Things I Want to Remember

Right now, I just want time to stand still. There are moments when my girls make me so happy, I don't want them to get a second older. I don't want Lydia to go to school, I want Claire to stay as my cuddly "Claire Bear", and I want Scarlett to always be a baby, who I can rock to sleep in my arms.
The other night I was rocking Scarlett to sleep, and listening to Josh read Fancy Nancy to the other girls and put them to bed, and that's when I knew that I didn't want things to ever change. I want my princesses to stay young and happy and innocent.
But that can't happen, and I know that there are great things in the future for us, but for now, I'm just going to take a moment to remember the things that make life with 3 little girls such a joy, at 4, 2 and 4months old.

LYDIA

* Lydia is so full of love. She always says "I love you" to us and her sisters.
* If Lydia is ever passing by a flower garden, she picks a flower for me. I always have flowers on my car dash or kitchen counter.
* Lydia is pretty tough for a girl. The other day at preschool she got a bloody nose on the playground, and her teachers were amazed that she never cried! Yet, she'll cry if she doesn't get the princess plate at dinner.
* Lydia is learning a lot about God and Jesus at her preschool and also at church. When she was sick recently, she said to me "I need to go to Jesus to get better... because he heals people."
* One evening I found Lydia in her bathroom, in her pajamas, brushing her teeth to get ready for bed. It was only 4:00. I asked her why she was getting ready for bed and she said "because I want to make you proud"
* Lydia is very honest, like any 4 yr old. Some Sundays when she sees me ready for church, she looks at me with big eyes and says "Mommy you are beautiful!" ...and only then do I believe it.

CLAIRE
* Claire has the best "chicken run". When she wants to race, she puts her arms up like a chicken and says "Can't catch me!", and then she's off. Its cute when its around the house. Not so cute in Wal-Mart.
* Claire is a menace on her scooter. I've never seen a 2yr old go so fast. See here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IApdSkEzF88
* Claire has decided to call us "Josh" and "Cass"...instead of mommy and daddy. Its pretty funny to hear her say "Hey Cass! Josh is home!" But sometimes we feel like we're just babysitters to this kid.
* As Claire falls asleep, her final words are always "..sleep with me". And as long as we do, just for a second, she's out.
* Every Sunday when I pick up Claire from Nursery, she exclaims "Mommy, look what I made for you!!" And it always melts my heart.* Claire has the cutest pot belly. She is bigger around than Lydia. When people pick her up they say "Man, this girl is solid."
* Claire exaggerates everything. She takes the "biggest...bite...EVER" and the "biggest..poo..EVER" and if anything is big, its "BIIIIIIG, like TOTORO!"

SCARLETT
* Miss Scarlett has the cutest fuzzy head. I'll never forget that fuzzy head on the day she was born, with a red bow stuck in it. Neither of my other girls had hair like this.* Scarlett smiles at anyone she makes eye contact with, especially if they talk babytalk with her. The girls at the daycare at the gym tell me they always look forward to having Scarlett there because she is the best baby and so happy!
* Scarlett, unlike my other girls, hates her pacifier, and hates the bumbo seat. I didn't think that was possible! Her favorite thing to do is lie on her back next to her sisters and watch TV.
* Whenever I undress Scarlett, she expects her diaper to be changed, and will stick her legs straight up in the air. It was the cutest when she did it for the pediatrician, who said "Oh!..Do you want me to change you?"
* My favorite part of rocking her to sleep at night is to watch her face, and see her random smiles in her sleep. Then I know she is having happy dreams.

But by far what makes me the happiest is just seeing how much they love each other. I know that may change as they get older, and their affection won't be so "obvious", but for now everyone is happy, and mommy is especially happy.

New Year, New List

Well, the countdown is ON. Just a few more weeks before I hit the dirty thirty, and I am sure that there are at least two readers who are interested in my "Thirty before 30 list." It's not yet complete...but I am so very close, with 2 weeks to go.

Cassie's 30 before 30 list:
1. have my 3rd baby Scarlett Lillian Viets, September 15th
2. spend a day with a high school or college friend I've met up with 3! Val, Kayce, and Annette from LHS
3. Sew a skirt...and wear it pattern cut and pinned...then realized my sewing machine has a UK plug! Will have to take it to my mom's to finish
4. Make matching dresses for my girls done here
5. Learn one song on the guitar (I'll need Devin...) I borrowed/stole this guitar from my brother-in-law, and its great! And my first song - very easy and great song - "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol
6. Watch a sunrise - Devil's Bridge, Antigua
7. Watch a sunset - Jolly Beach, Antigua
8. Kiss in the rain - done
9. (edited out) - done
10. Go skinnydipping - done

11. Watch a classic chick flick - Gone With the Wind, of course :)
12. Send a thoughtful note to someone just because - to my dear friend Pat, our Scottish grandma, who always wrote me notes "just because"
13. Volunteer for community service - Meals on Wheels...great fun with my girls and for the clients
14. Try a seafood delicacy - sauteed clams, restaurant in Rome
15. Try a new sport - sporting clays, next weekend. just need to borrow a shotgun!
16. run a 10k - at Monahans Sandhills State Park, and I did it in 58:20 - not bad for a beginner.
17. write letters to my grandparents who don't have email - sadly my dear grandpa passed away before I wrote him, but at least I went to see him in person. I wrote letters to the others though.
18. Finish my wedding scrapbook - Finally
19. Get 1 more stamp on my passport - got two! Italy and British Virgin Islands
20. Go dancing - ... on my birthday weekend, we're hitting the club where it all began.
21. Get rid of all my files and textbooks from my previous job - done (sheesh, that was a lame one)
22. Learn to knit I also learned that I am not very good at knitting. I really enjoy crochet though.
23. Catch a fish...then actually touch it - sadly, I think we killed the fish while taking this picture. this was with our friends the Rankins in Oldmeldrum.
24. Sit in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome 25. Enjoy one expensive, authentic Italian meal in Rome - done
26. Paint my face and go to a big sporting event - its not much, but it still counts. This was at the Scotland v England rugby match in Edinburgh
27. Go to a movie with girlfriends - and no kids - saw Eclipse, because my husband will never see a Twilight movie with me
28. Grow a plant indoors that won't die in a month - I had some poinsettas that survived just over a month. still counts.
29. Donate money to a charity outside of church - irunforlove.com
30. Throw myself a big party and say goodbye to my 20s in style!...coming soon!


It's been a great year, and a lot of fun, and really good for me. Josh challenged me to do this every year. SO here goes. (easier list this time)

ELEVEN in 2011

1. Join Ancestry.com and make progress on my family history work
2. Go on a family adventure every month...even if it is just to Lubbock
3. Publish a blog book of our adventures in Scotland
4. Read Jesus The Christ
5. Join a soccer team
6. Start a garden
7. Run 1/2 marathon
8. Begin teaching certification for Texas
9. Plan a vacation with great-grandparents
10. Go golfing with Josh
11. Take surfing lessons in Cali this summer

It's gonna be a fun year.

And just like that....it's all over

These past two weeks have been wonderful. Josh has been home from work, and all my family has been here for the holidays. We've been busy, and I wish I had more pictures to share. I'll have to steal some from Sarah...she always has a camera with her :)

We had lots of meals together - either at our house or my parents.We made gingerbread houses for Family NightThe girls got matching PJ's for Christmas Eve...And matching dresses for church. Madison just woke up from a nap, and wouldn't stop crying unless she had her pacifier :( We had homemade cinnamon rolls Christmas morning...yum!And we spent all of Christmas day in our own home, and in our pajamas...mostly.The Sunday after Christmas, December 26th, Scarlett had her Baby Blessing in church.I am so blessed with a beautiful, healthy, happy familyAnd I am so glad I got to share this holiday with my brothers and sistersThis will be the last time we are all together until the family reunion this summer!
Happy Holidays! And here's to an even better new year - bring on 2011!

He is the Son of God

'Tis the season

The stockings are hungThe Christmas dresses are finished




The tree is trimmed, with presents beneath.
(Unfortunately this particular tree is suffering a slow and painful death...and it has to last another week! We underestimated how thirsty it was )



And the elves are working very hard.This weekend I finally went through my treasured Barbie collection. That's right, these dolls are mine. I grew up loving Barbie, and every year I would get a Holiday Barbie to add to my collection, and I saved the ones that I never opened. My oldest one - 1992 - only sells for about $70 on Amazon, and the others are about $40 each. For that price, I'm keeping them. Some of them will show up on Christmas morning for some special little Viets girls. And some will have to wait for birthdays and Christmases to come.


Our girls are really enjoying the Christmas season this year. They helped us put up decorations, and even though I like the lights on our house, Lydia insists that we need more :)

Lydia talks to our Elf on the Shelf every day. In the mornings she is anxious to see where he is, and during the day she will go tell him of all the good things she's done, and the naughty things that Claire has done.

Claire is loving the Christmas decorations. She puts ornaments on and off the tree, and she takes pieces of my nativity set to "time out" and hides them in random cupboards.

Scarlett... she is such a blessing in our lives. She makes me so happy. She makes all of us so happy. In the mornings she wakes up with a smile on her face, just cooing and babbling as she waits for me to come get her. During the day if the kids are watching TV, they want her to lie down on a blanket so that they can lay beside her. We all love her, and are anxious for her first Christmas!

A week in Kansas

Thanksgiving is an awesome holiday, and it is especially awesome at the Viets home, where everyone has a passion for gooooood food! The star of the show is always the turkey, and this year there were two: one in the oven, and one being smoked outside. Papa Jon and Jacob were the masters of meat.
But the real masterchef was Mimi. It seems like every time we visit we steal her recipees. On the menu this Thanksgiving: 2 turkeys, a ham, stuffing, scalloped corn, sweet potatoes, spinach salad, homemade rolls, cranberry-raspberry jello, green bean casserole, and pies for dessert! Oh yeah, and there was the infamous green jello salad, which only those of true Viets descent can tolerate. I took a helping of this concoction years ago at my first Viets Thanksgiving, thinking that it was an innocent lime jello, but OH NO it was NOT. It was savory, not sweet, and I swear it had onions or peppers in it. Weird. But all the Viets boys love it.

So there we were - all together under one roof - Josh's 4 brothers and their families, plus Papa Jon's family. 25 of us. There was just enough seating for all the adults, but the kids took turns at the kids table or ate in Mimi & Papa's room , which was essentially converted to a day care for the day :)The girls had a blast with all their cousins, there are 9 Viets grandkids now. Claire and Savannah were up to their usual 2yr-old antics, making messes and being too darn cute about it.
Scarlett - as usual - was a great baby. She slept 8-9 hours through the night every night. I blame the sheepskin comforter that was in the bassinet, so I have already bought my own. Works like a charm.
The weather was fantastic: sunny and in the 60's. The kids even went SWIMMING! ....in a heated hot tub. I hadn't packed swimsuits because, well, its November, so my girls only had their princess panties :) It's a good thing they are still too young to care, because they had a blast. Josh had his usual golf outing with his brothers, and Mimi and I took the girls to see Tangled (which I loved!). Josh was kicking himself for not bringing hunting gear because his brother Jake went duck hunting for a couple days, and found success with his newly trained partner Athena :)

And much to my dismay, Lydia was especially anxious to help Jacob with the ducks. Ugh!

The pics that didn't make the cut

If you get a card from us this Christmas, I hope you appreciate how hard it was for us to get a decent family pic. There are plenty more just like these.

Lydia's been busy!

It's that time of year -lots of parties, performances, and celebrations. First off was Lydia's Thanksgiving program at her preschool. They had a big feast with parents (and grandparents!) for lunch, and performed some songs. All the kids were dressed as Indians or Pilgrims. The best part was that at our table was a book on some of the Thanksgiving projects that Lydia had done at school. There was a recipee book on "How to Cook a Turkey", and here are some of Lydia's answers:
Where do you get a turkey? from the barn
How much does it weigh? 15 pounds
How long does it take to cook? 8 minutes
How do you cook it? At the restaurant
What do you eat with your turkey? Peanut butter, and ice cream. Then I drink some milk
Who does the cooking? Mommy and Daddy
Who cleans up? I do (yeah right!)


Then, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving Lydia had a dance performance at the mall! It was Santa's first day at the mall, and some of the local groups had been invited to perform on a stage set up next to him. Lydia was a star.Of course after the performance she had to go see Santa. She had been carrying around her Target catalog all week (she called it her "menu") so that she could show Santa what she wanted. Claire was too shy to sit with Santa, but Lydia was in heaven.It's a good thing, too, because this picture cost me $25! Seriously!