Dentist & Hyatt

Lydia's first time to the dentist. I went first and got my teeth xrayed and cleaned while Dora was playing on the tv above me. Then it was her turn and she did great, the only part she didn't like was biting down to get her teeth xrayed. She answered the dentist's questions and pretty much just watched Dora. She has two cavities :( so we'll see what she thinks after getting them filled.
After the Dentist, since Daddy was home with Gloria we celebrated by driving to the Lost Pine's Hyatt Resort to explore. In the ME we loved looking at fancy hotels and the Hyatt in Muscat was our favorite. We sat in a carriage, walked down by the river and played on a dock, walked all around the fancy swimming pool (the weather was wonderful)...
enjoyed the Christmas decorations (including very fancy gingerbread houses), fancy lights and hallways and then got ice cream in their 'general store' what better way thing to do after finding cavities! After climbing a wall in the parking lot, we drove back home.

Fall Leaves

In Texas the seasons are all mixed up, we are celebrating Christmas and reading books about snowmen while our leaves turn beautiful and fall off the trees.
On Saturday we racked up the leaves to jump in and to put in our improved garden. While we were doing so, some people we looking at an empty house two down from us and we got to explore it. The girls thought it was great fun. Then that same day, friends who went to London with us came to visit before picking up someone from the airport, and our Taiwanese friends came over for fried fish. Good relaxing, friend and sun filled Saturday!

Christmas Formal Party

The Sunday school class that is young married without kids (which we were in our first year in Austin) always has a formal New Year's party, well the planner now has a child so she changed it to a Christmas party during the church's month childcare night.
We got all dressed up to go!
I wore my Senior year in High school prom dress (so proud I could still fit in it, the miracle of Spandex made me not look 6 months pregnant, which I'm not fyi-I almost felt like a fraud and that I should tell everyone that my stomach wasn't this flat after having two kids....), shoes from Payless, a necklace from Jordan, and an Indian pashmina shawl from Oman. Lydia and I did shimmer lotion and I actually used hairspray! While I was getting dressed the girls kept telling me a I was princess. Lydia make up a story about how I was the most beautiful princess in the land leaving my castle... Gloria kept rubbing my skirt calling me a princess! Having girls can be great for your self-esteem. When I told Caleb he looked nice, Lydia called him plain. It is fun being a girl.
Anyway, after a delay in getting there as I forgot the girls bag and we had to go back, we arrived, checked the girls into their classes and joined the party. We had a nice dinner and then shared testimonies for over an hour. Almost everyone shared about what God was doing in their lives, from answered prayer and hopes to joy in hardships and more. It was a wonderful time of togetherness.
Then we danced for about twenty minutes before the childcare was over. We and two other parents brought our kids in a for a bit. Lydia and Brooklyn danced ballet and swing while Gloria bobbed and was hugged by another little boy and that kinda freaked her out. Lydia had a couple of meltdowns and fell asleep on the drive home. Fun times!

Gingerbread houses

Every so often, I try a crafty thing, and then I remember why I don't often do crafty things :) This year it was gingerbread houses, after standing in the kitchen rolling, cutting, and baking for an hour and half I was tired and so glad I had decided to do it the night before. Well the next morning came and so did my parents, I was smart enough to know not to try making gingerbread houses by myself with the girls (it was before we went to see Santa). The cookies were too soft, I hadn't baked them long enough, but we went with it. Gloria ended up with a tepee more than a house and Lydia's one side caved in early.
We went to work decorating and I allowed the girls to eat all they wanted as they went. Nana helped Lydia, while I helped Gloria as she shoved candy into her mouths. They both turned out pretty cute in spite of the structural instabilities.


After they were complete we moved them to take a picture. Gloria's fell down right away (see my surprised laugh) and then Lydia's fell pretty soon after. Fortunately (or miraculously) we all said Kaboom and laughed and then talked afterwards about the funny earthquake. I guess it helped that we then proceeded to eat them and more candy! I think next year I will buy a kit and just bake some gingerbread men :)
As my mom said they weren't artistic but they were yummy and fun, which I value a lot more than perfection in art anyway.

Funny Things

Life has been going at full speed and thankfully with good things.
Here are some funny things that I want to remember.
Lydia is learning about real and pretend and its been cute this Christmas her telling Gloria many times that Jesus' story is real. She know fairies and some princesses are pretend, we haven't really addressed mermaids or Santa (as she know him now though she does also know about the historical St. Nick) So we had this conversations today:
L-Is Obama's story real or pretend?
E-real, he is our country's president
L-what will he do next?
E-well presidents serve for either 4 or 8 years...
L-8, I chose 8 years

Today Caleb told Lydia that she was very pretty and she responded that he was very plainy!

Gloria is enjoying singing Christmas songs and Jingle Bells and Away in the Manger are her favorites. And everytime Angels we have heard on high start, she gets quiet and thing sings along to Glooooooria :)

International humor.
We invited my conversational English friend from UT to our church's Christmas musical. They had a good time but she remarked that much of our Christmas music is like pop songs!

While subbing for the Citizenship class at Friendship, I was going over vocabulary with with a very well educated Korean woman.
When I asked the definition of the Pilgrims, she said-the first immigrants to America!
When I asked her opinion of Sarah Palin (after talking about the Boston Tea Party), she said-she is like Cinderella, very pretty and now has power, but where did she come from? what are her qualifications? I don't know.

Santa!!

This year we went to see Santa at the Domain, a ritzy outdoor mall. For the past three years we've done the same thing: my mom comes, we go to Barton Creek Mall, stand in line, throw the kids at Santa, take a picture, buy a picture, then eat Chickfila.
Well this year we did everything differently. My dad came too and we met a big bunch of friends for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, the food was good, but it took forever to get it! Fortunately it was a beautiful sunny day outside and we were right by the back door so the girls went outside and ran around the HUGE christmas tree a few times. Then we all packed up and went to see Santa. He was in a small workshop and there was no line! So we chatted for a bit and then sat on his lap and several of the girls had lists of what they wanted. I realized that since we never watch commercials or go to stores my girls really don't have ideas (yet) of what they want...interesting thought.
Lydia was so brave, we have the hilarious pictures of her screaming in his arms for two years and then the ones of me pushing her beside him. This year she said she wasn't going to sit on his lap but only stand beside him. But after chatting for a while and Gloria sitting on his lap, it was her turn and she did it! It took her a second to relax (though no tears or screaming) and she even smiled and talked. We were so proud of her!
When asked what she wanted this year Gloria said she wanted candy (she came up with that on her own). Lydia was prompted (a year ago) and answered, "World Peace!" Santa was awesome and never missed a beat! He said that was a big one but peace starts in our hearts and in our homes. We can have peace by being kind to our friends and not fighting with our sister and cousins....
Wow I was so impressed; we bought an extra package, (which were a little more expensive than the other mall), just for that one!

But never fear, we did have some tears! Little Joseph sat for a while but then was tired of it! So he was taken away and all the girls sat and smiled!
They got candy canes (Grandpa took baby Joseph's!), watched a little tv (while I bought the pictures).
Santa then went on a break and the girls played outside his workshop in the sun for a while. Then we went up and down the escalators in Dillards before heading home.

Nativity Part 2

Baby Jesus was so cute and good!

Our Sunday school class consists of parents of young kids. We had a party and acted out the Christmas play. Lydia got her wish to be Mary and Gloria was the angel Gabriel, as well as a shepherd! Even a dad got to be king Herod (our directors had awesome costumes though a little big for a lot of the kids as most are 2, 3 or 4) A great time was had by all, we sang, moved around and no tears (though not all participated again-what to do as a parent? make them or not? good thing my girls like to participate most of the time). Then we had a wonderful meal-I can't remember the last time I ate so much and hurt from it! Christmas crackers with hats and drive home by some awesome Christmas lights.