Here the girls are scattering the magic reindeer dust on the lawn to help guide Santa's sleigh! 
Then the gifts! 
A new bike, kinda fun but a water bottle, now that is very cool :)
This is Isabella, our 10 year old daughter's gymnastics team. Isabella is 3rd from the left. Can you tell what we like so much?
looking at the photos my 10 year old says . . . . "oh Mom, sorry I taught her that!" 
Pink has always been my favorite color (with purple) ! it is so nice to have a little girl to dress up again! Tia and I did a little photo session on her bed yesterday and all I had to do to get her to smile was to feed her bites of ice-cream between photos :) (a natural light inside assignment for my class. lovin' that class!)
If you post a caption for this photo I will enter you into a drawing for a surprise gift from Australia :) (hint, your child will love it!) You have until the 21st - so please leave a comment!
Lynn from Somewhere in the Sun tagged me . . . . This is fun, I've never been tagged before!
I'm pretty sure Tia had her head shaved a few times in China, however today Tia had her first official haircut since she has been home with us. Love the Wiggles cape! That lollipop was so necessary! (ps I will take some better photos tomorrow in natural lighting)
One morning after a particularly fearsome storm, a man arose early and decided to go for a walk along the sea. As he neared the beach, the early riser saw an old man in the distance slowly, yet purposely, ambling down the shoreline. As he watched, the old man stopped, picked something up, and tossed it into the ocean. Then, the old man slowly straightened himself up, walked several more feet, stooped down, and once again picked up something, which he tossed into the sea. Intrigued, the early riser moved closer. As he drew near, he realized suddenly what the old man was doing. Littered all down the shoreline, as far as the eye could see, were thousands upon thousands of starfish cast out from the ocean by the fury of the now-passed storm. As the early riser watched, the old man bent down, gently picked up a small, helpless starfish, and tossed it back into the ocean. He repeated the same process every few feet. After a minute or two, the early riser approached the old man. "Good morning, sir" he said. "I couldn't help notice what you're doing. I commend you for what you're trying to do, but the storm has washed up thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possibly save them all! What possible difference do you hope to accomplish?"The old man paused for a long time, pondering the early riser's question. Finally, without saying a word, he bent down, picked up a starfish, and tossed it far into the ocean. "It made a difference to that one," he said.
Soooooooooooo do I give in and cut her bangs? or do I just keep trying to get those wisps to stay in the pigtails? (or clippy or barrette . . .) a few friends are saying CUT! but I am not a bangs type (for my girls anyway). any opinions?
There is something amazing about the relationship between these two. Words cannot express what it does to this Mommy's heart to see my oldest son's sensitive heart towards his baby sister. so very sweet :)
She loves to climb!
