Sunday, December 31, 2023

'Twas the night before, the day of and a few days later.


We celebrate 4 Christmases with my parents on Christmas Eve, 
the Riggs family on Christmas Day, the Cunningham family on Christmas night, 
and then my brother and family comes to town before the New Year!

Baking spirits bright with a Cherry Pie, Hot Chocolate "lasagna", and a festive cookie cake!



Stylin' for the holidays, loving her "neck collar" scarf. ;-)
Helping with dinner this year!




Cookies for Santa were a bit extra this year.  Lydia included carrots for the reindeer, a candy cane, note for Santa and a Lego Christmas scene for him to keep.  The note said that if he got her the right kind of Mini Brands, great.  If not, she'd be okay with that so long as she got her stylus. Sigh.


Santa got the right kind of Mini Brands - I'm, I mean he's that good!

Got my boujee little chocolate eater a wholesale club package of Ferrero Rocher.


Christmas Day at Nana and Papas...that half moon of presents never seems to shrink.


When all your friend-family nieces are of legal drinking age Christmas night is lit.


And then you end up sticking darts on your head and playing finger flinging chickens and unicorns!  
There is no evidence of the finger flinging because it was every person for themselves!


Brian and the girls came to town for Reindeer Games, KU victories and a lot of pretend play restaurant.  
We ate way too much real and fake food and laughed A LOT!


Not a single lottery ticket win.


Dan and I won all the prizes in the oven mitt box game but I let the girls have a gift exchange with our winnings.  All that mattered to any of them was the SBUX gift card and Jillian won it!



The Skittles game turned very competitive, wait, all the games did.  Have you met us?  
Leah, Elena and I won 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  Lydia and Jillian made science experiments out of their skittles.


Twinning!  These two in their matching sweatsuits for Comets basketball season.



Merry Christmas!


 

Friday, December 29, 2023

Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?

 It's Cookie Season and Lydia is selling! 🍪 How many boxes would you like? 

There are 8 cookies in the line up this year.  You can only order the gluten free with an online shipped order.  Everything else can be delivered by Lydia if you live in the KC Metro.

$6 a box and Troop 2925 gets $1 per box sold, local council receives $3.63. Order now and select girl delivery to have Lydia bring you cookies in February! 

Thanks for supporting Lydia in discovering the fun, friendship, and power of girls together. ❤️

https://digitalcookie.girlscouts.org/scout/lydia572456



Sunday, December 17, 2023

Christmastime is here...




Christmastime is here!  

What a good time we had leading up to the birth of Christ.
We did some things but not too much.
We spent time at home enjoying the tree and lights.
Lydia found her love of the Holiday Baking Championship! Yes!


Matching pajamas for Lydia and Felicity!
Samantha is at the doll hospital for a leg reattachment.  Ouch!


Lydia Rose, the swirling, twirling snowflake princess.
LVE 3rd Graders put on a mini rendition of the Nutcracker.
She nailed it.  No anxiety.  No stage fright.  Smiles!
We surprised her by inviting grandparents, something we haven't done for past school events because she's typically so worried and anxious that she specifically asks for only mom and dad.  Such improvement!



Annual Cookie Day with Grandma!
She rolls with the one handled rolling pin like Grandma.
I'm pretty sure that rolling pin was my Great Grandma Rose's.


This year we opted for a gingerbread donut shop!


Someone turned 8 1/2!!!


Someone turned 40!!!
We celebrated all weekend long with dinner out with my parents, a night at the symphony and more Christmas fun at Crown Center and Union Station.


Our annual trip to the KC Symphony Christmas Festival!


We made a staycation weekend out of it and stayed downtown.



We go to Crown Center and Union Station every year to look at the decorations and see the sights!
For a couple of years we saw Santa, but Lydia opts for mailing her letter these days.




Just waiting out the days, hours and minutes until Christmas!





 

Inside Out: Lydia's Version

Anxiety - yep, about most things. Envy - uh huh, and wondering why she's different. (scars, treatments, growth hormone shots, CPAP, IE...