There is a fine line between...

Guilt

and Innocence.

All too often, Charlie treads solidly on the dark side. Sadly, his little sis seems to be following in his footsteps (arghh!) What happened to the sweet demure little girl that we ordered? Here's an example:
The other day we were riding in the car on the way to church. Mia starts to whine and I pass her a book. Charlie whines that he wants the book. Mia rips said book in half and oh-so-witty Bob quips, "Well, at least now they can both have one!"

We miss you Aunt Kat!

We so loved having my younger sis, Kathleen, stay with us for 3 months while she was completing her Physical Therapy clinical rotation here in Rochester. It was a teary goodbye last week...we wish you the best in Tennessee Aunty Kat and we'll see you soon for graduation! Whoo hoo!

Mia misses giving you hugs and kisses and says she's really sorry about being a not-so-good roommate. She thinks of you whenever she wears a really cute outfit and a matching hair accessory. Oh yeah, and she says, "Hi-Ya!"

Charlie misses pizza night and how you would chase him around the house everyday after work so that you could get a hug. He misses being called "Charlie Boo" and playing in the 'base-sent'. He misses movies and popcorn and bedtime prayers with Aunt Tat.



Did I mention Mia misses giving you kisses?

Jen misses: Your cheerfulness, Watching all our girly shows together, Sharing that first delicious cup of coffee in the morning and a tasty martini now and then too, Having my stairs vacuumed, Having my own personal eyebrow waxer and fashion consultant, the BABYSITTING !!!, having someone to talk about everything (even dumb things) with, Those surprise kitchen clean-ups, Having someone around who is actually as (or more?) sentimental as myself (sniff sniff), and, of course, your smiling face!

"I know some sisters who only see each other on Mother's Day and some who will never speak again. But most are like my sister and me... linked by volatile love, best friends who make other best friends ever so slightly less best." ~Patricia Volk

PS: Jen does not miss hearing, "Well that's because you're old."

PPS: Bob says he misses you being on snack duty.

Kiddo's Christmas Bash

It was such a treat to host a Christmas party for the kiddos again this year. We had a great group of toddlers and preschoolers (13!) come out for a craft, lunch and cookies, of course.

Charlie and Kyle. These two are best buds.

We made wreath ornaments out of painted puzzle pieces. The kids did great with it. We passed out a cardboard wreath to everyone and then helped them to spread glue on it. Each kiddo had a small pile of puzzle pieces to place on the wreath. About a minute after the gluing began, Aaron shouted out, "I'm done!" He had poured the pile of puzzle pieces on his wreath and figured that was pretty much it!

Aaron, Kyle, Charlie, Mallory, Maddie, Ian, Will, Kaylynn. I was showing Charlie this picture on the fridge and asking him to name all his pals. He did and then announced, "Those are my friends!" Then he followed that by saying, "I love em. I love my friends Mommy." Adorable!

Mallory (in pink) had the most awesome hair-do. Too bad you can't see it in the picture--beautiful braids.

Sophie (in the front here) was playing with a toy plane when we were gatherin' up the kids for the craft. I asked Sophie if she wanted to make a wreath. "No," she said matter-of-factly, "I'm just going to stay over here and fly my jet plane." I had to laugh at that. She did end up meandering over later, after her flight, and made a very cute wreath!

Will and Kaylynn.

Peter, age 2.

Kaylynn is such a sweetheart. Most days that she arrives at my house, she will remind me, "I'm going to be your big helper today, ok?" I love little girls.

Speaking of hair dos--Violet is sporting the cutest curls around. I heard a rumor that Mom chopped em off. Say it ain't so.

Kyle Wolf Sahmel. Isn't that the best middle name ever? Kyle is going to be into cars someday, I predict. He always finds that set of John Deere keys within the first half hour of arrival.

Made by little hands--perfect!

Can't imagine a Christmas without cookies.

Snowy Jammies, a series

A Cherry Creek Christmas 08

Charlie, being a year older, made Christmas extra special this year. Experiencing his excitement and curiosity just made the season all that much more magical. We weren't sure how to handle the whole Santa thing (since I still remember the story of a childhood friend who ran away from home at age 5 when he found out there wasn't a Santa Claus), but Charlie surprised me one day by asking, "Is Santa going to come down our chimney Mom?" while we were watching Rudolph on TV. So, needless to say, we went with it, at least for this year. A week later when we were getting ready to go to Gramma and Papa's house, Charlie asked me if Santa was coming to their house too. I said yes (piling on the "lies" at this point). Charlie thought for a moment and said, "Do they have a chimney mom?" I told him I wasn't sure. He replied, "Let's ask Papa, Papa knows everything." I love this picture of them together and the big smile on Charlie's face, he loves his Papa!

Amelia Moo shows off her new leg warmers that her Dad picked out for her. Good taste Dad, it draws the attention away from my waistline (he he)

Gram was in overdrive this season, as usual! Making monkey bread, egg casseroles, pies and chocolate buckeye balls by the dozen. Somehow she still finds time to have tea parties with the kiddos, break up cousin fights, and bathe and diaper as needed. Oh yeah, and we managed to fit in a sewing project!

Charlie got a couple of wonderful books from Aunt Beth; she is the very best book giver-- she found a sweet one about a little bear named Charlie and another about a dirty digger!

This is the best picture I could get of the three toddlers, yeah, I wasn't too impressed with it either. It is accurate to their personalities, that's for sure--not much for the sitting still.

Mom got the boys some John Deere duds this year.

Another dolly to love. Amelia got dolls from both Grandmas and her mom this year. Sometimes, she carries all 3 around the house together. She is a cute little mommy.

Here is Aaron with his brand new Talking Gustus (a super hero action figure). This was the toy for Aaron this year and the opening of Gustus was truly a crowd-pleaser. He shrieked and danced around the room.

Little Ryan's first Christmas! He worked on this present happily for quite a while.

Sweet picture of Susan Marie and Amelia Marie!

Aaron's face reminds me of a funny Christmas moment. I had given Aaron some Cars underwear that glowed in the dark. I knew it wouldn't be a big hit, but his reaction was priceless! He dropped the present immediately and groaned, rolling his eyes. He looked completely mortified! Then, dad Scott, piped up and said, "Aaron, what do you say?" Aaron mumbled a disgruntled 'thank you'. "What else?" Scott prompted him. "I like it," Aaron said. It was hilarious!

Amelia and Aunt Kat. Kathleen's been living with us for a few months while she does a rotation for her final year of her Physical Therapy doctorate. Mia and Kat are best buds.

Amelia opens a pop-on doll set from Aunt Beth.

Charlie and Gramma Susan. He just can't get enough of Gramma. Here's an illustration: Charlie recently got into doing knock-knock jokes. But, lately, every time we try to get him to do a joke for someone, it goes something like this--

Charlie: "Knock, Knock"
"Who's There?"
Charlie with giggle: "Gramma Susan!"

The cousins "sharing"

Sweet Ryan boy showing off his cute hairline.

Shirt reads, "All mommy wants for Christmas is a silent night." Aint it the truth, poor Beth.

Amelia and Uncle Scott, still pals. Nobody hangs her upside-down like Uncle Scott can!

Papa and Ry Guy.