November was quite the month for us. The Sunday before Thanksgiving was spent in the hospital due to Annie having an asthma flare-up. A cold/virus caused her to cough so violently that it made her unable to breath. Along with a fever and racing heart-rate, we decided it would be wise to take Annie to the emergency room. The doctor had her do 2 breathing treatments and prescribed some steroids, and by day 2 following the doctor Annie was back to her old self. Of course, Annie’s illness kept her home which made it difficult to get the house ready to host Thanksgiving dinner for 12+ people. All went well though…just a little extra stress added to an already stressful time. Hey, make sure to take a peek at the latest of the girls’ albums–“>November 2007.

As promised, I’m giving daily updates on our past few weeks. Today’s post is about New Year’s Eve which was spent at the Guises’ home. It was fun to get to hang out with friends while the kids ran wild around the house. We had lots o’ meat (courtesy of us) and lip smacking, sugary treats. The Guise, Park, and VanNess families were all in great spirits which made for a rockin’ evening. Of course, we didn’t stay on to ring in the New Year. We got home and the girls were in bed by 11:00 p.m. Mike and I thought we’d be able to stay up for that last hour, but we were defeated by sleep on our comfy couches. We dragged ourselves to bed after waking up around 3:00 a.m. Good times!

Maybe this will make up for my lack of updates. It’s kind of appropriate since there are technically 12 days ’til Christmas, if you count today, right? Anyway, I know many of Mike’s relatives would get a kick out of this since they are such a musical family. Sorry to keep bombarding you with videos.

Things are finally, kind of, slowing down around here. I just submitted one of my last client orders. I do still have 2 photo shoots coming up in the next couple of weeks, but those people know that I will be waiting until after the first of the new year to present their pictures to them. Good grief it’s been pure madness around here! We’ve also had something going on each night since Wednesday all the way through Sunday evening. What happened to those evenings of getting the girls to bed and just veggin’ in front of the t.v. until bedtime? I miss that:(

Is it over yet? Whew, what a day! The day started fresh with both girls running around and demanding to wear their costumes. I wasn’t about to let them ruin those custom-made costumes during breakfast. {Yes, the girls’ costumes were handmade by me. Now this doesn’t mean I designed and sewed up some fancy attire. Instead I scoured Michael’s for cheap and easy ways to put together a lady bug and cat costume. I must say, Michael’s came through except I did have to go to the Halloween Store for the cat ears and tail (and bowtie?!?).} I made them wait until it was almost time to take Annie to school. Annie’s school had a day planned with lots of events including a parade, magician, and parties. I was assigned to bring cookies sans chocolate or nuts. Sugar cookies were the only thing I could think of without those ingredients that I could “make” (make meaning I bought the pre-mixed Pillsbury dough). Fortunately, Mike and I had a frozen batch of butter cream frosting from a previous event, I decorated the cookies with orange, green, and black frosting of random designs. Mimi and I stayed for most of the events at school, but a headache insisted that we skip the magician and head home for lunch.

We were invited to the Chesler’s for trick-or-treating and dinner. I made a spooky, cemetary cake to bring along. The Parks were there as well with baby dressed in a cow costume. Brady decided he would dress up as a kangaroo this year. Mike brought along his stash o’ ’staches to share with the other boys. The occasion called for Mike to also wear his jumpsuit. Well, there was no excuse this time to not let him wear it. After dark we headed out for trick-or-treating. Matt, Trang, and Brady started out with us, but Brady went into scream-mode after two houses. Annie was very focused on visiting as many houses as possible. As soon as she received her candy from the current house, she would immediately exclaim, “Hurry, let’s go to the next house!” She said this sometimes while the owner of the current house was still standing there. We had to keep reminding her what to say each time someone opened the door instead of just immediately grabbing for the goods. Mimi caught on pretty quickly and was soon shouting “to the next house” along with Annie. Those pesky kids! Everyone started to get chilly and tired and hungry (we hadn’t eaten dinner yet), so we headed back to the Chesler’s. It was after 7 p.m., and we were all famished and happy to devour hamburgers, hot dogs and fries. Even the girls finished their meals in record time. We went home soon after and got the girls to bed around 9:30 p.m. I was a complete zombie after all was said and done.

It’s a bit late for this, but I’m finally able to sit down long enough to chronicle the Evans family visit. They were here during the week of Independence Day. Their arrival came late, Sunday evening, and it was non-stop action until they left the following Saturday. Can you believe we had enough sleeping arrangements for an extra seven people? I was amazed by that alone! The Evans were set to see the sites on Monday. Mike’s endless supply of Metro passes came in handy so that we were able to take the Metro all week long with only having to drive to/from the station. In the two days spent in downtown D.C. we managed to see many of the monuments, the National Archives, the National Air and Space Museum, and the National Museum of Natural History. I hope they don”t feel like they didn’t see enough and were held back by the girls and me (we’re slow walkers). We also squeezed in a visit to the LDS temple one evening. Everyone was exhausted by the end of each day. Even my own children, who are usually awake by dawn, slept in until the late hours of morning. No complaining from me here. On Tuesday the Evans did something that we have yet to do. They drove to the Chesapeake Bay and spent a day at the “beach”. The water was still salty, but they weren’t technically at the ocean. It was still quite different for them versus just going to a lake beach in Minnesota. Paul even got pinched by a crab. A lot of time was also spent in our pool. One day the kids literally spent 3 or more hours in there.

Of course, we couldn’t miss the 4th of July festivities put on by our Nation’s Capital. We came up with a plan to avoid the massive crowds on the Mall, so we instead went to the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, VA to view the fireworks. Unfortunately, the rain put a delay in our plans to find the perfect spot to set up and hang out until dark. We found a “shelter” to remain under until the rain subsided. I think the rain actually helped us get a better spot though because many of the poeple already at the memorial before the evacuation either went home or found shelters further away than us. So we ended up with a super close spot to watch the fireworks. I must say, too, that none of us were disappointed with the show either. Smiley face and heart fireworks were something new for us to see. And the sequence of events really made for a wonderful display. Now getting home was quite a different story. We were packed into the metro station like sardines waiting for the trains. There was a point where Mike was holding Annie’s hand but couldn’t even see her. We made it home safe and sound though, and everyone slept in very late (except poor Mike had to be at work his usual time) the next morning.

Friday was spent takin’ it easy at our house. Sara and I got to stamp and make some fun cards. We also chatted about a lot of stuff. It was so nice to have another woman around to get out all my built up talkins. Her ears are probably still numb from my incessant yakking. I wish we could have spent another few days with just the two of us craftin’ and chitchattin’. That evening the adults, Sara, Jim, Mike and me, went out for dinner and ice-cream. The kids were left at home with pizza and DVD’s. We came home to find them watching Bob the Builder. I don’t know how that didn’t get vetoed by the older kids.

We were so sad to see the Evans leave. The girls couldn’t get enough of having so many kids around to play with. Matt and Hayley were so good to the girls and didn’t seem to get bored with them. I can’t believe how big all the Evans kids are now. I still remember when Katie and Jimmy were wee, little ones in our wedding. Matt was still in Sara’s belly. Time goes by so quickly, and it’s even harder to live so far away from all our extended family. But I have good news (for us anyway), the girls and I are going to Minnesota at the end of August–for a whole week! So we’ll get to see everyone again very soon. I’m also excited because we’ll get to go the Minnesota State Fair. My stomach is already craving all the good (well, bad) food. Mike and I wanted to give the girls a chance to see Minnesota and the family there again since it’s been almost two years since the last time we visited. Once the school year started I knew we would get too busy again to fit in a visit.

I might as well give a quick update on the girls. They keep me giggling constantly. I was literally in tears on Friday with something Annie said. We were buckling up in the car when Annie all of a sudden said, “Look, it’s Lucy’s man-ball!” It took me about a minute stop laughing enough to ask what she was talking about. Long ago we got this ball from a McDonald’s happy meal that is Super Mario’s head. Somehow it became a Lucy toy. Apparently, it was sitting in the front yard for Annie to notice it and nickname it “Lucy’s Man-Ball”. Along with Annie’s strange observations she’s also drawing like mad and learning lots of new words to spell. In fact, she asked just yesterday how to spell “indirect fire”. Mike and I aren’t sure where she finds the terms, but we’re always happy to spell them for her, nonetheless. The girls have this activity/coloring book. In it there is an activity where you’re supposed to put the first letter for several pictures. Annie can do this now without any assistance. She’s able to sound out the word to figure out what letter it begins with. Annie’s geting really good at drawing, too. We can usually tell what her pictures are supposed to be. Right now her favorite things to draw are princesses. The people in her belly aren’t making as many appearances as they used to, but sometimes they will demand food. Oh, and Annie can swim with only wearing water wings now; occasionally, she’ll even go underwater. We’re very proud of her.

Mimi loves headbands. Each morning when we’re getting dressed Mimi insists on wearing a headband. She even keeps it on her head all day long. However, last week she decided that she also likes to wear hats. For two days straight Mimi wore a pink baseball cap. On Friday she wore the knitted hat that looks like a strawberry, even though I stipulated that it would be too warm to wear such a hat. Sometimes when Mimi asks a question and gets “NO” for an answer she’ll respond with “Oh, man!” Potty-training still isn’t a priority for her. Just yesterday she went missing for a few minutes after exiting the shower (still naked, of course). When she reappeared Mimi had gone #1. I scolded her by saying something to effect of, “Mimi, it was naughty of you to go potty on the floor!” She responded with, “I’m sorry, Mommy. I won’t do it again.” How could I not be manipulated by that? So I told her that she needs to start going potty on the big, girl toilet. She said, “Ok, I will.” I’m starting to think she’s just telling me what I want to hear. She’s also become quite discrete about going #2. The first time I noticed this she was standing in a corner for a few minutes by herself. Immediately afterward she ran over to me and said she was poopy. Then at church last week (I was subbing in the nursery) Mimi came up to me and said “I don’t have to go potty!” Of course, I thought this was odd, so I asked her if she wanted to go sit on the big girl potty. She screamed with a negative response. I decided to just let it go especially since we were at church. Then I noticed her go over to the toy cabinet pull the door around her so that she was standing behind it. She came running out a couple minutes later and promptly told me she was poopy. That stinker (literally)! Evidently, she’s making it quite clear that she’s not ready to be potty-trained yet. I’m not giving up on her though.

P.S. Be watching for a gallery of pictures from the Evans’ visit.