Sheba, our shy kitty

Sully, his face says it all1

Our New Additions

This summer, the kids have worked me for not one, but two pets... (okay, so I'm loving it too!) First I caved for the kitty. They're so easy, and independent....hmm, so that caused kind of a problem for my girls. Sheba is a beautiful cat, but is just not up to being a lap cat, and barely tolerates being petted. :o( We gave her a month, but she just wasn't coming out of her shell. I felt so bad, because my girls especially really wanted the interaction with a pet (well, that didn't involve getting batted by an ornery kitty) I had to cut the cat a break. Em and Vivi spent half the day in her hiding spots trying to coax her out. So to let the cat off the hook we brought in Sully, a 6 month old Havanese. I was really unsure how much I was going to love having an unhousebroken puppy in the house, but I have to say.....we all love it!!!! He is the sweetest dog ever, and well, just look at that face! He loves all the interaction, and now the kitty is a little jealous and has actually come out of her shell a little more....so it was win/ win!!! Here are a couple of pics...

Caught sleeping on the job

It's Do or Die Time

..... for the blog, anyway. As you can probably tell by the fact that I haven't posted anything personal in a very long time, I just haven't been feeling it. :-)

How 'bout for today we just start with a few cute pictures???

Emma (rear, right) with her classmates before the talent show in March

Emma (far right) before the Drama Club Presentation of Sleeping Beauty
in February

My two sweet girls!!

A beautiful candle my inlaws got me for my BDay (in February)

Father-Daughter Dance

Karl Em Vivi

Vivi with her new ring from Daddy


Ok, so I know it's their night, but I had to take a peek!



Karl and the girls ROCKIN' the Conga Line, LOL

Last night was the 3rd annual Father Daughter Dance at the kids school. The first year was perfect because it was Em's first year a big sister and she could use the "date night" with dad! Well they had so much fun that an annual tradition was formed!!! Last year they went again and came home drenched in sweat, LOL....it seems Em and dad got their groove on the whole night! While other girls eventually branched off and danced w/ their friends, Em picked her dad as a dance partner all night long and he is such an awesome father he obliged (he probably danced more with Em that night than with me in 13 years of marriage, LOL) This year Karl had to divide his attention between two princesses at the ball, and I had to get a peek at the action!!

They really don't want moms there, and I've held off as long as I could, but I found out they needed a little help with coat check, and found the perfect opportunity to spy! Not! Coat check was pretty busy, and every time I went into the gym, Em and Karl got shy! Luckily there was a nice dad there who knew what I was trying to do, and offered to take my camera and take some pictures for me! Some of them came out a little blurry, but they are priceless glimpses into their special night!!!!

This was Vivi's first year there, and she had a blast! Initially she was a little disappointed that she couldn't wear her white dress.....she thought she was going to get married to her prince (Ian, LOL) there....but once she figured out what the night was all about, she got right in there. I have no idea why she thought it was a wedding, other than maybe in every Disney movie, when there is a dance it is to find a bride for the "prince", LOL....too cute! Anyway, enjoy the pictures -- they all looked great!!!

Yaaaaawwwnn

One of the reasons why

Vivi is skating!

Yaaawnnnn......stretch......yes, I admit it. I have been hibernating---in real life, and the bloggy world, LOL.

As you can see in the first picture, we have been getting a bit of the white stuff. And it is COLD!!!! I have done my best not to strap my boots on and go out there in it, but it looks like winter isn't ending anytime soon here, and Karl got the rink ready! YAY!!! We thought it was ruined as it was buried under lots of snow, and somebody walked on it before it was frozen---oops! However, due to the power of google, I found some instructions on how to make your own zamboni, a "Homeboni" for your outdoor rink. Amazing!!! Karl got right to work on it, and, since winter doesn't appear to be going anywhere, we may actually have a few weeks to skate!

I love it when he gets to be the hero like that! We live on kind of a main road, and the unfinished rink has been the subject of quite a bit of speculation this year, but now the kids can finally say YES the rink is ready. It's time for a little skating party I think!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!!

From our house to yours, now.....at 5:00 AM, LOL, and for the rest of the year!!!!!

Merry Christmas, and God Bless You all! I know that we have been blessed beyond measure!

Love,

Jen and the gang

A Very Late Vacation Post

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting about our Disney trip!!! It was actually a really fun trip! My parents and baby (25 yo) brother came along, and we did the parks like nobody's business, even though it was our chilliest FL visit yet! We also got to meet up with Karl's parents one day at Sea World. We even went out the one morning it rained, because we didn't want to waste a day, you'll have to look through the pics for our poncho pic--still smiling, LOL....... I LOVE Disney!!! It is such a grand and magical place! I love the themed rides, and the shows, and Fast Passes (there is one thing we couldn't do without when visiting Disney)

Vivi was NOT loving the characters.... AT ALL! Or anything mouse related!!! The highlight of her whole week though, was when Cinderella (whom she does NOT consider a character) waved "just to her" at the parade.......she is still talking about this and has the princess wave down pat, LOL.

Ian and Em were both big enough to go on almost all the rides this year--and they did all the rides they could--Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster, Space Mountain..... Emma also loves water rides, LOL which didn't quite fit into my plans with a high of a breezy 60 degrees on a couple of days..... But a few minutes of the puppy dog face, and Daddy and Poppy were like putty in her hands.... soon to be wet, runny, soggy, ahem....chafing putty, but putty nonetheless, LOL.....

Okay...I DID get sucked into one of her "get us all wet" schemes once, and it was THE WORST time of all!!!!!!! We had been to a few shows at Sea World, and Ian and Em always wanted to sit in the "Get Wet" section.....well, they never actually got wet! LOL So when we got to the Shamu show late and there were only seats in the front, I bravely plodded forward to the 5th row (completely empty) saying, Oh look, this is PERFECT! Oh. My. Gosh. They were selling towels, and ponchos (which we didn't have with us that day) and we chuckled at the tourist traps and braced ourselves for the entertaining, DRY, show...........

BIG mistake, people! At the Shamu show, when they say you are gonna get wet.....they are NOT kidding, nosirree......I saw the first one coming and ducked with Vivi on my lap to shield her. After the shock wore off, I picked my head up, only to be wearing a saltwater "faux-hawk" of wet hair, LOL. Sorry, no pictures, because the camera got soaked too. And can you say wet t-shirt contest????? I had a white shirt on, and thankfully, modest underclothing, because everybody for the next 2 hours knew what I had on.....the name of the show was BELIEVE......I didn't, and I should have, LOL.......

Regretfully, in all of our busy-ness, we did not get to meet up with my friend Terrye....we have known each other since we were waiting for referrals of our daughters from China, and I was really looking forward to meeting her, but it just didn't happen. Terrye is just the sweetest soul with the biggest heart!!! I might just have to make a special trip down there one of these days to meet her and her precious Grace.....

There are too many pictures to post individually, so I made a slideshow of some of our favorite moments....ENJOY...and in case I don't post again before that....have a very Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

"Not Me!" Monday

Ok, I am hopping on board! If the button is too small for you to read and you don't already know what a "Not me!" Monday is, it says Being brutally honest and living to tell about it. MckMama started it and if you follow the link there you will find dozens of undoubtedly more humorous and interesting Not Me posts about silly/ embarrassing/ shameful things that people have done! I love it!! Anyway, here are some recent "Not Me's" from my life.......

I did NOT vow to keep in mind the reason for the season again this year, only to go to Disney in the first week of December and completely forget said Reason for the Season!

I have NOT neglected my Jesse Tree! Nope, not me!! That would be NOT be hypocritical, since I did NOT even set up a whole ornament exchange for it!

I have NOT gotten caught up in "To Do Lists" instead of enjoying precious moments with family that will be gone all too soon!

I did NOT give my husband his own list of "Man Jobs"......Nope! And I definitely did not actually call them that when I told him I was NOT going to do them because well, obviously, I am NOT a Man, LOL.....

I did NOT skip putting a personal note on the Christmas cards this year, because I was NOT rushing to just check the box of getting this task done. Ooops! Didn't get one??? I did NOT run out of ink after 12 cards, and abandon the whole project! I'm so sorry, friends and family!!!

I did NOT make three separate batches of cookies "for Santa" and friends, only to plunk down in front of a movie with the kids, and eat them up! Nope, definitely not me!

Oh my goodness! I have never done a Not Me Monday, and I'm NOT sure I should even post it, because I might lose some of my 6 readers! LOL I am feeling oh so guilty and lazy! For the record, I am a lot more focused on the right things now, but I feel like I really blew a couple of weeks of Advent badly......

It's Disco this year, baby!

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