More Ice Day Fun

Kayla is an arts-and-crafts girl. Give her some free time and a chair, and she will keep herself busy. The chair is not to sit in. She does not do a lot of that. However, it allows her to help herself to the craft stuff. She found something to make cat ears out of. Then she found some Elmers Glue Glitter Paint stuff and a marker. She drew and painted a cat face on herself and then on her sister. Needless to say, the paint stuff is now in the trash. I am not sure what I was doing during all of this, but I would not have let her put that on their faces!



The outfit also had a tail made out of toilet paper, but that did not make it into the picture. Caroline was not to excited about her makeover.

It continued to sleet all day, and this evening it finally started to snow a little. This is our front walkway. The step is completely covered.
There is no school tomorrow, so we will see what fun activities Kayla can come up with!

No school

Yesterday afternoon school was cancelled for today. We have had some ice and sleet. The minute Kayla found out she was so excited, until she realized they have already taken their 2 snow days this year. This will have to be added back in somewhere. The next thing I know she and Caroline both come out in their swim suits. Kayla says "Mom, can we go outside and chill? You get it...chill." She is her father's daughter. We put off doing homework and they both jumped in the bath tub for a swim.

They played in the tub for a long time, and then it was movie night. We all snuggled up on the couch under a blanket with a bowl of popcorn. It really was a good time with my girls.

I was all excited about the prospect of sleeping in. That lasted until 6:20 this morning when Caroline decided it was time to start the day. It does not look too bad out there until you realize that is ice covering the roads. We have not had snow. The ice is expected to continue coming down until some time after noon. I will feel better when Andy makes it home from Wichita. He ended up spending the night there, and he will head home around noon today.

Finishing Christmas!!!

Part 4: Christmas in Oklahoma

Christmas Eve - We were all finally together Christmas Eve. We attempted to make cookies for Santa. They tasted fine, but they all pretty much lost their shapes. Santa had a platefull of blob shaped cookies! Kayla was not wearing a shirt, so this is the only cookie pic I can post.

Christmas Morning (Christmas #4)- This was the first year Caroline really grasped the idea of opening presents. Both girls had a really good Christmas.



Caroline got a Dora Vanity Table. She has really enjoyed fixing Dora's hair.



It is a good thing Kayla took the catalog to show Santa. He brought her the American Girl doll she really wanted. Here is Kayla with her new friend Ally.


Christmas #5 - When we finished at our house, we headed over to open gifts with my Mom and H.L.

Christmas #6: After my mom's house, we went to Dad and Sue's house for lunch. After all the kids arrived we did a telent show. Kayla played the piano. Caroline kind of sang a song. Then the present opening began. I did more video at my dad's so I don't have any good pics.

It was a great Christmas holiday, but I have to say I am kind of glad it is over!

Ringing in 2009

Believe it or not, I still have more Christmas pics to post. I am really behind so I thought I would go ahead with the New Year. The girls were ready for a celebration in their 2009 glasses that Nanny bought them in New York.

We went to the casino with KC, Jennifer, Steve and Annie. KC had a remote with the radio station from 9-11. Here is Andy and Promo Dave (he works at the station) holding down the KMOD table. KC had pre-recorded his stuff, so he was outside listening to his break.

Here are the guys: Andy, KC, and Steve. Steve and KC went to school together and have been friends for a long time. Steve and Annie both live in LA. They usually come visit for the New Year's Celebration. Kayla is a huge fan of Steve. He has been on Hannah Montana and ICarly. She has his autograph and is more than willing to tell people that someone from Hannah Montana slept in her bed. (We had the 2008 celebration at our house. Everyone just slept there while the girls were at my mom's) He will hopefully be on a new series on Disney DX this year!

Here are the girls: Annie, Jen, and me. Annie is FBI Agent Renee Walker on this season of 24. I am pretty sure her life is about to change - is already has!

We actually had a great time at the casino. I think Annie and Steve were the only ones who played any machines. It was just great to be out with other adults. With the kids busy schedules we hardly ever get together. Here is the group:
We all piled in the minivan and headed back to the hotel. The radio station got KC a suite. We went back and played Apples to Apples until 5 am. What a fun game with a group of people.

We all had a great time. The girls both stayed up to ring in the New Year. I think my mom's plan for them was to celebrate New York's New Year, but they were not ready to go to bed!

Happy New Year!

Christmas continued

Part 3: Trip to Waco

****Check Jenny's blog for more details and pics of our time in Waco. Steve stayed up-to-date on their blog: http://www.jjandtheboys.blogspot.com/

Andy was not able to leave for Waco on Saturday because of work. Jim was nice enough to fly to Tulsa so he could drive to Waco with me and the girls. I was not up for a 6 or 7 hour car ride with the two of them by myself. We arrived in Waco Saturday evening and the fun began.

You can't go to Waco without smores and a dip in the hot tub. OK - I can survive without the hot tub, but that is quality swimming time for the kids.

Christmas #1: Sunday morning we had Christmas with Andy's parents, Jenny, Steve, Caleb and Carter.

Caroline got a stuffed dog that looked like Elfy. She immediately ran into to show Elfy. "Look Elfy. That's you!" It was really cute.

Kayla with her new necklace from Aunt Jenny.

The kids all got digital cameras from Nanny and Papa. Caroline got a CD player which she already knows how to operate. The kids had a great time with the cameras. It is really neat seeing the world from the perspective of a seven year old.

Both of the girls got a lot of clothes for their American Girl Dolls. Here they are with pajamas that match each of their dolls.


Christmas #2: Monday night we had Christmas with Mamaw and Papaw. This is Darlene's side of the family.

This is Mamaw and Papaw with the grandkids and great grandkids.
(Just imagine Andy is in the picture.)

Caroline had a blast with her new blanket and the static in her hair.


Caroline and Mamaw


Caroline and Aunt Karen (Darlene's sister)

Christmas #3: Tuesday we had Christmas with Granny. This is Jim's side of the family.


Here are some of the youngest of Andy's cousins kids. They are not yet old enough to be playing football in the annual Cloverland Bowl.


Kayla loves playing with Caleb and Carter when we are in Waco. But I think a real highlight for her is getting to sit at the table with all of the girls for Christmas dinner.

Caroline and Granny

Santa has walked in the room. Caroline is checking him out. The big girls are trying to figure out who it is this year.

Caroline is really not sure about him. Notice her hand in Kayla's lap.

Seeking comfort from her big sister.

She moved on to more secure comfort from Aunt Jenny.

I think they finally figured it out...

She sat right on his lap without any problems or crying at all. So grown up!

Kayla came up to me after the visit with Santa and said "That was SO totally Uncle Dan."

Andy was able to fly in Monday night in time to say hello to mamaw and papaw. He got up and had to work on Tuesday morning before he participated in the Cloverland Bowl. Next year I need to make sure he understands that it is flag football, not tackle. He had to work the rest of the day up until the gift exchange at Granny's. By that point his computer was crashing. So, we loaded up the car and left Waco on Monday night at about 9:15. We drove to Denison and spent the night. We got up at 6 the next morning and drove to Tulsa. I took him to the airport to get his truck, and he had to work the rest of the day. He was worn out. Hopefully next year he will be able to enjoy his Christmas break...maybe even have a Christmas break!

Christmas...a little late

Part 1: Andy's acting debut

Someone from church called and asked Andy to be in the Christmas play. He was the disciple Philip. He enjoyed doing it, but it happened at a really bad time of the year for him. He was swamped at work and he had rehearsals and 4 nights of performances. He made it through. This was our first year to go. The church really puts on a very good production.

Part 2: Kayla's singing debut.

Her school put on a Christmas Song Fest and then her class had their Christmas party. The kids could sign up to sing karaoke at the party. Kayla did not hesitate to sign up. She was very excited about it until the morning of the performance. She did not want to sing in front of her class. I thought it was because she was nervous, but it was because she thought they would laugh at her chapped lips. She did a great performance of "Jolly Old St. Nicholas".

This was before the school song fest.

Talk about sugar overload...candy, cupcakes, cookies, pizza, sprite. A great Christmas party for first graders!

Kayla with two of her best friends, Kaylie and Libby

An introduction by Ms. Walton

It's solo time. She did such a great job!

Before we left for Waco, Andy finally got to see the girls for a few minutes. It was very eventfull. This is what I found when I went in the living room. I think everyone was worn out!