Happy Valentine's Day!!

Valentine's Day was not forgotten in the midst of all these ear infections! With everyone on the mend we took to task addressing and signing LOTS and LOTS of valentines for the girls' classmates.

It ended up being a 2 day process but the girls did a great job! Friday morning they were ready to go to school and deliver their cards!

I got to help in the classroom during the card exhange. All the kids were excited and they all did a great job passing out their valentines! Maddie told every student as she handed them their card, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

On Sunday we had a quiet day at home. The girls opened their valentines' from us and we spent a lot of time outside because the weather has been gorgeous!! It was a great day!!

We're still here! BIG news!

Sooooo.... I'm not doing such a good job with my new years resolution to blog more. I find myself these days pulled in so many directions and with the girls being sick this last week- well- any "spare" time has been spent snuggling, wiping noses, getting drinks, giving medicine and napping (to name a few). In fact- here is my Facebook update from the other night:

3 sick kids, 5 infected ears, 1 set of red eyes, 1 fever, 3 coughs, 2 wheezing= 3 doctor's appts, 3 antibiotic prescriptions, 1 eye drop prescription, 2 on breathing treatments every 4 hours, LOTS of tylenol, 1 home from school tomorrow and 1 tired mommy!

Yep- its been rough this week. But I am full of HOPE that February will be better and I will be blogging more!

January ended up being a CRAZY month! Words can not express the highs and lows we went through in January- stress, laughter, tears of sadness, tears of joy- wow, we had the whole gambit. The end result.....

My best friend in the whole wide world and her husband (whom I fondly refer to as Hubby #2) are PARENTS!!!!

You may remember this post I wrote about in September 2008. Hope! On January 15th Michelle and Mike's hopes and dreams were answered with the birth of their beautiful baby girl, Emma Madison.It has been a very long road for them to get to this place. I have always said that I believe deep within my heart that Michelle and I were MEANT to find each other when we did and become friends. We've run this road to parenting together, supporting each other along the way, picking each other up when one stumbles and cheering the loudest when good news was received.

Adoption is NOT easy. It's a miracle, its a selfless act and its beautiful but its not easy. My heart goes out to Emma's birth mother. What an amazing woman. She also was MEANT to find Michelle and Mike.Emma is PERFECT. She's beautiful, happy and sheer joy! I had the honor of picking the Jarboe family up from the airport on their return. To say I cried like a baby is an understatement when I saw Michelle and Mike come out of the elevator with TONS of baby gear and this little bit of heaven in her arms. I just love this little girl and I love the joy she has brought Michelle and Mike.
With everyone home we are all in baby heaven now. The girls love holding her (though they were a little uncertain at first about her size). Maddie asked to hold her the other night when they were visiting us and when Mike put her in Maddie's arms she started to sing the "ABC" song to her- just like MY DAD used to sing to Madeline almost 6 years ago when she was a newborn! It was a tearjerker moment for all of us for sure!We all love her so much and being sick has made us sad because we can't see her until we are ALL better (girls are almost 100% but I'm down for the count now). We have fun and exciting plans ahead of us! Can't wait to share them all with you!!

The tradition continues!

Can you guess where we went today? I'll give you a few hints before I head off to bed- more to come tomorrow!

Happy New Year!

We have been hit with a flu bug so we are staying home for New Year's Eve. Yes- we have stayed home every New Year's Eve for the last 6 years- but this year we actually had plans that we had to cancel! Boo! That'll teach us!

As 2010 approaches rapidly (we will be ringing it in on the EST drop of the ball at 9pm here)- I do have a few resolutions that I'm making this year-
1) to be a better blogger- this is my scrapbook at the moment so I best keep it up to date!

2) to floss- yeah- I'm sure you could care less about this one- but I'm putting it out there. After experiencing the joy that is deep tissue cleaning last month- I hope to never have that experience again- flossing is hopefully the key!

And that's about it- besides to continue to be the best mom I can be to these lovely little ladies that are growing up way too fast for me to accept! We wish you all the best for a happy and healthy 2010!! I have a feeling it is going to be a wonderful year!!

Merry Christmas- From our family to yours!

We are slowly emerging from the wrapping and tissue paper, boxes, packaging and tape! I promise lots of updates and pictures coming soon! Here's a few from Christmas!

Family Portraits!

We had the opportunity to take family portraits at the girls' school last month- we are VERY happy with the results and are excited to share them with you!!

Tooth Fairy Visit for ASHLEY!

After a busy day at Disneyland last Wednesday, we returned home to get Ashley's tooth ready for the Tooth Fairy!! She was very excited and couldn't wait to put it in the tooth box! Emily has done ok so far with being the last to lose a tooth. She was excited for Ashley and asked to see the tooth one last time. Placing it gently under her pillow.

The next morning... checking out the tooth box! It's empty! "So what did you get?" Maddie asks.

Diving deep to find the goods!

Ashley also got a letter from the Tooth Fairy (that I read to her to show it was different than Maddie's letter) and she also got 5 Disney Dollars!

Can't wait to spend my Disney Dollars!

The girls were all tickled that the Tooth Fairy mentioned Disneyland in her letter! 2 teeth down- WAY too many to go! :o)