Time Out

Lily is, um, learning, how to be gentle with Jimmer. It's a slow learning process. She just loves to pick him up, give him choke holds, squeeze him till he squeals...poor Jimmer.

Today Lily was holding him, and I try to praise when she's holding him well, so I told her she was doing a good job. Then he started to squirm. "Oh, Lily dear...if he wants to go play, let him." Followed by, "Lily, if he wants to go, let him go." And a more forceful, "Lily, let him GO!" At which point she did drop him, pointed in his direction as he darted off, "Go! Go! Time Out!!"

Hmm...I'm not sure if she was putting Jimmer in timeout or if she was preemptively putting herself in timeout...

Jimmer

This year, Santa brought the girls a kitty. Ally insisted that it was a girl kitty, but no amount of arguing can change that, and we were finally able to convince her otherwise. She wanted to name the kitty Lola, but we suggested that might offend his manhood. I mean, we are going to remove his manhood shortly, the least we can do is give him a manly name. The Uncles suggested Jimmer, and she eagerly agreed. Meet Jimmer, the newest addition to our clan:



I video-taped the girls opening up the kitty present, but it was not at all what I expected. We brought the box in last and told them Santa had left the present in the wrong room. I expected they would squeal and shriek, but they were more-so mesmerized by this cute little creature. Not a word, just silent, content concentration as they took turns picking him up.

Little Lily elf.

Grandma and Grandpa gave the girls cowgirl hats, an instant hit:


And mom (me) made the girls capes - because the best gifts are made by mom with love:

Here is Lily hugging her cape

Ally showing off her cape.

Yeehaw!

Surprise! Surprise!

I haven't yet blogged about my 30th birthday, and it was a dooo-sie, so forgive if blogger posts this out of order.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to travel to New York for the first time. I was smitten...I came home and told Matt I knew what I wanted for my birthday. I wanted a night on the town, something trendy and reminiscent of New York, I wanted to get "Gaga-fied", and I wanted a limo (I mean, I was turning 30). He was a little offended, I think, because he really likes to take charge and plan the events, so I otherwise let him do all the planning. I was told not to check his email and not to check the budget and I was totally OK with that. I took that Friday off of work so I could go have lunch with Ally and have plenty of time to do my make-up (on a side note, I brought cupcakes to Ally's school since it was my birthday and her birthday is in July. Her teacher even let her wear the "summer-time" birthday crown. Incidentally, she then came home from school thinking she was now 6).

Ally in her birthday crown

Here we are getting ready to go out

"Get my shoes"

The "limo" arrived and it was actually more of a, well, van with "limo" painted on the side. I mean, it was nice inside, but not quite what I was expecting. I didn't think too much of it, and I certainly didn't say anything because I wanted to have a nice evening. We got inside and Matt said he had a surprise for me in the park, something he had "made" and I needed to be blind-folded. I was like, "Are you kidding me? I'm wearing fake eyelashes!" But we compromised and I let him drape the blind-fold over my face so I couldn't see. He walked me down off the van and unveiled...my family!!! He had arranged for all of my immediate family plus Jeff & Lindsay (his brother and his wife) to be there! And my work besties Ariel and Tracey were there, too! (Hence why we needed the larger van, and not a limo).




Here we are in the limo:

Isn't he the sweeeetest???
At Bellini's:






Afterwards, I had everyone try on the wig, even sweet baby Alana.
But the fun doesn't stop there. The next day, he said he had another surprise for me but had to make a pit stop at the church to pick up a manual for a lesson he was teaching (of which he had planted a seed a while back that the manual was being left for him there...) When our "plans" for the evening fell behind, we decided to swing by the church and pick it up. Jeff said he wanted to see our church building and I planned to stay in the car. But when Lindsay got out, too, I decided I didn't want to sit in the car and get cold. And he had arranged another surprise party, complete with karaoke, which I LOVE. (Also earlier in the day, the boys had gone "pumpkin shooting" followed by setting up for the party...)


Life is an adventure with this guy, and I'm glad we're on this ride together!

Let it Rain!

Little girl boots are just about the cutest thing you've ever seen. They really couldn't be any cuter -unless they are pink rain boots.

Costume Changes

The Buffington Family as your ballpark special:

But earlier that day, I had spent my time eating brains...


And Ally helped me make some gruesome cupcakes:

We love Halloween!

Fall

Our favorite pumpkin patch, complete with horses and hayrides. We never did get around to carving our pumpkins, but they came in handy for shooting practice, which also turned into a handy excuse Matt used to take extra long setting up for my second surprise party - that stinker!