, the boys demonstrated just how big they are.... 'sooooooooo big!!!'

Happy 1st Birthday, Crew and Judson!

Gymnastics Photos

A while back, before the holidays, the girls had their pictures taken at gymnastics.  This was a first for each of them.  For whatever reasons, Quinn had never had them taken.  They were over the moon excited about getting them taken - and the proof is in the pictures.

Their individual pictures turned out well - each capturing their personalities.

But if their individual pictures didn't capture their personalities good enough, the group pictures surely did!

Quinn is poised and put together.  Her beauty shines through her smile. 

Sullivan's spunk shines through her face - one can tell that she is alive with personality!

(Please excuse the very poor quality of these pictures.  It was hard to get them from photo to the computer.)

Blue Monday

According to a psychologist in the UK, today is known as "Blue Monday" - otherwise known as the most depressing day of the year.  Having a bad day?  Just blame it on that. 

One could be depressed by the fact that it is Monday.  Others could be depressed that the actual temperature on the thermometer today didn't read a positive number.  But really who can feel blue when you get to come home to these two beautiful princesses each day?!

...And this Prince Charming:

Call me blessed, call me lucky, call me anything but depressed!  Happy Monday!

Artistry

I was talking with the girls tonight about their hopes and dreams for themselves.  I was asking Quinn what dream she has for herself someday and her response quite quickly was, "I want to be an artist someday. I want to color and paint pictures."  Before I could follow up with asking Sullivan the same question, she chimed in, "I am going to make tattoos - be a tattoo artist."

So there you have it, we may have two future artists on our hands.  Two very different kinds of artists!

Here are the girls displaying some of their art.  Sullivan got new window markers for Christmas.  They are pretty cool crystallizing markers.  The down side is they have to be used on a warm (room temperature) window.  Those are pretty hard to come by in the dead of a South Dakota winter.   So we improvised...

The reward? I have a beautifully decorated bathroom mirror.  And after seeing their artwork, I have to revise my statement above.  We may not have two future artists on our hands.  We DO have two great artists.  We will just have to see if they choose that as their future profession!

Playing Around

Around the New Year, the boys came over to play with us.  We, as usual, loved our time with them.  They played and ate, then ate and played.  While looking at the pictures of their time with us, I couldn't help but chuckle.

Here are Quinn and I holding the boys.  Quinn is intently playing and entertaining Judson and I am doing the same with Crew.  Meanwhile, Sullivan is in the background falling out of a bucket. You read that right - she is falling out of a bucket! Go figure.

The boys were hungry and were in need of some lunch.  Seeing that we are past the highchair phase in this house, we had to get creative about how we were going to contain two active boys during lunch time.

Judson sported the (pink) booster chair, while Crew used Sullivan's little chair. To help keep Crew in place we used one of Quinn's flexible belts to secure him in.  Worked out pretty well, but that is what you call WT dining!

And while those two pictures made me chuckle, these couple melted my heart:

Pesky, No Good, Very Bad Bumps

A couple of months ago, I noticed that Sullivan had a few bumps on the back of her legs.  Ryan and I assumed (I know what they say about assuming) that they were warts.  With both girls in gymnastics, it was only a matter of time before one of them brought it home.  I just assumed that it would be Quinn - given that she has been in gymnastics for several years now.  I know, there I go assuming again.

Anywho, Ryan and I tried to take care of the bumps on our own.  We tried duct tape and creams and lotions and more.  You name it, we tried it.  All to no avail.

Fast forward some... The bumps on Sullivan's leg spread throughout her thigh and calf.  What once was 3 or 4 bumps turned into 15 or 20.  To top it all off, she developed a bright red rash underneath the bumps.

Seeing that they were only getting worse, I took her to the doctor and it was determined that she had molluscum contagiousum - a fancy term for a virus (similar to warts).  To treat them, the doctor said we would need to burn them off. So that we did.

Sullivan was SUCH a good sport while they burned the 15+ spots off.  In fact, the doctor and intern commented on how good she was and how brave she was. And that she was!!

The acid they applied caused bleeding blisters.  And despite that fact, Sullivan was SUCH a good sport.  She hardly complained once.

The blisters have long healed and the scars are minimal.  The unfortunate thing is that the bumps have returned.  She had one measly little bump that most likely is the culprit. The one bump has turned into a few. So that means we will go back to the doctor to once again get those darned bumps burned off.

This time we are taking Miss Quinn with us too.  The other unfortunate part to this all is that I without knowing it, caused the bumps to spread to Quinn.  Bathing the girls together, I am certain that the virus was passed from Sullivan to Quinn.  Now Quinn will need her bumps burned off as well.  Hers are not on the back of her leg, but rather on some more private of areas.  That burning of the bumps will NOT be much fun for her - or us - or anyone within ear shot of the doctor's office which we will occupy.

I pray that she is brave and strong and that she has courage.  The burning doesn't hurt on contact, but rather the pain grows as time goes on.  But that doesn't stop fear or the unknown for Quinn.  That doesn't stop a little 6 year old girl that doesn't like doctors or pain or anything of uncertainty.  And that breaks my heart.

2012 in Pictures

A reflection of the year past - 2012 in pictures!

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Harder than one might think, it was difficult to choose just one picture from each month!  

More Christopher Happenings

The Christmas season has passed.  All the decorations have been taken down and stored away for the year. But before we can shut the door on the season and call it a wrap, we need to document the latest and the last happenings of Christopher, our dear, sweet elf.  In his last days with us he really was busy.  Check it out...

Tea Party

Christopher had a tea party with Santa and Frosty.  They sipped on tea and ate "elf cookies" that Sullivan and Quinn made with Auntie Mer.

Strung up in Lights

Christopher was busy stringing lights around our tree in the living room.  He got a little carried away because he ended up tangled in lights.

Hanging from the Lights

The night after Christopher got strung up in lights, he tried to escape.  Unfortunately he got stuck and nearly fell from the string of lights. 

Fishing

Apparently Christopher is a good fisherman.  He easily caught a giant fish from our frog tank.  Funny enough that before Christopher arrived, the only thing in that tank was one teeny, tiny frog.  Christopher really does have magic. 

Acting as Santa

The day after the girls visited Santa and sat on his lap, Christopher showed up dressed like him.  He sported a white beard and had one of Sullivan's little animals sitting on his lap.  He had a LONG line of visitors waiting to sit on his lap!

Santa Badges

Christopher gathered all those Santa Badges that the girls made back in September.  They have been hanging on our walls for over three months, so it was time that they were put to good use.  Christopher decided to pay tribute to Santa Claus by spelling out "SC" on our wall. 

A Farewell Send-off

Quinn commented several times this holiday season that she loved how Christopher colored a picture of himself for her last year and put it in her room.  Christopher must have been listening because on the night he had to go back to the North Pole he left the girls a great surprise.  He decorated all the doors on the bottom level of the house, including the girls' rooms (5 doors in all) in coloring pictures of himself. 

That morning, Quinn woke up at 4 a.m. and noticed the pictures on the doors.  She excitedly woke her sister up and then proceed to wake Ryan and I up to show us! An hour later, at 5 a.m., Quinn came up again and wanted to know if she could get up for the day.  She was excited to start coloring.  After a difinitive "no" from Ryan and I, she tried again at 6:30 a.m.  This time, Ryan and I settled for a little peaceful sleep and agreed that she and Sullivan could get up.  By the time we woke up slightly before 7:00 a.m., the girls had already cleared three doors.  Luckily I was able to capture a picture before it was all demolished!!  

I think that this was a hit for Miss Quinn and Miss Sullivan!  What do you think?!  

Sadly, Christopher has reported back to the North Pole where he is probably resting hard.  He will most likely start planning next year's shenanigans really soon! We can all hardly wait!  We already miss him.