Our Backdoor Visitor

So, tonight I was starving, and decided to make myself a sammie around 9:30-I know...late to be eating, but-I'm hungry. Anyways. Coltrane always gets up for food-no matter how deep a sleep he's in. Right away he became disinterested in the food-and his back hair started standing up and he was snorting and growling-but never barked. I looked outside-figuring I'd see someone walking a dog...not quite. A HUGE racoon right outside our sliding glass door. I SO wanted to let Cole out to scare the crap out of him-but was afraid of Coltrane being attacked or the racoon being frightened and instead of running away-running into our house (which would have made for a MUCH better story). But, instead-I let Coltrane watch the big fellow and took some pics! I was so sad no one was here to witness this with me. Maybe then I would have had the guts to let Cole out!

Laughing My Ars Off!

So, the morning after Delaney's birthday (Thursday)...Kate and I are playing in the front room...and this is how Delaney comes downstairs. (She got her dog and carrying bag from Aunt Julie, her Barbie case from Denise, and the Boston Terrier purse from NCB). I almost peed my pants. And, the fact that she even kept all of her jewelry on as well as carrying all her bags, wearing those shoes and posed for me...was very amazing!

Delaney's FOURTH Birthday

Delaney's birthday this year fell on a Wednesday-which just so happens to be a day that is very busy for us. PJ and I both work, so the girls are at daycare, then Delaney has cheerleading and I have class (45 minutes away). Plus the weekends before and after her birthday were already packed. So, we decided to start to bring down her birthday parties a notch. Instead of inviting our friends and their kids-we asked Delaney who she wanted to share her birthday with her...and she listed (other than her grandparents and uncles, and Aunt Julie) her five best friends-Julia, Spencer, (and Gwen), Nicole, Anthony, and Maggie. Lucky for Delaney-everyone was able to come over to have some pizza, cupcakes, and gifts. It was very laid back and relaxing. It was just a weekday evening playdate-but everyone had fun. So-Happy Belated Birthday, Delaney...HOLY COW-I can't believe we have a four year old! YIKES!

Our Christmas Morning

Well, Kate was up around 6, but fell back asleep in our bed. Finally she was up and ready to go around 7:30 or so. We actually had to wake up Delaney-go figure...any other day, and she would've been up around 6-7! The girls were VERY excited to see everything Santa brought them. Although they didn't get any instruments and Delaney didn't get any trains, they got a lot of fun stuff for their dolls, a new princess dollhouse, and fun accessories to their Pixar Cars-a carrying case, Flo's V-8 Cafe and the Radiator Springs dirt track (so cool, btw). They also got some play-doh, lots of jewelry, matching robes and nightgowns, cars, princesses, and lots of Pez. Here are pics of what they saw waking up.

Oh-and I got a kick-ars bike and Pete got a portable dvd player w/IPod Dock.

Baking Cookies for Santa

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

The girls were allowed to open one present from Mom and Dad tonight-their personalized aprons. They were in need of them for baking Santa some cookies! We had fun, and the girls looked adorable. We enjoyed cookies, egg nog, and fabulous Christmas music.

Ice Skating on Christmas Eve

The girls enjoyed ice skating today...it was Kate first experience on the ice, and Delaney did pretty well. She got up without hesitation or frustration whenever she would fall. Katie's skates were a bit big and she was all over the place. She had to be held at all times. Thanks to Nana for her patience on the ice today...who knew it would take four people about 30 minutes to go around the rink just one time! Whew-what a workout!

More Dinner Pics

Thanksgiving Dinner

This is all of us around the big kid and little kid tables (finally) enjoying dinner...YUM! There's a pic of the MAN of the house carving the turkey, and one of our precious Delaney saying the dinner prayer. Yes, that's right, don't fall out of your chair, but Delaney goes to a Christian preschool, and learned a grace. It was awesome, and we all clapped for her.

Thanksgiving Chez Henderson

Since I can only post 5 pics per posting...I'll post several pics from Thanksgiving. We had a slight turkey debacle. After thawing for 3 days in the fridge, our 12.8 lb turkey was still completely frozen...Ooops! So, we then had to run to a couple different stores to get a fresh one (which we have plenty of leftovers from, seeing as this one was almost 21 lbs). Nancy made a delicious sweet potato soup, and the girls made awesome placemats for our guests. We had lots of wine waiting for our 2 O'Clock meal that was finally ready around 5:30. So, the dinner tasted devine...no matter how it really was!

Thanksgiving...coming soon

I'm currently a bit swamped with end of term projects, papers, and exams. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I took 200 pictures of our great time with Pete's Mom and brothers, and Grace and Dave.

I'm at the library, and on my laptop, so don't have pics...I promise I'll post them by the weekend!
Hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!

More Circus Pictures

See post below for the CIRCUS experience...here are more pictures!

The Circus...What a great experience!

Grammie and Poppy treated us to a day at the circus yesterday (Sunday the 18th). The girls were beyond excited, and had a wonderful time. Delaney's favorite part was Bello, who was sort of the main character of the show. They had a big TV screen there that was showing the main act (big stage with a lot going on), and Delaney would watch the screen, and then look around to find that act. She followed Bello everywhere. Kate was most concerned about seeing the elephants. Every time they left, she wanted them back. She also really like the Chinese acrobats, as she said they were doing ballet...which she loves, and the trapeeze (which is her favorite thing to do at gymnastics). The girls clapped and giggled, and were amazed by everything. They enjoyed a hot dog, chicken nuggets, french fries, COTTON CANDY, and snowcones-Delaney got a tiger, and Katie got an elephant! They had a great time. Of the 85 pics...I can only post 5 on here. So...ENJOY! THANK YOU GRAMMIE AND POPPY!!!

Delaney's TI Competition

So, many of you know that Delaney is in cheerleading. This past weekend she performed in her second competition. The girls are adorable, and this is the closest video we got from Grammie's camera. Keep in mind that the age range is 3-6 years old. Can you get any cuter?! Oh-and if you need help finding Laney...she's one of the smallest...and she's a little ahead of everyone else. She knows her routine...which you can tell, just a little ahead of the game! :) This video is also on YouTube (under Delaney Cheering for Team Illinois).

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM THE HENDERSON'S

Pumpkin Carving

I almost forgot to share the girls pumpkin carving experience this year! Saturday we actually had NO plans...it was GREAT! So, we laid around, played outside, relaxed, carved pumpkins, and went to Chuckee Cheese for dinner and games. A PERFECT FAMILY DAY!

Delaney was very excited about carving pumpkins...Kate, not so much. She went down for a nap, and Daddy and Delaney got started drawing, cleaning, and carving. Daddy made sure to leave Kate's pumpkin for her...but even later, after a good nap, she didn't want to help. But, she did like the finished product. WAY TO GO DAD! Also...we decided to roast our pumpkin seeds this year...we had a sweet/salty section, and a cajun section. Both girls actually like the sweet/salty ones. We were v. surprised!