The Trip of Love, Part 2

Day 3-Friday

So...we revamped Showbiz Kids here in Sierra Vista. It's been fun. Especially cuz we're doing it as a Parent Co-Op so there is so much help from everyone. It's been great. However, this weekend that Heather was here, we had 4 shows, PLUS I had Girl Scouts walking in the Christmas parade (of which we had to have costumes too). So you can see that Heather was a VERY welcomed visitor. Have I said it enough? Well, get used to it cuz I'll be saying it a lot more.

8:30 a.m. Call Time for Showbiz at the girls' Elementary School. Keep in mind I'm still mostly in charge of a lot of the group, with responsibilities like having to bring and set up the sound system, all the extra costumes, etc., etc. So I have to be there even earlier than everyone else. It was so nice to be able to leave Spencer home with Heather and she just put him in the stroller and walked over with him when it was time for the show.

Waiting for the Show to Begin

Xoe Helping to Open the Show

"Frosty/Jingle Bell Rock"

"Rudolph" Special Dance Number

...Yup that's me down in the front. What was I thinking wearing that sweater? By the way, I'm ready...ready to shed my fat suit.

"Rap the Halls"

Here's a little snippet for you of Xoe rappin the halls!

Xanthe's "rapping" was before Xoe so Heather didn't catch it in time.

Closer

("Christmas Is" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas")

Is any of this beginning to sound a little familiar to some of you? :)

After the Show

And how cute is this kid waiting for the show to begin?

Kicking off the Happiest (Busiest) Season of All, Part 1

Heather's Visit

Brian's gone for 3 weeks to Germany. He left December 1 and comes back this Saturday. Yaaa, with everything going on, I knew I needed some moral support. :) My sister Heather came out for a visit and let me tell you, it was so needed. I clearly took advantage of her being here. She helped us kick off the Christmas season, as well as helped me get through one of the busiest weekends of the year.

I'll probably do this in a few posts. Here goes:

Day 1-Wednesday

Heather got here on a Wednesday night...just in time for Xoe to lead her patrol for Girl Scouts. I didn't get pictures of this but Xoe told me when she found out Heather was trying to get there in time, "Mom, this means a lot to me that Heather's coming. More than she'll ever know." hehe. Cheesy, I know. But I'm guessing it meant a lot to her. heehee :)

Day 2-Thursday

We dropped the kiddies off at school and went shoppin!!! We also went to the school to have lunch with the girls. They were so excited. They really wanted to introduce Heather to their friends. We also did grocery shopping, which was amazing to do with another helping hand.

After school, we took the girls Christmas shopping. Brian gave each girl a $50 gift card to spend on me, Brian and a gift for their sister. They thought they were rich...until they found out almost every gift in Target cost at least $20. Their dreams of spending whatever was leftover was squashed.

That night, we also went out to dinner to Texas Roadhouse. They just opened here in town and we hadn't been there yet. Yeehaw! The girls loved the fact that they could eat peanuts and throw the shells on the ground. I wasn't happy about it when I picked up their sweater at home the next day and found the pockets jammed full of peanuts.

So, a little about my sister Heather. She is the youngest sister of the 8 of us. But we don't think of her that she's the youngest. She's just like one of us. She's way cooler though. She totally keeps us all in style and makes sure we keep the "cool" factor going. And isn't she so beautiful? She's so sweet and unselfish, so willing to go the extra mile for anyone. She loves my girls like their own. I love when she is here because she encourages my girls' love of pop culture, where I fail miserably. There's just so much about my sister Heather. I guess I should wait until her birthday to say all this. Needless to say, she is amazing and we love her. She keeps us laughing all the time and brings so much fun wherever she goes. Well, this was how it was when she was here. She would just break out into craziness, or she would do normal things...like totally clean my house, do my laundry and take care of Spencer when I was too overwhelmed to do anything. Thank you, thank you Heather!

More about her trip tomorrow.

Fall Pictures

These are my babies. Aren't they so amazingly cute? I can't believe two of them are already 9 years old, soon to be 10. It truly stumps me that they are so old. I'm so happy that Heather (my sister) was able to capture their fun personalities and beauty on camera. Enjoy...

Beware....lots of pictures to follow