January - March 2013

Well, it looks like we are already a quarter through the year... Not much has changed, yet a ton has changed at the same time. And more changes to come again soon. As always, I am keeping busy. Too busy to go back through and write about the last three months. I'm sure I will find time at some point to at least write about Lizzie's birthday carnival, which I hope to create an album for her. Hope you enjoy the videos and pictures.

1-5-2013 Becca's Ski Lesson	3-3-2013 Becca's Bunny Tail
Lizzie Plays Yankee Doodle for Class 2-28-2013	Lizzie Dances with Ants in her Pants 3-16-2013

January 2013 Pictures

February 2013 Pictures

Lizzie's Birthday Carnival

March 2013 Pictures

December 2012

Although tiny, the surprise we received from our newest family member made a huge difference in our December! Our Elf on the Shelf is beyond messy and started on day one, where he dumped my cookie jar on the kitchen counter to leave breakfast for us. The girls loved how he wrapped the table in wrapping paper and left snow-covered donuts, reindeer kisses and elf candy for their morning meal. They were also visited by an elf at their dad's house, which Lizzie named Elfy, so Becca was excited to name the elf visiting our house Snowflake. Santa's helper tried to make our house more festive on several occasions. He got tangled up in Christmas lights, cut snowflakes, drew Santa and reindeer faces on pictures and brought gingerbread houses for the girls. I think he also had a good time making himself at home eating our candy, bathing in cotton balls, reading, doing puzzles, driving around with Barbie and having a movie night with popcorn! There were times he might have been trying to help, like making lunches for the girls, but they laughed at the dog food and coffee. And sometimes he just messed with us, like when he barricaded the girl's bedroom door with crepe paper or when he wrote Elves Rule in cereal on the counter. The girls agree that most elves must be mischievous, because Elfy also did some wacky things at their day's house, like dying the milk green, turning their noses red while they slept and tping the tree.

Speaking of elves, my favorite song at Lizzie's first grade holiday recital was I Want to be an Elf! She did such a great job singing loud, dancing and remembering all the songs! I uploaded all the tunes to YouTube and you can watch them here:

The girls lucked out and not only got to go on the CDA Light Cruise with Matt and Kayla, but again with Stephen and I! We saw the Grinch, talked to elves, visited Santa at the North Pole and saw tons of lights! Still, the girls said their favorite part was the giant cookies and the hot cocoa. On the way home Stephen took us by a house decorated in lights choreographed to several Christmas songs. The girls were amazed at how bright and fun the house looked and supposedly we are doing that to our house next year -ha!

While Stephen is doing great, he was still recovering from his back surgery, so traveling this month was out of the question. Luckily for us, most of our families were able to come celebrate Christmas with us at our home! The "first Christmas" we hosted was with my parents and my sister's family, including the pups! Six adults, four kiddos and three dogs - What a full house that was! And what a blast! The girls had their concert, where Becca played and sang "Johnny Old Saint Nicolas" and Lizzie performed Jingle Bells. They really loved having so many family members there to support them, especially Cooper and Uncle Dan. At home the kids played together, asking every other minute if it was time to open presents. Finally we sat down and let them go crazy! We all got so many amazing gifts! Among the kid favorites were a scooter and horse for their All American Dolls, clothes, books, crafts, Stuffies and a giant trampoline! The kids stayed up way too late watching movies and having a sleepover while us adults played Scene It. We woke up to snow and, although tired, the group (minus me, who was still trying to get oriented) trekked out sledding. Stephen got some great pictures!  Too soon it was time for everyone to head back to Pasco, but not before getting their picture with the Santa in the mall. This year's Santa was great! He talked (yes, actually interacted) with the girls! Becca asked him for a pink care-bear with a rainbow tummy and Lizzie asked for a giant bear with clothes.

Ok, THIS is why I need to write my blogs the following month (or during)! I started this December blog, but then got caught up in life and never returned to it. My notes to finish were: book store, animal on porch, mom's pictures, Holcomb Christmas, Frisbee, window-seat and new years. Have any luck interpreting that? Yeah, me too. Hopefully the pictures will be more self explanatory...

December 2012 Pictures

Snovember 2012

Probably the worst day ever to have to go to the dentist, but the day after Halloween and the girls are still cavity free! Becca did much better time this trip.  They especially loved picking through their candy and donating a few pounds to the soldiers abroad.

We were lucky enough to get some family and engagement photos taken by Sarah from Park Road Photography. She did a great job with us at the Liberty Lake County Park. Not only is she creative, but fun and good with the kids!

Engagement Pictures

As a part of the PTO, I helped with the CVKC Jump & Bounce event. Becca was so cute playing with her classmate Jerad. She has been asking to have a playdate with him every week since then.

Before Stephen's surgery, we spent a weekend away together. After a six hour drive and a ferry ride, we arrived in Orcas Island. We went whale watching, for a hike in the rain, walked around downtown, and most importantly spent a lot of time relaxing together.

Stephen's Surgery was a discectomy to remove the ruptured portion of his disc. While the surgery took a little longer than predicted and the surgeon had to remove more than expected, he said it was successful. Stephen was humorous and flirtatious while on the morphine and was extremely pleasant the first week of recovery at home, but after several weeks of not being able to do much or go anywhere he was more than a little stir-crazy. He tried to distract himself with short walks and Halo 4, but he was still very eager to return to work and his regular schedule.

Both of the girls had their Parent/Teacher Conferences. Becca is at the top of her class, scoring above-average marks in every area. I am an extremely proud parent, but still see how she can improve socially (using her words and keeping her hands to herself). The most rewarding thing Mrs. Grummons told us is how well she reads and comprehends. Becca finds learning and her studies as an easy task. Lizzie is also at the top of her class, however, unlike Becca, whom is in an accelerated class group, Lizzie has been placed in somewhat of an elite group within her class. Mrs. Boni told us that she is reading at a 3-4 grade level. Her only concern was that Lizzie is a nice girl that hangs out with bullies. Lizzie has been going through some sort of growth or hormonal change lately. She complains of headaches and her counselor thinks Lizzie is dealing with anxiety. As parents, we are trying to be patient with her, but some of her tantrums are over the smallest of issues. I just wish I could make things easier on her, but she is determined to be the best and have everyone like her. Sound like anyone else?

As a nice treat, I took the girls to Disney on Ice! It was a great girls day out! We got dressed up, had great seats and I really enjoyed their child-like awe as their favorite princess stories were performed right in front of them. The theatrics were impressive, but I was most impressed by the behaviors of my daughters. They are growing up to be such sweet young ladies. I hope they stay young, innocent and care-free as long as possible!

For Thanksgiving, we had Stephen's sister Alexis and her son Sebastian over from Portland for the weekend. It was so much fun baking with Alexis and watching the kids play together! She is a trooper for driving here and back alone with the four year old, but I hope it was worth it to them as much as it was to us, especially since Stephen was not up for traveling, yet. And the feast, oh the feast! It's too bad the left-overs didn't last more than a few days.

The last, but still memorable, event of November was the Rainmaker client Pajama Party! That's right, they through an adult PJ party complete with blankets, massages, spiked cocoas and the best DJ ever! I love that group and they know how to throw a party!

November 2012 Pictures