Happy Birthday Paige!

Today Paige turns the big S-I-X!!! We took her to Chase's farm to ride the horses again. This is the third time we have done it and I always tell her its a surprise, maybe next year she will catch on. The girls love to go to Chase's farm. I'm not sure if they love the chihuahua or the horses more. We actually went to the farm yesterday. Today we went to the children's museum, got a smoothie for lunch then came home to bake the cupcakes for the party at McDonalds. Below are the pics from the farm. Today's pics will hopefully be posted within the next 2 days....

Ruger the chihuahua.


Kimber the yorkie. I could not get him to stay still long enough to take a good pic. He was SOOO cute!


Hi-Ho Paiger!


Paige got brave and took Soph around the lake herself. She is trying to prove to me that she is ready for horseback lessons. Unfortuneately my wallet is not ready to support two kids taking lessons!!


Soph holding on for her life.


I was leading the horse because it was being a little lazy by this point! The girls ran those horses in circles!


Another shot of us walking around.


Em takes time to hold Ruger. He hates to walk apparently so he loved being carried like a baby.


Does she look ready for lessons?


Howdy partner.


Paige started with Em in the lead, until she got brave enough to go on her own.


Cheese alert! The girls wanted me to get up there and I was terrified! I sat on the horse last year, but I never made it move! Once we started to walk I thought I would fall off. Then I got brave as well and made it trot! That really made me giggle. Dont' worry, there's a video that I'll try to post later!


Katie the nurse was very nervous watching us. She did not want to have to "work" on her day off!


Em, at the start of our morning ride. She was thrilled to be the "experienced" one.


Aunt Stef came along for the ride and impressed us all with her skills.


Biscuit, Soph and Fenway. Biscuit lives on the farm with the yorkie and chihuahua. He looks smallish from this angle but I think he must weigh around 120 pounds! He really liked Soph.


Paige was nervous at first.


But slowly loosened her grip.


Ready to ride.


Chase and the girls bribed the horses with some chow before we saddled them up.


Chase's cows. There was one cow that was penned away all by himself. We asked Chase why....he was dinner!


Thanks Chase for a great day! You really made the girls' day...again!

X-Treme X-Mas

Here are our Extreme Sport Girls. Emma and Paige both got new bikes for Christmas and braved the drizzle to try them out. Paige also got the skateboard she's been asking for, but she's going to need a lot of practice on that one.

Here is Paige posing like Pee Wee Herman on a skateboard.


Emma trying to get used to her first bike with hand-operated brakes.


Paige has the hand brakes too but she can still use her coaster brake as well.


On the way back to the house.

Flying down the street. We had the Florida version of a White Christmas. 80 degrees and 100% humidity.

Happy Birthday to Jazz!

Second only to baby Jesus is Jazz! His birthday was also celebrated yesterday. He turned 6 years old! That is assuming the records I received on him are correct. Jazz got a stuffed squirrel from Santa and shared some chicken breast with his friends for breakfast. Doesn't he look thrilled? He is so handsome! And his nose is doing so well after some steroid treatment! You can barely tell anything is wrong with it.



Thank You Nannie! Emma received this awesome "sewing machine" yesterday from Grandma. I'm not sure it sews fabric, but it does sew the heck out of paper. It is called a craft machine. Either way, Em LOVES it and thankfully Nannie woke up with her bright and early and gave her excellent instructions on how to use and troubleshoot it. I am awful with those machines so I am glad it wasn't me! In just over an hour Em has learned how to sew a paper purse complete with an "M" on the outside! It was pretty cool looking and she did it by herself. Paige is depressed in the background because she doesn't have one. It never fails, she always wants what Em has. Nannie taught her how to sew a square and she did, very well, but she didn't want to show the camera.

Nothing Like a Little Beach on Christmas Eve!

We started this day off right...with a trip to the beach! My pics are in reverse order however. So at the end of our day we had a delicious Mexican feast with the Schraders and then shared presents.

Soph holds up her blurry tee-shirt. It's the shirt, not my photog skillz.


Nannie and the girls made our yearly favorite, Merry Xmas Cookies. The kids decorated them before they ran to get in bed.


And we ended up with these. Sooo tasty! They are NOT sugar cookies!


Grandma brought her gingerbread men to decorate. She had made those earlier in the week with the girls.


Present madness!



AAAhhhhhh, now the beach. The water was 60 the weather was around 75. I was cold. The kids were in the water! Nutz!!
Paige, working on their sand garden.


I had my hood and a towel on my legs.


In her favorite itsy bitsy bikini.


Soph debating on getting some skim-board action.


Um, I think you are supposed to hop ON it. Not OVER it.

Merry Christmas!

This year we were awaken a little earlier than last year. Emma tossed and turned all night, constantly checking the clock and asking Nannie if Santa had been here yet. The girls loved all their presents and I loved all my presents. We had a great day hanging out together. We started a new tradition of going to the movies on Christmas day. It didn't work out too well for us. The theater was super crowded and we ended up in the very front of the theater. We saw Marley and Me. It was really good. The dog/actor was Hilarious! I laughed so loud that the people near us surely thought I was a nutsy dog person. Oh wait. I am. Either way, we had a great time! Below are some pics of our morning...

Em with her American Girl from Grandad (also posing in her new PJs which all the girls received).


Paige on her out-of-control skateboard. Don't you love her outfit? Skater bracelet, complete with spikes and mammoth crocs.....and NO pants!


It was wet outside today (of course since they got bikes and it hasn't rained in a month!), so Em took a test run thru the kitchen!


Soph was thrilled with Grandad's choice of Webkinz. You can't go wrong with a webkinz!


Paige got panda just like one that I had when I was little. Except now it comes with a DVD explaining how pandas are almost extinct.


A little bag of jewelry from her stocking.


A VERY exciting pencil! So easy to please!


Just woke up and pulling down the stockings first.


Nannie leads the pack to the goods!


Close up of the new bike from Grandad to Paige.


From Santa to Emma.