Dear Santa...

Last week I took the girls to see Santa at the mall in Jacksonville. After last years underwhelming experience with Santa in the Home and Garden department at Walmart, I decided we needed to do something a little more sophisticated. When we got there Santa was feeding his reindeer so the girls got to write letters to Santa while we waited. Celina dictated her letter to me and told me to inform Santa that she wants a reindeer for Christmas. A reindeer? How the heck am I supposed to come up with a reindeer? Does she mean a real one? Or a picture of one? A hard plastic one??? Last year she wanted a Christmas tree and a candy cane. Life was simpler at age 3....

I took a look at Madison's letter and she had written that she wants to learn how to fly and to be a fairy for Christmas. What!??? How about a barbie or something? I am starting to think that the line between reality and fantasia is quite a bit blurred for my girls. Not that I want to change that right now but maybe we should lay off the Tinkerbell and Barbie movies for a while. I'm still puzzling over this one!

A couple of days later Celina brought up the reindeer again. "He's in a book and he has rectangle spots and he's soft." Hhhmmmm. I couldn't think of any of our books that had reindeer in them. That day we went to the library and rather than look at the books Celina always wants to colour or play with the stuffed animals. Suddenly she cried out loud "Mommy! There's the reindeer! I want that reindeer! Can we buy him? Please? He's only one dollar," It was a little fawn on the counter. I had to explain to her that the Library is not a store but at least I now knew what she wanted but where do I find a little deer like that?

That afternoon we went to Barnes and Noble because Madison had to get an iron test at the doctor. We have a deal that if you have to get poked we go and get a little $2 or $3 book instead of ice cream. I'm hoping they learn that they don't have to have to eat every time they have to go through something rough. So to the bookstore we went. Celina and Madison made a beeline for the children's section and then I heard Celina say "Mommy! Mommy! The reindeer is here! The reindeer is here!" And there it was! Yay! Problem solved!

I went back to the store the next day and picked up the reindeer and the book that it was from. It's called A Stranger in the Woods and it is the most adorable book ever. It is a multi award winning book full of wildlife photography that tells a story of how the animals discover a snowman in the woods. Celina LOVES animals so I know she'll love the book too.

For Madison I think I'll make up a package of "fairy dust" and tell her that the fairies are letting her have some but she will only be able to keep it not use it. Humans would only be able use it on fairy land but fairy lands are in secret places and no fairy is allowed to tell humans where they live. Since I have no magic wand of my own this is the best I can come up with so I hope having her own stash of fairy dust will be special.

Hollander Happenings

As you can see we have been getting ready for Christmas! It sure doesn't feel like it since it got to 78 today and will be 80 or more tomorrow. I need Christmas to look like a Hallmark card to feel Christmasy. We hear "Let it Snow" and "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" on the radio but it seems so silly down here because it's not even cold. Celina couldn't wait for Madison to come home from school before decorating the tree with her own flare. Puzzles on the tree? I thought it looked so cute! She was so pleased with herself too. See if you can spot the crayola marker, silly straw and blue twist tie that also grace this tree.



In October our family did the University of St. Augustine 5K run again. Actually, we all started out running but by the time we got to the first drink station I was spent. (Yeah, out of shape, I know). Madison declared that she had to go to the bathroom and Celina was saying "Mommy! Come on! We have to race!" Who's kid was that?!!! Obviously Scott's. She remembered last year that Madison won a medal and she was bound and determined that she was going to win one too.

So I ended up walking with Madison back to the bathrooms (she was VERY upset to leave the race!) and Celina ran on with Scott. Unbelievably, Celina and Scott passed Madison and I before we got back to the bathrooms!!! Celina came in at 43 minutes and the crowd cheered her. She was positively beaming when Madison and I found her! She knew she was getting a medal and she was so excited.

When the medal ceremony was to begin we sat down with our ice cream and we waited for the 4 and under category to be announced. It never came. Celina never complained but I was heartbroken for her. On the way home she said quietly "I didn't get a medal,"

Well, Scott and I were already trying to figure out some way to quickly make up a medal for her and so we stopped at the dollar store and found a blue Happy Birthday ribbon with a button. When we got home I covered the button over with pink foam and wrote her name, her time and first place all over it. Then we had our own awards ceremony and presented her the ribbon and a giant caterpillar lollipop that I had floating around. (Whew!) Scott said that Celina would never have stopped running except she had to when she came to the drink stations because she couldn't run and drink at the same time. She got a big kick out of throwing her "Auntie Wendi's" (Wendy's restaurant) cups on the ground when she was done. Well, she certainly has her Daddy's genes for endurance because I can't run like that!



Madison has been trying to earn enough money to buy her own American Girl doll. (Those things are expensive! And spare me the $200.00 tree house and $75.00 canopy doll bed!) Even Santa isn't that rich! So we have been trying to find things she can do around the house to earn her money. I think she will achieve her goal this winter. Look how nasty the driveway got after one year!



I turn out the light at night but strange things still have a way of happening! Those are my pajama bottoms she is wearing!



We took the girls with us to the Orlando temple this fall. It was HOT and we had to be careful where we laid the blanket because of the fire ants but it was a beautiful day.

Celina: The Next Rachel Ray?

I realize that Thanksgiving is over but just in case you plan on having a turkey for Christmas, I have a recipe from Celina that you might want to give a try:

My Turkey Recipe (as dictated to her preschool teacher)

Cooking TIme: 2 hours
Oven Temperature: warm

Ingredients: pepperoni, turkey, tomatoes, chicken nuggets, hot sauce

Directions: You put it in the oven - get it out then you eat it for a long time. Pick up the plate and put tomatoes around the
turkey, then you put little hats on the feet. It will be delicious.

I'm not sure where all the ingredients fit in but she's probably one of those chefs that doesn't measure anything and it should just seem self explanatory to the rest of us. If you have any further questions, ask a preschooler and they can probably give you lots of ideas of where things like pepperoni and hot sauce fit in!

Little Purple Panties...

Last night before I left to go on a girls night out Celina was sad that I was leaving so I made sure to sing her a few extra songs at bedtime. We sang On Top of Spaghetti, the Family Song, "Birds in the Morning" (In the Leafy Treetops) and then I suggested Little Purple Pansies and I started to sing it. She said "No! I don't want to sing the Panties Song! It's sisgusting!" I laughed my head off!!! That totally explains why she has fussed and complained everytime I have tried to sing it to her this last year. What she must be thinking is hilarious! "Why would my mommy sing an irrerevrent song about panties? That's sisgusting!" :D

Celina Gets Glasses!

Celina had been referred a few months ago to see the pediatric optometrist in downtown Jacksonville so on Wednesday we went. Mapquest told me to stay to the right of the fork in the interstate and so I did but it didn't say anything about the second fork! So over the Main Street bridge we went into the land of one way streets. Miraculously I found our way back and I have concluded having driven in downtown Jacksonville many times now that Jacksonville drivers are the meanest!!!

The childrens clinic is very nice and full of interactive train sets and craft centres for kids to use. When it was Celina's turn I was amazed at how quickly she was having trouble seeing the shapes on the screen. I felt so bad. I had no idea her eyesight was that bad! Then they gave her 3D glasses and they opened a book that had a HUGE fly all fuzzy and full of eyes and attenae and asked her to grab the fly's wings. EW! Celina is a girl that actually likeds bugs but even she hesitated. I told the nurse there that they need to get a new picture and she told me that that is the only picture that has ever been used in the profession since she doesn't know when. Great, they have been freaking out children for over 40 years.

Then they had to dilate her eyes and that was when Celina burst into tears. She is always my brave girl but she'd had enough by now. I had to hold her down and the nurse had to pry her eyes open. *sniff!* Later, as we were looking at a book together, she said "Mommy, my eyes are being silly," She looked hilarious!

So then the verdict: She has stigmatism in both eyes and hopefully she'll grow out of them but for now she need glasses. So off we went to choose glasses.

How about these? Sort of toddler meets librarian.



Nope.



Better...



Uh-uh!



Stay tuned to find out Celina's new look!

My Horrendous Hair!

On Friday I decided that I would like to get some highlights and so I set off somewhere that should be called "Head Hunter's Hair Hut" or "Wack N' Hack". I thought that getting my hair done cheaply would suit me fine since highlight are highlights and how can you screw them up? Stupid me.

I walked in the place at 10:30 and explained that I wanted brown toned highlights and not blonde. We discussed the possibility of doing full colour and I opted not to since it would just cost me a whole lot more. The stylist (if she should be called that!!!) declared that she understood and then proceeded to do my hair. It has been quite a while since I have had it done so I was dumb enough not to realize what this woman was doing. I thought she was priming my hair when in fact she was doing full colour. She then did the highlights and when she spun me around I saw in the mirror that the foils were all crumpled. Had she not ever done this before? Apparently she has been working for 3 years....

After she rinsed out my hair and removed the towel I was appalled at my reflection. My highlights were orange!!! I asked her as she was drying my hair and making it frizzier and frizzier if the highlights were supposed to be orange and she said not to worry as they would get blonder after they dried. BLONDER? That's not what I wanted! Somehow in the course of this conversation I found out that she had indeed done a full colour (which was basically my regular hair colour) which was also not what I was expecting! Did she not hear a word I said?!!!

As she continued to dry my hair she suddenly decided that the highlights were indeed orange and that she could tone them so that they would lighten up. Well, I was resigned in having blonde highlights by now which I have had before but I couldn't go home with orange ones instead! So she toned my hair neglecting to tell me that by toning the highlights the all over colour would lighten too. When she was done I could not believe my eyes! My whole head was ORANGE!!! I was upset. This women then started to get a little attitude with me when I told her that everything was now orange. She told me that I could come in the next day and that she could tone it again and lighten it some more but that she could not guarantee that my hair wouldn't fall out! I didn't let her style my hair and she charged me 75$.

I was embarrassed. I still had errands to run! I picked up my girls from a good friends house 4 hours after I dropped them off. I had told them that I would be back in 2 hours max and they had been planning to go to the beach that day. A half hour after I left with the girls a torrential thunderstorm erupted so not only did my day get ruined but I ruined the beach for my friends! (Sorry Brittany!)

I did my errands with a hat on that day. Here is what I looked like:



I should have done a back shot too but I was in a rush as I had to get my money back and make it to another hair appointment. The manager actually asked me as I stood there looking like Hades with my head on fire what the problem was.
Too make a very long story short, my hair is pretty much back to normal (thank goodness!) thanks to a fabulous stylist/ miracle worker. She has cost me $200 so far but I learned my lesson! Here's one last look at me. These pics really don't do the orange justice. I was able to laugh at myself that night (after I cried) and Scott and my parents laughed at me too. There are advantages and disadvantages to Skype!

Scott's Birthday

Scott's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I felt so bad because I thought he got shafted on his birthday. School was stressful enough with a presentation among other things but he thought he wouldn't get home until 10pm. With those kind of plans we decided to have his cake another day. Plans changed though and suddenly he was home for dinner and no cake! We put candles in his waffle (made in our new and fabulous waffle maker) and took the picture quickly since the candles were clearly top heavy and definitely posed a fire hazard!



He decided for his birthday that he wanted a hamburger cake. We saw some in Publix (grocery store) and they looked kind of cute. His cake had to be made out of red velvet so that when you cut into it it looked rare. Nasty! I decided to try something different and make it with fondant and it did not turn out as well as I had hoped. Not only that but I had heard that fondant is supposed to be rich but this stuff was really gross. Most of us ended up pulling off the fondant and eating the "rare" cake which really did look nauseating when we cut into it. Scott was thrilled. No decent pictures of it though.

Sea Turtle Nests

There has been a lot of excitement lately on the beaches as it is nesting time for sea turtles. They usually come up on shore at night and lay their eggs close to the sand dunes, cover them up and go back into the ocean. A friend of ours told us about one night when she was walking along the beach that it appeared as though a dodge ram pick up had been doing doughnuts on one part of the beach except that the beach was now closed to all vehicles. She later found out from a sea turtle expert that was also there that the mayhem had been made by a 7 foot wide Leather back turtle that had made a nest and she had just missed it! Wow! I can't imagine that! I think that would be incredible to see but really if I had been minding my own business talking a relaxing stroll along the shore and something that HUGE had emerged from the water I would have probably run away screaming. I like to think that I would keep enough of my head to remember Madison and Celina and then run away screaming. I asked Scott about it and he says that leather back turtles are not tall just flat. That makes me feel a little better. (How tall would a 7 foot wide turtle even be?!!!)





We don't usually let our kids run in the middle of the road...







This is a smaller nest. It takes about 45 days for turtles to hatch. Pink tape means that the 45 days aren't up yet.



They are very serious about staying off the nests!



This is the nest made by the leather back turtle. Yes, it is big. This was taken about 2 weeks ago and it now has green tape around it which means that the turtles will hatch any day. We have checked a few times and no such luck yet. After the 45 days are up there are people that come and rake the beach all the way to the water so that the baby turtles have an easier time reaching it. They also do their best to keep opportunistic hunting from the birds etc down. These little guys need all the help they can get!



Just some pics of the sand dunes in bloom. It is home to mice and snakes and ugly bugs. I'm grateful that there are bridges leading to the beach because you couldn't pay me to walk through there! Actually if someone did they would have to pay a huge fine since erosion here is a big problem and the sea oats hold the dunes together!

Celina's Haircut

I decided that Celina could use a haircut a few weeks ago. My girls' hair gets kind of straggly when it gets too long and besides they look so cute with short hair when they are little. Celina was NOT excited about it and was worried that it would hurt. She was very brave though and everything went just fine. I learned my lesson from the last time I took a little girl to the hairdresser to not go somewhere that charges more than 10$. That was Madison and she decided that she could do a better job than her stylist and cut her own hair afterwards. It over a year to get it all one length again.






I asked Celina if it hurt to have her haircut and this is her smile of relief that it doesn't. :D



And we're all done! We brushed out the 80's inspired feathered bangs and that was that!

Work, work, work. Or is it?

While school is out, I have the girls do a few things in the morning and then we play. This particular day I thought it was time Celina learned how to fold socks. I love how stuff like this improves their motor skills too so we got out the MIA Sock Basket to see which socks suddenly had their matches again. Sure enough there were a bunch so Celina played the sock matching game first which she loves to do ever since she found a sock matching page in a Friend magazine. :o) Then I showed her how to take a pair of socks and fold them together etc and voila! The folded socks. Celina, however, was confused.

Celina: Where did the other sock go?

Mommy: What sock? They are both right here.

Celina: But where did the other sock go?

Mommy: They are both right here.

And I unfolded the socks and held them both up.
Celina was thrilled. "Waaaaaaooooooooowwww!!! I wanna do it! I wanna do it!"

I was amazed at her until I realized that I had just shown her a magic trick. This is great!!! She happily folded a pile of socks and then just as happily put them away.



She has also been sorting small and large forks, spoons and knives which for some reason is also fun.



Anytime I am using a spritz bottle Celina MUST help. I try and steer her towards something that won't have its finish destroyed and she cleans and shines to her heart's content. I need to buy more windex.



If no one reads this post and just sees the pictures they will probably think "Wow, what a mean mom to make her kids do all the work!" Well, yes, that's the plan eventually. Just kidding!

This is what happens when we fling a cup of dry Rice Krispies into the air - for fun. We get to find out how to use Dyson the vacuum cleaner and admire its awesome suction capabilities!

A green thumb - I mean - bum

The other night while I was out on a Girls Night Out, Scott was home with the girls. They are pretty good and understand that Daddy has to study and so for the most part they play very well together. (Yay!) But imagine his surprise when he rounded a corner to see Madison colouring Celina's bare bum with a green crayola marker! I'm laughing as I type this. ;D It was completely green -even her crack! I really don't know what is stranger; the fact that the idea even entered Madison's head to colour her sister's naked behind or that Celina just stood there and let her! What kills me is that we don't have a picture of it. Not that I would post Celina's vandalized rear but it would be a hilarious addition to the family album!

Clark's Fish Camp

A couple of weeks ago we went with Opa to very popular restaurant in Jacksonville called Clark's Fish Camp. It started out as a bait a tackle shop that happened to sell burgers etc but that grew into a thriving restaurant. It is right on the St. John's River and when we lived in Jacksonville before we used to take our boat down there for dinner - less traffic!

This place sells seafood and also frog legs, shark and alligator tail, as well as things you would never expect to see on a menu like rabbit sausage, ostrich and buffalo to name a very select few! My dad was brave enough to order kangaroo when they visited us a few years ago. He thought it sounded pretty funny when the watress came by and said "And how do you like your kangaroo?" He told us that it tasted like liver. Ew. Well, I was a fence sitter before this but at that moment I decided that all kangaroos were safe from me!

At the bottom of their exotic menu it says everything is sold at market price but maybe they should have a rough estimate because I'm a little shaky on the going rate for antelope.

This place looks like it's not even worth a second glance with its rusty roof and greying wood but once you get inside....



you have no idea where to look first! There are stuffed animals EVERYWHERE! I mean real stuffed animals - some taxidermist has made a fortune from these people. On the ceiling alone there are dozens and dozens of things like zebras, monkeys, leopards, bears, you name it and I betcha they have it! The girls were amazed!



I couldn't possibly get all the animals from this display on the same photo! While we were waiting for our dinner the girls and I took a tour of the place discovering more animals on every wall, shelf and corner.



No, Celina, I don't think the pheasant is gong to peck you.



This crazy creation is made from sea sponges and is about 7 feet tall.



Outside, you can walk around the deck and watch the turtles and the fish swim around. The rails on this particular deck are pretty wide and both girls could easily fall through so I kept a tight hold on them because it didn't take long to spot this guy in the water just right there!



If you click on this picture and look in the middle, you can see his friend hiding in the plants. Of course you can put a quarter in the gumball machines and get alligator food which the girls happily fed to the turtles and the fish.

I can't stand alligators! I hear stories all the time about them getting in peoples' ponds etc. Last week my sister-in-law, who lives in Ocala, told me that she took her dog out for a walk and found animal control just a few doors down. A women went to go outside and saw through her side windows that she had a 6 foot alligator on her doorstep!!! AHHH!!! I don't have side windows!!! I want side windows!!!



Madison ordered gator tail for dinner. Yeah! Take that alligators!!!



After dinner, the girls got a closer look at the alligators. We only saw small ones but I'm sure their parents were around somewhere....





I gotta say that it is an unforgettable place that has the best fried green tomatoes anywhere. I wouldn't know about rabbit sausage or the rattle snake though.

BSA! BSA!

So a couple of weeks ago Scott informed me that he had been given a new calling as Webelos Den Leader! I was super surprised to say the least and then I could feel a grin spread across my face....As Cub Master I outrank my husband! BWA HA HA! This is really funny to me since it will never happen again especially in the church! So we had to get some pictures as proof - I mean, to fondly remember these good times.



So far we've only been at one pack meeting together since this last one was the last for the year. So the girls got to come and they always love that. Our theme was "Leave Nothing but Footprints and Take Nothing but Pictures" so I asked Scott to give the boys tips on taking a good picture and then we let the boys click away with the cameras their families brought with them. I brought our hanging baskets and some silk flowers and the girls and I hid plastic bugs and frogs in the greenery for them to find and take pictures of. The meeting was supposed to be outside but one of our exciting thunderstorms made an appearance an hour before the meeting started. Scott did a great job, of course, and the boys took some pretty creative photos. We also made our own animal track sundaes which of course was a big hit.



I should add that my cub scouts have left an impression on Celina because she always says "and prease bress Mommy's cub scouts," in her prayers.

Elephants and Turtles

A couple of weeks ago Madison's class was assigned to create a habitat for the animal of their choice. First she chose a baby chick whose habitat is actually man-made and not really what the teacher was looking for. Then it was a coyote and and then she saw elephants spraying each other on TV and so she chose elephants and I said "Okay that's it! No more choices!"

So we set to work. Mrs. O asked that no one bring their habitats in until the due date to preserve creativity and originality which I thought was great! She really encourages independence which is exactly what Madison thrives on. I gave Madison choices on what we could do having never done something like this before but other than that she did the whole thing herself! (Except the hot glue!) I set out all the craft stuff I have and she attacked the pipe cleaners making a tree. I showed her how to create the illusion of water and grass. Luckily we didn't have to make the animals if we didn't want to which was good because we went to Cocoa Beach for the long weekend and our time was slipping away! I think it turned out great!







On Saturday the girls and I had a great day. We went and had a picnic at the park, enjoyed the library and then I took them swimsuit shopping! Both of their old ones were super saggy and just seemed to be growing right along with them! They were thrilled, to say the least, and they even got to try them on in the fitting rooms which was a big deal. So we came home with their treasured suits and then of course they were dying to try them out so off to the pool we went when we spied a turtle in the middle of the road!

It is a strange thing to see a turtle tucked up in its shell in the middle of the street. It brings a strange urge in me to pick it up and kick it at enemies to get coins. It's also very scary because they can get run over and it does happen particularly on busy roads. Cars in our neighbourhood swerve around them or people put them back on track towards a pond but am I picking one up? NO.

So we went home to get Scott and then we thought we should take it home and get some pictures of it with the girls.



Scott brought it through the house (I can't imagine what the poor turtle was thinking) and he set it on the patio and then we sat still being very quiet waiting for the turtle to come out of its shell. I'm sure it was thinking "Fat chance!" because it wouldn't come out. So we let the girls investigate for a minute.





Our animal loving Celina should have been in her element but perhaps the real thing was just too big. Here she is saying "I love turtles," though she is not convinced!



Then we set him on the banks of our big pond where he poked his head out. Once he realized where he was, he was gone! Whoever said that turtles are slow never met this one. I'm sure it was shaking its head since the whole expereince was probably the equivalent to an alien abduction!