Happy Brithday to Abigail!

This post is a little late. Her birthday was a couple of weeks ago. She is getting to be such a big girl. She started finally dressing herself. I think it took so long because, of course, why would she want to dress herself when she can get mom to do it. She likes to pick out her own clothes and I will let her sometimes. She is not a little tom-boy like Allison. She likes all things girly. She doesn't like getting dirty or playing in the mud or even playing outside a lot. She will but she is also content to stay inside as well. She still loves to play with her cousins the most. She is terrified of everything: sliding down slides, being in front of someone, praying, stepping onto an elevator (for fear she may fall down the crack in between the floor and the elevator...funny thing, I used to be too.) She is the most like me...mood swings, dirty looks, scaredy-cat and all.



My sister has a cake cricut so Abigail found a cake she liked on one of her cake cartridges and we attempted to try it. After 8 attempts, this is what we ended up with. It is still cute but nothing like the picture. Oh well, we learned a few things in the process and hopefully the next time we try something, it will go smoother. I made my own fondant from marshmallows and it was quite tasty. Unlike regular fondant, this fondant was totally edible. Abigail loved it and I guess that is all that matters!

Here she is with a few of her cousins.

New Table (For Keith)

This post is mainly for Keith. He ate at our house a lot on a little folding chair that we pulled up to our old table. We have had 6 people in our family for over 18 months now and a table that only seats 4. We have been saving and researching what table to buy for a while and finally, a week after Keith leaves, got a new one...one that he could even sit at without having to find another chair. I figured he would appreciate seeing it.

We had heard good and bad about a counter height table and so I was really hesitant to get one but with the shape of our dining area it was really the best choice. We bought 10 chairs too! We entertain a lot so having the extra seating space is SUPER nice! We also bought a buffet to match, although I know according to most interior designers that is a design faux pas.

Three days after we got the table, my sweet, but very clutzy, Allison tipped a chair over and broke one of the legs. Luckily they replaced it for us, no charge.

Allison Lost Her First Tooth and Has "The Gift"

You may be wondering what exactly "the gift" is. To fully explain, I have to go back to the early years of Chris's life. When Chris was younger, starting probably in his early teens he had a gift or a talent or maybe some people might say he was persuasive, and if you are a pessimist, you might even call it manipulating. But I call it, "a gift." People loved Chris! And why not, he was (and still is) charming, sincere, kind, genuine, hard-working, romantic, and honest. He says hi to people, always using their name even in restaurants or with cashiers. If they have a name tag on he would look at it and always call them by their name. It usually throws people off a little at first but then they are usually a little nicer, a little happier or a little more confident. When I first met Chris we would go out and we would get free desserts, free movies, movie-rental late fees removed, free pop refills at gas stations, etc. People just liked him because he was a sincerely nice guy and he made people feel like they mattered. We still have gifts that people have given him (mostly girls) like blankets, a watch, a CTR ring. You may wonder why I let him keep them. He actually wanted to get rid of any gifts that he was given by other girls but I know his heart belongs totally to me and so why would I let him get rid of a completely perfect blanket?

Well, I thought this was "a gift" that really belonged to Chris because I have never seen any one get as many things from people as he did. UNTIL, my sweet Allison! Since school started in September, Allison would bring home little "gifts" from school. A toy cell phone, lip gloss, stickers, stuffed animals, a cute little purse. The first time it happened, I took the toy and gave it back to the teacher and said to please give this back to the other child. The next couple of times, I had Austin make sure she gave it back to the other people and tell them that I said she couldn't keep it. I figured that she was asking for these things from them and possibly even stealing or bullying them into giving them to her. Austin said the last time he went with her to give something back, the other child insisted she keep it. Then, on Monday, she came home with a pair of purple dress-up gloves and a pink flowered head band that she said a little boy bought for her. WHAT?!! So, I met with the teacher on Tuesday to ask her to ask the little boy if he really did indeed buy the "gifts" for her. So the teacher talked to him and he DID in fact buy them for her. He said his older brother gave him some money and his mom took him to the store to buy it. So it looks like Allison has inherited the gift from her father. It could be because she inherited his friendliness and sincerity as well. :)

Allison also lost her first tooth this week. She is such a funny girl. A couple of years ago when Austin was losing a lot of his teeth, she was terrified of losing her teeth and would cry every time she thought about it. She actually has what Chris calls a "shark tooth". Her adult tooth was coming in behind the baby tooth.