Hello December. For some early Christmas presents, Josie got her first six stitches…

And Mother Nature threw our grill into the pool (unrelated events).

Sophie just can’t stand it anymore. She’s about to explode with all the stress (wink). But…let’s rewind a bit. It has been a long time since I’ve updated you on the girls…

As most of you know, ’tis the season of special events and holidays, all conspiring to confuse and fatigue me. First off the bat: Sophie’s 7th birthday!!! I can’t believe it. In my weakened state I actually succumbed to getting Sophie the nauseating pink princess cake. We all remarked that the Barbie figurine on top really looked like she had Botox and was very vacant-looking. I’ve since pushed it all out of my memory, thank goodness.

Yikes! Two days later is Halloween! As cute as Josie and Maddie were, Sophie of course wins for “Most Transformed” - or perhaps she is channelling her inner-opera-star. Her costume started from a joke I made about her being “a little Chinese girl” for Halloween, of course meaning that she had to do nothing at all. But alas, I had too much time to think about it and instead decided that she should be a Chinese opera singer — not just the girl-next-door!

Josie definitely got the concept of trick-or-treating this year, though she was full of pragmatism about it. She would go up to a door, get candy, go back to the wagon, sit down, and proceed to unwrap and eat it, passing however many houses it took to finish it while being pulled. Then when she was done, she would get out and get some more. Or maybe she just wanted to protect the cheap beer.

Onward past Halloween - Maddie and Sophie agreed to double-up their birthday party again. This time we had it at the bowling alley, and we made custom-shirts for each group of friends so they could play on teams. It was great fun!

And then, of course, let’s not forget Maddie’s birthday too. Eight - incredible. And since she doesn’t like cake, she had just put her candles in a cherry pie, yum!

In between all of that, the girls and I flew up to Boston to visit my parents and Denis’s family. Luckily for us, it was milder than normal in Boston so all the “fake” winter clothes they sell in Houston did the job OK to keep them warm.

The older kids are all roughly the same age and they got along like gangbusters. If you can’t smush your cousins out on the golf course, then why go out there at all?

Smush. Smush. Smush. Josie even tried it out too.

I love this shot of Mad and Soph. I hope they stay like this forever.

“Stop looking at me like that, Mom. I’m going to grow up anyway, you know!!”

You guys don’t get to grow up either. That includes you, Josie. You hear me??

The girls’ cousin Jessica had a birthday party during our visit, at a laser-tag/arcade. I’m feeling like I should be a little afraid that Josie was very attracted to the driving games, seeming to have an innate sense of where the “turbo” button was for each one. Note the hand reaching for the green button, here…

…AND here. Coincidence? No.

A neighbor described Josie recently as “the little one that just wants to be big.” I couldn’t have put it better myself. Here, she’s trying to conquer yo-yos before Sophie figures them out.

The ladies all loved visiting with their A-ma and A-kong…and even five days seemed too short.

But alas - there’s Christmas to warm up for, so we’d all better get some rest in order to be ready for the last push of the season. Though I think the three of them are way ahead of me.

Maybe I’ll just sneak out while they’re sleeping…get some presents…oh yeah. I forgot I have zero ideas since they got everything they wanted for their birthdays! Suggestions are welcome.

Love, one frazzled Mom