Days with the Dorans

Well... we did it!  Survived another year of doing the family Christmas card fun!  We all got on our white shirts and were done in about five minutes.  It's getting faster, but I think that's because I've given up on getting the 'perfect' family picture.  For us, this is perfect.  Nothing says "Christmas" like Green "Hulk-Smash" gloves (check out Seany). I made all of our out-takes into a VIDEO .

I remember asking Ali Jane early in the school year if she'd like to get her ear's pierce.  Not that I thought she should, but I recall getting mine done in 3rd grade and I knew she was at an age where she could take care of them. She looked and me and said, "I think I'm going to wait until I'm in 5th grade." Earlier this week she started talking about pierced ears~ a character in her book had gotten them pierced, her best friend had the 'most adorable pair of earrings' on the other day...  I looked at her and said, "Ali, would you like to get your ears pierced?"  She smiled and said, "I think so..." We looked up some things on the internet.  I told her how they do it and we watched a video of a 6 year old getting her ears pierced.  Ali still liked the idea, so after swim lessons we picked up my mom, my best friend (also Ali's Godmother) and were on our way for a Girls Afternoon out!  Of course we chose the busiest...

Last weekend, Z went to a friend's birthday party at Goldfish.  Goldfish is a place that teaches kiddos how to swim.  I had heard wonderful things about them but that they were a bit pricey.  That being said, I've gone the cheaper route and wasn't too impressed.  With my folks living on the lake, we want our kids to swim (and swim well) so we took the plunge! I registered the three Bigs and then after talking with my mom thought, well... we might as well get Seany started too.  Today we loaded up the four kids and were off.  I had Jeff take Sean in the pool because he tends to be a mama's boy and I didn't want him to freak out leaving me.  I was able to watch from behind the glass wall (where it was cooler) while Jeff stayed nearby on a bench to watch Seany.  When Sean first got started, Jeff gave me the thumbs down sign (like this is never going to work), but in no time Sean was working with his teacher like a charm.  He was kicki...

We are in the process of moving some of our pictures off our computer and on to an external hard drive.  I saw these pictures and they were too cute to just keep on the computer.  These pictures were taken the night before Jonasen's second Christmas (he was 15 months old), three days before his sister was born...

The second Thursday in December is always Holiday HUGS.  It's where we go to the hospital and paint ornaments for the babies we're missing. I've gone every year with the three Bigs and usually my mom.  I told Jeff to come one year as this is not usually a somber event like the walk to remember (I skip over an outdoor candle lighting) but of course the one year he came, there were some poems read inside that were tough...  He doesn't like to show his emotions in front of strangers.  He told me he wouldn't be coming again but guess what... he did!  My mom was at my niece's Christmas program and though Ali had dance, she chose to come to Holiday HUGS.  It really meant the world to me as I know how much she loves dance.  This is an annual thing we've done forever.  The only difference was that (as I mentioned) Jeff was there and we let Seany paint!!  I was a bit nervous since they were acrylic paints but then again, no one was dressed...

 Right after Ali's last dance performance (which happened to be where my Nan lives), we headed up to her apartment to decorate.  Of course by the time she got up to her place she had forgotten about the dancing (which made me sad) but she was still in great spirits surrounded by the kids. They were anxious to get started so they all helped my dad get her decorations out of storage.  When they got back, Joe immediately got started doing her little village (he always sets up the village) and Ali did the Nativity scene.  After that though, Al and Zach were off playing and it was all about Joey! Joey put the tree together and put the ornaments on the tree.  Sean did help him and managed to hang a few bulbs.  The entire time they were doing this, Ali and Zach were playing "Elf on the Shelf."  All three of the Bigs actually made up the game last year when we were decorating her place and I'm surprised they remembered.  The way it works is they ...

 This weekend Ali's dance studio did the Senior Tour (that's what I called it anyway... ).  They performed at a lot of nursing homes and independent living places.  On Saturday we drove with Amber and her her mom and in between locations we hit a restaurant with other dancers and moms for brunch.  It is so nice to get to know more people since I don't do a lot of the fundraising things the other moms do (mostly because I don't have enough hours in the day).  While I LOVE watching Ali dance, I found that I also LOVED watching the audience.  Of all the performances that these girls do, I doubt that any other brings such joy to their audiences!  At one location, I actually tried to take pictures of the people.  One man had such a smile on his face that I just wanted to capture it.  I added it in a video that I made, but it doesn't do justice to how happy he really was! Ali really did well and I am amazed at how much she seems to grow ...