All I Want...

Sullivan's new favorite song....?

 All I Want for Christmas Valentine's Day is My Two Front Teeth!

Last night Sullivan lost the last of her two front teeth, making for a pretty large gap in her mouth. It's a pretty cute large gap in that mouth of hers, if I do say so myself.

The tooth fairy arrived and brought sweet Sullivan two dollars, folded into rings.  Check them out... pretty stylish!

The tooth fairy commented in her note that she isn't sure when she will see Sullivan again.  Turns out there is no more wiggly teeth in that mouth of Sullivan's, so it might be awhile 'til she visits again.

80s Day - Q

Ten minutes before the bus arrived this morning, Quinn announced. "Oh no.  It's 80s day at school today.  I've got to dress up.  What do I wear?"

Had we had a bit of time to prepare, we might have pulled together an outfit like this:

But that said, in about five minutes time, we came up with this...

The outfit wasn't quite complete in the picture... she didn't have on her converse and you can't see the banana clip in her hair.  I so wished that I would have known about it, because I would have loved to give Q some 80s hair!

Can't wait for the next decade dress day.  We are going to do it right and redeem ourselves!  

I Have A Dream...

Sullivan's school recently participated in a One School, One Book study.  Together the school studied the book, Emmanuel's Dream.

It is about a young boy from Ghana who was viewed as cursed by his village because he was born with a deformity.  Emmanuel forever changed the way his country viewed people with disabilities by overcoming adversity and bicycling across Ghana with only one leg.

It a truly inspiring story that I could probably go on and on about, but I won't.  Sullivan's school was blessed to welcome Emmanuel to their school a few months back when he just happened to be in the area.  It was simply fate that he able to come.

That said, as a culmination of this book study, Sullivan's school hosted an open house entitled, I Have a Dream.  Each classroom created their own projects to show their learning.

Sullivan's class created short videos about an individual dream that they had.  Sullivan's dream was to save the polar bears from becoming extinct.

We attended the event, where we were treated to popcorn and great company...

Check out Sullivan's video by clicking on the I Have a Dream link below.  

It should take you to YouTube...!

I Have A Dream

Doesn't she throw those cards down with conviction?!  Sweet thing!

What a Treat...

Today was such a treat.  Mother Nature delivered us an afternoon that reached 64 degrees.  The patio door welcomed in fresh air, we shed all of our winter gear, and the neighborhood was full of people.  Ryan and I were amazed that we were able to take a walk today - January 21st - with no coat!!

A.m.a.z.i.n.g!  The sunshine was good for the soul.

The weather was so perfect that we just had to stop for ice cream tonight.  

I asked Sullivan and Ryan to smile.  This is what I got...

Hilarious!

I told them to be serious so I could get a picture.  

This is not exactly what I had in mind.

Could it be that hard to smile?! 

I guess the beautiful weather has got them feeling a bit spunky!

Despite those two being goofballs, I can always count of Quinn to deliver...

I've already put in my request for a repeat of today.  Fingers crossed, breath held! 

Rabbit Obsession

Sullivan has loved rabbits since the dawn of time.  Maybe it is because she was born on Easter and instinctively feels connected to the Easter Bunny.  Maybe not.  Who knows.  But the obsession for these furry animals is real!  Like R-E-A-L.

Sullivan fetish ramped up a bit after receiving a couple of rabbit items for Christmas.  This is now what her dresser looks like...

A closer peek shows that she has a shrine to all things rabbits.  There is a new (beloved) rabbit statue, along with a few stuffed animals sitting atop a real rabbit skin.  

A little ironic how the fake rabbits are all nestled into the real rabbit fur.  Maybe a little creepy is the better term. Whatever it is, it makes me smile! 

New Year's

I know I am a bit late to the draw to share our New Year's plans, and quite honestly I don't have a lot of pictures to document our great evening. Sadly.

Our neighbors had us over for New Year's Eve - and for the fist time in who knows how long - we actually rang in the New Year.

We played games, shared a great meal, and enjoyed each other's company.  It was the perfect way to wrap up 2016 and welcome in 2017.  We were so engrossed in great game that we barely realized it was time for the ball drop.

The Pooley family welcoming in 2017...!

We hope that 2017 is a year of good health, great friendships and many amazing memories made!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Wrap-Up...

Winding up a few last pictures from our trip to S. Dakota.  

Sullivan and Quinn were fortunate enough to spend the night at the hotel with Gigi.  It has become a yearly tradition and one the girls look forward to each year.  They were beyond excited...!

Quinn and Sullivan were fortunate enough to have their friend, Hallie, come spend the night with them.  To give a bit of a back story, the girls developed a friendship with Hallie (who is the daughter of Mer's friend, Emily) several summers ago. They have stayed in contact and look forward to seeing each other on holidays and during the summer.

Here they are working on the puzzle...

At Skyzone...

And just hanging out....

What a great friendship they have - always able to pick up where they left off!

A couple of too cute not to share pictures...

The craziness of 8 kids under one roof... love it!

After coming back from SD, we still had a few presents that needed to be opened.  No time was wasted the following morning... 

The girls were extremely grateful for all that they got and were over the moon excited by their new treasures.  So much to be thankful for...!

Christmas Day 2016

Grandma Jane had a sleepover on Christmas Eve night so that she could wake up and spend Christmas morning with all her grandchildren.

Santa arrived and left some pretty amazing presents for Quinn and Sullivan.  As you can see, the girls dived right into the presents before even fully waking up.  Sullivan didn't even have time to pull that pant leg down!

After we unwrapped our Santa presents, we went upstairs to see everyone else.  

The Christmas spirit was in the air...

Later in the day we settled in downstairs and opened presents from one another...

Sullivan got this (very wanted) rabbit statue for her room...  She is in love with rabbits, so this was the perfect gift for her.

As you can see, Quinn did not like the Converse shoes that Auntie and Uncle gave her...

Unwrapping took a while - as there was a lot of play time and exploring with new toys and gadgets.  It was a lot of fun to watch their excitement and enthusiasm.  

Elsa got a new hairstylist dress-up smock that was a big hit for the kids.  Elsa (AKA Stacy the hair cutter) and Judson asked if they could do my hair, and I was happy to oblige.  

Beware... it is quite the amazing hairstyle.

Grandma Jane was lucky enough to get in on the action too...

There was some serious puzzling going on during the day as well...

Two of the kiddos that are staying with Mer and Matt actually visited their mother on Christmas day, so they were not with us.  We wanted to make sure that they also got to experience Christmas too - so we celebrated with them a couple days later when they returned.  

What a crazy and fun bunch...

I loved this picture of Quinn with W - how quickly our girls bonded with these new friends and likewise.

Christmas was a great day surrounded by loved ones, 

appreciating all that we have to be thankful for.