If you believe....

then they are real.  That's all I'm going to say!
She believes there are fairies out there...

January 14, 2011
So on a recent play date with a classmate, she and Joelle worked on a beautiful home for the fairies.  I provided them with a variety of materials and allowed them to do whatever they wanted.  They were able to do so much in the 2 hours that they were together!

 Then they found a place to put the fairy house... More like a fairy condo!

 Pretty elaborate, no?!

 Putting in her finally adjustments... sprinkling of gold coins, notepad for messages, and a marker.  They were very thorough!

 A picture with DJ (Brownie Girl scout mascot) because she had DJ for two weeks.  She wrote in her book that when she had DJ, they spent some time together making the fairy house:

 with DJ, their fairy house... and their peace signs!

And this cute little fella wanted in on the fairy house action.  He can't stand to be left out.  And with a smile like that, I probably would have built a fairy house for him on the spot if he had asked... luckily, he did not!  Big sis took this photo of him:

(BTW -- the fairies left a few gifts for her already!  It is so exciting to check and receive trinkets here and there!)

For the love of her hair...

She did it!!!!  After waiting almost 3 years, she finally decided it was time to cut her hair... and donate it!

Back in 2008, we spent a few months in Atlanta, Georgia after my sister had her 2nd child.  While there we met a wonderful family, the Hatchers.  Joyce and her daughter, Maria, were playing at the same playground we had discovered while out and about one day.  Maria and MG ended up being a good match for one another.  They quickly became friends.  And I, too, found a new friend in Joyce.  So, why am I telling you about Maria and Joyce?  Well, MG became inspired by Maria.  She found out that Maria was growing her hair to donate to Locks of Love.  MG thought about it and decided then and there that she, too, would do the same.  She learned about cancer patients and their struggles of going through various drug treatments all the while, losing their hair...but still staying positive!

So in the end, she felt this was a good cause to support!  However, instead of donating to Locks of Love, we decided to donate through Pantene Beautiful Lengths.  Our dear friend, Amanda, had recently donated to this organization so we felt it was a good place to start (not to mention that Amanda does a very thorough research on everything before moving forward!).  So... to ensure we had enough hair we donated to Pantene because their minimum requirement is 8", rather than Locks of Love's 10".  She said she didn't want a really short hair cut.

I am so proud of her!

January 4, 2011
Here are some photos...
She was a bit nervous to start:

 I was nervous... so I had to document it all!

 Okay... I think we are ready now....

 And here we go!

 YIKES!!!  Here she is with her 10" ponytail!

 This hair style is so cute on her!

 She wanted to celebrate with a trip to Jamba Juice... her favorite!

Later that day, she wrote in their Adventure Book,
"Today I cut my hair to donate!  I will donate 10 inches of my hair.  I feel sad because now I only have 8 inches and I miss my long hair.  But I am happy that someone else has hair.  A company will use my hair to make a wig for someone who has cancer.  When you have cancer you lose your hair."  (I'm not sure what she meant when she said that she now only has 8" of hair.  I think she meant that she wanted to donate 10" but we ended up cutting only 8" of usable hair.  Although the pony tail measured 10", I figured a couple may not be usable because of unevenness and split ends.)

Today she said...

I had made them breakfast and called them to the table as they were finishing up getting dressed.  MG sat down, looked at her plate of food, and said to me, "Wow, mom, when did you have time to make this?!"  She was so happy!  Although it was an easy and simple breakfast... it was nice to be appreciated!  (She ate pancakes with Nutella and whip cream.)

(Morgan, years from now when you read this the secret is -- I bought frozen pancakes!  I took them out of the freezer and put them in the frig the night before.  They sat on a plate waiting on the shelf so I knew exactly what you would be eating for breakfast the next morning.  Thinking in the morning is a task for me... so I try to get everything prepared the night before.  Your lunch is always arranged on another plate or area so I know what I need to pack the next morning.  If I can put them in reusable containers the night before, I do.  Then I assemble everything in the morning and put in your backpack!)

Where have we been?!

Happy New Year!!!!  I am back... are you ready?!  We have a lot of catching up to do.  I've missed being online and blogging.  But life has been busy!

So let's go back to December when I last left you all...  I was hoping to come back with a brand new blog title, alas, I could not think of one.  Besides, Vince kept saying no to me.  Something about some of them sounding too corny.  Who, me, corny?  Not me!  (Haha!!!)  So, in order to get the show back on the road, I figured... If I wait any longer to think of a wow banner/title, the new year will have passed me by.  So, this is as good as it gets people, sorry! ;)

I just realized... November never had closure... What happened at Thanksgiving?!  (If I plan on turning this into the children's memory album/scrapbook, I'd better keep it in order!)

November 24, 2010:
San Francisco Car Show:
We had to start off the morning here....

They all approved of this place....

He gave it two thumbs... errr, ears up!

The excitement was too much!!!!  They wanted in NOW!

Thanksgiving:  Pictures are currently unavailable... somehow we can't recall where we uploaded them!  (update when we locate them)
We were thankful for our extended family this year - The Schoenfelders (Jim and Clare), The Dixons (Corinna and Dave), The Wiggers (parents Hans and Anne-Marie, son and family, Robert and Inga, and their children, Lucas and Marieka, and other son and family, Joris and Elizabeth, and their children Lucy, Linnea, and Charlotte).  Needless to say, it was a full table!
Joris came up with a wonderful scavenger hunt game that got the children so excited and wound up before dinner-- it was fantastic!  (MD was excited because the game involved Lego pieces!)
Then it was time to eat!  We all managed to crowd around the long table and enjoy a lovely meal -- where everyone contributed in one way or another.  Delicious!!!
The evening ended when MG, the eldest in the group, came up with a similar scavenger game for the adults to play!
It was a wonderful event.  Thank you Hans and Anne-Marie for hosting!

Next up, Christmas!
Okay, better start off slowly and sneak up to Christmas....

These are some of the events that led up to this important holiday for the children:
December 6, 2010 
They are still enjoying swim lessons at the Timpany Center:

Can you tell they love it here?!

December 7, 2010
After a couple of months of looking like a girl... we fixed that problem... much better!  :)

Then they all helped Jim prep the tree for the front yard...  Jim is a saint, isn't he?!  Having 3 extra sets of hands "helping..."

 And look at how far the workshop has come!!!  Isn't it a beauty?!

December 8, 2010

Christmas crafting in the beginning stages...  If we cannot have real snow, we will just have to make them ourselves!  

With a bit of help...

 E made this!

 They, of course, did not need help...  They were fine on their own!

 He always thinks outside of the box...

December 10, 2010

They helped Clare (another saint for allowing my children to handle her delicate ornaments and family heirlooms -- not one was broken!) decorate the Christmas tree:

(MG's friend, Hannah, was over for a play date and she helped too!)

 Almost all the ornaments came with a story... the best part of decorating the tree (to me!):

December 14, 2010

We stopped by to visit Uncle Matt - for a bit... (heehee)... a few hours later... we were enjoying delicious, warm, hand made pretzels!

 Here they are sprinkling sugar and salt... long story!  (Basically Matt asked them to choose one or the other to put on the pretzels... they decided they would do both for all of them.  Not bad, sweet and salty all in one!)

 They approved!

December 15, 2010

MD made cards for his teacher and E's teachers:

 We then glued his sewn artwork onto card stock.  I thought he did an awesome job!  He really had to focus and follow the very light pencil lines I drew for him.  I saw a similar idea on a blog... but which one?!  I will have to check and get back to you all.

December 16, 2010

MG and a few of her friends from Kindergarten got together (with moms) and volunteered at the Family Giving Tree by organizing Christmas gifts for less fortunate children during the holidays.  (Jenna's mom works for Oracle and her company organized this event). I think this was a very rewarding experience for MG.  I have to admit she is not one of those children who ask for tons of toys.  Don't get me wrong, she asks, but she doesn't bug me or throw tantrums about it.  Regardless, I think it was a humbling experience for her to see that there were so many toys in this warehouse and they were all going to children who otherwise would not have any toys this Christmas.  Then I had the difficult job of explaining why Santa did not visit them. Oh my... the whole story of living in a home and having a chimney came into play... but she understood and she is thankful for what she has already.

December 19, 2010

MG had a wonderful holiday party with her Girl Scout troop:

They exchanged gifts:

They made ornaments (which included the photo Vince took of each of them at their tea party):

They toured the neighborhood with warm cups of "hot" chocolate:

They had fun!

December 21, 2010

For an early Christmas gift, Clare had purchased tickets to the Nutcracker for MG, Corinna, and myself.  And of course, Clare accompanied us!  (sorry photo quality is poor because all were taken with phone camera)

It was a real treat for MG to be out with just us ladies!

After the show we went out to dinner... where Clare presented each of us with our very own nutcracker!

December 24, 2010 -- the big night!

All the wait... and here it was, the night before Christmas!

The evening (very late, by the way!) ended with MG and MD baking snicker doodle cookies for Santa:

 Sprinkling reindeer food for the reindeer:

 And writing their letters to Santa:

 Then we left the cookies by the fire place and went to bed!

The next morning...

They were anxious to see what Santa brought them!

stockings first:

 Then the tree... these were wrapped up once and tucked away with their names carefully written with hearts and stars...now the gifts are all out...

 And being enjoyed...

And now my friends, I can say we are finally caught up!  Merry Christmas!!!!!

Wait!

December 26, 2010

I forgot... Our favorite Grandma came to visit...

Grandma Jan - all the way from Sioux Falls, South Dakota!  She made us all laugh with her funny stories... and she showed off pictures of beautiful baby grand daughter, Willow.  Her daughter lives in Montana!  Jan, thank you for your laughter and smile.  We love you!!!  Come back soon!

 December 29, 2010

Towards the end of MG's holiday break we spent a few days with her friend, Jenna.  It's always good to do something fun with a good friend, and Jenna is one of them!  

We visited the Silver Creek Sportsplex one day and they jumped their sillies out:

 "I'm King of the World!!!"

December 30, 2010

Then we visited Happy Hollow Zoo:

This is now one of their favorite rides (one that MG does not get sick on!):

 Aren't they so cute???

 Oh my... on the Danny the Dragon "train:"

 And here's the noisemaker and his ball of infinite energy!

 Well, hello there, Danny!  Happy Christmas to you!

 He was not too keen on taking a picture with Danny, but this guy seemed harmless enough!

And that is how we ended the year... good bye 2010!

Hello 2011!!!!