Lori O

Just for my own records..

Olivia:
Just Dance Wii
boots
pocketbook
outfit
sound sleep pillow
bathrobe
American girl caddy/outfit
Chess game

Jared
LEGO H.P Burrow
LEGO H.P Hogwart's Express
Creationary
Paper Jamz guitar
Sock Monkey
Bathrobe
P.J's
Bruins Hat

Jack
LEGO Star Wars Shuttle
LEGO Hoth Wampa
Harry Potter Wii (1-4) ...

Unfortunately, I didn't get too many decent pics that day. Here's one with them in church, with their Godmother.

Obviously, Jared's in the 10. Jack is wearing the 8...and he apparently had grown from the time I bought it...it was a smidge too small.

I have managed to pay for my daughter's dance classes this year solely through my paypal acct...meaning, money I have accrued via selling on ebay/live auctions/ and my ebates refunds.

Part of me is pretty proud for doing it...part of me is depressed that I pretty much HAD to do it...our budget is stretched pretty tight. Dance classes could really be eamarked as a 'frivolous' expense...except, she loves it, it is her 'thing'..and I could never take that away.

It just ...

Oh WOW...delish! Thank you, Julia Child!

(watched "Julie and Julia" yesterday...GREAT movie!)

Final tallies:

From "Santa"

Olivia: DS game, BSC Doll, 2 Harumika sets, American girl doll outfit,

Jared: DS game, Nerf crossbow, LEGO power miners set, LEGO Star wars set, Automoblox (he asked for this, I thought he was too old.)

Jack: DS game, Nerf crossbow, LEGO power miners set, LEGO star wars set, Transformer.

From us:
Heeleys for all three
DS cases for all three


Stockings: ...

Thus far:

Olivia: Doll she asked for (BSG or something? Addison?), DS game, Hiramiya thingy (dress form with fabric), outfit for American Girl doll.


Left to get: some kind of Twilight tee.

Jared: Lego Power Miners Set, DS game, a refurbished (used) DS lite because he dropped his and 1/4 of the screen no longer lights up and is useless.



Need to get: a big kahuna Nerf gun.

Jack: Lego Power Miners Set, ...

UGH.

I just dread the financial strain this time of year brings.

It seems, even though dh works his butt off...and so do I...and we can pay our monthly bills on time...there isn't a hell of a lot of extra $$ to spend all at once for the holidays.

Granted...my kids are fortunate to have a lot of relatives that give to them at Christmas, so I really do try to limit things to something reasonable. But, my boys still 'claim' to believe in Santa (I'm not really ...

Gearing up for the annual Emmy Party my Mom, sister, Olivia and I have each year.
Mom makes her INFAMOUS home made pizza and calzone, sis makes her mexican dip...and I made home made apple crisp (fruits of our apple picking trip this morning!)

We sit around, eating and admiring/admonishing the TV celebrities attire. It's all good, fluffy fun!

NANK...are you coming?? Festivities begin at 6pm EST. See you there!

One of my twins, my son Jack, has learning disabilities. He was dx in Kindergarten, has been on an IEP ever since.

Learning to read was particularly difficult for him (along with many other academic things.)
But he worked hard with the reading teacher, and he has learned to read, albeit slowly.

As a result...he HATES reading. It's like pulling teeth to get him to read anything. I've tried everything...magazines, comic books, just trying to find something to 'grab' ...

I've been taking an adult Jazz class at Liv's dance school for two years now.

This summer, we asked the Director if ANY of the teachers would be willing to take us on over the summer...most of us hate losing the workout.
Luckily, her 30 year old daughter, who is an amazing dancer/choreographer..stepped up to the plate.

The class is even BETTER with her teaching it, vs. her Mom. She's young...she pushes us much harder! The little combinations she makes for us ...