Bunk Beds!

We got the girls a set of bunk beds and they are loving them! It opens up a ton of space in Molly's bedroom and gives us some flexibility if we have someone visiting.

Brenna's room still has the double bed so Nana and Papa didn't have to fight over who got the top! :)

The downside is I have to go out and get twin bedding now!

Christmas

The faces say it all - we had a wonderful Christmas!! My parents were here since the 23rd and Dean's parents and sister joined us Christmas Day. And just being all together (granted amidst much wrapping paper!) was the best present of all!

Riley

This is one of my brother's dogs. Isn't she gorgeous?

This is the other guy - Justice. As much as I wouldn't want a big dog myself, I do think these two are just beautiful creatures. I love Justice's floppy ear !

White House Singers

I could go on for hours but suffice to say our day was fabulous. Here are just a few pictures (of the gazillion I took.) The kids were just thrilled with the opportunity to sing at the White House and performed beautifully for nearly 2 full hours!

The theme this year is red, white and blue. The decorations are gorgeous and we were given a beautiful visitor booklet and some star shaped cookies for the bus ride home.

What an amazing thing to be a child in the nation's capital have such opportunities!

In the upper hallway

One of our parish priests, a representative from the Catholic Schools Office, our choir director, principal and pianist. Our math teacher made red bows for all the girls to wear.

Brenna really wanted to wear curls. I wish they hadn't worn their sweatshirts though.

With Anita McBride who is Laura Bush's Chief of Staff

Blue Room tree

I've seen this view of the fountain many times from outside the fence. It was nice to be inside again! Since Dean's dad left the Secret Service several years ago, we haven't had much access to the White House other than a Christmas party or two when Dean was on the Hill.

Christmas Concert

The girls had their school concert last night. Adorable - as usual. We have a sweet music teacher (A 27 year old nun!) who does a great job with the kids and they simply adore her.

Stay tuned because a bigger concert is happening Monday - Brenna will sing with the Children's Choir at the White House! I will be going, as an official school representative of course!, and will be allowed to take pictures. Say a prayer I get some good ones!

Endurance

Sometimes as a parent one is asked to endure things that normally would not be asked of you. I have determined that one of those things is being asked to attend a band concert.

A band concert for first year instrumentalists.

A band concert for instrumentalists who have only owned the aforementioned instruments for 9 weeks.

Oh. my. word.

I taped a little clip on my camera and was just playing it for Brenna. Okay, I have to share it . . .

Brenna watched it and this was the conversation:

B:"That was cool!"

Me: "It sure was. You guys really did well for beginners!"

B: "Did you tape us doing 'Jingle Bells'?"

Me: "Uhhh . . .well . . . honey . . . that WAS "Jingle Bells."

B: "Oh. Are you sure?"

Yeah.

Endurance: 1. The act, quality, or power of withstanding hardship or stress. 2. The state or fact of persevering.

We will persevere!

Christmas Preparations

The tree is up and trimmed. The decorations are all done from the attic (and scattered around the living room, but that's a work in progress . . . ) and some shopping has been done.

The only thing that hasn't been started is the Christmas card photo. Well, I actually did start. It just wasn't very successful. It never is. Somehow I eventually seem to get a nice one, but then it's a rush to get them out.

There's still plenty of time though, right? I sure hope so!

Father Daughter Dance

This has become a nice tradition in our parish. The girls were excited to take Dad out but Molly decided that sharing a date wasn't going to be fun. So she invited Grandpa - who was tickled pink to be asked - to be her date. A good time was had by all!

Still here!

Things are a bit hectic here but I do have some backlogged posts to do. The girls had a Father/Daughter dance, we went to Boston for Thanksgiving, did some Monster golfing with cousins, etc. We're always busy. But for now I'm just scrambling with house stuff, work stuff, scout stuff, dance stuff - oh yeah - and I have to fit Christmas preparations in there somewhere!

We are alive and well though!