How about I summarize....

I don't have an excuse for being away for so long, so I decided to just give a summary of what we've been up to over the past few months. :)

November:

Claire's first ever soccer season wrapped up with the highlight of the season.... the Parent - Kid soccer game! Naturally, I was the chosen parent to play (or chose myself to play is more like it.) Claire was VERY excited about her mom suiting up to play against the kids. The game went well and the kids were racking up lots of scores - with help from their 3 high-school age coaches. Near the end, one of the mom's had a breakaway... she dribbled up the left sideline and nailed a shot right past the high school goalie. SCORE! Guess who's mom scored? You got it... and we saw more elation out of Claire related to soccer then any other time this season, including the time that Claire actually scored a goal. The season was a little rough - some of the boys on the team were pretty tough and fast, and Claire come down with a couple "stomach aches" before games and other reasons why it wasn't a good idea to go to the game that day. She stuck it out and learned an important lesson about being part of the team. Besides the goal that her mom scored, she enjoyed the thrill of getting her first trophy - and beamed the whole way home, saying she couldn't wait to play again in the spring. So we start again in February!

Claire was in her kindergarten Thanksgiving play. She played a Indian Woman and had a "Welcome, Friends" line that she and the other Indian Women said every time the story narrator referred to them. The group was well rehearsed and the play went off with no hitches. Our hi-light was the opening line when Claire walked out on to the stage to open the play carrying a large picture she drew showing two little girls swinging side by side on swings. She walked up to a microphone and confidently said "I'm thankful for my little sister because she plays with me on my swing set." Queue up all the awwwwww's that resonated from the crowd and a proud mom and dad who wiped tears away. We love our girls, and the love that they have for each other!

December:

Santa came to visit us at our annual "Breakfast with Santa" at the Holly Tree Clubhouse. Claire was pretty pumped about it this year and jumped on Santa's lap to tell him her one true wish: A Rudolph. The perplexed Santa explained that Rudolph needs a pretty big yard to graze in and is a lot of work to take care of. Claire knew that and explained that she wanted a stuffed Rudolph. And that was it. Miss I-am-afraid-of-everything Chloe gingerly walked up to Santa and gave him a cordial handshake before she let him pull her up to her lap and requested "Dora" for Christmas. No other details were offered. We were able to snap a few pictures before Chloe realized she was sitting on a strange man's lap.

We had just a wonderful Christmas. Jason's parents joined us on Christmas Eve for our church service and dinner at home, before Claire wrote a super nice letter to leave for Santa beside the cookies. We tucked the girls in bed and assured Chloe's fears about a stranger coming into her house while we were all sleeping. Both Claire and Chloe heeding the warning - if you get up too early before Santa has a chance to leave the presents (and Santa has a LOT of houses to visit, so he may be there even in the morning) then he takes all the presents and leaves. The kids both stayed in bed until 7:30 and then we got the wrapping paper flying.

After brunch, we hopped in the car to head to Florida for a few days. The drive down was OK (if you consider two over-stimulated kids and no eateries, including McDonald's, open as OK) and we made it to my parent's house around 10:30 that night. The week was a lot of fun, despite the epic cold temps in Florida, with Claire and Chloe getting to spend some time with their cousins, Hailey and Hannah.

January:

A time to celebrate.... 10 years of marriage for Jason and me. Except he was going to be out of town for work during our anniversary and for an entire week. I was so disappointed.... until dad sends me a text saying he and my mom want to come and hang with me for that week! So they flew in and met Jason in the airport as he was leaving. The exchanged car keys, and drove to my house in Jason's car but not before picking up my kids and groceries to cook dinner. We had a great week - even when Snowmageddon 2011 hit which delayed their flight and put the kids out of school for a week. The Floridians remembered their New England roots and shoveled my driveway and got my fireplace going. What lifesavers they were!

And now today, I celebrate a birthday with my family that started with chocolate chip pancakes and coffee, a nice lunch out and an afternoon with the kids. Here's to many more years together!

(stickers courtesy of Claire's label maker)