4th 'o July

This year our block partook in the annual July 4th float contest. We did some funny olympic things.

Here is Sydney as an olympic gymnast:

and Grace was an olympic soccer player:

they looked sooooo cute! And it really was very fun and not quite as hot as some years past. Just a mere 90 degrees. Hey, that's good people.

After the parade we had a dog contest at our park. Lily B got the prize for cutest smile! I'm pretty sure she got that last year as well.

And as for fireworks, we had an amazing time watching them at the Sportsman's. The show started at 9:45 and only lasted about 20 minutes. Perfect...

...and priceless!

Meet the Newest Member of Our Family

This is Abigail:

And the best part:

Probably not exactly the surprise he was hoping for.

Heeheeheehee.

outtakes

I was determined to get a cute pic with the girls together for a Christmas card because THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!! I've been trying with my camera phone for the last 2 months to no avail. Thankfully the lovely Camille offered her expertise and came to the house this a.m. to attempt to "catch" them both looking decent. And when I say both I mean Sydney. Grace knows that when I'm trying to take some serious pics, she's supposed to smile with all her might. But Sydney is a pain in the rump. She purposefully makes silly faces just to make me cry. And loves it. Most of the pics were awesome, but here are a few of the, ahem, less than pretty ones.

Now, obviously I'm not going to show you the good ones just yet (I'm sure everyone can hardly contain their excitement). You'll be seeing them in the darrrrling Christmas cards I just ordered form here. And if you don't think I'm going to send you one, then send me your address and I'll do it!!! You know you want one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Thank you so much Camille!)

(Thank you so much Bubby for helping put our house together for Christmas!)

halloween-er

Hey, I'm on time about things that matter...I finally stole some pics off my dads camera and they're cute!! This is our new neighbor, who is also in kindergarten with G. I'm prolly gonna get sued for not marking out her face--but I forgot how to do that!

Here is our adorable family, plus scary butler guy rented for the Deadman's Ball the night before, plus Lily. Who might as well be part of our family. Isn't Wade's costume awesome?? More on that later.

And here is the 2nd little-ist witch, although she acts like the biggest one. HA! Isn't she cute??

And then there's me. What am I you ask? I'm a plus size Vampiress. Oh, relax, I'm not getting insecure, I accidently bought the plus size costume. (Psst...it wasn't that big!). I looked so inspired, no?

And then there's Wade. Let's get one thing straight. This was his costume for the Halloween party the night before. He did not trampce around Crown Heights in this get-up.

Look closely...he's the snake charmer.

So inappropriate and funny as hell!!!!!!!!

HaHaHaHaHa!!!!!!!!!

I'm not even gonna apologize for the lengthy delay...just gonna say HAPPY NEW YEAR and here's to 2007 being a hell of a lot better than 2006.
Rubbing the buddha belly for good luck...


So what the hell have I been doing, you say? Life at the Starr's has been hectic while the days without school have seemed long overall Christmas/New Years break flew by. We went to Houston for a mini-vacation after the new year and while it was fun, unfortunately, I was sick the entire 4 day trip. I had a bitch of a cold where I couldn't breath, or taste, or want to taste. So that sucked. I ate less on that trip than I have in weeks. Which, while thinking about it, was probably a good thing. The final day ended with me waking up with a little stomach virus (read: diarrhea) and nausea. That was very uncool. We did do some really fun things though. The Children's Museum was awesome. They had a little "tot spot" for the under 2's and it was incredible. Sydney loved it! We also went to the Butterfly rainforest at the Natural History Museum and that was also unbelievable. Imagine a really big, warm, beautiful place with millions of butterflies flying around landing on all the little kids. SO fun. There was one pesky blue, very large, butterfly that wouldn't leave Sydney alone. He kept dive bombing her and she was literally trying to run away from it, to no avail. We also went to the Galleria, which is by far the largest mall I've ever laid eyes on. Wade and Grace went ice skating while Sydney and I roamed around. So, here are the pics...
A little shaky at first, but was skating like a pro within the hour!

The infamous "tot spot" where Sydney kicked ass and took names...


Grace and her butterfly, so very proud (I'll explain her hair on the next post!).

Christmas 2006

Well, all, Christmas went off without a hitch. Wade was able to take massive amounts of time off the few days before Christmas which was such an immense help. I was able to wrap gifts, cook and get several much needed breaks throughout the days. Ahhh, it was nice. Christmas was hard, but not as hard as I thought it would be. The day was rather long especially since Sydney likes to take only about an hour nap, BOO!!!!!!!!! She's at that age where she wants EVERYTHING especially if Grace is holding it and then proceeds to throw a fit if she doesn't get right that very second. It gets a bit tedious...

The gifts were flowing at our house as usual. Santa decided that Grace had been a very good girl this year and proceeded to makeover the backhouse into her very own playroom (thanks, Brian!). This pic really doesn't do it justice, but it looks so darling. There is a blackboard wall, table and chairs, easel, and tons of art supplies. Anyway, Grace was stunned and thrilled. It was fun.

She also got roller skates and a new robe (just like Mama's!).

Even Sydney got into the holiday spirit and opened a couple presents. Whenever she saw the gift, she would get really excited and say, "AHHHHHH". It was highly entertaining.

This last picture I just had to put up here because it was the first time she ever wore a skirt. It looks slightly awkward because she so boyish in her appearance.
Hey, we don't call her crusher for nothing.

Gotta love Halloween

Halloween 2006 was a fantastic success. Grace wants me to dress up every year with her, so we decided to both be Wonder woman:

Wow, I'm looking mighty scary! More like Wonder Woman in drag!

Anywho, it was fun. Wade and the two Chris'(his brother) took the big girls while Ashli and I handed out candy. Gotta say I was glad we didn't have to brave the cold, but, damn, if we didn't have hundreds of dressed up (and dressed down) goons. We didn't even have time to perch our lazy asses on the chair. Here are some more pics of the festivities: