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Showing posts with label HolleeAnn is AWESOME. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HolleeAnn is AWESOME. Show all posts

Friday, October 14, 2011

Good Mail from Auntie!

We got a package in the mail from my sister, HolleeAnn and brother in law Paul.
Holy Moly.
It is the package of all packages.
Look at that excitement:



It was like one of Oprahs Favorite Things Giveaway episodes. I pulled away the tissue and revealed the contents of the (huge) box) And Quincy's head actually blew off her neck with excitement.




Presents. Presents galore!
Seriously, ga-LORE. Something for everyone! I love me some Halloween decorations!
Glow in the dark trick or treating wands


skull bubble necklaces

halloween dinner plates (cafeteria style-with the cute little compartments for each food-love it!)

halloween bowls

halloween forks and spoons

trick or treat bags (that are hillarious, the monster one for Corbin kills me)

skull fruity snacks with light tweezers to pick them up with (can't wait to reuse the tweezers in preschool!)

a gummy candy stick--this is what truly amazes me about my sister. She totally could have put together a package full of sugary sweets and my kids would have loved it...for 5 minutes. The fact that these and the fruit snacks were the ONLY junk food in the entire package is proof of how thoughtful she is. I do love candy, but I love it even more that she sent a package with fun that would last and last.

Batty heatbands and halloween ribbon headbands

halloween socks! (I will shamefully admit that these have been worn a bit too often already...let's just pretend I do a LOT of laundry, ok? ok.)



should I go on? but wait! there's more...

(I am SURE I am forgetting stuff, there was so much!)

glittery halloween window stickers

halloween kleenex

a light up ghost decoration (LOVE!)

metal dogtag ornaments for our Halloween tree with vintage halloween graphics on them (my fave.)

spider kitchen dishtowels (my other fave)

halloween stamps
A glittery cat head bunting. (I hate cats, but I LOVE this. maybe because they are supposed to be dead.)

spooky skull and spider necklaces that light up
and my (other other) fave, a really cute Roxy shirt that I bought for my cute niece Jordan a few years ago. I loved it so much that I almost bought one for myself. Then, my other cute niece, Taylor got one, too, and when I was reminded of how cute it was I almost bought it again, but didn't.
J's closet was purged awhile ago to make room for new wares, and rather than consign the shirt with the other clothes, HolleeAnn mailed it to me. It's really cute, it fits perfectly, and I love love love that it was recycled back to me! Thanks, sistah!


Thanks for the fun package. Opening present after present that were all selected just for us with love and for no reason other than to bring us happiness filled me with joy and gratitude.

I have such a great family. Even though we live far away from everyone, they make time to show interest in my children. They call and talk to them, to hang pictures of them in their homes, skype, send cards, letters, and emails asking about soccer, talks they gave in church, parties, school, music, and everything else.
They tell my children they love them.
They show my children they love them.

We are so blessed to be recipients of this great love.
Look how happy it makes us!






Happy.
Thanks, Auntie!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

What She Said

An BIG shout out to my sister, HolleeAnn, who already blogged about my trip to Ca. on her blog, Dandelion Wishes.
And since it's going to take me a year to catch up on posts, just go here to read her post, see some race day pics, and watch the cutest videos of Corbin feeding her pup.

Thanks for posting, sistah! Love you and miss you already!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Orderly Conduct

When Reese was struggling with the adjustment to Kindergarten and having to be ready to leave the house at 6:40am (yup. School starts so early here. Cruel, isn't it?), fully loaded tantrums were blowing up in our house on a daily basis. It was rough. Even when we picked out clothes the night before, we still ended up with a problem in the morning, when Reese would change her mind and not want to wear the outfit she'd selected and demand her share (and a half) of our attention while we helped her pick something else out. I know that the problem was not actually the clothes, but getting dressed always seemed to be the thing that pushed Reese's morning anxiety into panic attacks and ugly temper tantrums. Reese was also always wanting to wear the same thing every day. Once she'd get over the discomfort of an outfit, she didn't want to change and readjust to something else. Call me uptight, but I'm not going to let my kid wear the same outfit to school, every day, for a week.
My sister, HolleeAnn (hollah!) gave me this fantastic idea that was the perfect solution to abolish morning outfit drama.



A closet shoe hanger!

There are two shown, here, because the solution worked so well, we went out and got one for Quincy. (and for those who know how bad my OCD is, YES. It totally drives me crazy that they are different sizes. The product changed in the 3 weeks between when we bought the first and when we bought the 2nd. Oh well. Aren't you proud of me for just letting it go? You'll also notice that I didn't go through and fold all the little outfits before taking this picture just so it would appear that I live a June Cleaver lifestyle. I did pick the apple core up off the carpet before I snapped the picture. Keepin' it real, folks.)

Anyway, On Sunday Night, Reese and I select her outfits for the week, and put one in each "cubby" of the shoe holder. Everything. Socks, underwear, jacket, hairbows, sometimes even shoes. In the morning, she can choose which outfit she would like to wear that day. We've had a few problems come up, usually on Fridays, when there was only one option left, or on a PE day when Reese's selected outfit didn't include PE friendly shoes. Also, Quincy still manages to work in at least one costume change every day. But, for the most part, our routine morning clothing drama is gone!

And now, there is a lot more room in the dressers, so we can actually see what is in them.
Works for us.
Thanks, HolleeAnn!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Flat Reese, the adventure begins...

Reese made a Flat Reese (based on the book Flat Stanley) at school, and sent her off to travel around the country for a few weeks. My sister, HolleeAnn was the first to receive her in the mail.
Can I just say that HolleeAnn goes above and beyond the call of Auntie? She made a BOOK about Flat Reese's Adventure in California, before sending her off to the next destination.
It is beyond awesome. Reese went crazy when I read it to her.
And lucky you, HolleeAnn blogged about it so we can share her adventures with you!
FlatReese

One morning Reese W. woke up to the sounds of her sister Quincy screaming. A bulletin board had fallen on Reese during the night and now she was FLAT!

Before Quincy could get her mom’s attention Reese’s brother Corbin came by with his sticky syrup covered breakfast fingers and grabbed Flat Reese and ran. Corbin was new to running so he slipped and fell and Flat Reese went floating across the room like a kite and landed in a pile of mail to be sent.

Flat Reese tried to get up but the syrup from Corbin’s fingers made her stick to an envelope addressed to her Auntie’s house in California. Daddy grabbed the mail on his way out the door for work and put it in the mailbox.

The mail man picked up the mail and soon Flat Reese found herself in a huge pile of mail, thousands and thousands of letters surrounded her. She was shuffled from one pile of mail to another and soon found herself in California at her Auntie’s house.

Flat Reese’s Auntie was VERY surprised to see her and listened as Flat Reese explained what had happened to her. So far it had been quite an adventure, her journey to California.

Flat Reese explained that it had been so fun that she wanted to visit a few more states before going back to Arkansas. Auntie thought this was a grand idea. So she called Reese’s mommy right away and together they planned out all of the states, family and friends that Flat Reese could visit before being mailed home.

While Auntie was on the phone Flat Reese went to play with Auntie’s puppy, Coco.

They were playing when Coco heard some music and asked Flat Reese if she wanted to dance. Flat Reese loves to dance too so they got busy shaking their booties and had a fantastic dance party. They danced and danced until they wore themselves out. Coco needed a nap.
Picnik collage

Flat Reese was hot from all that dancing so she decided to go for a swim in Auntie’s swimming pool. So refreshing and so much FUN!

Flat Reese swam and splashed and had a great time in the swimming pool floating around on a Disney Princess swim ring. It was a perfectly perfect swim on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
FR18

All that swimming made Flat Reese VERY hungry. Auntie had the perfect idea, “Let’s dry off Flat Reese, I have a surprise for you.” “YAY, I love surprises” said Flat Reese as she dried off.

Auntie took Flat Reese inside and they went to the playroom where Auntie had a Tea Party set up for the two of them. Flat Reese clapped and exclaimed, “YAY! I love tea parties, thank you Auntie!”
FR19

Flat Reese and Auntie enjoyed fruit juice, finger sandwiches, carrot sticks and then they ate cupcakes for dessert. “Yum” said Flat Reese. “Yes, yum!” said Auntie. Everything was delicious.

Suddenly Flat Reese got very sleepy. She had traveled so far, all the way from Arkansas to California. She had enjoyed a dance party, a swim in Auntie’s pool and a delicious tea party.

Before she knew it, it was time for bed. So Flat Reese took a nice warm bubble bath and got ready for bed.

It had been a wonderful day and Flat Reese knew that tomorrow she would go to the Fruit Barn’s Pumpkin Patch and then drive over the hill to Hollister to see her cousins, Aunts, Uncles and her Grandparents. She knew she would need a good night’s sleep for such a busy day, so she snuggled up to Auntie and Coco for a bedtime story in the PINK room.

They read Goodnight Princess Pruney Toes. Flat Reese loved the story and by the time they came to the last page she was nice and relaxed and ready for sleep.
FRbedtime

So Flat Reese said her bedtime prayers and thanked Heavenly Father for her safe travel and wonderful day. Auntie gave her a kiss and said, “Goodnight Flat Reese, I love you. Get good sleep and I will see you in the morning.” Flat Reese replied, “Thank you Auntie, I love you too” and she fell fast asleep.

The next morning Flat Reese was up with the sun and very excited to begin her adventure filled day.

Her cousin Jordan had invited her BFF to join Flat Reese, Uncle Paul and Auntie for breakfast at The Garden Café before going to the pumpkin patch. So everyone jumped in the car and away they went. Breakfast was delicious!
breakfast

After having spent the morning with 2 teenagers Flat Reese was feeling rather grown up. So she tried on her cousin Jordan's groovy sunglasses and sent a few text messages from Uncle Paul's cell phone.


After a very yummy breakfast they jumped back in the car and drove to the Fruit Barn. There was an awesome hay maze, spooky surprises and pony rides.
Picnik collage

Flat Reese even had an interesting conversation with one of Santa’s elves.
FR16
She was so surprised to see an elf at a pumpkin patch so she asked him, “Why are you here Elf? Shouldn’t you be at the North Pole helping Santa get ready for Christmas?” The Elf laughed and said, “I am helping Santa. I am here at the pumpkin patch watching to see who is being naughty and who is being nice so I can report back to Santa.”

Flat Reese thought that was very interesting but before she could say so the Elf asked, “Have you been naughty or nice Flat Reese?” Flat Reese didn’t even have to think about it before she answered, “Nice, I have been very nice!!” She had been nice and a very gracious guest. The Elf let her know he would be sure to let Santa know and went back to watching the other children.

Soon they were back on the road to head over the hill to Hollister to meet up with the rest of her cousins to Trunk or Treat at the church.

Flat Reese was so excited to see everyone and there were lots of hugs as all of the cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents greeted her. The cousins gathered for a quick picture in their costumes then quickly took off for a little Trunk or Treating and play some carnival games. Flat Reese also helped Grandma Lynn pass out candy for a little while. There was even a PRINCESS that wanted her picture with Flat Reese.
Picnik collage

Jordan and Emma were dressed as hippies, Garrett was Indiana Jones, Parker was the Riddler, Zack was in camouflage, Ty was a clown, Brock was Luke Skywalker and Steven was a dragon. Their costumes were great, and Flat Reese was very impressed.

Flat Reese spent a little time with her cousin Steven, who is also in Kindergarten this year. Steven had made the rounds quickly and came back to settle in and eat some of his candy. He was very good about sharing with Flat Reese, but he sure did eat a lot.
Picnik collage

It wasn't long before Steven was feeling the affects of all that SUGAR. "Silly Steven", Flat Reese said as she giggled and helped him pick up all of those empty candy wrappers.
Picnik collage


It was such a fun night, but it wasn’t over yet. They were headed to USA Sports, the gym that Flat Reese’s Uncle Mark and Aunt Melinda own. Her cousin Taylor is a very talented gymnast and placed FIRST all around at a Gymnastic meet that afternoon.

When they arrived at the gym it was closed but Grandpa Hal and Aunt Amy work there so they had a key to get in and let Flat Reese rock climb, tumble and walk across the balance beam.
Picnik collage

It was so much fun that Flat Reese giggled and smiled as she said, “This has been the best day ever! Thank you everyone.” Flat Reese is a very polite little girl. It is important to say thank you and let people know you appreciate the nice things they do for you and Flat Reese knew this.

After the fun time at the gym everyone met up at one of Flat Reese’s mommy’s favorite places to eat in Hollister, The Running Rooster. Her mommy especially loves their chocolate chip cookies. Flat Reese enjoyed a yummy hamburger and french fries for dinner and after eating she went and played at the toy train table they have there for kids to enjoy. Before they left Flat Reese made sure to pose with the cookies and brownies knowing it would make her mommy smile.
FRrunningrooster

Flat Reese really enjoyed getting to play with her cousins, spend time with her Aunts and Uncles and her Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Hal.

After giving everyone hugs goodbye and thanking them for such a fun visit Flat Reese, Uncle Paul, Auntie, Jordan and Emma all jumped back in the car for the long drive home.

Flat Reese had so much fun and such a busy day that she fell asleep in the car and Uncle Paul had to carry her in and tuck her into bed where she slept and slept and slept. She had very happy dreams about her wonderful visit in California.

The next morning Flat Reese woke feeling very rested. She had a delicious oatmeal breakfast and Auntie told her she would be traveling to Alabama that afternoon. “I don’t think I have ever been to Alabama, I am very excited.” Flat Reese exclaimed. Auntie said, “I have never been to Alabama, I can’t wait to hear all about your visit there. I am sure it will be fun!”

Auntie and Flat Reese hugged and said their goodbyes, “I love you Auntie, thank you for the fun visit. I can’t wait to tell my family, my teacher Mrs. Rogers and my classmates all about my California adventure.” said Flat Reese.

Auntie said, “You are so welcome Flat Reese. Remember who you are and that I love you. Have a fantastic trip to Alabama. Just remember to be the wonderful, polite, little girl that you are and I am sure you will have fun.”

Flat Reese climbed into her envelope and Auntie dropped her off at the post office sending her to Alabama.

To Be Continued…

Reese
I know, right?! Auntie of the Year.
Thank you 100x, Sis.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

"Quien es esa niña, who's that girl?"

So I open the draft folder on my blog, and I find a little note from my sister:

Meg...yes I hacked into your blog again...but aren't you glad I did?


You. Are. Welcome.

I love you,
HolleeAnn

PS I can do this a little less Oompa Loompa-ish if you prefer...LOL