Prettiest Princesses

Right before Christmas, my girls got to participate in the most coveted rite of little-girlhood - they got to be flower girls!  Our wonderful friend Sarah (we were in the Computer Science program at St. Mary's together and Sarah is Sam's godmother) graciously invited the girls to be flower girls in her wedding and I have to say that they were up for the challenge.  It was a simply beautiful day, made even a little more special by two little princesses :)

The girls did a great job as flower girls and didn't exhibit any of the last-minute stage (aisle?) fright that I was worried about.  I think it helped that they were together, so they didn't have to walk alone and they were so focused on out-cuting the other that they didn't have time to get nervous :)

WanYing and Sasha scattered petals like pros and my very favorite part was meeting the girls at the front of the church and bringing them back down a side aisle to our seats, watching WanYing scatter petals the whole way across the front of the church and down the side aisle to her seats.  The girl took her petal-distribution responsibilities seriously!

Sasha gets some princess-in-training advice from Sarah

The sisters have their baskets stocked and are ready to go!

Let's get this party started!

WanYing shows off a little flower girl sass

The whole wedding party

Time for the reception!  The kids (and their parents) were thrilled that there was a kids' table

I think this is my favorite photo of them all - Sash watches Aunt Sarah get garden pictures taken.  So cute!

Mommy and Aunt Sarah finally get a photo together

Ok, maybe we still need a *little* more princess training

It was such a beautiful day and we were so grateful to be a part of it!

Gingerbread Decoration and Immediate Consumption

I love it that WanYing is big enough to do the icing herself!  She's very precise about icing (and basically everything else in her life)

Ah, the $8 Target-brand gingerbread house kit complete with icing and candy, how I love you.  My children can assemble you themselves, you come with all necessary ingredients, you're gone within 2 days, and somehow I'm able to convince myself that gingerbread is an acceptable breakfast food for children because it's kind of like a graham cracker and that's certainly fine for breakfast (yes, this is truly my logic).

Thanks for being a yearly tradition, cheap-o gingerbread house kit.  We'll see you next year.

The girls obviously specialized in their candy application - WanYing put red candies on the right side, Sasha applied gumdrops to the left

Eventually, Sasha got bored and decided to paint some Christmas Tree ornaments.  But WanYing stuck with the decorating until there was no candy left to apply and no space to apply it!

And, of course, as soon as the house was done, it was time to dismantle and consume!

Two Down, Seven to Go

Just wanted y'all to know that, although Mandy has had a rather tough go of it, we have not killed him yet.  At least he hasn't gone through all 9 lives in the 7 months we've had him, and we'll consider that a victory for all of us.

Mandy is equally well loved and villainized here in the Morningstar home.  The girls adore his fluffy softness and lavish him with affection, which he often tolerates.  The boys, on the other hand, are convinced that the cat is a jerk.  It really bothers them that he a) attacks them frequently b) doesn't care if you yell at him and c) pretty much just does whatever he wants.  The boys are dog people for sure - they want their pets to care what they think.  And Mandy, most assuredly, does not.

Mandy has also endured more emergency surgery than any other member of our home.  This doesn't endear him to Steve who usually has to handle the emergency vet trips.  Mandy has soundly lost two fights with neighborhood cats, respectively resulting in a shaved head and butt and 6 stitches in his hip.  Gross.  And hilarious.  We are hoping he either learns to stop fighting or to win soon, because this is getting expensive.

Two lives down, seven to go, and none lost to Morningstar children.  I'd consider that a fairly successful first 7 months of cat ownership.

(and judging by how frequently Ben carries the cat around like this, I think that the whole "I hate the cat" thing is just bravado)