A few photos

The only thing the girls REALLY wanted this year was a Pillow Pet.

It couldn't be just any Pillow Pet; they were very specific.

Amanda wanted the unicorn.

Eva wanted the pterodactyl. The RARE pterodactyl. Rare and expensive.

When Amanda opened her package containing the unicorn, she was beyond happy.

When Eva opened hers, she was not happy.

To quote,"This isn't what I wanted! It's supposed to be green! This is a dolphin."

Ugh. So much for being grateful.

But then we unlatched the velcro, turning it into a full size pterodactyl, and then she realized that Santa had indeed brought exactly what she asked for. She also got a Hatchling pterodactyl which makes sounds and flaps its wings and the Dinosaur Train board game. (For Eva, it was definitely a dinosaur Christmas.)


Liam is obviously too young to care, but because I call him Bumblebee a lot, I decided that Santa should get him a Pillow Pet too.

He's not too sure about it. It's so big, he could use it as a raft!

And here are the girls modeling their pajamas from Grandpa Clint and Grandma Reda.

Merry Christmas to all

It has been a very busy week here at the Lindsay house!

Here are some pre-Christmas highlights.

The week started with our first snowfall of the season. It continued snowing a little bit each day and now have about 6 inches on the ground. Here's the view from the back deck. (You can see Amanda's school on the far left.)


We made quite a few batches of these easy chocolate covered pretzels. In addition to the melted Rolo's over mini pretzels, I tried using the new candy cane Hershey kisses. They are fantastic... and very addicting! We also made gingerbread men and Russian teacakes.


Here are the girls, modeling their new Hello Kitty pajamas from Kimmie and Eliana.

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with Dave's family on the north shore. Liam received this colorful tent and matching tunnel from one of the cousins. Liam is not fond of it at all. In fact, he seems to have the same phobia of tunnels that his Mama used to have, but the girls sure have been having fun playing with it!

Here's a shot of all three of them, taken on Christmas Eve morning. Amanda couldn't find her navy blue nighthat from Grandma Jo and had to wear her "too small" hat instead, which she wasn't too pleased about. I love Liam's little green and red Santa PJ's, also from Kimmie and Eliana.

This morning we had to make plain old sugar cookies instead of cut-out cookies because I realized I had left my Christmas cookie cutters at someone's house. We made do and decorated them with festive red and green frosting and plenty of sprinkles. We were done in no time, so this may have to become a tradition!

After an afternoon frolic in the snow, which included making a snow fort and a secret kingdom full of intricate paths, we came back inside and opened all of the out-of-state gifts.

I was surprised that Liam really got into the act! He loved the wrapping paper, although his sisters usually took the gift away from him and finished themselves because they were too impatient.

He loved all of the toys with wheels, but his hands-down favorite was the ride on fire truck from Grandpa Clint and Grandma Reda.


The girls were absolutely delighted with the gigantic dollhouse mansion from Grandma Jo and Uncle Josh's family. It came with furniture and a family of five: a mother, father, big sister, and twin babies. The girls immediatly decided that the big sister would be named Bridget and the babies were Tommy and Ashlyn. They played with the dollhouse all night long.


Before long, Liam was already riding his fire truck in Evil Kinevil fashion, putting both feet up underneath the handlebars.


We finished the night by opening one more present: the game of Perfection. (Dave and I both had Superfection when we were kids, but we found out that they don't make it anymore.) As it turns out, the girls LOVED it!!

After quite a few rounds of this, we all cuddled on the couch as Amanda read "The Night Before Christmas" to us.

At one point, Amanda said,"Daddy, did you forget what time it is? Shouldn't we be getting to bed now?" She was so afraid that if she wasn't sound asleep in bed, Santa would fly on by.

As we finally tucked them into bed and did our usual 'Special Day' summary of the day's events, I was about to sing the two lullabies which signal the end of the bedtime routine. Before I could even start, Amanda said,"Mama, maybe we should just skip the lullabies tonight."

I have never seen anyone so eager to go to sleep!

Thanks to the entire Wentz family for all of the gifts! There wasn't a single thing the kids didn't love!

I'll end this with a short video of Liam. He turned 11 months old on Thursday, rounding the corner toward his first birthday. Still no crawling or walking... just lots of scooting.

Liam's First Haircut

Liam has been needing a haircut for quite some time now. I found myself constantly sweeping it over to the side, just so he could see. Day after day, Dave or I would say,"He really needs a haircut." And then other things would come up.

After breakfast yesterday, he actually had oatmeal stuck in his bangs, just dangling there. He kept blinking, clearly irritated by the hanging tidbits.

The shaggy sheepdog look was just not cutting it anymore. It was time to take matters into my own hands.

I diverted his attention by sprinkling shredded cheese on his tray and got busy trimming his bangs. And then his sideburns. And then a bit off the back.

I probably could have left the sides and back alone, but when I went to put the clippings into a Ziploc bag, there weren't enough to justify saving. And of course, since I saved the girls' first haircut clippings, it all has to be fair.

After finishing his haircut, there was plenty to save. Mission accomplished.


I can't get over how different he looks, now that we can actually SEE his eyes again!

Note to self: One should not use a sewing scissors to cut hair. It makes the bangs all crooked.

Amanda's Debut Dance Recital

Amanda was both excited and nervous about her very first dance recital, which took place on Sunday at the Knights of Columbus Hall one town over from us.

She kept saying that she had stage fright and was afraid that she might fall while dancing.

As she sat in the front row waiting for the show to start, I brought her best friend up for a quick hello. They threw their arms around each other in a great hug, and Katelynn told Amanda that she had bought her a bouquet of purple flowers for after the show. After that, everything was fine.

The theme of the recital was Turn Up the Radio, and each dance group performed to a different genre of music: country, Radio Disney, Oldies, Pop, Hip Hop, etc.

Amanda's group of five girls was in charge of the oldies genre and did a Tap routine to Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow." (I didn't realize Fleetwood Mac could be categorized as Country, but I guess I'm older than I thought.)

Waiting for the show to start

Here is a link to the video of Amanda's group. She is the one on the far right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luES1oEm0IQ

The whole studio of about 50 girls, all wearing ballet slippers, performed a grand finale piece at the end. The video didn't come out very well, and Amanda is hardly in it, so I won't bother posting that one.

Amanda has already said that she can't wait until the end of the year show in June, when they get to wear costumes and perform in the middle school auditorium.

Now that she has her first public performance under her belt, I think she may actually grow to enjoy it!

Amanda's Video Christmas Recital

In this video, Amanda plays six of her favorite Christmas pieces. Through the magic of editing, I was able to condense the recording session down to five minutes. Unfortunately, I was not able to edit out the sound of the sirens during the first piece!

I won!

I won tickets on WATD this morning!  The whole family will be treated to "Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader" movie.  Good thing, since we have a few Narnia fans in this family!

Santa Message

My sister-in-law sent me the link to the Portable North Pole.

Santa had a personalized message for each of the kids.

To Eva
http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/Ww1KvxmYPpfD3vJ59GLQcA

To Amanda
http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/bziOCXeR4JvYynKuHMfSNg

To Liam
http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/HQCAPpcou-3gxYIqdLJP0w

Thanks for passing this along, Pam! I cannot wait to see their reactions.

Thanksgiving

We had a really enjoyable Thanksgiving this year at my sister-in-law's parents' house. We have been to numerous parties there in the past and always have a fantastic time.

I busied myself the day before Thanksgiving by making 6 dozen mozzerella stuffed meatballs to contribute to the appetizer table. Then the girls helped make chocolate pretzels with autumn colored M&M's for the dessert table.


I tried to get a decent photo of the kids all dressed in their chosen Thanksgiving outfits, but this was the best I could do. It is increasingly hard to capture a shot where all three of them are ready.


As I said, the Cavicchi's really know how to throw a party. I honestly think they could be professional party planners! This was the centerpiece at the appetizer table. Angelina's father carved the pumpkin by using a Clip Art printout.

The only bad part about having Thanksgiving at someone else's house is that you miss out on all the great Thanksgiving leftovers! Both Dave and I felt the void, so we made our own feast on Sunday evening.

Dave made his own brine, soaked the turkey overnight and then smoked it in the Weber grill. I contributed the requisites like green bean casserole, squash and rolls and my mother-in-law made the stuffing and creamed peas. Dessert was pumpkin pie and a strawberry rhubarb pie, not homemade but from one of Amanda's school fund raisers.

The highlight of the meal was giving Liam his first taste of turkey. At first we just shredded some up for him to eat, but then Dave gave him the whole drumstick.

As you can see, he loved it! He was not at all happy when we took it away from him after getting a photo. He also became quite loud and demanding when he ran out of squash and cranberry sauce. This boy can eat!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with your loved ones!