Gingerbread Ornament Loses Arm in Vicious Attack By a Toddler

Mistaken for a cookie, this darling Gingerbread Girl ornament has her arm bitten off by toddler Sydney Pewitt. Luckily, rescuers were able to retrieve the arm. The Gingerbread Girl remains in intensive care until her arm is securely re-attached with super glue. We will continue to follow this tragic story and bring you the latest updates as they occur.

WORTH THE WAIT

In an earlier blog post, I mentioned how Sydney suddenly changed her feelings about Santa and decided NOT to get her picture made with him. I was fine with that and decided not to pursue it any further. This morning, however, she said, out of the blue, she wanted to go to the mall today and sit in Santa's lap. I had just planned to stay home today and work around the house. Instead, I decide to grant her wish and get her and Sarah dressed and drive to the mall. Of course, now there is a LONG line to see Santa. I ask her, "Are you SURE you want to sit in Santa's lap for a picture?" She assured me this is what she wants to do. So during our hour-long wait in line I just knew we'd finally get up there and she would immediately back out. I was prepared for this and was fine with it. She stuck to her guns, however, and jumped right up in his lap and gave him a big hug. That's the picture I chose to keep.

By the way, Sarah's not in the picture because I was sure she would fall apart and possibly cause Sydney to re-think her decision like she did when we tried this a few weeks ago.

They're Coming Out!














Sometimes I'll drape wet washcloths or dish towels on the rim of the washer until I'm ready to wash a load of towels. I guess Sydney hadn't noticed this before because the other day when she walked by the laundry room she shouted, "Mom, look, they're coming out!"

CHRISTMAS COOKIES, YUM!













The girls and I joined some other moms and kids at little Bennett's house for some cookie decorating this morning. Sydney and Sarah did such a great job with their icing and sprinkles.













Pictured around the table are Sydney, Jonathon McDevitt, Bennett Dickerson, Emily McDevitt, Jack (yes, another Jack!) and Sarah.

PACKERONI?

The other night, the girls were eating pepperoni pizza for dinner. To my suprise, Sarah was scarfing down the pepperoni. I said, "Wow, Sarah, you really like the pepperoni." Sydney replied, "Yeah, I like packeroni, too!"

That same day, Sydney was playing with her dolls and laying them on the floor and covering them with blankets. Sarah walked over and began uncovering the dolls. Frustrated and upset by this, Sydney said to me, "Sarah break my feelings!"

Is It Christmas Yet?

It's only December 7th and already I feel like Christmas should be over by now. We've been to two holiday parties, we've seen Santa three times now (from a distance) and the girls have even opened a couple of presents. And, while at the mall the other day, looking for christmas pjs for the girls, the sales lady in Dillards said it'd be hard to find any christmas pjs this close to Christmas. "This close to Christmas?! Today is only December 5th! Christmas is still 20 days away!" I'm suddenly realizing that the holidays now begin right after Halloween (or the prepartions for the holidays.) Is this new? Or, has it always been this way for people with children? Last Thursday (Dec. 1), even Toys R Us in Coolsprings actually had big signs on the front windows listing the games and toys that were now out of stock! I can only imagine how much harder it is when your children are beyond preschool years and begin asking for all those hugely popular games and such that require you to become part of that mob we all saw on the news storming into WalMart the day after Thanksgiving! UGH! I think I'll be a firm believer in on-line shopping regardless of the shipping costs.

Below are some pictures from the two Christmas parties we went to last weekend.














Believe it or not, this is the best out of 4 pictures I tried to take of all the kids at the MOMS club Christmas party!

















Sydney and Sarah just LOVE little Maddie Calvert. I have to say, I love her just as much. She's got to be one of the friendliest and most lovable babies I know.

















Sydney and Mack Calvert have a real love-hate relationship going on. They can't wait to see each other, but they have such a hard time sharing! We caught them rolling around and giggling under a pile of pull-ups they had dumped out in Mack's room.

















Sydney insisted on riding the train at the mall the other day. She asked if I would ride with her but I told her I was too big. I knew better than to put Sarah in the train. She would likely have a melt-down as soon as she realized the train was leaving without ME in it. Sydney didn't seem to mind that she'd just have to ride alone. As it turned out, another little girl rode with her. It was funny to watch the two of them just staring at each other during the whole ride. Neither of them even cracked a smile.

















This picture is my 4th and final attempt to get a good picture that's worthy of a Christmas card. Clearly this picture was not the winner. I'll have to settle for one of the poses I got while at the MOMS club party in front of the hostess's fireplace. I have big hopes for next year, though!

Thanksgiving with Our Families

Since my brother Jim and his wife Noelle would be travelling to South Bend for Thanksgiving, we celebrated a little early at their new home in Cookeville along with my Mom and Granddad. Despite the sobbing Sarah in this picture, we all had a wonderful time together.
















Shhh...let's not wake Granddaddy Lee.














For Thanksgiving Day, we visited Les' family. Sydney and Sarah had so much fun playing with their cousins, Turner and Maddie who were visiting from Hattiesburg, MS.














"Got my football helmet, my bad minton raquet...now, where's that baseball?"



















Here's another picture request by Sydney. She asked me the other day, "Will you take a picture of us?" Good thing I always have film in my camera!

My Little Swiper

Sydney and Sarah like to visit Happy Tails at the Factory in Franklin. This is a pet adoption center (mostly cats) where the girls like to hang out and play with all the cats and kittens. Before leaving the Factory yesterday, we stopped in a children's clothing shop while I looked for some Christmas pjs. The girls were playing with all the little trinkets, toys and such that were on shelves within reach of very small children (big mistake!) When we got home and Sydney climbed out of the car she said, "Look at my pretty necklace, Mom!" She was proudly pointing to this necklace she was wearing around her neck. I asked her where she got it and she happily said "The Factory." This was actually not hard to believe. She has no concept of paying for things in stores. I explained to her that she's not supposed to just take things from stores but, she's still too young to grasp that whole concept so I just left it at that. When Les came home a little while later, Sydney immediately said, "Look at my pretty necklace, Dad. It's very pretty." He, too, asked her where she got it and she replied, "The Factory." So, we'll go back to the shop this afternoon and return the $2 necklace all the while I'll be explaining to Sydney that what she did was wrong. However, I still think she's too young to learn a lesson from this, yet.

No Picture With Santa This Year : (

Well, it looked promising at first. The girls and I were waiting with some friends for Santa to arrive at the little Santa Village in Green Hills Mall. When Sydney spotted him about 20 ft. away, she got so excited and ran all the way to him and hugged him. He knelt down and it looked like she was having a conversation with him (perhaps telling him she wanted some princess dress-up clothes.) At this point, I was thrilled with the idea that getting some pictures of her with Santa was going to be a breeze. (I didn't have much hope for Sarah, though.) So, when he sat down in his chair and it was time for the picture, Sydney went right over to him, climbed in his lap and leaned in and hugged him some more. My next move was the big mistake. Things were looking so good that I actually tried to put Sarah on Santa's other knee. Naturally, she freaked-out and started crying. I immediately picked her back up so I could at least get Sydney's picture with him. Upon seeing Sarah's distress, Sydney decided Sarah must know something she doesn't. So, Sydney starts crying hysterically while Santa tries to console her with a candy cane, to no avail (although, she still accepted the candy cane.) I'm so disappointed! After getting such a great shot of the two of them with Santa last year, I had hoped I'd be able to continue to get a Santa picture every year! Guess we'll just have to skip a year. Who knows, though, I may never get a Santa picture again!