christmas chaos

WOW, and that it was!!!! we are still recovering from that and being sick! the girls had an overwhelming amount of presents. i even held back and made them unwrap stuff the day after christmas it was so chaotic! i let them unwrap two Wii games this evening b/c there were gifts under the tree that i hadn't put back for their birthday's yet...secretly i wanted to play the blocks game. so, i let them unwrap one each. i cut the paper on them to see what they were and then let them open them.


guitar hero is pretty neat, but rae LOVES to play tennis!



they are both in AWE of the computer that "POPPY" (David Stafford) helped me fix for them with old computer parts of mine and a newer tower from mom's company. i'm so thankful that he was able to do that for me. they LOVE it now that we are getting settled back into our house again. they have that little thing there in the picture that they can make art with, and they have an etch a sketch game that they are enjoying too.



granddaddy came and spent the night with us on christmas eve. he lost his father a short time ago and i'm sure it was going to be really hard on him to not have his sidekick this year. he got to see the girls flip out over their bikes (sorry, no picture) and go from thing to thing. it was a heck of a mess.

grandma sent them their baby alive dolls and they have been little mommies ever since christmas! so, they are bike riding, Wii playing, Littlest Pet Shop throwing, mommies who like to play on the computer this week!

did i mention this was pretty nuts?

strep throat

fever since sat...doctor visit, confirmed, strep throat. mixed with sneezing, runny nose and coughing. it's been interesting finding out how jamie and i passed germs around all those years.

if it wasn't enough

my favorite fish died today. the one here in the office that we all have bonded with..."nemo" as the girls called it. well, shit.

heartfelt and unsure

it's been a hard week for me. long nights of no sleep, tossing, turning and realizing the outcome of decisions that had to be made were clearly uncertain. i've had to walk away from two very important loves in my life. work, and dance. the details aren't necessary and it's just not something i can articulate anyway. i am attempting to keep strong and believing that both are things that aren't necessarily over. it's very difficult though. i feel like i have been beaten by a sledge hammer.

the play

rae had a little play at the school today. it was really cute and i tried to take some pictures but they didn't turn out so well. but, i am going to introduce you to a couple of people...







here's the little boy that she had(sometimes has) a crush on "Alex"

this is the bully "Leena" who she goes in and out of friendship with...apparently Leena has been mean to her again

and, of course the little "WREATH" herself...you can't see her wreath because it is hanging behind the podium tree. she got a little frightened and looked out...it was the first time that i have ever seen her kind of speechless. i looked at her, nodded and she quietly said her lines. i was really shocked that she was so meek. she did a great job though. and the play was really cute.

santa's helper and the grinch

mrs. ballengee has this thing going on where she sends the kids home with green and red slips of paper every day. if you were good that day, you were considered a "santas helper" and if you were bad, you were considered the "grinch." rae has been coming home with red santa's helper slips up until today. apparently she must have been a little rowdy at school today. :-) she came through the door upset so i knew something was wrong. (a different upset, not the attention upset) she kind of mumbled something under her breath and i just asked her if she was a grinch and she got really upset with me. so, she in fact had been a naughty little booger at school when i found the little green slip in her back pack. i didn't get the whole story before dancing but on the way home she told me that her and "craig" had words. she had her hands on craigs desk and he told her to get them off. she did not do it and it started a fight. so, mrs. ballengee took her away. i might get a different story tomorrow, but this is what i know about her first grinch today!

have a good week

short but sweet

on saturday i was able to see both of my college roommates! it was fabulous. i met up with sarah, who lives in san diego, at the ballgame at the end of half time and we were able to talk for a while when the game was going on. and then, after peeing on myself at the end of the game in excitement, i drove home and freshened up to go see jennifer. she lives in richmond hill, ga, which is outside of savannah. i was able to spend some time with she and her family while they were relaxing after baths. being able to see them was great and a hug to remember was even better. it was short but sweet.