A New Style for a New Year!

Brooke's hair needed a cut. It was growing nicely, but it needed to be shaped and we needed to get her bangs out of her eyes. I'd seen the cutest cut on a little girl recently, but it was short. So, I was torn - let it grow or cut it short? After dealing with the static in her hair for the last few weeks, daddy and I agreed - cut it short!

Here she is at the "salon". She got to watch Blues Clues on her own little TV next to the mirror, and sit in a racecar seat. She kept trying to steer while Kathy was cutting.

Clip, clip, clip! I was hoping we'd made the right decision. But the good thing is that hair always grows out again...

She never cooperates like this when I dry her hair!!!

TA-DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brooke loves her new do!

Here's how it looks in the back...

Now she'll look great for court (re-adoption) next week!

I can't get Olivia's picture to load properly, but see the static?? It looks like spiderwebs drifting off of her head. It sticks to everything, including all over her face. Sigh. She'll be in a ponytail for the rest of the winter.

New Years

Just a few more Christmas shots -
Santa brought the girls matching princess dresses.

Aunt Linda sent warm and fuzzy pj's...

And Qi Meng, Brooke's little foster brother, sent a great DVD featuring Chinese games and songs for kids. Brooke goes bananas over it and dances all over the room!

We made it to midnight on New Year's Eve. Thanks to some neighbors shooting off early fireworks, Olivia woke up screaming around 11:30pm. So she joined in the countdown fun. She and daddy toasted the New Year with sparkling grape juice. Ching! Ching! (Brooke loves to say "ching! ching!" and we toast something at almost every meal.)

Mommy and Olivia - ching! ching!

Then we found out daddy was pregnant with twins and he was due any minute!!!! Ha! Just kidding! Jingle and Smoochy HATE HATE HATE thunder/fireworks. Smoochy disappeared. Jingle took refuge in daddy's sweatshirt. (Lucy sleeps thru everything.)

Peek-a-boo!!!

Later, we found Smoochy bunked in with Brooke, who, thankfully, also slept thru everything.

Daddy got his New Year"s kiss from Brooke the next morning. I think she kinda likes her daddy...

Those wild dogs!

Brooke styling' her glamorous sunglasses...

One more picture of the dogs being tortured...

Let's hear it for a better 2010 than 2009...

Just a Typical, Out-of-Control New Year's Eve!!!

It's 8:15pm on New Year's Eve.

The girls....


And Mark..... snoring...
Yup - it's a typical New Year's Eve. : )

Happy Day to You!

Brooke loves to sing her version of Happy Birthday. She serenaded us during Christmas dinner. What a sweetie!!!! We're so glad to have our TWO girls with us this year!!!!

Christmas!

First, a Merry Christmas from Snow White!!

A box arrived from my aunt and uncle in Michigan. The girls LOVED digging thru the styrofoam pellets for all the goodies. They weren't even that curious about what was wrapped - they just loved playing in the box. I wish it would stay that simple!

Mark was on vacation the week of Christmas, so Brooke got to wrestle a lot! She loves that!

Happy Baby! She let me use a curling iron on her hair and it worked out pretty well. Poor Olivia's hair won't curl at all - too baby fine.

Since Christmas was coming in just a few days, I figured it might be good to rake the leaves in the yard. The family was coming for Christmas dinner and it would be nice if the house looked nice. Olivia helped...

But that night she started throwing up and running a fever. We called Grandma Sally and cancelled our family dinner, so as not to spread the nasty germs and ruin everyone else's holiday. Dave and Carol took over and kept everyone together for a nice Christmas at their house.

Mark rested with Lucy. That's what vacations are for!

Brooke the Ballerina!

Brooke the Elf!!

Mark made his famous Peanut Brittle. It was DEE-LISH! He packed up several boxes and made Christmas Eve deliveries to all the neighbors - in the cold and the icky rain. They always look forward to his treats.

Brooke still wasn't sure what all this "Christmas stiff" was about, but she could tell things were happening.

Smoochy gets a kiss goodnight. It's funny to think she was terrified of the dogs when she first got home. Now they're afraid of HER!

The girls got to open one present before bedtime. Grandma Helen had sent a pair of mayching bears for them. They are black and have the softest hair EVER. The girls loved them and took them off to bed. Olivia was feeling better by this time, but we still didn't want to take a chance. And we were waiting to see if Brooke came down with the same thing.

Each girl got their own reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

Everything was ready for Santa's arrival.

Olivia was up bright and early the next morning screaming to everyone that Santa had been there. She declared there must be " a billion" presents under the tree. We just stayed home that day and had a quiet Christmas due to the recent germs in the house. It was very restful, but too quiet.

Here are a few of the gifts the girls got...

Aunt Linda made a hit with her Kai Lan book for Brooke, among other things.

Aunt Dianna sent Rock Star kits! Oh, my!

Aunt Cassie hand-made matching crayon bags, complete with new crayons and color books!! (She sent one last year for Olivia and it was used-to-death this past year. The new bags are heaven-sent!)

Cousin Blake sent a super-soft, BEAUTIFUL Hello Kitty doll for Brooke!

Mommy and Daddy found a new Asian baby doll to add to Brooke's collection. She was in love all over again.

Aunt Debbi made sure the girls will have the cutest outfits at gymnastics this year.

And Aunt Lori used her impeccable taste to keep the girls looking like they live on 5th Avenue!

When Aunt Lori opens her Manners School for Naughty Girls, we will enroll Olivia.

And Cousin Kate helped Olivia look beautiful! She looks so grown up!

Aunt Carol gave the girls Tea Party Hat kits. You get to decorate your own hat! The girls were all ready to have a tea party.

After all the Christmas fun, it was back to normal. Olivia tried to paint and Brooke tried to run her down with her scooter. On purpose.

Daddy drew a simple cat sketch for Olivia.

And here's what she turned it into... Pretty good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Santa gift to the girls was a nail painting kit. Mommy had a hard time (lots of flipping the glasses up and down...) but I made flowers on one of Olivia's hands and green butterflies on the other - using toothpick tips and pin tips. I think I'm going to need a magnifying glass soon!

We tried to do Brooke's nails, and did ok - but we'll need to wait til she's older and can sit still longer.

It was a great Christmas and we have a lot to be thankful for - we're all employed and in good health. We hope 2010 keeps up our run of good luck!