Off to see Santa

Today was the day we went to see Santa. The girls were so excited. They rehearsed what they wanted to tell him and when it was their turn to go up to Santa they had the cutest looks on their faces. They sat on his lap and told him what they wanted. Kate said she wants a flower plant and water (not sure where that came from - she is so funny) and Hannah wants an American girl doll and a diamond castle. The flower plant and water are easy, but Santa is not prepared for Hannah this year. In the past it has been so easy to redirect their focus and hint to them what they wanted based on what I purchased. And now Hannah has her heart set on an American girl doll and for the first time she has really put the connection together that she asks Santa and it will arrive on Christmas morning. I guess I better get ordering :) And as for the diamond castle she is going to have to settle for the very large doll house that Grandma and Grandpa Lyons bought them - I think she'll be fine when she sees it.

Here is the great picture that was captured today. I was very impressed with both of them. I also have a short video of them asking Santa for gifts. I missed the first part of Kate's but I got the end and I got Hannah. So cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyN8faFBF98

Happy Thanksgiving to all

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in the Lyons house. Greg and I made the big decision today that the girls are old enough to watch Star wars, and they loved it. We've only made it about half way through since they can only sit for a short time, but it was so fun to do. We had such a wonderful quiet day ending with a large meal with just the 4 of us sitting at the table talking about what we where thankful for. Hannah said she was thankful for her mommy, daddy and then added Kate on at the end. And Kate said she was thankful for everyone coming over to her house, we're still not sure who she thought was coming but she was thankful they where coming. We think she was talking about Christmas since we'vev been talking allot about all the family that is traveling to see us at Christmas. So she is already thankful for all of them :)

Overall it was a great day and now I'm stuffed and tired.

A trip to the mall to let off some steam

The girls were both off school today so we decided to head to the mall and let off some steam. Regency mall has a great indoor play area that the kids can run around and have fun while mom sits and watches - its awesome. Today the girls decided that they wanted to jump off the equipment over and over, it was very fun to watch. Until just recently Hannah has had a hard time with her landings. I think her legs just hadn't gotten strong enough yet because every time she would jump off something she would end up smacking her knees into her face, it was never pretty. But today she was able to jump off a 3 foot high thing over and over with no trouble. I caught a few great action shots. Kate decided that the lower toy was much better for her to jump from, but she still got some air and had fun.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We wish everyone a very happy turkey day. We're celebrating the festivities at home with just the four of us. I'm really looking forward to having a nice quiet day and enjoy some great family time. I think we might watch the first Star wars, maybe start a new family tradition.

The girls and I baked a cake - just cause. And a toy room update

The girls and I decided to bake a chocolate cake today. I have my Grandmothers make from scratch chocolate cake that is out of this world. But on this day we just decided to make a box cake. I've found that a box cake is much easier to make when the girls are helping. The cake turned out great and Hannah and Kate both frosted it and put sprinkles all over it. The girls had some after dinner tonight and said it was yummy yummy. I can't wait to have dinner so I can have a piece also - or maybe I'll just have a piece for dinner...hmmmmm.

UPDATE: The playroom has never been so clean. All week the girls worked really hard on playing with one thing and then putting it away before they started playing with something else. And at the end of every day we walked around and put away the miscellaneous stuff. We had a great system going. I would get the loose it bucket and they would walk ahead of me and put things away before I could get to it and put it in the bucket. It is working out great. Now if we can just keep it up :)

Christmas has arrived in the Lyons house

We tackled on of the biggest jobs of the year - getting the Christmas decorations out of the shed. And we did it all in one day. We pulled all the boxes out, decorated the house and put all the boxes away - whew what a day. The girls had so much fun this year decorating the trees and watching the house turn into a winter wonder land. We're all getting very excited for Christmas. They Lyons family is coming down for NJ and Grandpa Dana is going to fly out from CA. And Jord and Laura are arriving home from a 3 month trip on Dec. 23rd, so we'll have a house full and loving every minute of it.

So get those boxes out and join in on the winter fun.

The cop out blog

Not much is going on in the Lyons family, well that's not true - allot is going on but nothing fun to write about. The same old same old. So instead of me going on and on about the same old same old I thought I would cop out and give you a joke - Enjoy.

Thanksgiving Divorce
A man in Jacksonville calls his son in San Diego two days before Thanksgiving and says, 'I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough.
'Pop, what are you talking about?' the son screams.
We can't stand the sight of each other any longer,' the father says. 'We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Denver and tell her.'
Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. 'Like heck they're getting divorced,' she shouts, 'I'll take care of this.'
She calls Jacksonville immediately, and screams at her father, 'You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing. DO YOU HEAR ME?' and hangs up.
The old man hangs up the phone and turns to his wife. 'Okay.' he says, 'They're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way.

We saw snow today

We had some snow showers off and on today. Nothing stuck but it was fun to see the little white flurries wall from the sky. The girls had fun running around trying to catch them on their tonge. Funny how that is always fun.

I spent the afternoon in Hannah's Pre-K class today. What fun we had. I got to hang out and play for 3 hours, it was a treat. Hannah has great teachers and the class is so sweet. A class room full of 5 year olds (20 in all). I am so tired tonight I can hardly stand. But I think Hannah had fun showing off her mom and I know I had a blast seeing her with her friends.

It took me 3 hours to clean the playroom

Seriously, 3 hours. Enough is enough. We are starting a new household policy that the kids can only have 1 thing out at a time to play with and they will have to put it away before they get something else out. I think I'll lock the toy cabinet this week and they'll have to ask me to get something out...maybe that way they will think twice before pulling all the kitchen play food out and then all the barbie stuff. Don't get me wrong, my girls clean up their toys for the most part. We go around the house every day and put everything back into the playroom. But it always gets pushed back into the cabinet in no order and by the end of the week everything is everywhere. So this week its going to be a different story because I am not cleaning for 3 hours again. I told the girls that at the end of each day if their toys are not back where they belong that they are going into the "loose it" bucket and they wont see them for a while. We'll see if this motivates them.

The kids view of the world

Last week I found this inexpensive digital kid camera for the girls. Its a big rubber camera with a very small screen on it but I thought it would be fun for them to play with. It was more of an experiment for me than anything. I wanted to see what they would come up with and it would be fun to see the world in their eyes. So here is what they came up with - its fun to see.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010086&l=07d87&id=1122309468

All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten

I remember this from years ago and its so true. I found it on a website and just had to post it:

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN

(a guide for Global Leadership)

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.

These are the things I learned:

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Scanning the girls artwork

The girls have really been enjoying coloring and drawing lately. They both are really getting good. I keep just about everything they make a mark on and I've been trying to figure out what to do with them. I hate to just put them in a box. I've framed a few and have a bunch around the house. But I really wanted to preserve them forever so I decided to start scanning them into the computer. I got about 20 or so done tonight, and have a large box full to go. But at least I have some of the great ones in the computer and safe.

And you might ask, "well what happens if your computer crashes or the house burns down?" Oh don't worry about that. We have a 3 step back up system in place with a final set of burned discs that go in the fire safe box. My biggest fear is for all my photos and data to be destroyed, okay that is my second biggest fear, my first is my family :)

So with great delight I present a few pieces of art from Hannah and Kate.

The Chicken is by Hannah and the other piece of work is called "backpack" by Kate.

Dress shopping, Christmas cards and yard work

The weekend has been quiet and uneventful.

I went wedding dress shopping with a friend who is getting married next summer. It was a ton of fun. Such memories. She found a beautiful dress that is just perfect for her.

I worked on my Christmas cards, never to early to start. I usually have about 115 to send out, so I like to start early so I'm not sitting here in the middle of Dec. trying to get them done.

Greg and the girls did yard work today. Allie was over and Greg put them all to work. The pictures tell it all.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoy your week.

Kate is just fine and a 1 year mark for me

Just wanted to give an update on Kate. It must have been something she ate because she was fine for the rest of the night and all day today. Nothing else happend and she felt great all day.

With all the hub-bub of the election and Kate puke I forgot to mention my 1 year mark. It was 1 year ago Nov. 5 that I had my preventative double mastectomy. Wow has that been a crazy year. Some days it seems like just yesterday and sometimes it seems like so long ago. I've thought about it for so long and had made the decision so many years ago and when it finally came time to do it I was so ready. And it surprised me that I actually got emotional yesterday about the 1 year mark. I just feel so strong not only physically but also for making such a large decision. Go me!

Think Bright Pink - Go Previvors!

A new president and a barf-O-rama

Wow. Is all I can say about the election. What an amazing piece of history to be a part of. It was so fun watching the returns with Greg, for some of you that have known Greg for a while he was not aloud in the house during election nights (he was a little to passionate about the returns). But he has made large strides in his political views and we enjoyed a quiet evening watching America make history. And Hannah's first question this morning was who won??? It was fun to talk to her about the election.

In the 5 years that I've had kids we have not had on vomit episode until today. Today was the day and it was a riot. Kate was complaining this morning that her tummy didn't feel very good. I just gave her a light breakfast and a light lunch and all seemed to be fine. Until we got to chick-fil-a to play with some friends. She just kept saying how much her tummy didn't feel good. We went to the potty and she had a very nice #2 so I just thought that was why her tummy hurt and brushed it off. She went and played and then we left to go pick up Hannah from school. On the way (just about a 10min ride) Kate said she didn't feel good again and that she had to poop. I told her we would be at the school soon and to hold it, well, she burped out of her but and I think a bit more came out than she was prepared for. She just kept saying that she feels wet and wants to go potty. I kept reassuring her that we would be there quickly. We pulled into the carpool lane that was only about 6 cars deep. And then from behind me I hear the horrible sound of water and gagging. I look in the rear view mirror and she is throwing up all over herself, over and over. She looked so paniked and I couldn't do a darn thing. Finally after what seemed like forever she was done and the teacher started walking up to the car with Hannah. The look on my face and Kate's face must have said it all when the teacher saw us because she told me to pull over and she would get some paper towels. It was quite the sceen. I didn't know where to start so I decided to just take the carseat out of the car with Kate still in it. I then peeled her out of the seat and all her clothes, o yes with all the cars driving by picking up their kids. I pulled out my extra clothes and spare carseat and got everything put back together. I just piled up all the vomit clothes and seat in the back of the car and headed home. But not before I gave Kate the small white trash can that we have in the car. We drove home with her holding the trashcan under her chin - just in case. I don't think I even said Hello to Hannah before we got home - I was in such shock.

But all is well tonight. She was fine for the rest of the afternoon. Ate some rice and had a banana for dinner and off to bed she went. He're hoping it was something she ate and she wont get sick again, or anyone else in the house.

Get out and VOTE

Either way it goes it will be a history making win. Kate and I went after we dropped Hannah of today. I was exspecting the lines to be long so I brought all kinds of stuff to keep Kate busy. And when we pulled up to the church I was shocked that there was no line. We parked about 10 feet from the door and walked right in. I was in and out within 5 minutes, whew was I glad. I hope everyone else has a good a luck as we did today. I actually really excited to watcht he returns tonight. And we have some vested interest in the school board turn out so it will be fun to see how that comes out.

It has also been fun to talk to the girls about voting and the president. I showed them who the current president is and the people that are running for president today. Hannah wanted to know everyones name and who I was going to vote for. She was really interested in it, its fun to see her brain working. Kate really didn't get much into it, but she did like the sticker she got at the voting booth and was very excited to tell Hannah that she didn't have on - oh boy that will be a fight later.

School pictures and my new phone

Kate had school pictures today. She said they went great and she gave a great big smile, so keep an eye out for those in a few weeks. I think Hannah has hers tomorrow.

It was just another normal Monday around the Lyons house. 1 kid in the morning and 1 kid in the afternoon. After we picked Hannah up from school we went to a great park and then out to dinner with friends. The River City Dinner http://www.rivercitydiner.com/Bellgrade/ and St. Edwards school had teamed up to do a fundraiser for the school so during certain hours tonight a portion went to the school, so it was a great excuse to go out to eat. Although we don't attend St. Edwards we have friends that do.

I am so addicted to my iphone. I could not put it down today. It has so many features and bells and whistles to play with. I don't think the fun of it will ever wear off. And to have all my info with me is just so awesome.

Time change and a new iphone

This time change always goofs us up. Although we get an extra hour or so we tell ourselves that, it still goofs up our brains and bodies. And its always hard to figure out what to do with the girls. Do I put them down at the old time or the new time??? But they were so tired I just put them to bed no matter what the time. I'll split the difference tomorrow and put them down at 7p. Maybe I'll actually be able to get them to stay up until 7p.

We had a quiet day around here. I was still recovering from Friday night (stupid mom) and Greg was doing most of the parenting duties so we just kinda kept it slow and quiet. Although we did go to the apple store and I got the new iphone, its a late birthday early Christmas present. And I'm so excited. I can't stop playing with it. Here is a picture I took with it today. Greg took the girls on a train ride while I was finishing up in the apple store.

Oh and Greg and my cell phone numbers switched. Mine is now 804-370-1891 (Greg's old number) and Greg's is now (my old number) 804-370-1912. Sorry for the confusion. It the only way we could do the switch with the current contracts we had.

Tricks and treats for all

Happy Halloween!

Today both Hannah and Kate went to school all day 9a-330p (big day). I had my final appointment with Dr. Zemmel to put the final touches on my preventative mastectomy and reconstruction. If you can believe it it will be 1 year on Nov. 5th - that time went by so fast. And today was the day to have the tattooing done to darken the areola and make them look more normal, it hurt just a bit, which was actually a very good sign because it means that my nerves are coming back and I have sensation and thats a good thing. They look great and are just a bit sore from the tattooing, but not to bad.

After the girls big day we had a Halloween party to go to at our neighbors house behind us. The Yartz family has done their party for 4 years now and its so fun to get everyone together and see all the kids. We ate and drank and then went trick or treating. The girls hit about 20 houses and had a blast.

Pictures from our fun night:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009471&l=44a60&id=1122309468

Hope everyone else had a safe and fun Halloween.