Shannon's job

Mary has requested an update on Shannon, and since he can't seem to get himself in here to do it (he's too busy checking on the Razorbacks every time he gets near the computer), I guess I'll do it for him. He likes his new job at the bank. The transition from restaurant management was smooth because the work is similar--he's still managing a team of people who are serving customers. He has said that the lifestyle is totally different, in a good way. The hours are predictable and consistent, and he's home with us every night and every weekend. It's fantastic for all of us. He's been through a lot of training, but it's stretched out over a few months instead of condensed. He also likes being able to wear nice clothes that he picks out every day instead of a uniform. He's thrown out all his greasy black pants and gray shirts! Hopefully he'll get in here and give you some more, but for now, that's what's up with Shannon.

Hooray for Christmas!

We're all excited about Christmas out here. We've got the house decorated and we've been enjoying the festivities around town. I'm awfully proud of my mantle. I got the decorating idea from a Southern Living Christmas book that Mamaw Evans sent me for my birthday. After I hung the stockings, Rebekah walked in the room and said, "Mommy! You decorated red socks! That's so silly!" and she laughed for about ten minutes over it.



Our tree looks like something out of a department store because we bought a big package of red balls at Sam's and that's all that's on it now--except for one little white bear that Rebekah found and stuck on there. It will be more personalized and less Martha Stewart-y once we get out the rest of our ornaments. I've always wanted to be able to put my Christmas tree in a window that you can see from outside, and this year I can.



On Saturday we went to Christmas in the Park where we saw a friend perform with her dance class. After that we stood in line for an hour and a half to see Santa. Annabelle tolerated the wait well considering we didn't get done until 9:30. When we finally got to Santa Claus, we knew it was worth the wait. This year was Rebekah's first time to see Santa because I was determined not to subject myself to the long lines until she asked for it herself (we didn't even try with Annabelle). Rebekah crawled up in his lap and hugged him and touched his beard--she was starstruck! She wouldn't even look at the camera because she wouldn't stop hugging him. She did manage to ask him for a piano. When we left she said, "Santa Claus loves me." On the way home both girls fell asleep and Rebekah never woke up even when Shannon changed her clothes and put her to bed.



On Sunday we went to the Christmas parade, which lasted for over two hours! It was so hot that we were wearing short sleeves, and I took off Annabelle's pants and let her just wear a onesie. I actually saw some little girls in sun dresses. Santa was at the end of the parade, so we hung on until the end. Rebekah and Annabelle both perked up for the marching bands, and of course, I'm encouraging that. I just know I'd be the best band mom ever :)

language arts

On Friday, Rebekah brought home a note about what they had been learning in school for the week. For the literacy section, they read a book called Diary of a Worm, so I asked her to tell me about the worm. She began, "Once upon a time there was a little worm..." and told me the story. For the language section, they learned about articles, adjectives, nouns, and verbs. I asked Rebekah if she could tell me about nouns. She said, "Once upon a time there was a little noun..."

We are easily amused

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1131872382

first pets

Rebekah is now the proud owner of her first pets, a trio of goldfish named Goldie, Cheeto, and Cheese Puff. Eventually she will have a larger pet, but I am maintaining my stance of no babies and dogs at the same time. I also stand firmly against rodents and birds. I am so not interested in cleaning cages. For now, she is quite pleased with her fish.

Cooking has commenced

I have made a caramel-chocolate-pecan pie for the adults and turkey sugar cookies for the kids. The pie filling is made of caramel candies instead of Karo syrup, and the crust is crushed pecans instead of pastry.

Halloween Belles

Halloween was a big hit. Rebekah was Princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast--and she was not alone. Every three-year-old girl we saw at the church Fall Festival was a Disney Princess. Coordinating with her sister's yellow dress was Bananabelle, who seemed to enjoy the festivities, too. Her costume was a hit, but the Chiquita label did not hold up well to the excessive drool :) And by the way, please pardon the snotty nose in every picture--it was unavoidable. She conked out before we left the church and did not make it to the trick-or-treating portion of the evening. Fortunately, even though Rebekah is old enough to insist on trick-or-treating, she is young enough that three houses satisfied her. Exhausted, Rebekah has passed out on the couch. Annabelle, refreshed by her late evening nap, is up for another round.

Sunday project: fairy castle bedroom

All of us were pretty much stuck at home today because we are sharing one big cold--just in time for the girls to start their new daycare/preschool. I did manage to get a project done. I created a fairy castle bedroom for the girls out of a Wallies paste-up mural. I have been looking at them online and when I saw them on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $14, I couldn't resist. The kit had a big castle and a little one, so it was perfect for the girls' shared room. Take a look:

Rebekah's side

Annabelle's crib

the window between their beds--Granmommy made the letters on the window

Annabelle's side

Punkins!

We've been to two pumpkin patches in the past week, and we may be going back this weekend. Rebekah is in love with pumpkins and Halloween in general. She keeps asking if she can go trick- or-treating, and then she follows it with an explanation so we'll know how to do it: "If I go and knock on someone's door and say 'trick-or-treat' then I will get lots and lots of candy." I keep reminding her that it only works on Halloween--otherwise it's just begging. I have told her that we are going to our church Fall Festival for Halloween, so she says she will knock on the church door and say "trick-or-treat' and get candy. I can't wait to show you their costumes next week. Last night we painted our pumpkin family. Everyone did his or her own pumpkin, except for Annabelle, of course. I painted hers, complete with one dimple and one tooth. She held it yesterday for a picture, but since we used washable (and non-toxic!) paint, she ended up with green all over her mouth. Below is a close-up of Rebekah's pumpkin. It actually ended up with a face, albeit a small one. Her first concern was to use every color of paint, and once she accomplished that, she was ready for the face. If you look towards the top, you can see two dots for eyes, a dot for the nose, and a straight-line mouth. Above the face is blue hair and below it are feet. It also has ears with blue earrings. She did a good job for her first pumpkin, and she is awfully proud. To see details of the pictures, just click on them.

return of angel baby

Going through hand-me-down baby clothes, I once again found the cutest pajamas ever. I love seeing Annabelle in the clothes Rebekah wore so I can relive some happy memories while making new ones (I know it's corny, but it's true). Stay tuned for pictures of the cutest hat ever--it will be making a comeback as soon as the weather gets cold.

More Annabelle action

Annabelle had her six-month check-up, and she's still in the 90th percentile for height and weight. Adding to her list of accomplishments, she can also pull herself up to standing. Once she gets up, though, she can't go anywhere or get back down, so she just stands there and cries until we come to help her. We have let her fall back down, but she doesn't land on her bottom as she should--she falls head first and lands on her face. Last night we discovered the tiniest ridges of her first tooth poking through her bottom gums. We were so excited and called the grandparents to share the news, but that mood changed when her emerging tooth combined with a fever from her immunizations kept her up all night. Poor baby! (and poor Mommy)

settling in--and Annabelle crawls!

We've moved into our new house. The settling in process is long, especially since every one of us got sick while we were moving, but we already like our house, and everyone is sleeping a little better now. I was worried that Rebekah would have trouble since she's been sleeping in my bed for the last two months, but she was so happy to see her own bed again that she took right to it and hasn't complained (about the bed, that is--she has found plenty of other things to complain about, but that's just a symptom of being three). We had a great visit with family before we moved, and Shannon was happy not to be rushing back to work. He starts his new job on Monday.

In the midst of all this, Annabelle starting crawling--not scooting on her belly, but real actual crawling! She started about three days before she turned six months old. She is all over the place now, which is not the best timing for a move. We keep having to catch her to get things out of her mouth. Rebekah seems to have taken her sister's new mobility as a threat and has launched a preemptive strike, showing that baby who's boss. Most of the time she is sweet and hugs and kisses and plays with her--even as we speak, Bekah is putting on a puppet show and Annabelle is giggling with delight. But several times a day, we have to rescue the baby because Bekah has pushed her over, dragged her across the carpet by her head, or STOOD ON TOP OF HER! We are on high alert because never know when the sweet Bekah will slip away and Bekah-monster will take her place.

Woo-hoo!

Shannon has a job offer for a management position at a bank. We won't have details until the end of the week. Today is his last day at his old job, and he's pretty excited, especially since getting the call this morning. The timing has worked out well, too. He wanted to take a vacation this week to visit family without his cell phone ringing all the time with work problems, and he'll be able to do that. It won't be a real vacation for me, as I will still have to beg, borrow, and steal work time throughout the week, but it will still be nice to see everyone. I hope Shannon will log on and actually post something about this whole thing himself, but based on previous experience, I have to be laid up recovering from childbirth for that to happen. I have some news for Shannon, too. Tomorrow he can sleep in as long as he wants and enjoy his time off. But he better relish it, because no more late nights working means no more sleeping half the day. (And since the girls wake up at 6:00 a.m. every day, 9:30 is sleeping half the day away to me.)

photos by request

G.G. (short for great- grandmother) has requested some more pictures. Actually, in my birthday card she wrote "Send more pictures!" So she's pretty adamant about it :) I got some really nice ones this morning. Annabelle is sitting up fairly well, so Rebekah can easily hold her in her lap, and as you can see, Annabelle wants to crawl right now! She woke up at 3:45 a.m. today, not hungry or crying, just getting up and trying to crawl. I wish I could have slept through it, but she was also very noisy. Every time I tried to feed her and rock her and put her back down, she just got up on her hands and knees and tried to crawl around in her bed. She didn't go back to sleep until 5:30, and I just stayed up after that. I will not be fit to speak to this afternoon.

on the lake

This week I began my last year as a twenty- something. Shannon gave me a cake and a balloon, both of which Rebekah has enjoyed immensely, and he also gave me a bouquet of sunflowers. Those made me smile because he gave me sunflowers for my birthday the year we were dating. Last weekend we rented a pontoon boat for a couple of hours and spent the afternoon on the lake. It was such a nice, relaxing time. Poor Annabelle didn't know what to think of her little life jacket, but she eventually snuggled down into it and went to sleep. Shannon and Rebekah actually ventured off the boat into the water, but Rebekah wouldn't let go of the ladder. Shannon tried to encourage her to get out into the lake, but to tell the truth, I was glad she was too scared! If you ask her, though, she went swimming and she wasn't afraid because her life jacket kept her up.

leap of faith

Here's the big news: Shannon quit his job.

His job as a restaurant manager was good for a long time, but with the kids now, he is away too much. That job will always demand many nights and weekends, and we have decided that it will be better for us to find something in a different industry. This is not a rash decision, but it is a difficult and stressful one, and it will carry a lot of changes and sacrifices. We have decided not to buy the house, and we will move back to the university town that we have come to consider home over the past four years. We have signed the girls up for a Montessori school and we have a lead on a rent house. He's got a few more weeks to go, then it's moving time.

We are blessed to have the support of friends who will once again live close to us. We are so happy to return to our church and have had calls from many members of our Sunday School class with everything from words of support to job offers, and always prayers.

We don't know what the future holds, but we know that this is the best move for our family.

revolving blog title

The blog has another new title: Sarah, Shannon, and Some Silly Sisters. I think we'll stick with that one. It's appropriately cheesy (despite the flawed alliteration--maybe we can convince Shannon to drop the "h").

We have big things to tell, but we're not quite ready to make the announcement (no, it's NOT another baby! Two silly sisters are quite enough for the moment!). Please pray for us as our family continues to go through big changes.

Bekah's first haircut

Rebekah got her first (professional) haircut last week. I brought her into the salon and told her how exciting it would be to be a big girl and get a beautiful haircut. But Rebekah would not have it. She hid behind me and kept repeating, "I don't want a haircut." When I asked her why she didn't want a haircut she said in the saddest voice, "but, Mommy, I have curls." The poor thing thought that if she got a hair cut she would have curls anymore! And she is quite proud of her curls because everyone who meets her tells her how cute they are. After ten minutes of begging and bribing (notice the sucker) and promising that her curls would still be there, she finally consented if I would sit in the chair and hold her in my lap. The stylist cut off the split ends and cut her hair into layers that made her curls spring right up like Shirley Temple. She looks so cute! After it was over, she decided that getting a haircut was pretty neat, and she called both sets of grandparents to tell them how beautiful she looks. She has also been asking to go back to "the haircut place" so she can be beautiful again. When I told her that she didn't need another one, she thought for a moment and said, "Mommy, you need to get your hair cut. It's not beautiful." Nice. I didn't take it too hard. She usually has lots of sweet compliments for me, so I let this one slide. She told me right after that that she hopes we can be best friends forever, so I'll hang on to that one :)

Bouncy Belly

Annabelle (or Belly, as she has come to be called around here--but Shannon says we can't keep calling her that because she can't go to Kindergarten with a name like Belly) has a new toy--Johnny Jump-up! She wants to stand up all the time, and my arms get tired, so I thought she'd like it. The first time I put it up, she just sat on her bottom. Rebekah jumped all around her trying to show her how to jump, but Annabelle just laughed at her. Rebekah can make her laugh out loud better than anyone! She did seem to enjoy sitting up and watch from a different angle, though. Poor Rebekah wanted to get in it so badly, but we had a nice talk about all the things that she can do that babies can't, so she finally felt better. The next day Shannon adjusted the height on the Johnny Jump-up (duh) so she had to stand instead of sit. She still wouldn't jump, though. She scooted around and pivoted on her toes, but she still seemed happy, so I think the toy is a success despite the lack of actual jumping. With a little more practice and sister's help, I'm sure she'll be bouncing soon. For now, it's a great chew toy.

Shannon's birthday

I found a USB cable, so now you're due a run-down of what you've been missing.
Shannon turned 34 last month, and in honor of the event, I made the same Superman cake he had when he turned six. I also made him a chocolate pizza, which turned out really cute.