My Girly Girl

I am so blessed to have two such wonderful little girls with their very own personalities!  I love them both for filling my life with more joy and happiness than I ever dreamed of.  Looking back at my blog, I've been posting a lot about Lauren, so today, it's all about Allison.  Allison is my girly girl.  She loves to wear pretty clothes, have her nails painted, and play with her dolls.  She would wear a dress every day if I  let her.  She's very emotional, very affectionate, super cuddly, and very sensitive.  If you look at her with the slightest bit of disapproval, or if you reprimand her for any reason, she'll burst into tears.  On the flip side, she has the most awesome laugh!!   One of my favorite sounds in the world is to hear her laughing while watching her favorite show, Curious George.
She absolutely ADORES her big sister.  I love to watch the two of them play together.  I love to imagine what they will be like when they are older, confiding in each other and being there for each other.
One of her favorite things to do has always been to play dress up.  That's the first thing she'll ask to do as soon as we walk in the door.  In the picture below she is dressed up in her Sleeping Beauty princess dress playing with her Minnie and Mickey Mouse stuffed animals.  On the far right of the chair next to Allison is her baby Rebecca whom she loves and sleeps with and takes everywhere!

I love you my sweet little girly, girl Allison!

   

Better Late than Never

I can't believe it is already January 17!  Seems like we were just celebrating Christmas, and now January is more than half over.  I'm going to just record a few highlights from our holidays, since I didn't manage to post any thing after Christmas Eve.  After celebrating with Bill's family on Christmas Eve, we enjoyed a fun Christmas morning with the girls.  After waking up around 7:00 a.m., we hurried downstairs for the girls to see what Santa brought them.  A few of their favorite presents were roller skates, new baby dolls, new crib and stroller for Allison's doll, new bike for Lauren, clothes, and new jammies.  Mommy and Daddy got a new camera for each other, Daddy got a new Bible, Mommy got a new red casserole dish (which I was really wanting), a new hair dryer, an electric razor, and some new pots and pans!  The girls had fun skating in the house while Daddy cooked pancakes and sausage for Christmas breakfast.  After breakfast we loaded up and drove to Mom and Dad's.  We enjoyed lunch together before opening another round of presents.  We ended the day going church in Bristol. 

The next day, Dec. 26th, Bill and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary.  We got to  check out the after Christmas sales, and then had dinner at the Chop House!  We had a very nice time together.  While we were at Mom and Dad's we got to see  Aunt Susie, Jim, Susan and her family.  Uncle Bob also came over for a visit.

Tuesday, December 27th we all went bowling.  Lots of fun was had by all!  We came back to Knoxville on Wednesday and enjoyed the rest of the week at home.  We didn't have any big plans for New Year's Eve.  Bill bought me the movie, The Help and we watched that on New Year's Eve.  The girls camped out together in the Bonus Room that night, but were asleep before the New Year arrived.

Monday, January 2nd, we took the girls to the Pancake Pantry and Ober Gatlinburg for the day.  It was a fun family outing.

That Friday, I celebrated my ?? birthday!  Mom and Dad, brother, Sue and Tim, and the four of us went out for dinner.   The next day Lauren had her first Upward basketball game which was lots of fun to watch.  After that game we raced to UT to watch the men play 8th ranked Florida!  UT pulled off a big upset beating the Gators!  What a great game to see!!

Lauren's basketball season lasts through the end of February with a game every Saturday.  This last week, Lauren got to play most of the game because one of the team members was not there and another one did not want to play.  Lauren scored 3 baskets and had a few assists where she dribbled the ball down the court, passed to the open team mate resulting in a score!  We were so proud of her!  She is really enjoying playing!

Lauren & Allison showing off their "Sister" bracelets they got each other for Christmas

Allison on Christmas morning

Lauren Christmas Day

Bill took this picture of the sunset right after we got our new camera

Lauren got a Character Counts award in December and got her picture taken with her principal

Lauren shooting the basketball in her 2nd game

Lauren shooting in her 2nd game

Christmas Eve

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration with Bill's side of the family here at our house for dinner.   After the family left, we got the girls ready for bed and read our traditional, Twas the Night Before Christmas and then our Bible Story downstairs by the Christmas tree.  We snapped this picture of the girls before taking them up and tucking them in.

Here are the girls nestled, all snug in their beds.  Both girls went right off to sleep.  Here's hoping Allison can sleep through the night without coughing.

Wow!  We must have been on Santa's early route, because has stopped by our house and dropped off a few things for the girls!

       

Lauren's presents from Santa

Allison's presents from Santa

Lauren's Basketball Debut

Lauren's Upward basketball league had a Jamboree today, so we got to see Lauren play in her first game.  As predicted, it was so much fun to watch.  Lauren was very focused and really did what her coaches asked her to do.  I was so proud of her.  She had quite a little cheering section with my parents and brother and Bill's step-dad.  We are looking forward to more games after the first of the year. 

Lauren inbounding the ball



Lauren waiting for her turn to play




Lauren playing defence, she's in the black jersey with her hands up!



A proud Mommy with her little basketball player



A Special Gift

During this special time of giving, Lauren decided it was time for her to give the gift of her hair to Locks of Love.  Yesterday we went to get the girls haircuts.  I usually take them to Great Clips just to get their hair trimmed (because I usually can get it trimmed without spending a fortune) so I headed there after school not thinking I might want to get someone else to cut Lauren's hair when she gets a big cut like that.  But Lauren was sure she wanted to get it cut and we were there, so she did it.  I did have my camera but didn't get a lot of good shots. 

Lauren's hair before her haircut

When the stylist asked if Allison wanted to cut her sister's hair, I gasped and said no.  I told the gentleman that Allison had cut her own hair when she was 3 and that I didn't want her getting any ideas.  But Allison loved getting to snip her sister's hair.  I also cut one of the ponytails!



A shot from the back of her new 'do!  She loves it!




A profile of her new 'do. 

I did not get any clear pictures of her from the front.  I'm still getting used to our new camera.  I'll try to post another picture soon.

I'm very proud of Lauren for doing this.  When I first mentioned it to her over a year ago, she was excited to do it.  She told the stylist she wanted to cut her hair to give it to someone who didn't have hair.  It was a wonderful experience that made me a very proud mommy!  I love you Lauren!

Wonderful, Wild and Wacky Weekend

This first weekend in December has been exactly like the title of this post!  It started out Friday morning with a phone call on my cell phone from my dearest husband waking me (and Allison) up at 6:24 a.m..  He was calling to inform me that my debit card had been put on hold because of suspicious activity on it.  After an entire morning on the phone with the my bank and the debit card people we closed out my debit card with only three purchases placed on it at a Kroger store in Atlanta totaling just over $250.  The crazy thing about it is, I did not lose my debit card.  I guess someone got my number and actually made a card with my number on it.  I spoke with the manager at the Kroger in Atlanta telling him what happened and he said that someone had to have had a card in order to make a purchase at the store.  That's kind of scary to me that someone actually made a card with my number.  The store manager there suggested that I fill out a police report, but the people at my bank said it wasn't necessary to fill out a report if they didn't actually have my card.  I'm a little confused about that.  I did speak to KPD and they said to come fill out a report.  I'll have to double check on that again tomorrow.  I am just praying that I haven't had any other information compromised like that number.

My Friday certainly improved when we went to Dollywood.  My parents were supposed to go with us, but Mom was sick, so it was just the four of us and my brother.  It was an absolute perfect day for Dollywood.  We picked Lauren up from school a little early, ate a late lunch at the Olive Garden before going to the park.  The girls enjoyed riding some rides, we saw the show Christmas on Ice and watched the light show over the lake.  The temperature dropped very quickly once the sun went down, but we were bundled up and enjoyed some steaming hot chocolate.  It was great fun.

Allison, Lauren and Uncle Bill on the swings (you can't see Daddy sitting beside Allison)

Lauren & Allison kissing a reindeer

Lauren & Allison posing 

Lauren & Allison in front of the lake

This picture was so cute of Allison, I couldn't resist posting it even though Lauren's eyes are closed

Daddy, Lauren, Uncle Bill and Allison during the light show

Lauren & Allison and their favorite Uncle Bill

After a late night getting to bed, I hoped my little angels might sleep in on Saturday, but Allison was up right before 7:00 and Lauren slept until about 7:25.  Bill and the girls had to take his Mom and Step-dad to the airport and I got to go shopping.  It was a wonderfully successful shopping excursion.  Brother came over for his usual Saturday visit and we ordered pizza for supper and then went to Froyoz for dessert.  It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.  I even got all my Christmas presents wrapped before bed.

Today was our Christmas brunch at church with the Christ-myth Busters play.  I also had to sing at church this morning so it was crazy trying to get the girls and I bathed, cook my Cream Cheese Danish to take for the brunch and get to church on time!   We were only about 5 minutes late getting there!  The play was terrific and despite the North Pole like temperature in the Fellowship hall, we had a wonderful time!

Christ-myth Busters Cast

Lauren & Mackenzie

Santa visited the brunch

Lauren & Allison in front of our fireplace

Wow, that has made me tired, just typing all this stuff that has happened in the last 72 hours.  Now it's time to get in bed and get ready for another week!  I love the holiday season!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Lauren brought this letter home from school on Tuesday!  What a sweet letter from a sweet angel.  I am truly thankful for my husband who treats me so wonderfully and two beautiful daughters who bring me so much joy and happiness.   I'm thankful for being able to spend time with Bill's family at lunch today and then heading on up to spend time with my family.  Thanksgiving couldn't be any more perfect!