From us to you....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Elf pics will continue until I've done every day (per Hayden's instructions) so Christmas music will continue until then as well!! Tomorrow I start my resolutions. Tomorrow I start my 365 days of pictures. Tomorrow I start a new year. May it be a wonderful, joyous year for all of us!!

Time for Resolutions!!

Alas and alack; Christmas is over. We had a great holiday! Everybody got everything they wanted and then some. The elves have returned to the North Pole, the gift wrap has been cleaned up, half of the dog presents have already been destroyed. Now its on to resolutions. I've been thinking hard and have a few that I really hope to be able to stick to. Do you think if I post them here it will make it harder to break them? ;-) Here they are in no particular order.

1) Back on the diet people!! This is the one I most want to keep! No cheating, no sweets, no "I'll just have a bite" or "just this one time". This also means back to being consistent with exercising. No more excuses, no more "I'm tired!" because frankly I'm "tired" of looking like I'm sliding down the hill into 40 face first!!"

2) Back into the scrap room. I have this great scrap room that my husband put together for me. I have great supplies that are just waiting there for me. And I have tons and tons and TONS of pictures that are waiting to be scrapped and placed into scrapbooks. I keep finding reasons not to get in there and get going, but I'm resolving to get back into it!

3) 365 days of pictures. Okay I know I mentioned that I have tons waiting to be scrapped, but I want to challenge myself to take a picture a day. It doesn't have to be of the girls (how tired of that would they be?) but of anything. I think this will be most difficult on days that I work. Who knows maybe you'll see a lot of me napping, or getting ready to nap or getting up from a nap. We'll have to see because of course I'll post them. So I guess that would be another resolution: keep up the blog!

4) Back to the barn! I've missed Thunder, Gypsy, Ari and Ginger sooooo much!!! There is always something that keeps me from getting out there. I tried marking Tuesdays as my riding days in my calendar, but then the weather conspired against me! I will get back to riding once a week this year. I have to do it, I need to do it, I will do it.

Okay, so that's all I have so far. Only 4. That should be easy. Right? Yeah, right.

Merry Christmas to All!

As I sit here surrounded by my family and thankful for all the love that I have in my life, I'd like to take a moment to say that I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas! And now, I'm going to spend more time with the 3 loves of my life. Well, 5 if you include the dogs. Although I must admit, Santa did bring a little something for the cat too.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

It's Official!!

Christmas may now come because I'm ready!! WHOO HOO!!! We've seen Santa, I've bought all the gifts, the house is decorated and I'm off until Christmas night! YEAH!! Of course I still have to wrap the gifts and get a stocking for Gracie (yes, it looks like Gracie will be staying with us through the Christmas holidays and, well, I guess indefinitely) and have cookie making day tomorrow. But other than those things I'm done! I can now relax and enjoy the Christmas season and my kids' Christmas break. Now if they'd only stop fighting long enough to let me enjoy it!

Where has the time gone?!?

Here it is one week before Christmas and believe it or not, I'm almost done shopping!! Time is flying by! I can't believe it has been a week and a half since I last blogged!! I apologize for my slackness, but it has been super crazy around here with getting ready for Christmas and me deciding I needed to try to drive myself into exhaustion by working 8 of the last 11 days! The sad part is: I don't even have time to blog now! I'm off to run some errands, finish up the Christmas shopping, get the things for the girls' Christmas parties tomorrow, get fundraiser stuff handed out, shirts ready for give aways at school, somewhere in there find time to pick up the girls and take a nap and then go into work tonight. Frankly that makes me tired just looking at it. Maybe I should take my nap first........

How did you spend your Saturday?

I spent mine freezing my behind off at my daughter's Christmas parade!!

My Mozzie is such a trooper! She came and stayed for the entire thing! Of course hot fried pies did make nice hand warmers!

Waiting for the parade to come down Main Street! The temps hadn't started dropping too much at this point, but it was still cold!

Hayden is in the chorus at her school which is the largest elementary school chorus in the state of Georgia! They had their Christmas performance Thursday night at the school. I know I'm a wee bit biased but...the second and third grade chorus totally rocked and sounded AWESOME!!!

"Geseende Kersfees"

That was Hayden's solo line. It's Merry Christmas in Africa. At least that's what they tell us.

On Saturday Buford had its annual Christmas parade and one of the highlights is the Academy's chorus walking in the parade and performing afterwards. We were supposed to have temps in the low 50's with plenty of sunshine....or it could be overcast and in the 40's with temps rapidly dropping!!! I know that's nothing to you guys in the north, but to us here that's not only cold; it's FREAKING COLD!!!! Of course Hayden didn't want to wear a coat because "its too puffy and I'll look stupid". Of course blue lips and goosebumps is a good look and she decided to go with that. She changed her tune after the parade when they had to stand around and wait to perform. Then puffy and warm became the best thing ever!

"Another one bites the dust....and another one down and another one down...

Belle can now officially sing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth"!!

She has been working on this tooth ever since the other front one fell out the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. That's right, a week and a half ago. She's been wiggling and pushing and prodding and poking. Not too mention all the "Mom, I felt a root break. Try to pull it".

I was getting ready to leave for work on Saturday and as I was about to walk out the door she asked if I would try one last time. I did (because that's just the kind of Mom I am) and *pop*, out it came. She looks so stinkin' cute!!! Of course the thing that she is most excited about? That she can stick her tongue out through the hole without opening her mouth. Apparently there is nothing better when you're 5!

Now if she can just keep the other 3 loose ones in her mouth until these grow in so she'll be able to eat solid food!!

This cracked me up!

I've already blogged about the chaos with 3 dogs. I haven't shared with you how I have to put Jack's food down and block both of the other dogs while he eats so they don't get his food. Well last night I was at work and the phone rings and its Andy telling me a story. I have to share because frankly it cracked me up.

Apparently he was feeding the dogs and remembered that he had to play defense to let Jack eat. Apparently it was quite a sight. I only have the mental visual since I wasn't there but here goes. We have an island in the middle of our kitchen. Andy put Jack's food bowl down by the island and then stood with his back to the sink facing the island. Enter Gracie from his right. He has to pin Grace to the counter that the sink is on with his leg so she won't get Jack's food. Enter Stitch, also from the right. He has to tell Stitch to sit and stay and keep an eye on him so that he won't get Jack's food. Enter Jake, the cat, from the left. He has to use the leg that is not holding Gracie to block Jake from getting Jack's food. May I also mention at this point that Jack is not a fast eater; especially when he has to take a bite of food, look at everyone staring at him while he's eating and then give them a warning growl. Poor Andy!! I couldn't even offer Andy my sympathies because I was too busy picturing this in my head and laughing out loud; and I couldn't stop. Yes, I know what you're thinking: I AM such a good wife!!

There's a reason that I don't have 3 dogs

THE CHAOS!!

One dog is great.

Two dogs is rowdy because they love to wrestle.

Three dogs is insane, crazy, wild, nerve wracking....need I go on?

Gracie likes to wrestle with Stitch, but she knows her place. He is the top dog and she doesn't dispute that. Of course, like a puppy, she wants to play and growl and nip and jump. Enter my sister's little dog (part rat, part mutt- meant with nothing but love of course but I want to give you an idea of his size). My mother brought him home from my sister's after Thanksgiving and he will be staying with them through my sister's winter break. My parents went to New York this weekend so Jack is staying in the Wiggs' Kennel while they're gone.

Gracie has decided she must a) try to get Jack to play with her, b) try to let Jack know that she is second in the pecking order, c) move him where she wants him to go, d) keep him from being too near any of us humans or Stitch or e) all of the above. In addition there is still the Stitch/Gracie wrestling matches and the Stitch/Jack playing. I need to get my black and white striped shirt and carry a whistle!!! Or leave it to Belle who every few minutes is telling one or the other of the dogs "No, stop it, no, don't do that, no, no, no, no...." Or Hayden who every few minutes is going "Mom, Gracie is....., Mom, Stitch is....., Mom, Jack is...., Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom".

How much longer until Sunday? ;-)

Another tooth bites the dust

No pun intended....okay yeah, all puns intended! Belle lost another tooth. This one was a front upper tooth. It came out at the hockey game the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. She now has a big ole gappy grin that is too cute!

But wait there's more!! The other front upper tooth is SUPER wiggly. I wouldn't doubt with the way that Belly works it, it will be out before they girls get out of school for Christmas Break. As of now she is singing "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth". If the super wiggly comes out she'll have to add to that. Unless of course the wiggly one next to the super wiggly one comes out too.....

Alternate Christmas song titles for Belly:

1: All I Want for Christmas is my 3 front teeth

2: All I Want for Christmas is my 4 front teeth

3: All I Want for Christmas is a set of dentures so I can eat Christmas dinner

4: Follow the Toothfairy Santa Cause she knows the way to my house

5: Over the river and through the woods, to Belle's house the Toothfairy goes

6: I love those W-I-G-G-L-Y teeth...Wiggly teeth, wiggle teeth, wiggle all the way (sung to the tune of Jingle Bells...come on work with me people!!)

The Elves Are Here!

The girls have been anxiously awaiting Dorie and Colleen's return from the North Pole and they finally arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving!

Isabelle with Dorie

Hayden with Colleen

For those of you who don't know about the elves. The girls write a letter to Santa and ask him if they can "borrow" an elf to keep until Christmas Eve when Santa picks them up. The elves are only able to come if they're finished with all their work at the North Pole so there won't be any disappointed kids.

Every night before they go to bed the girls set out crackers and water for the elves to eat and drink and sprinkle them with snow. During the night the elves get into crazy antics. For example last year they decorated the girls' Christmas trees with underwear. This apparently was the girls' favorite as it comes up quite regularly! The elves then hide and the girls have to find them each morning.

The underwear ornaments last year

So far they haven't done anything too wild. They have been found waiting in the car; in the refrigerator drinking chocolate milk; in the cereal container; in the Christmas card rack and in the Christmas tree itself. Not sure what they'll be up to tonight but I'm sure it will be something very exciting!! With that in mind I'll be posting an elf pic a day which will let you know what Dorie and Colleen have been up to. You can also check out Hayden's blog listed on the side. She has said she will be keeping a running commentary on what the elves have been up to. That way you'll be some of the first to know if any underwear trees are found!

Things I am thankful for:

From the most important to the trivial, here are the things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving Eve:

1) My awesome husband and my amazing girls and the fact that everyone has been healthy again this year. The fact that I get to hear my children laughing, singing, talking, and yes fighting, while some parents will never hear their child again. The fact that even when I work late at night, I get to still come home and crawl into bed next to my husband while some only get to curl up with memories.

2) My family. I'm so lucky to have my parents, Mozzie (my grandmother), aunts, uncles and cousins so close so that we can spend holidays together. My sister is in California this year for Thanksgiving, but will be home for the Christmas/Hanukkah holidays. My parents and my Mozzie are very involved and close with me, my husband and my girls and for this and for all of their love and support, I am thankful.

3) My friends. I'm also lucky to have so many wonderful people that I can call friend. No matter what happens I have great friends that are there for me no matter the day or the time. They encourage me, support me, counsel me, play with me and fuss with me and I am truly blessed to have them in my life.

4) My job and my husband's job. In these turbulent times I'm glad to know that nurses will always be needed and that my position is relatively safe. Which brings me to the thankfulness for the food that my husband and I are able to put on the table to feed our family.

5) The men and women in our armed forces who fight to protect our country, including my cousin Brad who is in Iraq this Thanksgiving. I will give even more thanks when they all return home safely.

6) Facebook. I know its silly, but it has helped me to reconnect with some old friends who I wouldn't have otherwise. I'm also thankful for this blog and the people who read it and comment on it. I know everything I have to say isn't that important, but I'm glad you all care enough to read it!

7) The fact that Gracie, the stray that is staying with us is potty trained. As you can tell we're heading into the trivial things here, but are you kidding? Who wants pee or poop on their floor! And I'm thankful for Stitch who is not only potty trained but the most awesome dog ever!

8) Lastly, I'm going to give you all the stupid, little things that I'm thankful for. Seriously these are dumb so hold on to your horses.
- Toilets (need I explain?)
- Toilet paper
- indoor heating (I do not like being cold and being able to come into a warm house is very nice)
- indoor air conditioning (I live in the South, the summers can be brutal. How did they do it in those huge dresses with no air conditioning?)
- Chocolate milk that is sold premixed
- Bathtubs
- A husband who can cook (and will cook!)
- Blazing Buffalo and Ranch Doritos
- Kayson's Philly Cheesesteak
- Wendy's Fries and Frosty....mixed
- Swifer's
- Dusting mitts with nubbys
- Fleece blankets
- Turvis Tumblers
- Sweet Tea
- Starbucks Caramel Apple Cider
- Wet to Straight Hair Straighteners
- Duck Tender Dog Treats (actually that would be what Stitch and Gracie are thankful for but since they'll do pretty much anything to get them....)
- Washers and Dryers
- Microwaves
- Cell phones
- XM radio
- Steak and potatoes
- Parades

It would seem that I'm definitely a child of the Electronic Era. But those are my trivial things. Things that make you say, every once in a while, "I'm sooooo glad I have this!" I'm sure there are ones I've left off. If you think of any that should have made the trivial list add a comment and let me know.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and may all the ones that you're thankful for be able to spend it with you!

Gracie Update

I've had people tell me I needed to post some pics of Gracie. So I took some and here they are. I also was told that I needed to post an update. Really not too much to share but here goes. I took her to the PetSmart vet on Thursday. I didn't know this, but when I called I was told that they do free vet checks on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2-4! I thought that was perfect. I wanted to make sure that she was healthy so that keeping her around Stitch and us wouldn't be a problem. She is healthy AND already spayed. Got to love that! She has abrasions to both back feet. The vet thinks it is from her being on the street. The vet thinks she was somebody's dog and they couldn't take care of her anymore and dumped her. She thinks she was probably abused a little since she is so timid around new people and cowers when you scold her. Well, she used to, now she just goes "oh sorry" and moves on. I guess when you get comfortable somewhere.....

Anyway, they scanned her for a chip. None to be found. We've driven all over the surrounding neighborhoods and no signs are up. We've put some signs up with no response. I'm agreeing with the vet and think she was a good old fashioned dog dump.

Mom met her on Friday and is seriously considering taking her. She left for California today and will be back next Monday night so Gracie is definitely here until then. She has a crate that Mom got her so she sleeps inside now and really enjoys that. As I told the vet last week, "We call her Gracie; she calls us Suckers."

She has finally started walking around with her tail up. It took her about two days to stop carrying it between her legs and being scared at every little thing. She is still interested in the cat but more so in a "what are you?" kind of way instead of an "I'd like to eat you" way. In other words she is doing great. She is cute, smart, sweet and housebroken. If Mom doesn't want her, do I have any other takers? ;-)

Say Goodnight Gracie

My husband would like to know "Out of all the houses on our street how did a little stray dog know to come to our house?"

I got the call yesterday while I was helping Hayden with homework.
"Gin, where's Stitch?"
"Sitting right behind me. Why?"
"Who is this brown dog looking at me through the fence?"

The answer was that I didn't know, but I had an idea it might be a little dog that we had seen earlier in the day at the top of our street. And I was right. She was barking at Andy like it was her house and what was he doing trying to come in the gate! He told me to watch out because she could be mean. That was before she came up to me with her tail between her legs, looking like I could possibly beat her and leaning up against my leg. My response: "Yes, she IS vicious."

We put her outside the gate, shut the gate, got the car into the garage and went back up to the top of the driveway. No dog. "Good she's gone." Turn around. Here comes said dog UP the driveway! She had gone through the neighbors yard to the back and jumped the fence into the yard. She was quite proud of herself too. Go through this procedure 3 more times with the same result as before. "Fine, we'll leave the gate open and go inside. She'll go away." Seriously? Did anybody else besides my husband think that was going to happen? I mean she's jumping to get INTO the yard. Most dogs jump to escape, not her.

So here's this dog, at this point, on the front porch. After a little whining at the front door, it gets quiet. I went to the front door and looked out thinking "okay she's gone". Or she could be wedged into the corner next to the front door shivering and looking oh so pitiful!

I told Andy to leave the gate open while he took out the trash that maybe she would move on.
She didn't.
He walked up to the top of the hill to see if she would keep going.
She didn't.
She stayed by his side the entire time looking at him with big sad puppy eyes. I give her credit for knowing who she needed to win over!!

"She looks hungry."
"Go ahead and feed her. We don't want her to starve. But, not too much. We don't want her to stay."
"Its supposed to get REALLY cold tonight."
"I'll put the doghouse together with some shavings and she can sleep in that in the pen."
"Its too windy."
"I'll move it closer to the house. And get her a blanket."

I know you're asking yourself: was she there this morning? Are you kidding? Of course she was!

I started calling her Maggie. Andy said not to give her a name. My Mom says she was thinking Gracie. It fits. She is now Gracie. My Mom is coming to take a gander at her tomorrow to see if she might want her. And that would be great. The problem? There are actually 2 and their names are: "Please Daddy?!?!" and "We love her Daddy!!!"

So, she has a bed tonight in the garage with a nice warm blanket, food and water. Stitch loves to play with her. The girls love her. She gets lots of pets and scratches from me. The cat has smacked her (we'll call that a truce.). And Andy....?

Say goodnight Gracie!

Oh Happy Day!!

Yes, it is a happy day for the male member of the Wiggs household! Why? Because for the first time in 5 years he is able to park his car in the garage alongside mine! We have purged, cleaned, rearranged and stored and finally, FINALLY, he can park his car in the garage. Hallelujah!

I just have to brag a little bit

I don't know how many of you knew that Hayden was enrolled in a "Budding Authors" session of College for Kids at Mercer University this summer. She also did a session of "Math Wizards" and thoroughly enjoyed both of them. Well, this past weekend we had the ceremony to present the kids with their bound and published works! Each child in the BA program had one of their stories picked out and published in a book of all the works from all this BA kids this summer. Hayden was super excited. She says she has always wanted to see her name in print. Maybe that's why we had to get an L drive notebook to hold all the stories she has been writing!! She also got a trophy for her MW session. The best thing about that was her comment "I never knew math could be so fun!" And that seems to have held over this year since she is doing great in math with no complaining about how awful it is!

At the ceremony on Sunday, Hayden was so nervous about walking up on stage that I thought she was going to throw up. She wouldn't even look at me as I tried to take a picture. So of course being the Mom that I am I took 8 consecutive pictures of her not looking at me until she finally looked at me with this grimace and said "Are you happy? Now go away!" Such sweetness!

Imagine 8 pics exactly like this until.....

This was the go away pic, not a smile, but I think I proved my point!

They had the kids sitting in one section with the parents in the other two. She sat near the back in the same row as us, right near us. Once the ceremony started I think all she could think about was getting the book and finding her story. She looked over at me and asked if she could move up a few rows (at this time they were working on the second row). I told her it was fine for her to move. So she scoots right up to the third row so that she is the next row to go. She stood in the line peering around the other kids at the stage. Then when her name was called she hopped up there, gave a little curtsy to the dean of Mercer, accepted her book, accepted her trophy and then hot-footed it off the stage. She wouldn't even pause for a picture! She then jetted to her seat where she instantly began flipping through to find her story. I kept looking over there and never saw her head raised again as she read it over and over. After the ceremony she was all smiles, I'm surprised her mouth didn't hurt from the huge smile. But if it did, it was a good pain, because as she pointed out "I'm a published author, Mom." Look out world, here she comes!

Hayden with the Mercer Bear

The book

The start of her story. It's actually 2 pages long.

There's something about little girls and their Granddaddys

I know when I was growing up my Granddaddy was the best guy ever! I loved doing things with him and going places with him. I spent pretty much every weekend with him and my Mozzie when I was young and we went on all sorts of fun adventures.

My girls feel the same way about their "Grandy". Their eyes light up and they get so excited when they know he's going to be with Mom picking them up on Wednesdays. They love hanging out with him, playing with him and just generally being with him. All of this is on my mind today because Isabelle is having mystery readers in her class this week for National Book Week. For those of you not in the know about mystery readers, it is exactly what the name implies. They are people who come in and read stories to the kids and the kids have no idea that they're coming. Belle was convinced that I was going to be a mystery reader for her class. Repeatedly she has told me that she knows I'm coming in to read. I kept telling her that I wasn't on the schedule and not to be disappointed when I wasn't one.

Flash forward to today: My Dad walks in to Belle's class to be the mystery reader and little Belly looks like she might cry she is so happy!!

My Dad has been going into Hayden's classes since she was in Kindergarten and being the mystery reader. The first year he went as "Crocodile Grandy" all dressed like Crocodile Dundee. The kids thought it was a hoot! He has played his digaridoo and juggled for her classes. He has never been into Belle's class but was all over it when I asked if he was interested in going this week. He brought a huge stack of books and Belle got to stand with him while he read to the class and the whole time she had this HUGE smile on her face. I asked her at the end if she had been surprised and she said "Yes, and I'm soooo happy that Grandy came!"

I'm telling you, little girls and their Granddaddys have a special bond. I know how important my Granddaddy was to me and I'm so blessed and lucky that my Dad loves to do stuff with the girls and is as crazy about his granddaughters as they are about him!

A Good Saturday

--Deciding not to drive to Auburn for the game: disappointing

--Getting stuff done around the house: rewarding

--Waiting 2 1/2 hours at Snipits with three complaining kids, oops I mean 2 complaining kids and a complaining husband: mind-numbing

--Seeing the smile on your kid's face when she gets the haircut she has been wanting for 6 months: PRICELESS!!!

TMBITT on Wednesday!!

Sorry for being so late! Life being what it is I was unable to get this posted yesterday. TMBITT's topic was Fall. Fall to me means football games, going to Auburn to watch them play and participate in all the game day activities, walks in the woods with that "fall" smell in the air, horseback rides through the woods with hooves crunching on the fallen leaves, gorgeous leaves- you know the ones so bright gold and orange that they can hurt your eyes if the sun is shining on them the right way. It also means leave piles. I don't mean just that the leaves have fallen into a pile; I mean leaves piled up so high that you can jump in them and wallow around in them and lose grown people in them.

This tradition started for us when we moved up to the lake in the fall of 2002. No one had been up to rake the leaves since they had started falling so the yard was covered under a huge layer of leaves. It took Andy and my Dad using two blowers to get them all into a huge pile. Hayden was 2 at the time and when she saw the pile getting bigger and bigger her eyes kept getting bigger and bigger and she started begging us to let her jump in the leaves. Of course who can resist a 2 year old's pleading eyes and a 3 foot pile of leaves? Not us! All of us started jumping in the leaves; my Mom and Dad, Andy, Hayden and a 6 month pregnant me. It was great fun. The next year when it came time to blow the leaves, Hayden begged Andy to make a big pile. He did and the rest is history. Every year the girls pester, beg and whine about when will the pile be made. Of course it is a great time for pictures too. My only concern is that as they get older the runway to jump in gets longer. So that begs the question: who will be the first one hurt in the "Jumping of the Leaves"?

2005: Dressed to cheer for Auburn and the leaf pile

2006: Trip to Auburn and the leaf pile

2007: Hiking through the woods and, once again, the leaf pile!

I swear my heart was breaking!

As I mentioned in my last post, Belle lost her tooth the other night. She put it in the little velvet bag that they both have used for all of their teeth for the Tooth Fairy. We're putting the kids to bed and Belle says to me "There really isn't a Tooth Fairy is there Mom?"
I said, "of course there is!"
"No, there isn't Mommy. You put the money under my pillow and take my tooth."
"No I don't!"
"Well, then Daddy does it."
"Daddy doesn't do it either. It's the Tooth Fairy."
"Yeah right Mommy, like you and Daddy are going to let a random person in my room at night."
I told her that there was no way that Daddy or I would be able to get the tooth/money exchange done without her waking up; that only a fairy can do that. She goes to sleep and all is well. The Tooth Fairy DID come that night and perform the exchange.
The next day we're having a discussion about Santa and Belle says:
"There isn't really a Santa Mommy. You just buy us presents and put them on the hearth."
"No, I don't. Santa brings me and Daddy presents too. Why would we buy our own presents and put them on the hearth? I hope there is a Santa because I love Santa and the presents he brings and the elves he lets us keep over Christmas."
"I know there is a Santa Mommy; I was just kidding."
Now there were other comments during this conversation and my response was spread out through the conversation, but I gotta tell you my heart was shattering all over the place! She's 5!! How can she not believe in Santa? Of course there is a Santa!! I'm not sure where she's getting these ideas (actually I have a pretty good idea that its one of the kids in her class) but I'm not happy about it. How can we help her to believe again? The elves will be here soon. Maybe they'll help. And some Christmas decorations. Yes we have started putting them up already. Of course Belle has had her tree up in her room all year. I'm not too proud to admit that leaving it up was easier than fighting her on it!! Maybe the lights need to be lit in the tree tonight. I'll start with that and go from there. Maybe my heart will recover too.

All Belle Wants for Christmas...

Is going to be a mouth full of teeth! She lost her third tooth the other day and now has all 4 of her top front ones loose. I mean when you touch them her whole gum moves. I have a feeling that they will be out well before Christmas and she will be "Gummy" through the month of December.

Loose teeth is another example to me of how different my two little ones are. For example, when Hayden started losing her teeth no one was allowed to touch them. She tried to not touch them when she brushed her teeth, she would eat around them. There was no wiggling them and pulling them was DEFINITELY not going to happen. When her front two were coming out they were so loose they were sideways, literally, and she still would not let me pull it! We had to wait for gravity to make the poor tooth finally fall out because she surely wasn't going to help it out.

Hayden and her loose tooth 08/06

Then there is Isabelle. Her tooth was loose on the bottom. I told her it probably wouldn't be out before Thanksgiving because it was loose but not that loose. So she started wiggling it with her fingers, with her tongue, making me wiggle it. She was working that tooth over. Every so often she would come up to me and ask me to try to pull it. Finally last week it really was loose enough. She asked me to try to pull it. I tried without much success, she told me to keep trying. I did and there was a little blood, she told me "KEEP TRYING MOMMY!!" It turns out I just didn't have a good enough grip because once I got a napkin it popped right out. No dangly sideways teeth for this kid!! And now she has the top 4. There is one that is looser than the others, so while they all get their wiggle time, this one is definitely on her hit list. Yeah, I don't see them lasting until Christmas and I can't wait to be able to scrap the "All I Want For Christmas" page for her!!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween from the Wiggs' house!!

A High Embarrassment Threshold

Yes, I think that I might have one of those. Case in point? Our Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A Monday night. No, I was not the cow but I was Minnie Mouse. Or as Melanie dubbed me "Loud Mouse". I told them I would post this pic and well...here it is. Me in all my Minnie Mouse glory. Hope you like it. And yes, the dress is poofy with tulle and stuff under the skirt. I promise!!

Nope, not embarrassed at all...Proud, proud, proud!

Here comes Halloween...

I guess there is something that I should have included on my "I've been tagged" post. It is a little known and wierd fact. Pretty much every Halloween since I was little, I get sick on Halloween. No, I'm not making it up. Its not always high fevers, vomiting, trip to the ER sick. But it usually involves a cold; sometimes with fever. Occasionally the good old GI infection. Well it looks like this year will be no exception. The headache and nausea has begun. I know you're thinking "well you are on a diet, maybe its carb withdrawal". And yes, you could be right. Signs do point in that direction. Then again it could be the "Ginnie's Halloween Curse"! muhwahhaha (that's evil laughter there for those who weren't sure if maybe the curse had resulted in the inability to spell words). Two days, I have two days to get to feeling better because I truly believe my children are going to want to trick-or-treat all night. No matter how cold, no matter how windy, no matter how sick. I think I better take some Vitamin C.

Uggghhh!

I just started back on my diet yesterday. And wouldn't you know it we had a Chick-fil-A spirit night last night. I was there for 3 hours and managed to resist the yummy, delicious goodness of a sandwich, coleslaw, fries and a sweet tea. It was quite tough. Although when you're dressed as Minnie Mouse (and I mean with the shoes people) and the dress is already big and poofy so you look like a red polka dotted whale, it makes it a wee little bit easier! Oh well, the end is worth it. Wish me luck and have a salad with me!!! ;-)

What's more surprising than a bday party not on your bday?

As I told y'all earlier, Andy spent his actual birthday at the Fall Festival being Super-Dad. He did not wear his cape because Edna Mode would not let him (a little Incredibles reference there!). We didn't really do anything to celebrate his day because we had so much going on and he kept saying "You don't need to do anything for my birthday...I don't need any presents...Its not a big deal". Well, when all the crazy dust had settled around here I realized that his birthday WAS a big deal and he DID need presents and we WERE going to do something for him. Whether he liked it or not! After much discussion with the girls (and how they kept it a secret I'll never know!) we decided we would have a special night for Daddy. We cooked him one of his favorite dinners, got him a Carvel ice cream cake and a couple of small presents. So we were all set when he came home from work.

As soon as he walked in the door, Belle starts going "Hey Dad, its not a big deal night. Nothing going on." Of course Hayden and I are going "heeheehee isn't she cute?!" (at least that's what I was saying). Andy looked a little perplexed but he lives in a house with 3 girls and he has learned to just nod and smile a lot; God love him. Long story short we managed not to give it away until the very end of dinner when he said "I'm done." And two little spoons shot down onto the table with such force that there may be dents in the table and two little mouths go "Us too!" Dishes have never been cleared so fast. Andy is still looking perplexed and now even a little concerned; had his children and wife lost their minds? Of course that all meant that I was done too, because the girls were in the freezer at this point, pulling out the cake saying "nothing is going on Daddy, but you should close your eyes". They're very subtle those two! Needless to say when we started singing Happy Birthday (Hayden finally took her hands off his eyes) he was surprised and I'd like to think a little misty-eyed. But that could have been Hayden poking him in the eye, who knows. Anyway, I've decided that I like this "Nothing says surprise birthday party like having a party when its not your birthday". Who knows when I might strike next!?!?!?

I was tagged....

I was tagged by Shalina and Suzanne so I guess I doubly have to do this! I'm a little behind but I think that's probably okay. So here goes, 7 facts you may not know about me.

1: My Mom tried to teach me to drive a stick shift when I was first learning to drive. We spent more time giggling and stalling than anything. So the way that I really learned how to drive a stick shift was when I needed/wanted to get to a friend's house one day and my Mom was at work and the only car at the house was the stick shift. She told me to be careful and good luck! It was actually kind of funny because I did a lot of stalling, cussing, laughing, maybe a little crying and a normally 20 minute trip took me 1 1/2 hours. I kid you not.

2: I wanted to be a vet when I was growing up (which is funny because that is what Belle wants to be now) and was emphatic that I would NEVER be a nurse. I even went to Auburn to go to vet school. At the time I worked in the summers at a vet clinic. One afternoon I was squatted down starting an IV on a Chow (evil, evil dogs) and he came at me and almost bit my face. I decided then and there that I DID NOT want to be a vet.

3: I got into nursing school one week before classes were going to start. As previously mentioned I was never going to be a nurse. I graduated from Auburn and was planning on going to Physical Therapy school. Worked at a clinic and totally nixed that idea. I was working at a doctor's office and was tired of what I was doing. On a whim I started calling nursing schools to see what I would need to do to apply. I had realized at this point that nursing was the perfect career if I wanted to have kids because it gave me schedule options. Never say never! Anyway, I called Emory and started talking with the Dean of Nursing who asked me "Could you start classes next week?" The answer was "Heck yeah!" and the rest is history.

4: My husband and I would love to own a huge piece of property and have a working farm raising horses and cows. Shocked ya on that one, right? I know it will never happen but it is a dream of ours.

5: It took me a full summer to learn how to water ski. Sad but true. My parents took me out many, many, many times that summer and pulled me around many, many, many parts of Lake Lanier. I think my mind couldn't quite get over that I had to let the boat pull me up. I wanted to stand up once the boat started and then fight to stay up. Apparently I still do it that way. Or at least I did until I blew out my knee. I haven't skied since. I keep thinking about trying it again and then get worried about my knee. For some reason I had this silly song that I kept singing the whole time I was trying to get up, "Running Bear Loved Little White Dove". And no, it wasn't a Prince song. I'm not even sure how I knew this song or if I had even heard any of the rest of it. Bizarre! I'll have to see if I can find it online to share with you because I know you're dying to hear it! I think I got so much water up my nose and other various places that I probably lowered the lake a few feet that summer.

6: I tore my ACL in my left knee playing soccer and had to have surgery when I was 28. The sad part (as if the whole thing wasn't sad?) was that it was a pick up game because the team we were supposed to be playing didn't show up. I was defending a girl and was behind her, my foot was set and got caught in the astroturf (it was indoor soccer) and when she pushed against me my whole body moved but my foot didn't. Pain, suffering and agony. I had an MRI on the night before Thanksgiving that showed the tear. I had surgery a few months later. Thank goodness for my Mom who let me stay at their house and gave me an intercom so that I could call when I had to go to the bathroom or turn over at night!

7: I went to the Governor's Honors Program the summer after my junior year in English with a minor in Drama. Hey! Maybe that's where my kids get it!! Anyway, I was nominated by my English teacher and had to submit an essay for an application. I was accepted and spent my summer down in Valdosta at the GHP program.

Okay, there you have it. Seven things you may or may not have known about me. I don't know 7 people that blog if you take away all the people who have already been tagged or have tagged me sooooo... I'm tagging Hayley and Christy.

I love weddings!

My friends Holley and Josh got married tonight. It was beautiful. There were candles everywhere. Of course my oldest thought that meant she was supposed to try to blow every candle out. I had to walk around behind her with a lighter relighting all the ones she blew out. The good news is at a wedding someone always has a lighter. Not sure why, but its true. And if they hadn't? Instead of throwing rice we lit candles and lined the path on their way out of the reception and into the limo. It was very pretty and my little pyro children loved it! Next to the candles? A whole basketful of lighters! They must have known my kids would be the candle blowing champions of 2008!

Me and Holley

At every ER person's wedding we always get a picture of all the guests that are ER employees. This time it was decided that we did not want a posed picture. I'm not sure if it was really what Holley had in mind, but it definitely is different!