Hodge Podge....

As I'm still weeding through and editing photos from the past six weeks,  I wanted to share and document some of these photos.   Most of them are similar to previous posts but just happened to be better photos that I was able to capture on my phone.   Basically I'm just updating for my own documentation.

 

 

Decorating the tree

 

Seeing Santa at the library...

 

Ga Ga (Terry's Mom) with the girls, at lunch with Santa

 

LOVE!!

 

Love the look on her face as she is so intently listening to Santa.

 

 

Hugs from Santa!

 

Seriously loved watching them talk to Santa.

 

 

 

Catch Up....

I have lots to blog about and lots of pictures to post over the next week or so.  I finally located my camera cord yesterday evening and was able to download 250+ photos from the last month.  Somehow it ended up in the girls toy box??  Wonder how that happened???

Rather than be all over the place, I'm going to post in date order so bare with me while I play catch up. 

Earlier this month we received several inches of snow which excited the girls.  They love the snow and never shy away from playing in it.  Unfortunately, I happened to be at work this day but Terry snapped some fun pictures of the girls enjoying their no school/snow day!!

 

Addison loves to eat snow.

 

Don't you just want to squeeze her?

 

Love these two to pieces!!

 

 

Like I said....stay tuned the next few days while I weed through all these photos!!

 

 

Lunch with Santa....

We had lunch with Santa this past Saturday.  The girls had a great time.  This particular Santa was amazing.  The girls got to spend a good five minutes chatting with him.  I love watching their eyes and faces as they take everything in.  It makes my heart smile watching them. 

 

Not sure I could love these two anymore than I do!!!

 

 

Christmas Program 2013

For those of you who haven't seen it already.....here is the video of the girls pre-school Christmas program.  If you don't want to watch the entire thirty minutes or so here is a brief run down so you can watch just the good parts.



Beginning:  They did a little skit that I missed half of due to technical issues.  They spelled out Happy Birthday with the letters.

2:35 First Song:  Happy Birthday Jesus

3:30 This is where I thought Addison was going to vomit.  I was prepping to toss the video camera and grab her.  My little anxiety ridden girl.  Poor thing told me afterwards she couldn't breath because too many people were watching her.  She recovers nicely.  And yes, I worry too much and freak out too easily.

5:00 Second Song:  Jesus Baby Jesus

8:00 Second Skit:   Here is a little background on this skit.  The girls Chapel teacher dresses up once a week like an old bag lady.  In her bag she has different things to help teach the lesson.  The bag lady made an appearance at the program.  They had also asked Terry to help escort the bag lady down the front of the Church.  You can see Terry's debut at 9:35.

15:00  Third Song:  Silent Night

Enjoy!!!  I've watched this about 25 times now.  Still makes me tear up!!  Always so grateful for the little milestones with my kiddos.

Sometimes I can't believe they say this stuff....

Last week during our visit with the real reindeer, the reindeers handler told the girls that reindeer like to eat corn.  She told them that they would prefer that we left corn out for the reindeer on Christmas Eve instead of carrots.  Every since then Alexis has been very concerned about making sure we get corn to leave for the reindeer.

Last night at bedtime Alexis asks Terry where we are going to put the corn. Terry asks her where she thinks the best place would be.

She says she doesn't know. Terry's suggests leaving it on the plate with the cookies and Santa can give it to them.

She says no because he will have his hands full with his big bag of toys and if the reindeer come in the house they might leave mud tracks on the carpet.

Then Terry suggests leaving it outside on the front porch. She responds with the squirrels and the eagles (yeah, we have a huge eagle problem at our house????) might eat it before they get here.

Then she tells Terry he should get the ladder out and climb up and put it on the roof. She said she will hold the ladder so he doesn't fall.

I couldn't help but laugh!!  Love how their little minds work!!!

Holiday Stuff....

We've been having a great time in our house these past few weeks.  Just doing holiday things like searching for lights, or making cookies and decorating gingerbread men.  I got to say....I'm loving experiencing the holidays through the eyes of my two, very curious little four year olds.  Everything they say and do makes my heart smile!!!

Saturday morning we woke to several inches of snow.  The girls had appointments for hair cuts that I wasn't about to reschedule.  After making it back from their haircuts, they were begging to play in the snow.  I'm glad I sucked it up and took them outside.  I haven't had that much fun in a long time!!  The snow was the perfect consistency for snow balls and making snowmen.  The girls started rolling up balls immediately.  It was quite hysterical (in my opinion), listening to Alexis grunt as she was struggling to roll a snow ball bigger than her across the front yard. 

Here is our silly snowman.  I really need to invest in one of those snowman making kits so we have a face for our future snowmen.  Our snowman stands taller than I do.

After finishing our snowman, Addison decided to basically roll in the snow for several minutes.  She got wet and cold.  Terry took her inside to warm up with hot chocolate.  Alexis wasn't finished playing yet and I still needed to finish shoveling the driveway.  Lex grabbed her kid-sized shovel and started helping me.  She was cracking me up!!  She kept telling me how much work it is to shovel snow.  She literally crashed hard Saturday evening.

This morning, (Monday) We awoke to another few inches of snow.  Once Alexis saw the snow she was pissed off.....like seriously angry, exclaiming...."I just finished shoveling that driveway, why did it have to snow again!!!"   I understand her frustration level!  Love her!!!

*******

Sunday afternoon we decided to decorate our gingerbread men.  I picked up these pre-made gingerbread guys on a whim at Kroger last week.  The girls seriously had a blast decorating them.  It's funny to watch their different personalities come through when doing something like this.  Addison is so meticulous with everything.  Everything has to be just right and placed ever so carefully.  Alexis likes to rush through and be the first one done.  Not that she doesn't do a great job, but she isn't as much of a perfectionist as Addison.

The finished products!!!

Santa, Take 1

Last night after swimming lessons, we took the girls to a Santa/reindeer event at the library.  They were beyond excited, and in all honestly they were more excited to see a real live reindeer than they were Santa.  Here are a few pics:

 

First we saw Santa.  Both girls hopped right up on his lap and told them what they wanted.

 

Usually after swimming we shower the girls at the YMCA and put them directly in their pj's.  It makes the evening a little less hectic since they have school the next day.

 

Since we were going straight from swimming to see Santa, I asked Terry to bring the girls Christmas outfits and their boots.  Instead he brought their Christmas Pj's.  Oh well!  They still look cute!

 

 

I can not even explain how excited they were about the reindeer.  While we were in line waiting, they were arguing over which reindeer it was.  Alexis was convinced it was Comet, but Addison kept saying it wasn't.  Once we got our turn, Alexis asked the lady which reindeer it was.  The lady told them that it was a girl reindeer and her name was Noel.  Noel is Rudolph's cousin.  The other reindeer are currently at the North Pole training for Christmas Eve night.  She explained to them that training is hard work and that Rudolph had sent his cousin instead.

 

Addison then asked the lady if the reindeer like carrots....because we always leave carrots for the reindeer, along with milk and cookies for Santa.  The handler told Addison that reindeer typically eat corn instead of carrots.  Now they both want to make sure we have some corn to leave for the reindeer. 

 

Another great event from our local library!

 

Stay tuned for lunch with Santa....We are doing that next weekend!  They can hardly wait!! 

 I'm totally loving this time of year!

Dress Up....

SWEET TOOTH....

One thing Addison inherited from me is her love of all things sweet......

and a weakness for powdered sugar donuts. 

 

 

 

Bubble Heads....

 

 

Magical....

I gotta say I'm totally loving this time of year.  Last year the girls understood Christmas, but I don't think they fully 100% comprehended everything.  This year, they are all in!  It makes my heart smile watching them enjoy the holidays.....from looking for Christmas lights, to finding Joe (our Christmas Elf) every morning; I'm loving it!!

Last Saturday afternoon, we put up the tree.  The girls were ecstatic.  They couldn't of been more excited.  Here are a few photos:

 

Joe (our elf on the shelf) also made his first appearance of the season Sunday evening.  The girls found Joe upstairs sleeping in my bed.  (I didn't want to hide him in their room, for fear I would wake them up trying to move him later in the evening) 

 

We read the book that accompanies the elf.  Afterwards I'm fairly certain that I fielded close to 800 questions from the girls....mostly Addison.  She asked me why the book says he flies back to the North Pole using magic, but he doesn't have wings to fly or a magic wand. I asked her how Spider-Man flies because he doesn't have wings. I was then schooled that he doesn't fly.  He swings from web to web. Superman has a cape that he uses to fly. I told them maybe the elf has a cape he puts on every night. Then she wanted to know where he keeps the cape during the day. 

 

Alexis was concerned about the fact that Joe was sleeping in my bed.  If you are not familiar with the rules of the Elf.....you are not allowed to touch the elf or he loses his magic.  Alexis told me I should probably sleep on the couch so I wouldn't touch him.  I told her that I still needed to finish up the laundry and I wanted to take a bath before I went to bed.  I was able to convince them that if they went so sleep right away Joe would be able to fly back to Santa and I would be able to sleep in my bed.  Once I closed their bedroom door, I didn't hear another peep the entire night.  (Usually they talk and sing for 15-20 minutes before calming down for the night).  Love that elf!! 

Thanksgiving Pics...

Just a quick update with a few pictures from Thanksgiving.....

 

I could not be more thankful for these two happy and healthy kiddos!

 

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Terry's brothers house this year.  The girl's always have a fantastic time playing with their cousins.

 

One of my contributions to the dinner.  I was pretty proud of my turkey fruit platter!

 

The cousins....Starting at the top in orange going clockwise....

Amelia, Oliver, Lila, Georgia, Greta, Alexis and Addison.

 

Hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving!!!