Santa visit

We had the letters written a few days ago, so today we headed out to visit Santa. As we were getting ready to head out Alexa decided that she wanted Chloe to give Santa her letter. Chloe has always been my braver girl were these things are concerned. however when we got to Santa Chloe felt too shy to go talk to him either. I finally persuaded Chloe to walk over with me and hand him the letter. I don't believe in forcing your children to sit with Santa for that coveted holiday picture so I settled with the shot from the other side of the Christmas decorations.

Trust me Santa is just on the other side of those trees...

We did find that on Church Street today they were giving free miniature pony rides. That the girls were game to try. So here they are trotting around with Snickers.

It even gained them a pair of reindeer ears. So now I am spending my day with a couple of reindeer.

Sewing Buddy

When you are the younger sister you often find yourself watching with envy at all the things your big sister can do. This past summer I taught Chloe to sew. She loves it and often spends her free time rifling through my bag of fabric scraps finding things to create. Alexa is fairly envious of this skill. She hasn't asked me yet, but she just seems to know she isn't old enough to be entrusted with a needle and thread.

So imagine her glee this evening when we came home and Chloe told her she would make something for her. Just like that... out of the blue. Alexa was thrilled and the next thing I knew they were planning on making a pink giraffe. Chloe spent about 45 minutes just cutting out the pieces for her planned creation. She has everything from polka dots, mouth, and tail pieces. She is planning to sew them together for Alexa tomorrow while she is home with Grammie Sharon because her school is closed for parent conferences.

It is so nice after a 30 minute drive home today riddled with, "Don't touch my foot" and, "Stop looking out my window." That she so willingly want to create something for her sister.

Of course, my living room looked like this after all that creating, but I was willing to overlook that after all that harmony.

Dear Santa

I mentioned to the girls that I had seen a sign this weekend that indicated Santa would be at the mall downtown starting next weekend. This started a frenzy of writing. Chloe dove towards the table and started writing down her requests.

Alexa got upset because she can't write yet, so I wrote for her as she found her requests then she signed her letter and decorated some pictures for Santa. I have to admit I kind of like the early letters. Once the letter has been delivered to Santa there is no going back. It gives the elves in this world time to ensure things are in stock and delivered on time.

Doggy Diet

We have come to own one of the more pathetic dogs on the planet. As a rescue dog sent up from Texas there could be no more pathetic sight than that of a shivering, whimpering, Boston Terrier in a sweater having to go out in the snow to pee first thing in the morning. At least that is what I thought, until I took Cabbie to the vet on Saturday. Now he is a pathetic, whimpering dog on a diet.

Our fuzzy little friend's tendency to love food with a passion that knows no boundaries has landed him a six pound weight gain in the last year. Enough to have the vet indicate that it was time to drop a few. After looking at the posters on the wall of the over weight pets I couldn't deny that he bore a striking resemblance to them. So now we are in diet mode around here, and Cabbie is restricted to a mere 1/3 cup of food two times per day and no snacks. The girls and I are now stalked around the kitchen by a short fellow with pleading brown eyes. Hoping that we will relent and crack the lid off the goody jar.

For anyone who has ever had to take off a few, it just makes you feel bad for the little guy doesn't it?

Talkin Turkey

In an attempt to save the dog from any further decorating. I directed the girls to making paper turkeys. We put them up on the front door so Chloe can rest at ease since we are now properly decorated for the holiday.

So now we are decorated for the holiday!

Scrubbed and Clean

I got new tires on my car Saturday. I know desperately exciting. Considering the chunk of money I shelled out; I would have rather had something more exciting. I did, however, need them and thus is life when you get all responsible and stuff. I figured it would be a little busy at the tire place. What with all the people getting their snow tires on and all, so I called first. The man who answered the phone told me it was slow and to come right over. What luck I thought. I headed right over and made it in about 10 minutes. Upon choosing the new tires and signing the paper work I was told it would be about three hours. "But what about come right over... it is slow?" I asked.

"Can't think of who would have told you that," he said, "we are packed."

I was, to say the least, disappointed. At that point there wasn't much I could do. I needed the tires, and I was already there. So I wandered off having left my cell phone number with them on the off chance that I looked pitiful enough, and they would get my car in sooner. The tire place is located near the mall, which I usually avoid like the plague on a Saturday. Spending my weekdays with preadolescence I try to avoid any hangouts that they may congregate to on the weekends. I didn't have much choice though since I wasn't going to just sit in the waiting room at the tire place for three hours.

I wandered my way around various stores, heard enough Christmas music to want to choke a reindeer, and witnessed some women offering friends the worst fashion advice I could possibly imagine. Through my travels I came upon a sale item that I couldn't pass up... bath puppets!

I usually have to drag my kids up to the bath tub at night. It gets so tiring. I thought maybe the purchase would be the right incentive, and it worked! Look at them! Don't they look clean and smiley?

They scrubbed with a vengeance and Chloe actually said, "Mommy I can't wait for bath tonight." I know, tomorrow will be a battle again, but for one night I didn't have to argue and that people was four dollars well spent. And even better... my car was ready in just over an hour!

A Tale of Three Feet

Our house has wood floors. I love the wood floors. It was one of the first things I liked about the house when I first looked at it. I love that you can clean them. Kids and pets have done everything (and I mean everything) to these floors, and I always manage to save them with out too much fuss.

The only thing I don't like is how cold they are in the winter. I have cold feet... constantly. From the months of October around about to April my feet are akin to Popsicles. It has led me to make an investment every year for all three of us. Slippers. Warm, fuzzy slippers. The only way to survive an old house, wood floors, and a Vermont winter.

Chloe

Alexa

Me

Welcome to a girly house. A girly house with warm feet.