Riding in the New Year!

So begins the start of another new year...a fresh start to cleanse, purge, change, resolve, etc.  With each passing day, I realize time is fleeting (as cliche as that sounds) and the only constant is change.  I have vowed to document these precious moments so as not to forget the small things that make my days good, bad, happy, stressful, awful, awesome and much more.  My children are growing by leaps and bounds with each passing day.  After countless friends and relatives have said in passing, "Oh I hope you write these stories down," I have made it a personal challenge to do so. SO with that being said, here goes nothing.  A quest to document the daily sayings and phrases of my sweet Clairski and effervescent Norahsaurus.

January 1, 2013
As a native Clevelander, I find Christmas Story to be the quintessential holiday classic. What stands out most is Ralphie pleading, " I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!" Much like Ralphie, my sweet Claire has asked incessantly for a bike for months.  We've discussed it at length: "I want a pink princess bike" to which I always reply, "ask Santa." And she did...we visited Santa many times during the holiday season.  She rehearsed those six words over and over again.  She recited them to him over and over again. She never asked for anything consistently other than the bike.  Occasionally she would throw in a random request here and there but only with constant prodding.  She had her heart set on the bike.  But with holiday travel plans, the bike on Christmas morning was just not going to happen.  Sure I tried to ease the devasttion by having "Santa" leave her a note saying her bike was waiting for her in Texas and left her princess helmet as a sign it would be there.  Yet you could feel the unease of this clever little toddler.  She wasn't going to believe it until she physically had it.

SOOOOO...today was THE DAY! Claire finally got her pink princess bike and the wait was worth it.  She loves it.  She is slowly learning how to pedal but is beyond happy.  But knowing Claire and her eccentricities, she can only ride her bike with her pink and black glitter holiday flats. 

Some memorable quotes from the day:
Norah: "I no like Norah Wizbeth...I Shannon now." 
Norah (to me): "You name is Mommy Conley."
(Asking Claire where she is going on her bike) Claire: I bike to DeeDee's house...see you later.
Claire (taking our last drive through the Candy Cane forest): "Christmas sleep till next year."