Getting into the spirit

CeCe took the girls for some early Christmas shopping and a movie...

What a nice treat! Thanks CeCe!

I decorated my mantle with some new decorations...

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought I would try the same.  I love how it turned out!

Most of the ornaments are from Pier One...my absolute favorite store at Christmas time!

And this is my pretty lighted canvas I bought last year in Ogunquit.  I love it!

Scary times

These are some really scary times we are living in. I hate to turn on the news and listen to all the violence going on in the world...and it's really scaring my kids. Just this morning, Gianna started to cry and said she was scared to take our trip to Cancun. She's afraid of the airplane and what terrorists might do. So I told her once again...for every one bad person in this world there are at least a million good people. We cannot live our lives in fear. Good will prevail.

And just like Fred Rogers said...I told her to always look for the helpers...because there are so many good people in this world willing to help and keep us safe.

Be Brave Baylee

Baylee was an amazing young girl who was tremendously brave.  I thanked her family for sharing their beautiful daughter's story with all of us.  Through their daily postings on Facebook, we were all able to learn about Baylee's incredible strength and beautiful spirit.  She fought hard until the very end. Now she is free.

Baylee, you touched my heart and I learned so much from you and your family. It's so hard to explain why your story had such an impact on me, but it did.  I prayed for you every day. I will never forget you.

God Bless...

Mom's birthday celebration!

We had an early birthday celebration over the weekend for my Mom...

We went to Muse Paint Bar for some painting fun!  I absolutely love that place!

This is one of the sample paintings I found on their gallery wall. I wish I could paint that! 

Then we went back to Kimmy's house for pizza, cake and ice cream...

We surprised Mom with her very own iPad!!!  She was so thrilled and cried some happy tears.  She's so cute...

Julia and Gianna helping their Nana with the new technology...

Blowing out her candles and still wishing for a horse...of course...

Gianna's picture on the left and Julia's on the right.  My girls are amazing artists. Oh shucks...I forgot to take a picture of mine. ; )  Haha!!

The kid's bathroom

This is what you get when you have three kids sharing a bathroom...

and they don't pick up after themselves or put anything away...

Oh my goodness.  

OUCH!!

Poor Julia had three teeth pulled the day before Halloween.  Two adult teeth and one baby tooth.  Ouch!!  Her orthodontist said her mouth was too small and it needed to be done to make room for braces.  Now all her teeth will line up properly...

Thankfully, she was asleep for it.  She was terribly nervous but she did great!! Such a brave girl!!

Halloween

Gianna was Zorro...

and Julia and her friends were the "6 dwarfs"...

Not sure what happened to the 7th dwarf?   ; )

Nicholas stayed home with me and helped pass out the candy this year.  It was soooo nice not to have to hop up and down off the couch all night!!