Gingerbread Houses

This weekend we'd planned to get together with some good friends but had to cancel at the last minute because the stomach flu had hit their family.  Georgia was so disappointed but came around when I brought home gingerbread houses to decorate.
Much to my surprise Leo was just as careful with his design and candy placement as his sister.  They kept complimenting each other on their houses and almost all of the candy was used for decorating.
The houses turned out great and have become a (not so) secret source of treats for the kids as I see fewer decorations by the day... tis the season!

Let's Go To The Hop

On Friday night, Georgia's school had a Sock Hop, it was beyond adorable.  I did my best to whip together a poodle skirt and much to Leo's dismay I slicked his hair back and rolled up his jeans.
It's so fun to be in a neighborhood that rallies together in last minute trades of skirts, bobby socks and all the right stuff to make sure each kid is feeling their best!

Everyone had a great time and the kids danced the night away.

Part of the neighborhood crew

Leo and our neighbor Olive, he adores her.  I told her mom I 

would save these pictures for their future wedding album.

 

Santa 2015

When I asked if the kids were ready to visit Santa this year, they couldn't wait to go.  As luck would have it we arrived to find a short line and got to do a little Santa prep while we waited.  

Last years picture was classic, Leo's mouth wide open mid scream, Georgia sitting nicely and smiling.  I wasn't sure if Leo would cry this year or not but he'd said he wanted to go.  

When it was our turn Georgia walked right over and started chatting with Santa, Leo totally clammed up and wouldn't make eye contact with the big man.  Luckily, the photographer jumped in and tried to make the best of the situation.  He attempted to distract Leo and brought a rocking horse over as it was becoming clear there was no way Leo was going to sit on Santa's lap.   

There were many attempts to make him crack a smile but nothing.  In my mind this picture is a win, he wasn't tortured enough to cry but his sentiment clearly comes through.

After we paid and made our way through the store we started to head outside and Leo said in a concerned voice, "I no tell Santa what I want."  I asked if he wanted to go back and he said yes.  With only one person in front of us we didn't have to wait long.  Santa remembered Leo by name and invited him back over.  Leo cautiously walked over, I told Santa why we were back and we waited.. Leo finally said, I want.... I want... I want a toy.  Santa suggested a stuffed lion but then Leo said, no, I want a Blaze toy, (a big red truck) and Santa agreed that this was a good choice.  We again thanked Santa and said, Merry Christmas and started toward the car.  Leo turned to me, a bit confused and said, Where's my toy?  To his credit I hadn't explained that the toy wouldn't be immediately delivered to him.

Apparently Leo has a much better phone relationship with Santa...

It's Out!

Georgia has been excited to lose her first tooth since preschool and it finally happened!  She has been wiggling one for a few weeks and two days ago it came out!  The look on her face was priceless, she started jumping up and down with excitement.  The first thing she wanted to do was send a picture to her cousins.  

I said, Well, I guess you're going to get a visit from the tooth fairy tonight!  She said that she didn't want to put it under her pillow, she wanted to take it to school with her to get a tiny tooth treasure box.  Apparently her teacher trumps the tooth fairy.  We left a note for the tooth fairy asking her not to take the tooth and she was thrilled to come home with her treasure box yesterday.  

Last night Georgia wrote a note and left her tooth on her bedside table and the tooth fairy delivered a tooth pillow for future teeth and a sparkly note and dollar bill.

Ready to Ride

Georgia had a big weekend, not only does she have three loose teeth, in the last two days she has learned to ride her bike without training wheels!  Thanks to daddy for his patience and persistence, I think Georgia finally believes that it is as fun as you said it would be!

Thanksgiving 2015

We enjoyed a great Handsaker Thanksgiving at Nana and Bawdy's house.  It was a beautiful day and if you're Georgia and Leo, nothing is better than playing with your cousins and ending the day with pie!

  Georgia, Leo, Landon & Holden

The Handsaker Gang

Strong Against Cancer

This summer Georgia was invited to participate in a Strong Against Cancer video, thanking donors for their support which has raised money to fund ground breaking clinical trials.

A few weeks ago I got a sneak peek of the video and the day before Thanksgiving it was shared on social media.

Thank you Strong Against Cancer, you are moving mountains!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKCxYGtLMXA

Kicking Off Christmas

The day after Georgia's party we headed to Seattle to check out the beautifully decorated Christmas trees in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel with Grammy, Grandpa and the Pittmans.  Each tree is elaborately decorated and sold, the money benefits a few charities, one of them being Children's Hospital.  We couldn't afford a $4,000 tree but enjoyed hot coco and french fries and a surprise appearance by Santa!  There was a tree lighting in the main part of the lobby and a teddy bear suite decorated like a child's dream.  It was a great way to kick off the Christmas season.

The Unxepected

I spent a lot of Georgia's birthday racing around, making sure her birthday breakfast and presents were done in time to get to the bus, running Leo to school, then picking him up and racing to pick up the cupcakes that I would deliver to Georgia's class.  Dropping off Leo then getting over to Georgia's school and passing out cupcakes before the kids came back from recess.  I wanted to make sure her day was special, turning six is a really big deal.

After I'd dropped the cupcakes and watched her class sing to her I walked out of her school feeling so happy for her, that she was enjoying her day without a care in the world.

I got in my car, ready to race off to the next thing, then glanced at my phone, my screen had just lit up telling me that Manuel Essig had posted something on my Facebook page.  I opened it, read the message and looked at the photo, I immediately welled up with tears, good tears.

In the photo Manuel was holding two signs, wishing Georgia happy birthday in both German and English.  The message read, 

I was overwhelmed with gratitude and amazement, how lucky we are that he is who he is.  If you know anything about Facebook then you know you can comment or "like" a post.  I commented on the post but not before a few friends did. By the end of the evening, 115 people "liked" the post and all in all there were 21 comments, saying things like, Heros are among us, God Bless you, Thank you Manuel, we love you.. and more.  Hopefully he knows how highly he is regarded, truly an incredible human being.

Dog Pawty

Georgia decided that this year she'd like to have a dog themed party, this is ironic because she's always been afraid of dogs.  She was full of ideas and helped me plan the whole thing.  We lucked out and had a beautiful (but cold) day where kids came and adopted (stuffed) dogs complete with adoption certificates and all.  There was pin the tail on the dog and of course a dog themed cake.  The birthday girl was happy, watching her buzz around with friends and cousins was the best part of the day.

 Adopt a dog today!

 Adoption Certificates & collars 

 Grammy & Grandpa came all the way from Montana to celebrate

 Georgia with her best school buddy, Olivia

 Pin the tail on the dog 

 Proud new dog owners

Celebrations

Georgia's birthday was filled with celebrations.  That morning, she woke up to presents from our family and enjoyed eggnog french toast with whipped cream before heading off to school.

 Hard to believe there are SIX candles!

 When you're two, everyone should get to blow out the candles.

Later that day, I brought cupcakes to her class and got to watch her bask in the attention of her classmates while her teacher interviewed her, they gave her six cheers and sang happy birthday.

We finished off the evening dinner, Georgia's choice, sushi and menchies (frozen yogurt) for dessert.
The whole day was a fabulous way to kick off her sixth year!

SIX

Georgia, I can hardly believe that today you are six.   In the last six years Georgia, you have been my greatest teacher, you inducted me into motherhood and have taught me so much about myself.
You are silly, funny, loving and kind.  You have a competitive spirit, you're outgoing and almost never shy.  Last night you said, I'm going to miss being five.  I asked you what your favorite part of being five was, "learning to read... and making new friends.  If I had to pick one, I'd pick making new friends."

You love school, more than once you've been disappointed that it's the weekend because you can't go to school.  There is an underlying maturity to you but mostly you are a normal six year old.  We recently found out that you have three loose teeth and you couldn't be happier.  You are growing and changing just as you should be.

You are truly a delight and one that I am so, so grateful for.  You tell us often that you love your family and are good about sharing your feelings, even the not so fun ones.  You'd prefer to play inside but love to write stories, draw and play with your stuffed animals.

You are so good to your brother, it's true that you bicker like siblings but when you told us how excited you were to get your birthday pencil from your teacher, you immediately said, oh, I wish I could get one for Leo too.

So many thoughts have swirled through my head over the last several weeks, I remember another mother at the hospital telling me that, we're all God's children and that our kids aren't really ours to begin with.  I had such clear visions of myself screaming at God, saying, She's MINE!! and then literally whispering out loud, please let me keep her.  I cannot tell you how grateful I am that I got to keep you Georgia,  you are such a gift.

Happy Birthday my girl, today you are six!!

Sisters

I love my sister so much and would be lost without her.  A few weeks ago just the two of us took a quick overnight trip to Spokane to attend our Aunt's 70th surprise birthday party.  It wasn't a long getaway but it was so fun to be on a road trip where there were no potty stops, no handing snacks back to kids who were asking when were we going to be there.  Just the two of us!

October Fun

We packed in the fun during October, so much so that I haven't had time to post any of what we did!
Both kids had fun events through their schools celebrating Halloween.

Georgia's school had the Boo Bash, an evening event complete with face painting, DJ, cake walk (which Brian won!) bouncy house, and much more.  The whole family dressed up and had a great time.  Just before heading out for the event, Georgia said, "mom, as soon as we get there we need to go straight to the bouncy house.. I am meeting some friends there.  I tried to stiffle my laugh and told her we'd make sure to get her where she needed to be.

 Batman & Robin

A (friendly) which with her black cat

Georgia danced the night away with her friends and ran around the school like a social butterfly.

Leo's preschool class met at a nearby pumpkin patch, they played games and picked out pumpkins and looked darling in their costumes.  

The Halloween fun continued when we headed to the Pittman's house for their annual Halloween party.  Georgia and Lauren were twin witches and as usual had a blast together.  Leo didn't really understand the whole concept of trick-or-treating.  I took him to the first house and showed him what to do, as we started to walk to another house, he asked where we were going.  I told him that we go to do it again!  His response, "WHAT? anoder (another) house... (smile and laughter).  Each time after he go his candy he would say the most enthusiastic, Thank you! He continued this after nearly every house and it cracked me up each time.

Batman is a pretty tough guy but I guess you'll need to find someone else if you need help!

Happy Halloween!