Guilt-stricken, I went ahead and added an actual December 2006 album to the girls’ page. So go ahead and have a look-see.

Uh, oh! It’s been almost a full month since the last update. What can I say other than we’ve been really busy around here. Surprisingly, several people thought giving friends and relatives photo jewelry for Christmas would be a great idea. Enter Snappy Chic and the orders came flying in from all over the place. An deadline on the Snappy Chic website didn’t stop people from pleading their cases to place orders after the cut-off date. Since I’m a sucker, I gave in to everyone! I managed to fulfill all the orders on time, but that meant time spent on Snappy Chic stuff most nights for several weeks. Other things to pass the time in December and preventing updates here were a couple of Christmas parties, a craft night in which I taught a class on making bracelets with shrinky dink charms, a visit to the D.C. temple again to view the spectacular lights and a wonderful, musical performance (see the pictures on the memories page under “D.C. Temple – Christmas 2006”), etc. By the way, expect another image overload for this post. Sorry!

Some sad news arrived for us on December 14th, 2006. My grandmother, Anna Norris, passed away. She was 86-years-old. She will be greatly missed. Grandma was able to spend her last days with her loving daughter, Sharon. I know that this meant the world to her. I’m sorry that my girls will never know the animated, red-head that always knew how to bring a smile to someone’s face. We love you, Grandma!

From December 15th through December 20th the girls and I drove to Indiana to visit my parents. My dad flew in the night before our departure to help with driving. He actually did all the driving while I was tending to the girls needs or sneaking in a quick nap. Once arriving to my parents’s house the girls were greeted by Grandma Indiana, cousin Erin, and lots of new toys. My mom also frequently babysits a friend’s child, Rebecca, who is four-years-old. Annie and Mimi got to spend a day with her and had lots of fun romping around in Grandma’s basement. I say basement, but it’s actually another, completely finished part of the house that accommodates a pool table, t.v., kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and several bedrooms. My mom also took the girls to a birthday party of another child in town. While there Annie ran into “Santa” and asked where his reindeer were. They discussed reindeer eating habits and what Santa may want for a treat on Christmas night (a plate of chewy, chocolate-chip cookies). They were exhausted when they got home. Much of the week was spent shopping and just hanging out. I was able to squeeze in a day at the spa and a trip to the beautician for a much needed trim and highlight. Our trip home was fairly uneventful and with half of it filled with sprinkles of rain. We made it home safely just in time for Christmas with Daddy.

As much as it would have been fun to spend Christmas with extended family, it was nice to just have the four of us. Christmas Eve was spent going to church in the morning and then at the Bells’ for the rest of the day. Uncle Tiger and Miss Leah lavished our girls with some fun gifts and stockings personalized just for them. Annie received a Tinkerbell costume which turned out the be the perfect gift since recently Annie has decided she loves Tinkerbell. She has barely taken that thing off since. Mimi got a “Build-a-Bear” Sailor Bear. She loves it so much and takes it to bed with her along with baby each night. Uncle Tiger made his famous fried turkey and a yummy roast. Corn bread casserole, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and cardemom bread accompanied the delicious meats.

We spent Christmas morning opening gifts that were left under the tree by Santa and others. Some of the presents for the girls were pink, princess flashlights, a new baby for Mimi, lots of books and stickers, homemade pajamas, additional kitchen accessories and play food, and the Incredibles the Movie. Mike and I were so delighted to see the joy in the girls’ faces while opening gifts. Mimi lost interest in unwrapping presents once she saw her new baby. Too cute! The girls also got dollies from the neighborhood babysitter the other night. Annie loves her dolly best because it is none other than Tinkerbell. Later that day we went over to the Cheslers for dinner with them and their parents. We enjoyed their company and some great ribs. I brought over some sunshine kisses cookies (lemon cookies) and peppermint, fudge brownies. They were a huge hit! The girls couldn’t enough of Mr. Matt and ran around screaming much of the evening. Make sure to take a peek at our Christmas day pictures on the memories page under “Christmas 2006”.

Oh, it’s so fun to watch my girls grow up into big kids. Today Mike showed them how to play hide-and-seek. Annie got into the game with much enthusiasm. She would tell Mike that is was his turn to be it and to count to 3. When it was her turn, Annie would say, “You go hide, and I’ll count to 1.” Mimi didn’t quite get the idea behind the game, but she still had fun following Daddy around. Have a look at both the November 2006 and December 2006 albums on the girls’ page when you get a chance. No need to snap at me about the November album being so late; I’m already very ashamed.

Annie is still attending pre-school two days a week and loves it. I don’t notice her learning any major concepts such as fractions, but small ideas seem to be creeping into her little brain. A few weeks ago I heard her say to someone, “Hi! How are you? I’m Annie. I’m 3-years-old.” I felt a pang of guilt because the whole notion of teaching her about how to introduce herself to new people or just to hold a polite conversation never crossed my mind. I suppose that these are the types of things in which school will be good. Something Annie is learning on her own is how to manipulate people to get stuff she wants. For instance, this morning when she was ready for breakfast she called down to Mike in the basement, “Daddy, you are so hungry! You better come up and make breakfast.” We’ve gotten into the habit of calling her Grandmothers by location such as Grandma Indiana and Grandma Minnesota and Grandpa Indiana. So the other day when I told Annie that her daddy was at work she asked if it was Daddy Indiana or Daddy Minnesota. She’s not quite understanding that there’s only one Daddy. She’s still working on getting knock-knock jokes.
Her current and only joke she uses is:
Annie: Knock, knock?
Me/Mike: Who’s there?
Annie: It’s me, Annie!
Me/Mike: Umm, it’s me Annie who?
Annie: No! It’s me, Annie!

Mimi repeats everything she hears, especially things Annie says. She won’t do anything unless Annie is doing it first such as putting/taking off a coat. This can be quite frustrating for me when I’m trying to get her dressed. Mimi is so cuddly. She loves to put her face next to mine or Mike’s face in order to get snuggles. She also loves to lay on Annie—Annie dislikes this to no end. Mimi is very sensitive and is easily brought to a fit of tears when being disciplined (especially by someone other than Mommy or Daddy). While at my parents’ house Grandpa Indiana casually told Mimi to stop doing something that could have harmed her, and Mimi became a hysterical mess. I suppose this just shows the sweetness in her heart. Mimi still loves her baby and takes her everywhere. Mimi received a new baby because she left her favorite one at Grandma Indiana’s house. She doesn’t seem to notice the difference. Grandma Minnesota even made a special blanket intended only for baby. Mimi hasn’t seemed to grasp that concept since we keep catching her trying to wrap herself into it. Just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen is Mimi running! I’m literally almost brought to tears when I watch her skedaddle. Mimi also is still a great eater, too. Oh, and, Mimi remains to this day a thumbsucker.

Hope this update suffices because I’m beat. Have a great week!