Christmas festivities

Our holiday started yesterday morning at 7:15am. The girls came down fully dressed, teeth brushed, hair sort-of combed, and wearing their Christmas dresses! They were ready! Kyra was good to go, she had long sleeves and tights on. Kaylee lacked tights and was wearing a sleeveless dress. Despite the outfits we gave the girls their first Christmas present- a sled! Very appropriate since we got about 7 inches of snow overnight. After breakfast and changing out of our finery we went to their neighbors to make some Christmas ornaments and play for a bit before heading out to play.

A beautiful winter scene met us outside in the neighbor's backyard. At this time it was lightly snowing, no wind, and a balmy 28 dgs. Perfect for sledding!

Blurry yes, but can't you see the joy on the faces as they head down the hill. Even little Evan loved sledding this year. I'm proud to say that both Kyra and Kaylee walked up the hill by themselves and were able to bring up their sled or tube. Finally!

Kaylee LOVED sledding this year! Last year, she hated the cold weather and refused to play in it. This year, put her on a tube and she was happy! Her and Emma were riding down in one tube together and you could hear them giggling all the way down and chatting together all the way back up.

Kyra's turn on the tube. She had as much fun as Kaylee did but she did branch out a little more and did go down on the sleds as well as the tubes.

After sledding we went in for the kids to exchange presents. The girls got some nice things from their cousins and were very excited to open them up and play. I think Kyra was waving to the camera in this picture. But out of a dozen, this one is still the best with everyone looking at the camera and not smiling wierd.

After the neigbors left, our family and Nana and Papa made some pizzas for supper, opened new Christmas PJ's, and watched a few Christmas kid shows before the ladies went off to bed. And then the fun began! Playing cards (I won every game I played! Yeah me!) and then we got out the presents!

The tree after Santa arrived.

Here's a few Christmas morning pictures. The girls got up around 6:15ish and Craig met them upstairs so they couldn't get into the presents before everyone was up. The girls reaction was a little subdued! Not that the girls are typically "crazy excited" types but I was expecting a little more reaction. I think they were a little overwhelmed at first- Kaylee especially as she just came and sat on my lap for a bit taking it all in. After Kyra opened the first present and handed one to Kaylee she started to get into it. Kyra was digging in and handing them out between the two of them. They got some new clothes, some art supplies, puzzles, a marble maze toy, and the big hit of the day was the Littlest Pet Shop stuff. The girls have really liked them since Kyra got one for her birthday and that is what they both wanted for Christmas. They got a couple of LPS playsets and tons of new little pets. It should keep them busy for awhile!

For Christmas, I got a new lens for my camera. Just what I wanted! Here are a few pictures taken when I was playing with it. Definitely more to learn about using the lens but it picks up more natural light and has a lower f-stop which is what causes the blurring effect in the background. So far I love it!

Here's Kaylee waiting for breakfast.

Mad Kaylee when I told her she couldn't get out her new paints.

Goofy Kyra! Dont' you love the Christmas lights blurred in the background.

A more serious Kyra with her new blanket. She asked for a new blanket for Christmas because her "baby" ones didn't cover her feet anymore. Yet another sign that she's growing up!

I hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas and didn't get stuck anywhere because of the weather!

Disney on Ice

A few weekends ago we went to see Disney on Ice. The girls LOVED it. Especially Kaylee who clapped her hands anytime the Princess met her Prince. It was a pretty good show from an adult standpoint also with good music and skating.

The girls met me after work at the hospital all dressed up in their princess dresses. Complete with an up-do for Kaylee as Cinderella and makeup. Don't you love Kyra's bright red lips!

Our own reindeer

Kaylee with her cute shirt that she made at Michelle's house last week. She was very proud of it!

We're ready!

Here's Kaylee showing her Christmas spirit. HA!

I'm so excited for Christmas!! I think the girls are also but for some reason, it's just fun for me making it fun for them. I had today off so I was able to get everything wrapped, stockings hung, house cleaned, and pick up a few last things without getting all stressed out. I'm telling you, by the time the girls are 10 I'll have this whole Christmas thing down. The only thing that got a little nutty was the addition of the stomach flu. Yes, the girls came down with it Saturday night which lasted until Monday and Craig got a touch of it yesterday. Fun. Thankfully, I have been spared. But everyone is feeling good now and that is what matters.

Tomorrow we're having our "kid Chistmas" party. The kids have a gift exchange, probably watch a Christmas movie, and play outside in the snow. Did you hear we're supposed to get 10-12 inches- or more? Crazy snow! I love it. I have no where to good for us!

More posts to follow with pictures but blogger isn't cooperating with attaching things and it is driving me crazy!

Quick survey

Old Navy had these boots on a super good sale and I got a pair for each of the girls since they love wearing dresses w/leggins in the winter and I thought these would be warmer on their little legs vs regular shoes.

But now, I'm having buyer remose. Are these an ugly fad, which is what I've always said in the past? Or just a really good idea for little legs to stay warm in the winter?

So my question, do we keep them? Or return them?

Last thing, those that requested a picture of Kyra from school, I haven't had a chance to do anything with those yet. Sorry! Just too many other things to do this time of the year. We had our big Christmas party last night so now with that done things with get a little less hectic. I hosted our Christmas party for my work- so Craig went all out and made all this wonderful food and they were played some Bunco. I've never played before but it was actually pretty fun!

In other Christmas news, I'm nearly done with all my X-mas shopping! I got the pictures back for cards to get out, and the tree is up- again (see the next post!) We've only made one batch of cookies so we need to do a few more of those but overall, I feel that being 2 weeks away from the holiday that we're in good shape.

The Griswald family Christmas

Craig meets met at the door Wednesday night, closes it behind him and asks me "What would be the worst thing possible that could happen to the house?

Me, completely confused, answers "it would burn down?"

Craig tells me, "See, that didn't happen- so it's been a good day."

He proceeds to open the door and leads me into the living room where the above scene awaited me. Tree down! Large vase filled w/glass ornaments decorating the top of the mantle- down! Glass all over.

As we stand surveying the damage, the lighted garland you can see on top of the mantle starts to fall the rest of the way and along with it knocks everything else off the mantle onto to shatter at our feet. A scene one would really only see in a movie.

Thankfully, no littles were by the tree when it went down and surprisingly many of our "nice" ornaments were cushioned by the tree in the fall and weren't damaged.

The tree is back up now, a little sparser than what it was previously. But at least it is standing. And the house was cleaned up and ready the next day for my work X-mas party we were hosting the next day.

Ready for winter!

This is Kaylee getting herself ready to go. Winter coat, hat, scarf, mittens, sunglasses, backpack and a purse (hiding the behind the closet door!) all by herself. I think she's ready for the snow!

December 1

Here are the ladies tonight waiting to open their 1st calendar box. The excitement was palpable- can you tell?

Kaylee chose "odds" so she got to open the 1st box tonight. Kyra, being the one of the pair who has some slight reading abilities, then got to take the clue and do her best to relay it to the family. She's doing pretty good with reading but often tries to just pick the right word after she figures out what the first letter is. We have to work on sounding out more of the word- not just the first sound! Anyway she got it read and as soon as she finished you could tell she was thinking about the clue and had an idea of where to go next . . .

Today's clue:

Another year is ending,
So it is time for some fun.
Read the clues and find the surprises,
Here's your first so get ready to run.

Chocolate squares are your first whim,
Finding this isn't going out on a limb.
Where the family gathers to watch and read,
But rest those feet is where you'll heed.

Any guesses?

And the answer is? Under the ottoman in the living room. :) Kyra was right on her 2nd guess. The first place she looked was on the foot rest of the recliner- also a good guess!

Otherwise everything is our house is going well. We've gotten out most of our X-mas decorations because I'm hosting my work Christmas party next week. We have to get our tree yet but hopefully we'll get to that this weekend. Kyra is still doing great at school and loves it. She comes home with fun projects- her favorite one was her pilgrim had from last week. She wore it for 3 days straight! She is starting to get a little better at joining in with the other kids at recess and is very excited whenever she meets new kids.

Kaylee is doing great at her "preschool" also. She doesn't cry anymore when I drop her off- thank goodness! And she's always excited to show us what she has made also. She is such a nuturer and April tells us she is her constant little helper and loves to play with the baby there- who is about a year old. On Monday, she got into the premie size diapers we had in the bathroom upstairs from when Kyra was in her cast and decided that all her babies needed diapers. Before I knew what she was happening she had 3 packs of diapers and one pack of wipes emptied on the floor in the den. She is always into something! She has also filled her pretend ladle completely full of hand lotion, emptied out the handsoap in her pretend kitchen, and found a tin cover to use in the bathroom upstairs as a bar soap holder. What a nut!

The 50th day of kindergarten

Getting ready for the "sock-hop" this afternoon

Anyone want one?

We have tons.

This is her "official" school picture for the year. Not too bad but man does she look like Craig. Not that it is a bad thing . . .

Seriously, let me know if you want one or 12.

Happy Halloween!

We had an awesome Halloween, the girls were so excited for everything this year from the pumpkins to carve to, of course, the boo train!

Here are tons of pictures . . . in random order. :)

Kaylee prior to the pumpkin gut mess. We got her out some markers to decorate her pumpkins a bit since she's really to little to use the "kid-safe" knife. She did have some fun with the little "poker" tool.
Kaylee again, finding some pumpkin guts . . .

Craig also in the midst of pumpkin guts.

Kyra and her pumpkin

Me and my girl while we were carving together.

Kyra as Word girl and her sidekick, Captain Huggy Face.

Kyra and Andrew enjoying each other's company. They had a great time playing together today and running around like crazy. I was told (I wasn't home from work at this point) that the highlight of the day was Craig using his i-phone to make a doorbell noise. The girls were running all over to find out who was at the door!

The whole clan (minus Evan who unfortunately didn't fit into the picture) having some pre-trick or treating pizza..

A good picture of all the Littles getting ready to get on the train.

Just the girls all ready to go! The weather wasn't actually too bad. Everyone was all bundled up and we had tons of blankets that we piled on every time we were riding so no one got cold. We ended up being out for about 2 hours and ALL the kids had a great time. Even little Evan stayed out for the whole time and loved going up to all the houses! He examined every doormat, pumpkin and stood in line with the rest of the kids when the door opened to get his candy!

A picture of the train ona few practice runs around the lawn while we were getting everyone else bundled.

"WORD UP!" The two ladies in their Word Girl poses.

One more group shot off all the kiddos.

A practice run of trick or treating at our house. Everyone, including Kaylee (!) said "trick-or-treat" and "thank-you."


Hope your Halloween was a fun one!