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!

Away We Go

Some new fun adventures from Kindergarten.

A few weeks in, Ally came home with a note. It was a copy of a hand-written note she had written which said, "Dear Tom, I'm sorry I grabbed your neck. Next time I will use my words." (name are changed to protect the innocent).

Yikes.

Well, now it's go-time. What kind of Mom am I going to be? I want to be the kind that supports my teachers...I have enough teacher friends to know that they deal with way too much this:

So, we sat down with Ally and talked about how that wasn't acceptable Buffington behavior.

Buffingtons are nice, Buffingtons are kind, Buffingtons share, and Buffingtons don't hurt their friends. She was on board with this. But just for good measure, I threw in, "And if it happens again I'm going to throw away your toys."

Yup, good parenting there.

So yesterday, I decide to go have lunch with her at school (it was one of my favorite days ever, by the way), but the first thing I notice when I get there is a note on her backpack. This time, it's handwritten from Tom: "Dear Ally, I'm sorry I pinched your face."

So apparently they have something going on.

But lunch was the most fun I've had in a long time. It's glorious to have someone talk you up the whole time, "Hey guys, this is my mom. Have you met my mom? Say hi to my mom." After lunch, I walked with her down to the playground. I'm not sure if this is allowed, but no one yelled at me, so I just sat down and watched for a bit. She even asked if she could sit on my lap (I'm so happy she's not embarrassed of me yet!). I said sure, and then her friend wanted to sit on my lap. So we made a sandwich. And then another friend wanted to sit on our lap, so we made an ice-cream cone until I decided I should probably go back to work.

These girls are the best:

Kindergarten

And suddenly she's in Kindergarten.


Riding the bus, even. For some reason, summer school kindergarten didn't phase me, but dropping her off at school on that first day in September, I wanted to grab her and run away. I didn't let her see me upset, but after I dropped her off, seeing all the crowds of parents and kids in the hall, I just felt like I was turning her over to the system...I cried all the way to work.
Here's Day 2 Riding the Bus:



Let me just say, she has loved every day since. She loves Mrs. Moore, she loves her class, she loves riding the school bus (and hates the thought we might miss the bus). Though she still asks for "5 more minutes" in the morning, she then cheerfully gets up and gets ready.
I thought for sure all-day Kindergarten would take such a toll on her, but she is such a champ and loves every minute of it. Oh, Ally, I'm your biggest fan.