School Christmas Program

Is there anything sweeter than a children's Christmas program?

Ellery had her big stage performance last Thursday.

She had been practicing the songs for weeks and she was very excited to finally perform them.

Although Vaughan had been diligently practicing too, this performance was only for the Pre K children. Vaughan shed a tear or two hundred and then eagerly watched from the audience. Next year she will have her moment in the limelight.

And then...

It was a hectic morning. The kind where you can't seem to catch up. I cleaned up breakfast only to turn around to a slew of dolls scattered across the floor. I reminded the girls that they needed to clean up one activity before moving onto the next.

I went to warm up my coffee and came back to a pile of 50 pipe cleaners and the baby was complaining - it was time for her nap. I completed a quick diaper change, plopped her in bed and returned to a, once again, cold cup of coffee. It was probably 5 minutes before I realized that all was quiet.

The kitchen was S I L E N T! I drank my coffee with a smile from ear to ear - knowing all the while things were too quiet for too long. And - I heard giggles from down the hall. Should I:

A: continue enjoying the peace and quiet

B: go see what all that giggling was about

My curiosity won out. As I approached the girls' room the giggling was louder. I pushed gently on the door (so that they wouldn't hear me and I could really surprise them). But, I was met with resistance. Were they pushing the door closed? How did they know I was coming to check on them?

I pushed harder - a little worried - to be honest. The door nudged open and THIS is what I saw.

Panties everywhere.



Panties on their heads, on their arms, on their legs. I looked behind the door and saw that they had pushed their hamper against it and had stacked a pile of books there too.

I burst out laughing (wouldn't you?)

And then I ran and grabbed the camera!

Christmas Cookies

Have you made your Christmas cookies yet? It seems like everywhere I look (or really, browse and read) everyone is making Christmas cookies. And, for the record, they all look pretty darn delicious and perfect.

Take a look at these my cousin Andrea made last week or these - scroll to the bottom of the posts to see her beauties. They look, really um..professional. Right? As you might have guessed from the picture above, the efforts here at the McKnight house did not produce the same Martha-like cookies. Instead, we created some sort of giant cookie blob. And in case you were wondering, they didn't taste that good either.

Yesterday, we tried once again. This time from a box from Trader Joe's. Alas the results were much improved. Showing once again, that cookies from a box can be delicious and lordy so much easier to make.

Next up - Gingerbread Houses...but don't hold your breath.

Falling Trees and Santa

This picture really doesn't describe what happened last Thursday. Let me set the scene. I was in the basement on a conference call - the girls were at ballet. I heard a very loud crash accompanied by the sound of shattering glass. It was a distinctive sound and I immediately knew it was the tree.

This tree had been a problem tree from the start. Despite our best efforts to get the darn thing to stand straight, it refused. First leaning this way, then leaning that way. I am not a perfectionist and I was perfectly willing to let the tree be what it was....a slightly tilted, but still beautiful symbol of this special season. Then the C R A S H!

I ran upstairs (my phone on mute) and was shocked by the ensuing disaster. Not only were there the teeniest tiniest pieces of glass EVERYWHERE, water was seeping out of the stand and onto our oriental rug. On my hands and knees (still clutching the muted phone between by cheek and shoulder), I heaved the tree upright again. My knees were wet, my neck was achingly trying to keep hold of the phone and I was starting to break out in a sweat. Because now what?

I had stopped the water from spilling but, you see, the tree had fallen in the stand and now I needed to hold it upright and try to adjust the bolts to keep it in place. The bolts were not turning. I tried my best, let go and backed away. That was when the tree came crashing down on the other side.

I stood staring at the outfall; broken ornaments everywhere, a wet rug and a horizontal tree. I politely excused myself from the work call and immediately dialed Alan. I left a desperate message - I was frustrated.

30 minutes later, he pulled into the drive and rescued both me and the tree.

Onto better recent events...I took the girls to visit Santa on Friday.

Please take note of Vaughan's sweet face! She wanted nothing to do with Santa last year -- and I have the photo to prove it.

She couldn't get enough of him this year. She followed him around the tea room, tugged gently on his arm sleeve and asked repeatedly for "Holly Pockets" (aka Polly Pockets). Santa fell in love with Vaughan. As enamored as she was with him, he was just as equally enamored with her.

Seriously - look at those eyes!

Hope you are gearing up for Christmas this weekend....we sure are!

Latham might be bigger than Gagi by January!

Happy Saturday!

Cold Feet, Warm Heart

Photo by Danielle!

Last week, we decorated our house and our tree. Today, Ellery asked if we could keep the tree up all year. Honestly, I wish we could. And then I thought, isn't it a little odd that we all buy recently chopped down trees, put them up in our houses, string them with lights and finish them with ornaments?

By the way, WINTER is here. I think the high today was 40. I know, I know those of you in the upper regions probably think that is a walk in the park. But down here in the South - that is

C O L D!

These toes have been cold which has necessitated a non-stop fire in the fireplace.

In other news, and soon to be posted pictures:

• The water main in our front yard burst (imagine gushing water, and lots of it)
• Our Christmas tree fell over twice last Thursday; first crushing the ornaments on the right and then the ornaments on the left. It was awesome
• We attempted to take a picture for our Christmas card. We have not been successful yet

Roaches

I just killed a roach. UGH! Those of you who know me know how deeply upsetting this is. The paranoia has already set in. My eyes are continually scanning the room - searching for more unwanted creepy crawlers.

The only thing keeping me sane until Alan gets back in town tonight....is looking at this picture of sweet Latham.