48 Hours

What did you do this weekend?

We went to an "Ugly Sweater Party" on Friday night. My poinsettia sweater vest was purchased for $2.98 at America's Thrift Store, and Jim's sister found his lovely sweatshirt for us at Goodwill. After a good washing, both we worn with some ugly pride.

They even handed out prizes. The guy above -- in the sweater vest -- won 1st place for THE ugliest sweater at the party.

We went to another holiday party hosted by one of Jim's coworkers on Saturday night. The girls stayed with a sitter (again) . . . and I couldn't resist shooting a few pictures of them in their holiday jammies before we scooted out the door.

Due to the afore mentioned parties, we also spent a small fortune on babysitters this weekend. And we had to deal with Meg wailing as we left both Friday and Saturday nights -- which she's never done before. It's heartbreaking. (But we still left and went on to enjoy ourselves.) I also missed more feedings that usual with Kate, relying on pumped milk and bottles to get her through . . . and that usually doesn't catch up with me until the next day. I'm anticipating waking up tomorrow totally engorged. Aren't you jealous?

Sunday arrived, and we took Meg to see Playhouse Disney LIVE! at Phillips Arena. Faithful readers heard me complain about the situation of extra tickets, but we solved that by taking Aunt JuJu and Uncle Greg (Jim's sister and her boyfriend) along for the fun. We all had so, SO much fun. The show was a treat, and watching Meg soak it all in was the absolute best part. If I had to buy 1000 extra tickets to experience that again, I'd do it.

Those of you who have not yet taken your kid to an event like this . . . trust me, it's worth every cent you spend to go. It's priceless. We loved it every bit as much as Meg.

And finally, the Dahlby girls had an opportunity to meet with the Jolly Old Elf himself late Sunday afternoon at our neighborhood holiday party. Kate took us up on the opportunity, and she sat proudly in his lap. She even smiled . . . and Santa was in love with her. Meg, well . . . she wasn't really 'into' meeting Santa. That was an opportunity she gladly let pass her by.

Last year, we forced Meg to sit with Santa, and we have our classic scraming kid pic. This year, I just could not do that to her . . . or Santa . . . so I have to settle for this look she gave Santa when he attempted to give her 5.

WHAT a weekend. I think Meg's look at the end of the holiday party about sums it up:

We're pooped. Off to bed.