A Rite of passage for all young girls

7 1/2 years old and her choice was made- the turquoise from December
The fear sets in, as do the tears
The anxiety grows and she winds up sitting on mom's lap
It's over and the end result is priceless
Rick and I decided we wouldn't get the girls ears pierced until they were ready and asked
themselves. I was in 5th grade and remember it vividly. Back then in the stone age they didn't have two girls to simultaneously pierce your ears, the pain was almost enough to make you leave with only one side done. But, you stuck it out because you knew how ridiculous you would look at school with one earring. Way to be brave little Emma Roo

A cynic already

Reece made this gingerbread house early in December and is so proud of his creation. However it has now sat on my counter for a good month and even though I am still tempted to eat some of the hot glued candy stuck to it, it is looking pretty shabby. So I took this picture of him holding it and told him that we would put it in a safe place. Emma then looked up from the computer and looked at me and then the house and then back and me, and said " Ya, like the trashcan." Why is she too smart for her own good?

Do the Shuffle- the cupid shuffle that is........

Catholic Schools Week was this week and it's been
a lot of fun like crazy hat day and a rousing game
of Are you smarter than a 5th grader? They always
culminate with a PE performance and this year
Emma's class was the lovebirds doing the
Cupid Shuffle- Enjoy- I happened to get totally
lucky and by chance was able to stand right in
front of my child getting a perfect shot

Home Alone part 17

It's not McCully Caulkin, but just as cute! Maybe this suitcase was on it's way to France or Buffalo. Whatever the destination, it was left behind in the kitchen for a week alone with Moxie the wild Manx. While the Parrish family enjoyed their giant turkey legs in Animal Kingdom, little did we suspect that Moxie was enjoying getting fed baby food through the Turkey Canjun Injector . Our pet sitter thought Moxie was not eating and so decided what better way to force feed a kitten than with the Cajun Injector syringe. I'm glad I wasn't here to see that! Just like her human counterpart(again McCully) Moxie tore the house apart while we were gone. She loves to jump in a huge potted fake plant and pull all the raffia out and drag it up the stairs. She found my nut balls( they are decorative balls covered in nuts, why I have them who knows) and batted them around the floor until all the nuts were off. She pulled the plastic balls out of Adeline's ball pit and rolled them all over until the floor looked like a birthday party at McDonalds playland. And the best thing of all were the tasty finds in our bedroom. She had apparently decided to rip into her kitten chow bag and overate. This is the scenario I created in my mind, Moxie eats and eats as if she were stranded on raft floating at sea and this is her last bag of kitten food. Then barfs, sees there is still food, so eats more, barfs, goes back to eat, barfs, on and on and on. Someone stop the madness, break out the cajun injector for God's sake. I guess to a 10 week old kitten this was the life of Riley for those 5 days the humans were gone.

Ahoy there me Reecer's

Avast there me mommy, pirates don't smile for pictures
However, pirates DO play blindfold games
AND YES pirates love them some treasure chest cake, hey
by the way "Pirate I'm too good for party games", grab pirate mom a rollo off the top
of the cake
I will not play the Walk the Plank game, but I will take some loot

I don't ever want to go on that ride again!

The Parrish's took their annual Disney trip this time during the off season and the coldest month

Rick's roommate from VMI was planning a trip and we said, why not kill 2 birds with one stone

see them( which we hadn't in 3 years) and go to the Happiest Place on Earth! We got there

late afternoon on Wednesday and started right away at Hollywood Studios with the Indiana

Jones Show, since Reece really likes Indiana Jones now. But after completely freaking Adeline

out and scaring Reece to the point that he was trying to walk out of the bleacher area without us
I think maybe this show would be best left until they are older.

Here are the things we were sitting 5 feet in front of through the

Indiana Jones Show

Our hotel was the Caribbean Beach and we have stayed there before and

really loved the pool and the great island in the middle of the man made lake

We were in Jamaica this time around.

Our last day with the Gill Family Chad Ginny and their 4 amazing kids
Barrett, Logan, Cooper and Parker. I guess over the 3 days together
Rick won over their oldest Barrett and now has a permanent sidekick
if he ever wants a travel companion to say Mr. Rick Mr. Rick Mr. Rick
every 5 minutes :)

This was the coldest we have ever seen it down in Disney.
A few mornings it was in the mid 30's when we got into the parks and
on this Epcot day I don't think it hit 60 all day.



The girls outside of the Mexico pavilion. Chad requested an early
lunch this day, since they had early reservations at the Coral Reef for
dinner. So we all thought the World Showcase would be great. Instead,
we found nothing that all of us figured the kids would go for and ended
up walking THE ENTIRE WORLD, as Chad put it, only to end up right
where we started and eat in The Land, only lots hungrier and with sore feet



This diet coke picture needs a little explaining. This was at the
Whispering Canyon Barbecue place in the Wilderness Lodge. Chad was
parched and after bringing his original regular sized mason jar with diet
coke, they replaced it with this GINORMOUS one. Well, right before we
went to pay the bill, I was asked if I wanted anymore diet coke and I said
maybe just a little. The picture tells the rest




I think what made this the most fun we have had at Disney
in awhile, had to be the great company!! Gills, lets hit Dollywood next
time or maybe we can do EuroDisney. Either way I won't lose my
$90 diaper bag this time around and who knows maybe they even have
armadillo's there too. And no Dad, Disney never loses it sparkle,
I get just as excited now driving under the huge sign that says
Disney World as I did that very first time. Mickey never gets old
and Minnie never gets saggy. The monorails are just as fun and
there's always a new ride they open to terrify my three chicken littles
with. The food is just as overpriced and the race cars in Tomorrowland
never go any faster. It's A Small World still gets in your head for the
entire day and there are still hand towels made into animals at the
hotel. I love washing with mickey shaped soap and eating mickey shaped
waffles. So, I don't think unless Rick absolutely refuses to take us there
again, the magic will always be at Disney. Just be glad I didn't get
married there.

The Great Cousin Convention

Emma, Reece and Adeline couldn't wait for their little cousin
Marjorie to come and visit. She was born last January and I was the
only one to see her, besides Rick in November. They fell in love
with her and wanted to bring her toys, and tickle her. This was
us celebrating Christmas all over again a few weeks into January.
All 4 cousins have matching Whoville pajamas and yes for those
who know me I own a pair also and am proud to wear them.

Even though Marjorie wasn't turning one yet for another two weeks,
I had to be a good aunt and make my little niece a cake with baby
poop colored polka dots. It was supposed to be espresso colored with
pink frosting, but the pink frosting was yucky tasting and the
brown food coloring made it look like diaper dots instead of
coffee beans. Oh well they tasted good

Burly but adorable

One of these kids is doing her own thing, one of these kids is not like
the other, one of these kids is well fed and hefty. Yes that is my
95% niece who will never have to worry about fasting during lent
or if stranded at sea for a few days or months, I think she'll be just
fine. Mine on the other hand, looks as impoverished as a stray dog
beaten down by society

Hurray for the Bunch family Mark, robin and little Marjorie

She didn't know what to do with the whole cake at first but
one lick of her palm told her this was yummy and she
didn't waste anytime. Although after a little while the boredom
set in and it was more fun to slap the cake and then slap the
tablecloth and keep slapping more and more violently until
frosting was splattering us.

Grandpa came to visit his two girls and 4 grandkids

Adeline got this Dora ballpit for her 2nd birthday and it soon
became the toy of choice for Marjorie. If we couldn't locate her
" check the ballpit!" One time we came in and Adeline was riding
Marjorie in here like horse, if Adeline wasn't like a toothpick I might
have pulled her off, but Marjorie was actually liking the fun

Macaroni Grille we love the create your own pasta

Marjorie found herself riding in the dumptruck

Marjorie is built Tonka Tough

Within minutes of them arriving Adeline was
Bombarding them with toys and piling them around her

Rick and Mark received matching sweaters from Steine's for
Christmas.

Two movies the kids and I can't wait to come out!!!! I wasn't crazy about Night at the Museum
the first time I saw it, but it grew on me, but the trailer for Monsters v Aliens looks hilarious!!
I've been waiting for a another movie since Finding Nemo that will become our family favorite,
The Incredibles is close, CARs was too long and had some slow scenes and nothing recent is
worth watching every long car trip or weekends at home alone when Dad is gone. But this
Monster one may be IT.

Name that Baby

A
B

C
D
E
F
G
Alright Reece was too much of a giveaway. And some of these backgrounds give it away, but
a few of these are tricky I think. Sisters sure do look alike

Deep Thoughts by Reece Parrish

While driving to Bellingrath Gardens the other night we passed a house
covered in Christmas lights, at least 100 different reindeer, candles and
spiral Christmas trees. This is what Rick and I refer to as Craptacular.
As we drove by the kids started oooohing and aaaaahing from the display
Clark Griswald would've been proud of. Then a few minutes later from the
back of the car comes Reece's quiet voice......." Boy, they sure wasted their
money, didn't they?" Is this boy Rick's child or what? Now Rick feels like
Reece should be the designated voice of reason when I go shopping at the
mall or Target. I need to run it by Reece first.

The worst insults a 4 yr. old can come up with:
Emma you are a stinky poo poo diaper
Addie is a pee pee baby
But these are shouted with such venom in his voice that it almost
makes it hard not to laugh out loud

Reindeer Food Amaking

Every family here has at LEAST 3 kids, good ol Catholics for ya-
The Missing kiddos are Abigail , Adeline's best friend and Maria's brother
Paul


Apparently the traditional Reindeer Food Party has been running
for three years and this was the first year we joined in. The kids
loved meeting with their friends during the Christmas Break AND
loved Dominique's mother's stories of the meanings behind why you
add red glitter( for Rudolph) and blue glitter( b/c it attracts the
reindeer from the sky) and on and on. Each kid waited patiently
to get her undivided attention so they could hear the story of the reindeer
food. Can't wait for next year's party!

Drip Sticks who knew?

HayLow Very Pleezed to meet you I am Senor Chocolate

Mustache and Goatee Coolest new invention for kids. This thing is called a

Drip Stick and I bought three. On one end it fits ice cream cones

and on the other side is for Popsicles. Perfect for sloppy little ones